House Proposal Would Deny Tax Deduction for Fast Food Ads Targeting Children

Representative Dennis Kucinich (D-Ohio) has introduced a bill (H.R. 4310) that would amend the tax code to deny “any deduction for advertising and marketing directed at children to promote the consumption of food at fast food restaurants or of food of poor nutritional quality.” The proposal defines “food of poor nutritional quality” as food “determined by the Secretary (in consultation with the Secretary of Health and Human Services and the Federal Trade Commission) to provide calories primarily through fats or added sugars and to have minimal amounts of vitamins and minerals.”

Among those advertising-related expenses that could not be deducted would be travel (including meals and lodging), “goods or services of a type generally considered to constitute entertainment, amusement, or recreation or the use of a facility in connection with providing such goods and services,” gifts, and other promotion expenses. The bill, which has four co-sponsors, was referred to the Committee on Ways and Means.