Political Quotes

“I rise to introduce a bill to ensure that the treatment of the State and Local Property Tax deduction, also known as the ``SALT deduction,'' does not unfairly penalize married taxpayers. The SALT Deduction Fairness Act would eliminate the marriage penalty imposed by the current $10,000 cap on SALT by doubling this amount for married filers. The SALT deduction has been in the tax code since 1913 when the income tax was first established and is intended to prevent double taxation. The original Senate tax reform bill in 2017 would have eliminated the deduction altogether. During the consideration of the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act, I fought to keep the SALT deduction in the Federal tax code because of the incredible tax burden a complete elimination of this deduction would have imposed on American taxpayers, many of whom pay high taxes on everything from their incomes to their vehicles. My amendment, which was adopted by the Senate, retained the SALT deduction for up to $10,000 in State and local taxes such as State income taxes, local property taxes, and vehicle excise taxes. This was especially important to families living in high-tax states like Maine, which not only has one of our Nation's highest tax burdens, but also a relatively low per household income--approximately $6,300 below the U.S average. Maintaining the deduction provided important tax relief for those hard-working Mainers who continued to itemize.…”