Congressional Candidate for the 16th District in New York, Democrat George Latimer today announced as part of his economic and housing plan his commitment to restore the full deduction for State and Local Taxes (“SALT”) for taxpayers in the Bronx and Westchester. As County Executive, Latimer has fought to control the tax burden on homeowners, and he will continue fighting to protect pocketbooks and wallets as the district’s representative in Washington DC.
“New York taxpayers continue to face an unfair economic burden as a result of Donald Trump and congressional Republicans drastically capping the SALT deduction in 2017; a change implemented knowingly to have a disproportionate negative impact on homeowners in states like New York,” said NY-16 Congressional Candidate George Latimer.
“While spun as a tax on the rich, the SALT deduction cap has a disproportionate impact on seniors and the middle class in my district, where property values and the cost-of-living rank among the highest in the nation. Working with Kamala Harris and House Democratic leadership to restore the full SALT deduction will be a top priority of mine as a member of Congress.”
In 2017, with the support of Republican House and Senate majorities, former President Trump signed into law the so called “Tax Cuts and Jobs Act”, drastically capping the SALT deduction to $10,000 for both individual and joint filing taxpayers. Prior to implementing the SALT cap, New York residents were entitled to deduct the full amount of state and local taxes against their federal income tax liability. The cap has a disproportionate impact on New Yorkers subject to local property taxes, where the median home price is ranked 3rd in the nation. While imposing this unfair burden on middle class New Yorkers, Trump and his cronies gave massive tax breaks to billionaires and for corporations moving their profits overseas. In a further slight to New York taxpayers, Congressional Republicans rejected an opportunity to provide some relief by increasing the deduction cap this past February.
Restoring the full SALT deduction for his constituents is part and parcel to Latimer’s record of fighting for taxpayers while maintaining a high level of essential government services. This includes Latimer’s signing of five consecutive county property tax cuts, as well as raising the real property tax exemption for veterans, and providing tax exemptions for volunteer fire and EMS workers who give their time to protect our community.
| (Bronx/Westchester) – |
