{"database": "press", "table": "releases", "rows": [["http://www.cantwell.senate.gov/public/index.cfm/press-releases?ContentRecord_id=f844a39f-9d3a-4bfc-8827-f7b692ca82f6", "Cantwell Announces 1-Year Extension of State Sales Tax Deduction for 2014", "2014-12-16", "2014", "2014-12", "Democrat", "House", "WA", "Maria Cantwell", "C000127", "www.cantwell.senate.gov", null, null, "legacy", "12.16.14\n    \t\t\t Cantwell Announces 1-Year Extension of State Sales Tax Deduction for 2014  \n    \t\t\t\n    \t\t\t\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t \n\t\n\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\n        \n    \t\t\t\t Congress passes key tax bill, will allow Washingtonians to deduct state sales tax on April\u2019s tax filings\n    \t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\n    \t\t\t WASHINGTON, D.C. \u2013 Today, Senator Maria Cantwell (D-WA) applauded U.S. Senate passage of a tax bill that will enable Washingtonians to claim the state and local sales tax deduction on their 2014 federal income taxes. The bill, the Tax Increase Prevention Act of 2014, also includes other critical Cantwell priorities including tax credits for hiring veterans, building low-income housing and producing clean energy.\r\n\u00a0\r\nThe tax bill passed the Senate by a margin of 76 to 16. It has already passed the U.S. House of Representatives and now goes to President Obama\u2019s desk for signature. Washington is among eight states that don\u2019t have an income tax and, therefore, taxpayers can\u2019t claim an income tax deduction on their federal returns. Congress let the sales tax deduction expire at the end of 2013, which left its future in doubt.\r\n\u00a0\r\nCantwell, a member of the Senate Finance Committee, helped to craft the Senate package of tax extenders, which passed the Committee in April. She fought for the sales tax deduction\u2019s inclusion in the bill.\r\n\u00a0\r\n\u201cTonight, we can say that Washingtonians can take the sales receipts they have this year and make sure they are deducted from their tax obligations for 2014,\u201d Cantwell said in a Senate floor speech tonight. \u201cI hope we\u2019ll be here someday when we can get permanent tax fairness into the code. That means a permanent provision so we don\u2019t have to come back here every year and get the tax fairness our states deserve. Let\u2019s make sure we take these provisions that are so important for our economy to move forward to give the taxpayers predictability and certainty.\u201d\r\n\u00a0\r\nVideo of Senator Cantwell\u2019s floor speech is available here.\r\n\u00a0\r\nSince 2004, Cantwell has led bipartisan efforts to ensure the sales tax deduction remains in effect and to provide tax fairness for taxpayers in Washington state and other states that don\u2019t have an income tax, and therefore, can\u2019t claim a state income tax deduction. Cantwell has repeatedly introduced legislation to make the deduction permanent, including an amendment earlier in 2014 in the Senate Finance Committee. Cantwell fought to get a two-year extension of the sales tax deduction in the deal that Congress reached Jan. 1, 2013, to avert the fiscal cliff.\r\n\u00a0\r\nAbout 900,000 Washington state taxpayers took advantage of the state sales tax deduction in 2012, reducing their taxable income by $1.9 billion, according to IRS data. Washington state taxpayers saved an average of $602 with the state sales tax deduction in 2012, according to a Pew Charitable Trusts report. Washington is among eight states, including Alaska, Florida, Nevada, South Dakota, Tennessee, Texas and Wyoming, in which taxpayers don\u2019t pay a state income tax, and therefore, can\u2019t claim an income tax deduction on their tax returns.\r\n\u00a0\r\n\u201cThe state and local sales tax deduction promotes economic growth across Washington,\u201d said Lori Mattson, President & CEO of the Tri-City Regional Chamber of Commerce.\u00a0 \u201cThe deduction ensures hundreds of millions of dollars stay in our state and are spent locally.\u00a0 As the fastest-growing community in Washington, this has a huge impact on local jobs and businesses in the Tri-Cities.\u201d\r\n\u00a0\r\n\u201cContinuing the deduction for state sales taxes paid will enable more dollars to be retained by taxpayers and circulated back into our local economy resulting in a positive economic stimulus,\u201d said Chuck Zimmerman, President of the Board of Directors, Wenatchee Valley Chamber of Commerce.\r\n\u00a0\r\n\u201cThis keeps us on equal footing with those in other states who can deduct an income tax, but it also benefits Washington businesses by removing what would otherwise be a financial incentive to customers to shop across state lines,\u201d said Verlynn Best, President and CEO of the Greater Yakima Chamber of Commerce. \r\n\u00a0\r\n\u201cIn Walla Walla, this means that our residents will have more disposable income to spend at the small businesses that employ the vast majority of our friends and neighbors, and that make our town the community that it is,\u201d said David Woolson, President and CEO of the Walla Walla Valley Chamber of Commerce. \u201cFor this reason, the Walla Walla Valley Chamber of Commerce appreciates all of the hard work that our Congressional delegation is putting in to ensure that the state and local tax deduction is extended and/or made permanent.