Even after losing the state and local income tax deduction, taxpayers in New York and other high-tax blue states would still end up ahead under the Republican tax reform bill, analysts say.
But that message is having a tough time breaking through the din in Washington.
Democrats have seized on the state and local tax deduction, or SALT, as their chief argument against the tax code overhaul, warning of an electoral backlash from middle-class suburbanites against Republicans if the plan is approved.
There is one problem: SALT is not a middle-class tax break. The benefit of the write-off goes overwhelmingly to high-income earners in high-tax blue states, several economists said.
“SALT is a classic tax preference for the rich that Democrats should be opposing,” said Brian Riedl, an economist at the conservative-leaning Manhattan Institute who has been studying the tax reform plans.
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But that message is having a tough time breaking through the din in Washington.
Democrats have seized on the state and local tax deduction, or SALT, as their chief argument against the tax code overhaul, warning of an electoral backlash from middle-class suburbanites against Republicans if the plan is approved.
There is one problem: SALT is not a middle-class tax break. The benefit of the write-off goes overwhelmingly to high-income earners in high-tax blue states, several economists said.
“SALT is a classic tax preference for the rich that Democrats should be opposing,” said Brian Riedl, an economist at the conservative-leaning Manhattan Institute who has been studying the tax reform plans.
More
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