Lipinski introduces bill to help taxpayers hurt by SALT deduction

Lipinski Introduces Tax Relief Legislation That Will Help Families Hurt by SALT Deduction Cap Without Adding to Federal Debt

Congressman Dan Lipinski (IL-3) this week introduced legislation to provide tax relief to families in Illinois and across the country who saw their tax burden increase as a result of the cap put on state and local tax (SALT) deductions that was enacted in the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act of 2017.

One of the most sweeping changes to the tax code impacting families, the SALT deduction cap unduly harmed residents of Illinois by capping at $10,000 the amount and state and local tax payments that a family could deduct from their tax returns. Previously, there was no limit.

Lipinski’s bill offsets its cost by a modest increase in the corporate tax rate, which had been significantly lowered in the 2017 tax bill.

Lipinski’s legislation, H.R. 2894, would increase the current cap on SALT deduction from $10,000 to $15,000 for individual filers and eliminate the marriage penalty by allowing people who are married and filing jointly to double their deduction up to $30,000. It would also tie the cap to inflation so the value of the deduction’s value is not diminished over time.

“Many families I talk to in my district say the Trump Administration’s $10,000 SALT cap was a disaster for them that resulted in a higher tax bill by thousands of dollars,” Lipinski said. “This is unacceptable for the many families who live in my district and other regions with high local property taxes. My legislation will provide much-needed relief to these families and would be paid for by a reasonable increase in the corporate income tax rate.”

Almost 11 million taxpayers in high-tax states like Illinois lost out on $323 billion in deductions this year because of the SALT deduction cap, according to Treasury Department estimates. Nearly 2 million Illinois households claim the SALT deduction.

“It’s not right that the Trump Administration’s Tax Cuts and Jobs Act reduced the top corporate income tax rate from 35 percent to 21 percent while at the same time sticking it to working families,” Lipinski said. “My bill would correct this and provide relief to families so they’re not stuck with bigger tax bills next year.”

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Ray Hanania is an award-winning opinion columnist, author & former Chicago City Hall reporter (1977-1992). A veteran who served during the Vietnam War and the recipient of four SPJ Peter Lisagor Awards for column writing, Hanania writes weekly opinion columns on mainstream American & Chicagoland topics for the Southwest News-Herald, Des Plaines Valley News, the Regional News, The Reporter Newspapers, and Suburban Chicagoland.

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