Who will benefit from raising the deduction for property taxes? The people who pay the highest taxes. Who pay the highest property taxes? People with large homes in high tax, high cost of living states.
In other words, mostly higher income people who can afford to live in these areas in these houses.
Given that 90% of taxpayers don’t itemize – because the standard deduction exceeds itemized deductions, the SALT cap means very little to average Americans.
My property taxes are $13,600 on a condo. I do not have a mortgage and thus no reason to itemize deductions. Seniors who do not have a mortgage are in a similar position.
If we are worried about fair share for taxes, what about renters who get no benefit from the SALT, but do benefit from the higher standard deduction?
A higher SALT deduction benefits higher income Americans and if it is to be paid for, possibly at the expense of the current standard deduction, it shifts more tax burden to modest income Americans.
QUINNSCOMMENTARY 
What’s interesting are the blue state politicians who criticized that SALT provision in Trump’s tax provision back in the day. Now the same folks, or some of them, are now changing their mind. You just never know.
Jack’s comments are per usual very interesting and makes us think. Keep it coming Jack it takes time no doubt but we love it.
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Replace current income tax scheme with:
15% on the FICA-Med Wage, plus
15% on income that is not part of FICA-Med wage.
No deductions, no exemptions, no credits, no single vs. joint filing, or head of household.
Earn a dollar, pay 15% federal (whatever state), 7.65% (FICA and FICA-Med), whatever city taxes.
Cap exclusions for employee benefits (health care coverage, etc.) and prospectively reduce cap until $0 at end of 10 year budget period, while changing all retirement plan contributions to a Roth basis.
That system is as “fair” as the FICA tax or FICA-Med taxes. All pay taxes.
Those who have only wage income, and perhaps interest income and/or capital gains where withholding is required so that withholding = income taxes – they need not file a tax return. We could eliminate 80+% of IRS staff and millions, if not billions of hours spent creating forms, systems, and then filing income tax returns each year.
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So, the question is, is 15% sufficient?
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15% of every dollar of income (no deductions, no exemptions, no credits, from the 1st dollar of income) is much more federal income tax than we collect today (between $150 and $300 billion more per year, however, it does NOT raise an additional $2 Trillion in revenue which would allow us to continue to spend like drunken sailors who have crapped our pants and don’t seem to care.
In 2021 (the most recent data available), the typical earner paid $14,279 in federal income taxes, with an average tax rate of 14.9%. In 2021, taxpayers filed 153.6 million tax returns, reported earning more than $14.7 trillion in adjusted gross income (AGI), and paid nearly $2.2 trillion in individual income taxes. The average income tax rate in 2021 was 14.9 percent.
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I agree with you. I have no problem with those who opt to live in a state with sky high income and property taxes. I just don’t want to subsidize that choice by letting them deduct it from their federal income taxes. A few Republican Senators have reportedly said they will demand a raise in the SALT cap. Can you spell rich donor?
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