Flake teases report with plea to protect alpacas from ‘tax code abuse’

Sen. Jeff Flake (R-Ariz.) is using video in the style of the iconic ASPCA spots to tease the release of an upcoming oversight report on tax loopholes.

In the video, Flake urges viewers to “be the answer for an innocent alpaca, who is being used as a tax shelter,” and instructs them to download a report from his Senate website on April 5 that will detail unusual loopholes used to lower tax liabilities.

“By doing so you’ll be helping me in an effort to save alpacas and other outlandish loopholes from tax code abuse,” Flake continues. “This is your chance to say, ‘I won’t sit idly by while even one alpaca is written off.'”

{mosads}

The video parodies the well-known commercials run by the American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals, many of which feature singer Sarah McLachlan pleading for viewers to donate to the organization, while images of abused animals crawl across the screen set to one of her songs. 

The point of Flake’s video is to draw attention the tax loopholes ahead of President Trump’s proposed efforts to reform the tax code, and ahead of Tax Day, which will be April 18 this year. The loopholes, according to a statement from Flake’s office, apply to only few people and could cost the U.S. $50 billion over the next decade.

“As Tax Day approaches and Congress considers long-overdue tax reforms, the report is intended to highlight loopholes that create fake markets for unnecessary or unwanted goods and services; encourage more borrowing, spending, and taxing by local governments; and shift the tax burden to the middle class,” the statement reads.