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SALT cap is on the table as team Trump weighs proposed tax deduction change

January 13, 2025 | | Print Article

A Mar-a-Lago meeting had the president-elect maintaining his support for a tax policy with a critical expiration date on the horizon.

“We need to work out what that number is going to be.”

Since it went into effect in 2018, then-President Donald Trump’s signing of the 2017 Tax Cuts and Jobs Act placed a $10,000 cap on state and local tax (SALT) deductions. Now, with the cap set to expire at the end of the year, New York Republican lawmakers signaled the GOP leader was “fully on board” with setting a new benchmark.

Speaking with the New York Post after meeting with the president-elect Saturday night at his Palm Beach, Florida residence, New York Rep. Mike Lawler (R) said, “He’s fully on board with lifting the cap on SALT.”

“The president reiterated his support for lifting the cap on SALT and talking to us about the need to come up with a number and work through it and build consensus in the House,” he went on.

Likewise, New York Rep. Nicole Malliotakis (R) told the newspaper, “He said that he understands the plight of New Yorkers who are being abused by our mayor and our governor who treat them like ATMs, and he wants to provide SALT relief,” adding, “We need to work out what that number is going to be.”

Trump had been accused of “flip-flopping” on the issue since it was part of a bill that he had signed. However, the purpose had been to offset tax cuts during his first administration.

Ahead of a rally at Nassau Coliseum on Long Island in September, Trump had called out many of the detrimental policies of the left and said in part, “I will turn it around, get SALT back, lower your Taxes, and so much more.”

Further debasing the notion that the president-elect was having a change of heart on the policy, Lawler had reminded Politico, “First of all, if no tax bill passes, SALT comes back unlimited. So the incentive is on everybody to negotiate in good faith over the entirety of the tax bill.”

The congressman had also reintroduced a bill to set the limit at $100,000 for single filers and $200,000 for joint-filing couples.

Meanwhile, New York Gov. Kathy Hochul (D) scoffed at suggestions of a higher cap as Democrats preferred the unlimited offset due to the excessive taxing in their states.

“New Yorkers deserve a full repeal of the SALT cap. Anything less is a failure–and you know it, Mike,” she posted on X in reaction to Lawler sharing photos from Saturday’s meeting that also called out the newly-effective congestion pricing in New York City.

On that issue, the congressman told the Post that Trump, “did agree it’s got to go.”

“So we’re going to work through how his administration can do so,” added Lawler.

There was also pushback within the GOP on the higher SALT cap as South Carolina Sen. Lindsey Graham had said during an appearance on Fox Business the week prior, “Why should people in South Carolina subsidize California and New York tax policy? You’re going to have a hard time with me on that.”

Countering the argument, Lawler had reminded on Fox News that South Carolina is “one of the biggest recipients of federal dollars in comparison to other states by a percentage.”

Kevin Haggerty
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