The Myth of the Middle-Class SALT Cap Victim: Justin Fox

The $10,000 cap on federal income-tax deductions for state and local taxes imposed by the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act of 2017 was “a body blow to New York and middle-class families in New York,” in the words of Long Island U.S. Representative Tom Suozzi — the leader of efforts in Congress to repeal the cap.

He may be right about the body blow to the state, or at least the state government. But the 2017 tax law hasn’t harmed most middle-class families in New York or anywhere else, at least not directly. Sure, the SALT cap lost people in Democrat Suozzi’s affluent district $5.6 ...