Special to the Times-Review
U.S. Rep. Chet Edwards, D-Waco, said on Wednesday that he supported House passage of a bill providing tax relief to middle class families and businesses and allowing Texas taxpayers to continue to deduct local and state sales taxes from their federal income taxes.
The House approved the bill by a 241-181 vote on Wednesday.
“This legislation provides tax relief for hard-working, Texas families and makes the right investments to encourage businesses to invest in research and develop new products,” Edwards said. “As our economy is beginning to recover from the worst recession since the Great Depression, middle-class tax cuts like these will help create thousands of good-paying American jobs.”
The bill extends the state sales tax deduction, which could be worth several hundred dollars for a Texas family of four that itemizes deductions on its federal tax return, Edwards said.
Edwards said he has worked on a bipartisan basis since 2004 to extend the sales tax deduction provision for Texas taxpayers.
“The principle behind making sales taxes deductible is simple,” Edwards said. “The federal government has no business penalizing taxpayers in states like Texas that choose to use a state sales tax instead of an income tax.”
The bill also supports businesses by extending the research and development tax credit to spur American innovation and business investment, Edwards said, and cuts taxes for millions of Americans, including teachers, college students and families.
The bill includes $17 billion in business tax relief, $5 billion in tax cuts for individuals and about $7 billion for tax provisions that encourage charitable contributions, Edwards said.
