(Washington, D.C.) – The Council for Citizens Against Government Waste (CCAGW) today urged the House of Representatives to preserve a state sales tax deduction on federal income tax returns.  First enacted in 2004, the provision is set to expire on December 31, 2005.  As part of the budget reconciliation process, the Senate passed a tax cut bill on November 18 (S. 2020) that includes an extension of the provision.  But some representatives from Texas are wavering on a similar provision in the House version (H.R. 4297). 

“Taxpayers in Texas deserve the same opportunities for tax relief as the rest of the country,” CCAGW President Tom Schatz said.  “No tax increase is justified until Congress eliminates the billions of dollars in pork and wasteful spending in the federal budget.”

Residents in states with state income taxes can deduct that amount from their taxable income on federal tax returns.  In states with no income tax, the sales tax deduction allows taxpayers a comparable opportunity to save hundreds or even thousands of dollars a year.

The following members of the Texas delegation have not yet voiced an opinion on the sales tax deduction: Reps. Ruben Hinojosa (D), Silvestre Reyes (D), Chet Edwards (D), Sheila Jackson Lee (D), Charles Gonzalez (D), Solomon Ortiz (D), Henry Cuellar (D), Gene Green (D), Eddie Bernice Johnson (D), and Al Green (D).

The Council for Citizens Against Government Waste is the lobbying arm of Citizens Against Government Waste, a nonpartisan, nonprofit organization dedicated to eliminating waste, fraud, mismanagement, and abuse in government.