GOP Split on State and Local Deduction Could Produce Unlikely Winner: Texas

WASHINGTON — Texas could benefit from the GOP's ongoing fracture over whether the party's soon-to-be released tax revamp should jettison a contentious provision that allows taxpayers to deduct state and local taxes from their federal taxable income.The Lone Star State has been almost entirely absent from that squabble, which has pitted GOP leadership against Republicans from New York and other states with high state and local taxes.But Rep. Kevin Brady, the Texas Republican who serves as the House's top tax writer, has pitched a compromise that would retain taxpayers' ability to deduct property taxes, while still ditching that break for state and local income and sales taxes.Texas has no state income tax and relatively high property taxes, meaning that Texans who itemize their tax returns would see less of a hit.  Continue reading...