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FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
July 30, 2008
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Contact: Zach Goldberg
202-225-5801 (office) |
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BUSH SIGNS INTO LAW HOLT PROPERTY TAX RELIEF INITIATIVE
Millions of American Homeowners Who Do Not Itemize on
Federal Taxes Will Be Able To Take Additional Standard Deduction
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(Washington, D.C.) – President Bush today signed into law housing legislation that includes a property tax relief initiative that Rep. Rush Holt (NJ-12) proposed. The new Holt property tax deduction will benefit homeowners who do not itemize on their Federal tax returns. Under the law, single-filing property taxpayers will be able to take an additional standard deduction of $500 and joint filers will be able to deduct $1,000 for state and local property taxes paid or accrued. The House passed the American Housing Rescue and Foreclosure Prevention Act of 2008 on Wednesday, July 23 by a vote of 272 to 152.
“Among the economic challenges millions of New Jerseyans and Americans face during this downturn – along with rising gas prices, food costs and college tuition – is high property taxes. My constituents bear the burden of paying some of the highest property tax rates in the country,” Holt said. “I am pleased Congress approved and the President signed into law my initiative to provide some relief to families struggling with rising property taxes.”
In 2005, there were 72.3 million owner-occupied households in the United States, but only 40.5 million taxpayers claimed an itemized deduction for real estate property taxes. The more than 30 million homeowners who don’t currently benefit from property tax deductions include elderly homeowners who no longer itemize in order to receive a mortgage interest deduction but are still subject to high property taxes.
The standard federal tax deduction is adjusted each year for inflation, but that adjustment does not take into account the rising property tax values and increases. Based on Census data, the total amount of state and local property taxes paid in the United States increased by 50 percent from 2000 to 2006. Over the same period of time, inflation increased by only 17 percent. Over that time, median household income actually dropped by 2 percent.
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