Tag Archives: tax law

SALT IN THE WOUND – WE LOVE TO SEE THE BLEEDING HEARTS HOWL

Rubbing salt in the wound is a metaphor that typifies a situation where a protagonist doubles up by criticizing a target; been going on for years.  The verbal salt assault ramps up pain to such a degree that the receiver can no longer take the scorn; they then lash out, but to no avail. In the case we are alluding to is the new tax law signed by President Trump in December 2017.

SALT is an acronym for State and Local Taxes. According to the new law, State and Local tax deduction limits are set at $10,000 combined when itemizing vs the new standard deduction of $12,000 for singles and $24,000 for marrieds.

The Tax Cuts and Jobs Act (TCJA) limited the ability of taxpayers to deduct state and local taxes (SALT) from their federal taxable income. New York Governor Andrew Cuomo called it an act of war and California Senate Leader Kevin de Leon inveighed against a “tax scam [that] disproportionately harms California taxpayers.”  PLEASE DON’T CRY FOR ME ARGENTINA!  SALT hurts these progressive maniacs to such a degree that they have to lash out at the President, but IT IS OK FOR THEM TO TAX THE LIVING SHIT OUT OF THEIR TAXPAYERS.  A BUNCH OF HYPOCRITICAL TWO FACED CRIMINALS.

Unlike prior tax cuts or reform, the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act of 2017 ends the longstanding practice of the federal tax code subsidizing high state and local taxes (known as SALT in tax code jargon). Instead of mostly well-off taxpayers being able to take an unlimited deduction for the state and local taxes they pay, the new tax law limits the deduction to $10,000 per family. This operates as if all 50 states changed their tax code all at once, because, unlike typical federal tax code changes, this reform doesn’t treat all states the same.

So what are these progressive malcontents doing about it? They are seeking a work around. How, you say, does that work? In their scheme (they are always scheming) they plan on allowing their taxpaying citizens to donate to a sham charity, set up by the individual state, the amount of SALT taxes due. This the will be treated as a charitable donation for Federal Income Tax. Not so fast says Uncle Sam. You can’t do that, but a valiant try nonetheless. We give them an A for tenacity, but an F for being Jerks.