[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 157 (2011), Part 1]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page 848]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




INTRODUCING LEGISLATION TO MAKE THE DEDUCTION FOR STATE AND LOCAL SALES 
                            TAXES PERMANENT

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                          HON. C.W. BILL YOUNG

                               of florida

                    in the house of representatives

                       Tuesday, January 25, 2011

  Mr. YOUNG of Florida. Mr. Speaker, today I introduced legislation 
that would make the deduction for state and local sales taxes 
permanent. Unlike state income taxes, the deductibility of which has 
long been a permanent fixture of the tax code, the citizens in states 
with only a sales tax--including my home state of Florida--have been 
forced to rely on short-term extensions of the sales tax deduction from 
year to year.
  Without this deduction, taxpayers in the nine states with no state 
income tax, including Alaska, Florida, Nevada, New Hampshire, South 
Dakota, Tennessee, Texas, Washington, and Wyoming, would not have the 
opportunity to deduct from their federal tax obligation the sales taxes 
paid to their state and local governments. This measure helps to level 
the playing field for the taxpayers in these states, allowing them to 
deduct state taxes like those in income tax states. Making this 
deduction permanent enjoys broad bipartisan support, and more than 11 
million taxpayers utilized this deduction in 2008.
  Making the deduction permanent provides certainty to the taxpayers, 
allows for more efficient financial planning, and ensures fairness in 
the tax code for taxpayers in states without an income tax.
  In closing, I urge the Committee on Ways and Means to consider this 
proposal as they begin to consider ways to make the tax code simpler 
and more efficient.

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