\u201d\r\n\u00a0\r\nThe legislation includes several other tax provisions championed by Senator Cantwell that are critical to Washington state, including:\r\n \r\nVeterans\u2019 Work Opportunity Tax Credit: The legislation includes a one-year extension of a tax incentive that helped Washington state employers hire 16,000 veterans since October 2012. It encourages businesses to hire returning veterans through a tax credit of up to $9,600.\r\n \r\n\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\r\n \r\nLow Income Housing Tax Credit: This provision is designed to get more affordable housing built in hard-to-serve areas and challenging areas due to high costs. Since the program was created in 1986, it has helped finance more than 2.4 million affordable apartments nationwide, including more than 56,000 in Washington, and has supported 95,000 jobs annually \u2013 many of which are in the small business sector.\r\n \r\n\u201cThe economy in this state benefits highly from low-income tax credits, both for the housing units that have been built and the jobs that have been created in their construction,\u201d said Karen Miller, Chairwoman of the Washington State Housing and Finance Commission.\r\n \r\nNew Markets Tax Credit:\u00a0 This provision encourages investment in economically challenged areas. Cantwell is a long-time supporter of the New Markets Tax Credit, which has supported thousands of jobs in Washington state and more than 350,000 jobs across the nation. In Washington state, between 2003 and 2010, $650 million in NMTC investments leveraged more than $1.2 billion in total project investments and helped create nearly 6,000 full-time jobs and 8,000 construction jobs.\r\n \r\n\u201cNew Markets Tax Credits are a valuable tool we use to attract companies bringing family-wage jobs to our lower-income communities,\u201d said Todd Coleman, Executive Director of the Port of Vancouver. \u201cA great example is Farwest Steel, a company that, with the help of new markets tax credits, built a facility at the Port of Vancouver in 2010 and now employs more than 250 people.\u201d\r\n \r\nEnergy production: The legislation extends for one year a tax incentive to encourage production of wind and solar energy. Earlier this year, Cantwell introduced a bipartisan amendment with Sen. Chuck Grassley (R-IA) to extend the wind production tax credit for another two years. \r\n \r\n\u201cWind Energy development has had a dramatic impact on our rural community. It has almost tripled our tax base, created new living wage jobs, brought new revenue to farmers, and expanded economic activity throughout the region,\u201d said Jennie Dickinson, Manager, Port of Columbia in Columbia County.\u00a0 \u201cAfter decades of suffering from declines in employment and population, this industry has breathed new life into our community.\u201d\r\n\u201cWithout the tax credit, wind energy development in Klickitat County and across Washington state would not be viable,\u201d said the Klickitat County Board of Commissioners.\r\n \r\nBiodiesel tax credit: The bill will extend the $1-per-gallon tax credit for biodiesel producers. Industry growth slowed after Congress let the credit expire in 2012 and production remained flat at just under 1.1 billion gallons \u2013 the same level as 2011.\u00a0When the credit was reinstated in 2013, the U.S. biodiesel industry produced 1.8 billion gallons in that year. Cantwell and Grassley introduced separate legislation earlier this year to renew the credit.\r\n \r\n \r\nCommuter Tax Benefit: Commuters will be allowed retroactively to take advantage of a pre-tax benefit of $245 per month for public transit use in 2014. The transit benefit dropped to $130 per month on January 1, affecting about 1,600 employers in King County. Cantwell has called for parity for transit users and the legislation passed today reinstates the previous benefit so transit commuters continue getting the same amount drivers receive to cover parking costs.\r\n \r\n\u00a0\r\n \r\nResearch and Development: The legislation extends for businesses a 20 percent credit for research spending that exceeds predicted R&D costs for that year. Since its enactment in mid-1981, the credit has been extended 15 times and significantly modified five times. In addition, Cantwell cosponsored a bipartisan amendment that enables small startups to use the credit and increase domestic innovation.\r\n \r\n\u201cAs the State's Land Grant institution, our researchers work hard to meet the needs of our industry partners and the R&D Tax credit promotes that collaboration,\u201d said Mel Netzhammer, Chancellor of Washington State University Vancouver.\r\n\u201cIncreasing the research capacity in Clark County is a key component of developing new industry clusters and assisting existing clusters grow,\u201d said Mike Bomar, President of the Columbia River Economic Development Council.\u00a0 \u201cPrograms that support this endeavor, such as the R&D tax credit, help incentivize this important piece of our long-term economic development strategy for the region.\u201d\r\n\u00a0\r\n###", 1, "2026-03-30T12:14:52Z", "2026-03-30T12:14:52Z"]], "columns": ["url", "title", "date", "year", "month", "party", "chamber", "state", "member_name", "bioguide_id", "domain", "scraper", "source", "date_source", "text", "has_text", "collected_at", "updated_at"], "primary_keys": ["url"], "primary_key_values": ["http://www.cantwell.senate.gov/public/index.cfm/press-releases?ContentRecord_id=f844a39f-9d3a-4bfc-8827-f7b692ca82f6"], "units": {}, "query_ms": 1.635150983929634, "source": "dwillis/congress-press", "source_url": "https://github.com/dwillis/congress-press", "license": "MIT", "license_url": "https://github.com/dwillis/congress-press/blob/main/LICENSE"}