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U.S. Rep. Paul Hodes yesterday proposed giving homeowners a permanent federal tax break to whittle away at New Hampshire’s soaring property tax burden.

Hodes, D-N.H., has introduced legislation to allow those who do not qualify for itemizing their local and state property taxes to get a standard deduction on their federal income tax returns.

Homeowners would get a standard deduction up to $50 for individuals and up to $1,000 for married couples filing jointly.

It would mostly benefit lower-income homeowners, whose itemized deductions do not exceed the standard deduction, and people who have paid off their homes.

The standard deduction was first enacted in 20008. It was extended to 2009 as part of the economic bailout bill President Bush signed into law.

Hodes said lowering the tax burden would help economic recovery and the deduction would be important to many working families.

"Anything we can do to help people is important," he said.

Hodes introduced the bill with U.S. Rep. Cynthia Lumus, R-Wyo.

Gerald Prant, economist at the Tax Foundation, a non-partisan organization in Washington, D.C., said the intent is similar to several measures proposed in recent years.

"What these politicians are trying to do is move deductions over to everybody," Prante said.

In the aggregate, he said, these itemizations are costly.

The federal income tax break for 2009 will cost an estimated $1.5 billion, according to Hodes’ office.

Hodes cited Tax Foundation figures, based on Census data from 2005 to 2007, that New Hampshire has one of the heaviest property tax burdens in the country.

Matthew Murphy, executive director of the New Hampshire Advantage Coalition, said the tax relief would be quashed by record federal spending on Capitol Hill. The coalition, which touted Tax Day protests in April, has also protested the government’s economic stimulus spending.

"To me, it seems that Congressman Hodes doesn’t understand the reason why property taxes are so high," said Murphy. "This bill doesn’t address the spending at the federal level or the mandates that get shifted down to the states and onto local property taxes.