The U.S. House of Representatives passed a tax reform bill with a relief provision supported by Rep. Jaime Herrera Beutler, R-Wash., Thursday.
The bill includes a permanent extension of the state and local sales tax deduction that allows residents of states without a state income tax, which includes Washington state, to deduct state and local sales tax from their tax federal tax returns.
Citizens of states with income taxes are able to deduce those taxes from their returns, according to a press release.
For many years national lawmakers have passed short-term extensions of the sales tax deduction.
According to the release, 27.7 percent of Washingtonians used the deduction in 2012, saving taxpayers an average of $602 per claim.
“This solution gives fairness in the tax code to Southwest Washington families who have already dutifully paid their taxes,” Herrera Beutler is quoted in the release. “A mom from Chehalis can spend that money — averaging $602 — on things that matter to her family.”
The House passed the bill 318-109.
