HM 0001C 2003
1	House Memorial
2	A memorial to the Congress of the United States urging
3	Congress to reinstate the federal income tax deduction for
4	state and local sales taxes paid.
5
6	WHEREAS, prior to 1986, American taxpayers were allowed to
7	deduct state and local taxes paid from their federal income tax
8	liabilities, and
9	WHEREAS, the Tax Reform Act of 1986 repealed this deduction
10	while it retained the deductibility of state and local income
11	taxes, and
12	WHEREAS, the elimination of the deduction for payment of
13	state and local sales taxes created a fundamental disparity
14	adversely affecting citizens of Florida and six other states
15	that do not levy a personal income tax, and
16	WHEREAS, while citizens in the 43 other states continue to
17	deduct state and local income taxes, thereby reducing their
18	federal income tax liability, taxpayers in Florida and six other
19	states have no corresponding tax deduction, and
20	WHEREAS, in addition to fostering the inequitable treatment
21	of individual taxpayers, this disparity also has worked against
22	the states whose tax structure has no general individual income
23	tax and relies heavily on sales taxes, and
24	WHEREAS, reinstating the deductibility of state and local
25	sales taxes on federal income tax returns could generate
26	substantial benefits for Florida's families and the state's
27	economy, and
28	WHEREAS, as a matter of equity and fairness, Floridians and
29	the citizens of other states that finance their budgets without
30	an income tax deserve to benefit from federal income tax
31	deductions comparable to those already enjoyed by the majority
32	of United States taxpayers, and
33	WHEREAS, allowing taxpayers to deduct either their state
34	and local income tax or state and local sales taxes paid in a
35	given year would restore equity and fairness across the states,
36	and
37	WHEREAS, federal legislation that reinstates the
38	deductibility of state and local sales taxes is currently before
39	the Congress, NOW, THEREFORE,
40
41	Be It Resolved by the Legislature of the State of Florida:
42
43	That the Congress of the United States is respectfully
44	requested to reinstate the federal income tax deduction for
45	state and local sales taxes paid.
46	BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that copies of this memorial be
47	dispatched to the President of the United States, to the
48	President of the United States Senate, to the Speaker of the
49	United States House of Representatives, and to each member of
50	the Florida delegation to the United States Congress.