Back in 2017, during the first Trump Administration, Republicans on Capitol Hill imposed a cap on the amount of state and local taxes people could deduct from their federal tax returns. The cap limited deductions to $10,000. It was widely seen as a move to hurt Democratic-controlled states that had high property and income taxes. Ever since the SALT cap went into effect, there has been a lot of rhetoric criticizing it and a few unsuccessful efforts to repeal it.
On May 8, the Republican-controlled House Ways and Means Committee held discussions on a proposal that would raise the limit of state and local tax deductions from $10,000 to $30,000. That probably would leave many people still unable to fully deduct what they’ve actually paid in state and local taxes. House Speaker Mike Johnson said that amounts other than $30,000 also have been discussed.
Republican lawmakers from New York have come out against keeping the SALT tax cap in place but raising the ceiling on deductions to $30,000. They are Congressman Mike Lawler of the 17th New York Congressional District, Rep. Elise Stefanik of the New York 21st Congressional District, Andrew Garbarino of the New York 2nd Congressional District, and Nick LaLota of the 1st Congressional District.
In a joint statement, they said, “We’ve negotiated in good faith on SALT from the start – fighting for the taxpayers we represent in New York. Yet with no notice or agreement, the Speaker and the House Ways and Means Committee unilaterally proposed a flat $30,000 SALT cap – an amount they already knew would fall short of earning our support.”
The representatives said that the plan to keep SALT risks derailing the budget bill that President Trump wants, although they did not specifically promise to vote against Trump’s “One Big Beautiful Bill” if it still contained a SALT tax cap.
“New Yorkers already send far more to Washington than we get back – unlike many so-called ‘low-tax’ states that depend heavily on federal largesse,” the representatives said. “A higher SALT cap isn’t a luxury. It’s a matter of fairness. We reject this offer.”
