Let Tennesseans deduct sales tax on federal tax returns

• Taxpayers in other states are able to deduct their state income tax on their federal returns.
• The deduction must be reauthorized annually and might not be available for tax year 2015.
• President Obama has threatened to veto sales tax deduction.

Last week marked the annual April 15 tax filing deadline. Thankfully, the tax day burden is a little lighter here in Tennessee due to our standing as one of only nine states in the Union without an income tax on wages. That’s a distinction that we’re proud of.

In fact, Tennesseans felt so strongly on this issue that a state income tax is now permanently banned in our Constitution. But we all know government gets its hands on your paycheck one way or another, so we do have a state and local sales tax that can be as high as 9.75 percent in parts of my district.

Taxpayers in other states are able to deduct their state income tax on their federal returns, and it only makes sense that a similar deduction would be made available in states like Tennessee that exercise our right not to pile on additional income taxes of our own.

For this reason, Congress enacted a temporary tax provision a decade ago allowing taxpayers in states like ours to take an itemized deduction for sales taxes in place of the deduction for income taxes.

In 2012, more than 18 percent of Tennesseans did exactly that — getting an average deduction of $404. Those funds could then be applied to a child’s education, put into a savings account for a rainy day or spent right here in our state to help stimulate the local economy.

But too often, hardworking Tennesseans have not been able to count on this credit being available from one year to the next. The deduction must be reauthorized annually and, barring Congressional action, will not be available for tax year 2015.

To that end, I joined with my colleagues in the House to pass the State and Local Sales Tax Deduction Fairness Act. This bipartisan measure would make the sales tax deduction permanent — in turn giving peace of mind to Tennessee families by ensuring that this needed credit is not subject to the political tug-of-war in Washington.

The sales tax deduction is not a loophole for the wealthy and well-connected. It is a matter of basic fairness and is a critical savings tool that middle-class families in our state use year in and year out.

Sadly, President Barack Obama doesn’t see it that way. For all his talk of a “better bargain for the middle class” and despite this bill’s bipartisan support, he has promised to oppose the measure — issuing his 21st veto threat in only 100 days.

President Obama gets it wrong on the sales tax deduction. For the sake of my constituents — and, if nothing else, the votes his party will be courting from middle-class Americans next November — he should back off his veto threat and join our bipartisan House majority in supporting the State and Local Sales Tax Deduction Fairness Act without delay.

Rep. Diane Black, R-Gallatin, represents Tennessee's Sixth District in the U.S. House of Representatives.