U.S. Rep. Josh Gottheimer (D-N.J.) speaks during a news conference about the SALT Caucus outside the U.S. Capitol in Washington, DC, Wednesday, February 8, 2023.
Matt McClain | The Washington Post | Getty Images
House members are using former President Donald Trump’s own words as leverage to pressure their colleagues to preserve the original state and local tax breaks, in a fight that will take shape next year.
Salt deduct Allows taxpayers to deduct up to $10,000 of property, sales or income taxes paid to state and local governments. Historically, most taxpayers claiming the deduction lived in high-tax states such as New York, Connecticut, New Jersey and California.
But during Trump’s presidency and after he signed the $1.5 trillion tax bill in 2017, the SALT cap became law and a new version of the deduction was used as a way to pay for it. Before the Trump tax bill, there was no cap on SALT.
House members are currently strategizing on how to maintain the unlimited SALT tax deduction in the next Congress, as the SALT cap provision in the Trump tax bill will be December 31, 2025.
If Trump is re-elected as president and Republicans hold majorities in both chambers, some House Republicans will urge their party leadership to consider alternative payments for Trump’s tax plan, which would include cutting the corporate tax rate from 21% to 15%. %, according to Rep. Andrew Garbarino (R-N.Y.)
Some recent conversations have reflected Trump’s new position on restoring the full SALT deduction, despite his bill being the reason for the $10,000 cap.
Garbarino said he and Reps. Anthony D’Esposito (R-N.Y.) and Nick LaLota (R-N.Y.) met with House Ways and Means Committee chairs as recently as Tuesday on Capitol Hill (Republican Missouri) Jason Smith, discussed the need to restore the full SALT deduction.
During the meeting, three New York Republicans pointed to Trump’s promise in a social media post that he would “take back the SALT” if he were elected president as an incentive for Smith not to make any major changes once the SALT deduction is deducted. . House Ways & Means is responsible for assisting with the drafting and passage of tax legislation.
“He (Trump) wants it back,” Garbarino said in an interview with CNBC about how they recently pitched Smith. Garbarino said the chairman of the House Ways and Means Committee “said ‘Look, guys, we’re looking at all (paid) options.'”
Rep. Young Kim, R-Calif., told CNBC in a statement that the SALT cap is “hurting” her constituents and said Trump’s recent comments on SALT showed he hears from “Americans across the country who are hurting by the SALT cap.” sound.
“We will definitely have a seat at the table on the 2025 tax package,” Kim said, referring to lawmakers in SALT-reliant states who also want to maintain the original deduction in the next Congress.
Garbarino said he estimated that at least a dozen House Republicans would not support a tax bill that caps SALT at $10,000 and would at least fight to raise the cap higher.
New Jersey Rep. Josh Gottheimer said some House Democrats have their own plans to reinstate and preserve the standard SALT deduction after the cap expires.
The New Jersey House member said in an interview with CNBC that he would like to see the SALT cap expire in 2025 and that Democrats and Republicans from states that rely on the full SALT deduction would prove to have key votes in the House. Vote in the House.
“I would just say that if the Democrats had five seats, we would have enough people from the SALT states to restore the full deduction and lower taxes on middle-class families,” Gottheimer said. “That’s going to be a big deal. A battle.”
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