MM Money

Few People Aware Of New State Sales Tax Deduction

Excerpt: Some state officials are hoping that the state sales tax deduction will keep thousands of Washingtonians from skipping across the borders to plunk down their money, so that big-ticket consumers like Dow can count, and spend, their savings in the state.

When Brandon Dow was lugging his newly bought couch back from Portland in the middle of last January's bitter ice storm, he thought he was crazy to have crossed state lines just to avoid Washington's sales tax.

Dow could not have known that President Bush would sign the American Jobs Creation Act 10 months later, passing with it a provision that makes Washington's state sales tax deductible from federal income taxes this year and next.

Some state officials are hoping that the state sales tax deduction will keep thousands of Washingtonians from skipping across the borders to plunk down their money, so that big-ticket consumers like Dow can count, and spend, their savings in the state.

Unfortunately for large spenders and the business owners who love them, the state sales tax deduction became law without much hoopla. Retailers and analysts are saying it won't leave a ripple in holiday sales, and even supporters of the bill say that people "won't really get it" until they see it in their tax refunds.

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