By Michael Benjamin
http://stream.publicbroadcasting.net/production/mp3/wrvo/local-wrvo-952560.mp3
WRVO – Kirsten Gillibrand (D-NY) says the first bill she's introducing in the 112th session of Congress would allow anyone who pays property taxes to deduct the full amount that they pay from the federal income taxes.
"Right now," she says, "only homeowners who itemize their taxes are allowed to deduct the full cost of their property taxes from their federal insurance, so my legislation would make the property taxes fully deductible for individuals who don't itemize their taxes."
"And," says Gillibrand, "studies show that that's typically a lot of middle class families and working families who don't itemize, so we're going to try to go after families that it can make the most difference in helping them make ends meet."
Gillibrand says people who don't itemize their taxes were briefly allowed to deduct their property tax payments for a period during the housing crisis. She says restoring that break is one of three things that her bill would accomplish.
"First," she says, "it will once again allow the taxpayers who do not itemize their taxes to deduct their property tax payments. Second, there would be no cap to what homeowners could deduct, allowing New Yorkers to deduct the full amount of their property taxes. Third, we will make the property tax deduction permanent, so taxpayers who do not itemize can always get the same tax savings as those who do bringing a new level of fairness to our nation's tax laws for up to 30 million Americans."
Gillibrand says that includes more than one million homeowners in New York. She says it could result in up to one billion dollars in savings for New York homeowners.
In Central New York, she says 120,000 homeowners could save more than $75 million.