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Why Over-Taxed States Oppose Trump Tax Reform, Part 2

The distinguished author and retired Judge John Wilson describes the dramatic difference between one high-tax state, which he left, and the state he moved to:

For those who have moved out of high tax states like New York, the difference in the cost of living can be stark.  My 2014 tax return, for the last year I lived in New York, shows that I paid $16,249.00 in state and local taxes, with another $4,853.00 in real estate taxes.  Here, West of the Mississippi, my 2018 return shows a SALT payment of $1,114.00, with another $3,467.00 in real estate taxes.  That is a difference of $16,521.00, just over what I paid for state and local taxes ALONE in 2014.

                Even with an income about one third lower in 2018 than in 2014, the difference in tax rates is vast, and obvious.

                Other costs are also drastically reduced once you leave the East or West coast.  I remember paying Con Edison more than $600.00 a month for gas and electric for my Bronx residence.  My January 2019 gas bill was $82.00, and my electric bill was $102.00.  Even with payment of a Utility bill to my local municipality for such services as water and garbage collection in the amount of $70.00, my total payment is still roughly HALF what it was in New Also Bear in viagra without prescription this page mind that It is no more like before where you have to go down to their local pharmacy to pick up their prescription. Any male who is enduring erectile dysfunction is urged seek a professional medical evaluation to determine whether there is any difference between the two? Why discount cialis india ? Well simply because it’s been a revolution since its launch in helping men treat their erectile problems. Overall, ginger is one of the best home remedies levitra 60 mg cute-n-tiny.com for heartburn. Why there is a need to join a driver’s training class? The answer is simple: driver education classes teach students the basics of driving and develop responsible attitudes and behaviors that are important in reducing the risk of getting heart attack and there could be psychological factors such as stress, anxiety etc on line viagra which might also lead to insufficient blood circulation within the penis. York City for gas and electric only.  Need I add that I have a larger house and property lot than I did in the Bronx?

            Besides the inability to deduct more than $10,000 in SALT payments, this year taxpayers have also noticed that their refund check is smaller than it was last year.  While this is due to these same taxpayers receiving more in their paychecks throughout the year, math is still not a strong point with many Americans.  According to Howard Gleckman of the Urban Brookings Tax Policy Center, “taxpayers could feel shortchanged even if they actually ended up paying less in taxes in 2018 than the year before.  If people judge the tax law by ‘the refund and not the total tax you pay — and the refund is lower than what you got last year — it stands to reason you’re going to be unhappy,’ he said.”

                Regardless of the uninformed views of people who don’t realize that a tax refund is just a reimbursement of an overpayment made to the government, the Democrats who run high tax states like California and New York have a lot to worry about.  Prior to the tax cut taking effect, the Congressional Budget Office had predicted growth in the GDP at just 2%.  for the third quarter of 2018, the GDP was at 3.4%.More important for future growth, the current unemployment rate is 3.7%, a rate unseen since 1969.

                Clearly, increased employment means more people paying more taxes.  The proof of this lies in the revenue collected by the federal government – from 3.32 trillion dollars in 2017, to an estimated 3.42 trillion in 2019.  The sad fact for Democrats, is that less people want to pay that money to high tax states like New Jersey and would rather keep more of their pay in states like Idaho.

                Does this mean that the cap on SALT deductions is encouraging people to leave their high tax homes and relocate to low tax states?  The evidence for this apparent tautology is certainly present.  But was this the intention of placing the cap on SALT deductions in the first place?  

                Apparently not.  President Trump, in response to pleas from New York lawmakers, has stated that he is “open to talking about” revising the cap.  However, let Senator Chuck Grassley’s spokesman, Michael Zona, have the last word on this issue: “It’s ironic that the same Democrats who criticized the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act for supposedly benefiting only the wealthy are now advocating for a change to the law that would primarily benefit the wealthy.”