Tennessee needs the restoration of a sales tax deduction from federal taxes.  I fought hard to include a sales tax deduction for our state in the President's tax relief bill.  Unfortunately, this important priority was not included in the final bill.  But I am working every angle to prepare for another opportunity. 

 The repeal of the sales tax deduction in 1986 caused a significant gap between states that raise revenue using an income tax and those using a sales tax.  Residents of Tennessee, Washington, Texas, Alaska, Florida, South Dakota, Wyoming, and Nevada pay higher taxes to the federal government than a similar taxpayer in other states.  That means that residents of states without income taxes are contributing too much money to the federal budget. 

We need to give taxpayers the option to deduct either state and local income taxes or state sales taxes.  Residents of Tennessee deserve a remedy to this inequity so we can keep more of our hard-earned money and not be unfairly treated in federal tax law.