SALT In The Wounds

On this week's episode of Versus Trump, Jason, Charlie, and Easha discuss a new lawsuit by four blue states contending that the new cap on deducting state and local taxes—passed as part of the 2017 tax bill—is unconstitutional.

Charlie starts the discussion by explaning the background of the federal treatment of state and local taxes, and what the new tax law changed. They then discuss the legal claims by the states, which fall into a few different buckets. First, does the law violate the original understanding of the constitutional amendment (Number 16) authorizing the federal government to impose an income tax? Second, does the new law unfairly target certain states, or unfairly coerce them to change their policy on taxes and spending? The gang doesn't think any of the claims are great bets to succeed, but they each discuss their level of intrigue with these novel theories.

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Notes

The Complaint in New York v. Mnuchin is here.A very useful post at TaxProf Blog, with links to even more commentary, is here.

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