news

Washington, DC – U.S. Representative Brian Babin (TX-36) voted today for House-passage of two important bills that cut taxes and provide certainty for Texas taxpayers, the State and Local Sales Tax Deduction Fairness Act (H.R. 622) and the Death Tax Repeal Act (H.R. 1105).

“Hardworking Texas taxpayers should not be punished for living in a tax-friendly state like Texas,” said Rep. Babin. “Permanently restoring the sales tax deduction will create a level-playing field for Texas taxpayers and save Texans roughly a billion dollars a year. I am proud to support this legislation, as well as a bipartisan bill to fully repeal the death tax. The death tax is an unfair tax that penalizes Texas farmers and ranchers who want to hand down their small business to the next generation. These two bipartisan bills provide critical tax relief to Texas taxpayers and ensure their hard-earned dollars stay in our communities rather than in Washington’s coffers.”

Additional information on these two bills:

• H.R. 622, the State and Local Sales Tax Deduction Fairness Act would permanently allow citizens of states like Texas that do not levy an income tax to instead deduct their sales taxes from their federal tax obligation. Since 2004, the state sales tax deduction has allowed Texas taxpayers to save more than $10 billion.

• H.R. 1105, the Death Tax Repeal Act would permanently repeal the estate tax, also known as the death tax, which is a 40 percent tax on an individual's transfer of assets in excess of an exemption amount to the next generation at the time of his or her death. In many cases, this "estate" is a small business or family farm, and a death tax bill can make a families loss even more devastating.