Congresswoman Suzan DelBene (WA-01) praised House passage of a bipartisan bill to permanently allow Washingtonians to deduct state and local sales tax from their income taxes.

“Making the sales tax deduction permanent is about fairness for millions of Americans, including those in Washington’s First District, who live in states that do not assess income taxes,” DelBene said. “Washington taxpayers shouldn’t have to depend on whether or not Congress is able to grant a temporary extension of this commonsense policy. This bill provides tax-relief for Washington’s working families and will help keep dollars here in our state, supporting our local economy.”

More than 20 percent of the country’s population resides in Washington, Florida, Alaska, New Hampshire, Nevada, South Dakota, Tennessee, Texas and Wyoming, all of which do not collect a state income tax. Instead, these states use sales tax to fund state and local services.

The current tax code contains a permanent federal tax deduction for income taxes, but excludes a permanent deduction for sales tax. In 2004, Congress temporarily restored the state and local sales tax deduction, but did not make it permanent. Since then, Congress has temporarily extended this deduction four times. H.R. 622 would make the deduction permanent in the tax code.

The bill now heads to the Senate for further action.