9/30/2019

Blue States Told 'No' By Federal Judge On SALT Deductions

A number of Blue States are singing the blues now that a federal judge has dismissed a case filed by four Blue States (New York, New Jersey, Connecticut and Maryland) challenging the $10,000 deduction cap on state and local taxes (SALT) from federal tax returns.

They alleged that the new limit on the SALT deduction, part of the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act of 2017, was “an unconstitutional assault on states’ sovereign choices.”

In the dismissal, U.S. District Judge J. Paul Oetken in Manhattan said the plaintiff states ultimately failed to show that the SALT cap was unconstitutionally coercive or that it imposed on their own sovereign rights.

Basically, they were upset that their residents could no longer write off the high taxes they were imposing upon them which made them more visible then they had been before. It also meant that residents of low tax states weren’t going to continue subsidizing the residents of high tax states because they didn’t have the tax deductions those in high tax states enjoyed. The four states thought it should be otherwise and filed suit to prevent it. The judge disagreed.

I have a suggestion for those high tax Blue States: Stop spending money on things you don’t need or things that ‘sound good’ and stop taxing the bejeezus out of your citizens to pay for it all.