How Should NJ Respond to the GOP Tax Plan?
Response must be comprehensive and include more than SALT ‘workarounds’; plans to make state tax code fairer should proceed
The GOP tax plan is now law, and states are grappling with how the enormous federal tax cuts will play out for their residents. Much of the conversation in New Jersey has been focused on a relatively narrow provision of the plan: the new federal limit on the deductibility of state and local taxes (SALT). The SALT cap has some lawmakers looking at ways to avoid it, and has others suggesting the state shouldn’t move forward with longstanding plans to clean up the tax code.
In a short new report released today, New Jersey Policy Perspective takes a closer look at the numbers related to these issues, and comes to two clear conclusions:
1) Policy changes to avoid the SALT cap would mostly benefit New Jersey’s wealthiest families, tilting an already-tilted GOP tax plan even more heavily to the top and exacerbating income inequality in the Garden State. As a result, SALT workarounds shouldn’t be the primary focus of lawmakers concerned about the state’s middle-class and working families – and they should only be proposed as part of a broader tax package to respond to the federal changes.
2) Along the same lines, the GOP tax plan should not slow down or change the long-held plans of New Jersey’s legislative leaders to make the state’s income tax fairer and raise essential new revenue to invest in schools and property tax relief.
Read the report here:
https://www.njpp.org/budget/a-grain-of-salt-new-jersey-needs-more-than-workarounds-to-respond-to-gop-tax-plan
QUOTE FROM NEW JERSEY POLICY PERSPECTIVE SENIOR POLICY ANALYST AND REPORT AUTHOR SHEILA REYNERTSON:
“There is a lot of confusion about how the federal tax law will affect New Jersey families, but one thing remains clear: the state’s wealthiest families come out ahead. Even with the limits on state and local tax (SALT) deductions, the top earners in the Garden State will reap more rewards from the GOP plan than middle-class or working families.
As such, proposed ‘workarounds’ to evade this SALT cap shouldn’t be the primary focus of New Jersey lawmakers, and they should only be a part of a more comprehensive state-level response to the federal law that includes raising new revenue. And the GOP tax plan is surely no reason to slow down or pause longstanding plans to clean up the state’s tax code and raise much-needed new revenue for schools, property tax relief and other public investments.
Given New Jersey’s shaky finances status and growing income inequality, it’s time for bold action that focuses on making New Jersey’s economy stronger and fairer for everyone.”
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