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JustAnotherGen

(33,549 posts)
Tue Feb 12, 2019, 01:59 PM Feb 2019

Stop Attacking Local Taxpayers (SALT) act of 2019

https://www.menendez.senate.gov/news-and-events/press/as-tax-season-begins-menendez-pascrell-lead-legislation-to-repeal-trump-tax-attack-on-middle-class-families

Just in case anyone wonders about the NJ delegation to DC and why we voted the way we did - this is why.

I kind of like how they kept the same acronym - but told it like it is.

Full press release from Senator Menendez at the link:

The Stop Attacking Local Taxpayers (SALT) Act of 2019 fully restores the SALT deduction, which has been part of the tax code since the federal income tax was created in 1913. It also restores the top individual income tax rate at 39.6%, the rate at which upper income was taxed prior to passage of the Trump Tax Law. Rammed through the Republican-controlled Congress on a party-line vote in December 2017, the Trump Tax Law gave huge tax breaks to the super rich and giant corporations, while hiking taxes on the middle class and capping SALT at $10,000. This is the first tax-filing season under the new law, which went into effect for the 2018 tax year.

The SALT deduction allows taxpayers to write-off taxes paid at the state and local level from their federal income tax bill so they won’t be subject to being taxed twice on the same dollar. In addition to helping families avoid double taxation, the SALT deduction supports the ability of communities, cities, and states to raise their own revenues and fund critical investments in public education, infrastructure, social services, and public safety.

In 2017, about 30% of taxpayers claimed the deduction, and more than 80% of those filers earned under $200,000—middle class in high cost-of-living states. In New Jersey, 1.8 million or 40% of taxpayers deducted their local property and state income taxes in 2016, the last year the data is available, averaging $18,000 per deduction.

According to a recent survey by the New Jersey Society of Certified Public Accountants (NJCPA) of more than 300 CPAs in the state, more than 63% said their individual and family clients earning less than $200,000 will see their federal tax bill rise as a result of the SALT cap. Nearly 70% said the SALT cap would definitely or somewhat influence their advice to clients on whether to leave New Jersey. One CPA said, “I had a client who earns $60,000 and she lost $2,500 of refund compared to 2017. Another said, “It seems that Trump did not understand or fully appreciate the affect this would have on middle class taxpayers in high tax states like N.J.”
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Stop Attacking Local Taxpayers (SALT) act of 2019 (Original Post) JustAnotherGen Feb 2019 OP
I totally believe Trump understood what he was doing. no_hypocrisy Feb 2019 #1
Re Ryan and McConnell JustAnotherGen Feb 2019 #2
I think this is one of their strategies, actually... Perrenial Voter Feb 2019 #3
I forgot how long their game was JustAnotherGen Feb 2019 #6
SALT Good. MF45 Bad. Jrsygrl96 Feb 2019 #4
I'm sorry Jrsygrl JustAnotherGen Feb 2019 #5

no_hypocrisy

(48,782 posts)
1. I totally believe Trump understood what he was doing.
Tue Feb 12, 2019, 02:05 PM
Feb 2019

I can't believe Paul Ryan and/or Mitch McConnell were persuaded on their own to double-tax blue state taxpayers.

JustAnotherGen

(33,549 posts)
2. Re Ryan and McConnell
Tue Feb 12, 2019, 02:18 PM
Feb 2019

I can. They knew precisely what they were doing.

Joe Manchin needs to be contacted for his vote. I'll wait a few days then post it in the WV forums. Alabama's Doug Jones is a sure thing. They (AL) will get Federal Contracts no matter what.

 

Perrenial Voter

(173 posts)
3. I think this is one of their strategies, actually...
Tue Feb 12, 2019, 02:22 PM
Feb 2019

punishing those who didn't vote Republican When G W Bush came into power, Karl Rove was reported to have a database showing county-level voting results that was used to make spending decisions.

JustAnotherGen

(33,549 posts)
6. I forgot how long their game was
Tue Feb 12, 2019, 02:56 PM
Feb 2019

I remember my outrage at site for women that had a board devoted to politics in the early 2000's. It was one of those discussions that a member there - lead me to DU.

Jrsygrl96

(181 posts)
4. SALT Good. MF45 Bad.
Tue Feb 12, 2019, 02:35 PM
Feb 2019

For the tax year 2018 my husband and I will not itemize since all the things we used to be able to write off are gone (i.e. accountant fees, work clothes, union dues, teaching supplies, etc). We are allowed $20,000 in SALT deductions. We live in NJ, hubby works in NY. Last year we paid $9,100 in NY state tax alone. Our property taxes in NJ are $10,000, and we live in a town that has one of the lowest tax rates in the state! We have not filed income taxes yet, but the new Republican tax plan is going to kill us.

It's hard enough trying to keep our head above water with a child in college! They want to make it about race and immigration. It's NOT!! It's rich vs. poor. They do not want a middle class! And they are winning. 😤😤😤

JustAnotherGen

(33,549 posts)
5. I'm sorry Jrsygrl
Tue Feb 12, 2019, 02:43 PM
Feb 2019

I'm in Hunterdon County - we have no kids - but the property taxes that would be for a mansion in Arkansas. I don't regret the public schools, expansion of federal health, etc. etc.

I don't regret it. I know my local school board, Mayor, and Council will spend those dollars much more effectively (low income school lunches, assistance for seniors, etc. etc.) than a Senator from say - Mississippi will. What are they gonna do with it? Erect another Confederate Statue?

Don't know where you are - but please contact your Congressman/woman and Bob and Cory and let them know you support the bill. If you know someone who is in an Alabama (large portion of my dad's family is there) have them call Doug Jones. If you know someone in WV - ask for their help with Manchin. Every single Democratic Party Senator will need to vote for this once it gets out of the House. Then we can focus on the few Red Senators we need.

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