Governor Cuomo has come out blasting the new tax law, and in particular the substantial reduction in the deduction for State and Local Taxes (“SALT”), as unconstitutional and an “attack only on blue states.”
But everybody who has any knowledge of taxation and its constitutionality knows that Cuomo’s assertion is ludicrous. The SALT deduction – and ALL deductions – are at the complete discretion of Congress. And as long as deductions apply under the same rules to every taxpayer no matter where situated, constitutionality can never be an issue All the Governor’s raving does is show that he and his entire staff are either totally clueless, or they know that their statements are total nonsense, but think so little of voters that they can be fired up with something that is utterly phony.
If Cuomo is concerned about what is devastating to New Yorkers, it is astounding that he is objecting to this law and yet he did not object to other tax issues in the past that clearly targeted his constituents. Despite acknowledging the very bad effects of high taxes on New Yorkers, Where was Cuomo’s concern when:
1) the federal government (Obama) raised taxes on capital gains by almost 60%?
2) the federal government raised the regular rate by 25%?
Furthermore:
1) Cuomo reneged on his campaign promises and kept income tax rates on New York’s high income earners outrageously high,
2) he continues to hide from his constituents that his tax law already denies New Yorkers some or all of their deduction for SALT.
3) he continues to hide that NY tax law also denies middle and high income earners significant parts of the charitable deduction as well, buried so deep that most New Yorkers are not even aware they are being fleeced.
4) as a final point, a New Yorker who dies leaving $10 million to his heirs would now pay no federal estate tax – but he would owe $1.06 million to New York State.
But now Cuomo is bothered by the elimination of the SALT deduction in New York? He was AFFIRMATIVELY IN FAVOR of all of these past provisions, which have been devastating to his constituents for some time. Cuomo’s sudden compassion is complete hypocrisy.