Business

Beauty product leader Amway big loser in tax-code rewrite

As lawmakers in Washington work on a plan to rewrite the tax code, Amway, a global leader in health and beauty products, is turning out to be a big loser.

A rider limiting regulatory oversight of Amway and other multi-level marketers that was originally attached to a budget resolution was removed from the resolution prior to a Senate vote on the resolution, The Post has learned.

“As far as we know, the [rider] is not in the Senate budget,” said Sally Greenberg, executive director of the National Consumers League, which has been opposing the amendment.

The House version of the budget resolution did contain the Amway-backed rider.

The House and Senate must settle the matter in conference.

US Education Secretary Betsy DeVos’ family, which is a large shareholder of privately held Amway, backed the little-noticed rider to the House spending bill that limits regulatory oversight of MLMs.

“Awmay has been lobbying like crazy to get this in the budget,” Greenberg said.

About 800,000 Americans last year were full-time MLMers — with another 4.5 million part-timers.

Specifically, the rider curbs the ability of the Federal Trade Commission to investigate whether MLMs like Amway are pyramid schemes — potentially protecting Amway from costly regulations that have recently ensnared fellow MLMer Herbalife.

The FTC in the past has investigated and cleared Amway.

An Amway spokeswoman says, “This bill does not limit oversight by the FTC or any deceptive practice.”