Trump discusses tax cuts for New Yorkers with GOP lawmakers
WASHINGTON — President-elect Donald Trump reiterated his support for undoing a major provision of his 2017 tax law on Saturday when he told more than a dozen House Republicans at his Florida estate to come up with a plan for increasing the state and local tax deduction, according to four lawmakers who attended.
Republicans put a $10,000 cap on the deduction, often called SALT, during Trump’s first term to help cover the cost of the broader 2017 tax law they passed along party lines. The change upset lawmakers from both parties in high-tax states such as New York and New Jersey, who have since made it a central political promise to restore a valuable deduction for residents in their states.
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The yearslong quest to restore the deduction — or at least increase its limit — got a boost during the presidential campaign when Trump said he would “get SALT back.”
But the House Republicans demanding an increase to the limit have not yet agreed among themselves on the details.
Some have called for raising the limit for the deduction as high as $200,000. Others have more modest ambitions, including a smaller increase in the deduction’s limit that would be paired with gradual hikes over time that match the pace of inflation.
Right now, the $10,000 cap applies to both individuals and married couples, and the group seems in agreement that couples should take a larger deduction than individuals.
At the meeting Saturday, House Republicans from New York, New Jersey and California offered a variety of ideas to Trump about how to address the issue, according to the attendees.
Lifting the cap on the deduction is expensive, and Republicans are already grappling with the vast cost of the tax bill they plan to pass this year.
