It’s unfair to the average taxpayer to have to subsidize a local tax deduction for cities “that choose to have high taxes,” GOP Sen. Pat Toomey, R-Pa., says.
In an interview airing Sunday with radio host John Catsimatidis on “The Cats Roundtable,” the member of the Senate Finance Committee suggested the Senate won’t include a federal tax deduction for local taxes — a decision that’ll impact blue states California, New York and New Jersey in particular.
"There's no good reason why federal tax payers all across the country should have to subsidize, have to pay a higher federal tax rate, to subsidize those municipalities that choose to have high taxes," Toomey said in remarks posted ahead of the show by The Hill.
The House bill had initially allowed for a federal tax deduction of up to $10,000 for local property taxes. The Senate bill completely does away with the deduction.
Toomey claimed the deduction’s unfair for the average federal taxpayer since some municipalities charge high property taxes and provide few services.
"It allows us to lower the total tax burden, which is more fair," Toomey said.
Six states claim over half of the $10,000 deduction — and since California, New Jersey and New York have no GOP senator, there could be significant opposition to the GOP bill in the upper house.
Toomey said, however, “When they see what we have produced at the end of the day, I think it's going to be hard for all of them to vote 'no.'"