[Congressional Record Volume 147, Number 13 (Wednesday, January 31, 2001)]
[House]
[Page H135]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                              {time}  1245
                SUPPORT SALES TAX DEDUCTION ACT OF 2001

  The SPEAKER pro tempore (Mr. Simpson). Under a previous order of the 
House, the gentleman from Tennessee (Mr. Clement) is recognized for 5 
minutes.
  Mr. CLEMENT. Mr. Speaker, I rise today in strong support of a bill 
that the gentleman from Washington (Mr. Baird) and myself have worked 
so hard on and we are introducing today that would restore the sales 
tax deduction to the Federal Income Tax Code. We are talking about an 
oversight that occurred in 1986, where seven States cannot deduct their 
State sales tax from their Federal income tax return, which they could 
do prior to 1986. This is an issue of tax fairness that has been 
wrongly denied to the citizens of Tennessee and six other States for 15 
years.
  Mr. Speaker, due to the elimination of the State sales tax deduction 
from the Federal Tax Code in 1986, the people of Tennessee are paying 
significantly more in taxes to the Federal Government than a taxpayer 
with an identical profile in a State that does have a State income tax. 
In the last fiscal year alone, my colleagues, my friends, constituents 
in Tennessee, paid an average of $727 in State sales taxes but could 
not deduct $1 of it from their Federal income tax return. We are being 
forced to pay taxes on our taxes. This is unfair, it is unjust, and it 
must be corrected here in the 107th Congress. The people of Tennessee 
and the other States deserve better from the Federal Government.
  Our bill is very simple. It would allow taxpayers to deduct their 
State sales taxes from their Federal income tax return. Those living in 
a State with an income tax would be completely unaffected, since they 
would still be able to take an income tax deduction as they do today. 
For example, a family with a combined income of $50,000 that lives in 
Tennessee, for example, who are blessed with beautiful twin daughters 
would save $350. That, Mr. Speaker, is a lot of diapers.
  I am calling on my colleagues to take this opportunity to restore 
fairness and equity to the Tax Code in this Congress without making the 
Tax Code more complex and without abandoning our fiscal discipline. In 
a year when all the talk now is about bipartisan tax cuts and 
bipartisan tax reform, I say we come together and pass tax fairness and 
ensure tax equity now. Let us take this opportunity to do something 
about our tax burdens and not just talk about them.
  In this last Congress, the gentleman from Washington (Mr. Baird) and 
myself were able to offer it on the floor of the House, and 173 of our 
colleagues voted in favor of similar tax language. I would like to call 
on those Members of the House to cosponsor this legislation. It is a 
fair bill, it makes a lot of sense, and it will treat all States equal. 
Is that not what it is all about, when we call ourselves the United 
States of America?
  Mr. Speaker, at this time I would like to have a colloquy with my 
good friend and a real leader in the House of Representatives, the 
gentleman from Washington (Mr. Baird).
  Mr. BAIRD. I thank the gentleman from Tennessee, and I want to 
commend him for his efforts on this bill and for his fight for fairness 
for his citizens.
  It really is this simple. What we propose is to have the IRS create 
simple tables. A person will not have to save their receipts in a shoe 
box or keep track of all their expenditures. They will simply look on a 
simple table. On the left column is their income, the top row is the 
family size. They will find where that intersects and that is the 
amount they put on their tax form. Literally, 30 seconds to a minute 
for fundamental fairness, for a bill that will save the average working 
family, who itemizes their deductions, between $300 to $500 every year.
  The $500 million that Washington State taxpayers paid to the Federal 
treasury could have been spent on their families, their kids' 
educations, and in a lot of other ways. I am sure it is true in 
Tennessee as well.
  Mr. CLEMENT. The gentleman is absolutely right. And I have heard so 
many people in Tennessee say why not? We should not have been 
overlooked in 1986. I know neither one of us were in Congress when that 
happened, when they passed the 1986 tax reform, but the fact is someone 
did not fight for us. Someone did not fight for those seven States.
  I know some of those northeastern Congressmen say, well, we wanted to 
make sure that if an individual lived in a State with a State income 
tax that they could deduct that from their Federal income tax returns. 
Well, treat us fairly as well, where we can deduct some taxes from our 
Federal income tax return, so we have fairness and equity for all in 
the United States.

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