ACD Press Release

 

Arlington, VA – National Association of Chemical Distributors (NACD) President and CEO Eric R. Byer issued the following statement today expressing appreciation to Representative John R. Moolenaar (R-MI) and his colleagues for urging the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) to ease the burden imposed by the short effective date of the recently reinstated Superfund Tax on chemicals.

“Reinstating the Superfund Tax – which was last in effect over 25 years ago – will increase prices on chemicals found in many industrial products that will ultimately be passed on to consumers. Lacking further guidance, this tax will also create confusion and operational challenges as businesses seek to comply with new, undefined processes under a compressed timeframe.

In a recent letter to the IRS, Rep. Moolenaar and 12 colleagues in the U.S. House of Representatives urged the agency to ease the burden imposed by the rapidly approaching effective date of the Superfund Tax. The letter asks the IRS to streamline the registration process and waive failure-to-file and failure-to-pay penalties in 2022 for those making a good faith effort to comply with the new requirements.

NACD analysis conducted by John Dunham & Associates shows the Superfund Tax will lead to over $230 million in cost increases for chemicals sold through distributors. Higher prices are expected to result in 1.5 million tons of reduced chemical sales, leading to lost jobs.

As countless comment letters raised when the IRS Superfund Tax guidance was proposed, critical factors such as definitions of manufacturer, producer, and importer remain undetermined. Furthermore, it is unclear what taxable substances fall under the new guidance. All of this change comes at a time when the IRS is facing mounting capacity challenges with a severe backlog of personal tax returns and staffing shortages.

NACD applauds Rep. Moolenaar and his colleagues on Capitol Hill for sharing our concern surrounding the recently reinstated Superfund Tax and encourages the IRS to take up these reforms prior to the tax’s effective date of July 1, 2022.”