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State reps. launch fight to reinstate tax deductions taken away by Trump admin.

<p>Two of New Jersey&rsquo;s representatives in Congress say that they have officially launched their fight to reinstate the state and local tax (SALT) deductions taken away by the Trump administration.</p>

News 12 Staff

Nov 20, 2018, 1:54 PM

Updated 2,213 days ago

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Two of New Jersey’s representatives in Congress say that they have officially launched their fight to reinstate the state and local tax (SALT) deductions taken away by the Trump administration.
Under the new federal tax reform, Americans are only able to deduct up to $10,000 in state and local taxes on their tax returns. But many New Jerseyans pay more than that. New Jersey has the highest property taxes in the nation.
Reps. Bill Pascrell and Josh Gottheimer held a media event in Ramsey, in front of a salt dome to emphasis their point.
“New Jerseyans don’t like being disrespected. We don’t like being targeted,” Pascrell said.
When federal tax reform went into effect, lowering income and corporate taxes, the full deduction for costly property taxes paid by many New Jersey homeowners went away.
Gov. Phil Murphy and other state leaders tried to create workaround after the federal tax reform went into effect. Murphy signed a bill that would allow New Jersey towns to set up charitable funds for their residents to donate 90 percent of their tax bills to, in exchange for tax credits. It would allow them to avoid the $10,000 cap.
But the IRS pushed back against that plan. The agency said that it gets to decide what is deductible, not states.
Pascrell and Gottheimer now say that with Democrats in control of the U.S. House of Representatives, reinstating the tax has a chance. But the Senate and President Donald Trump would need to reverse course on a major piece of Trump’s agenda.