Cuomo to get SALT-y with Trump

Gov. Cuomo is heading to Washington on Tuesday to talk about SALT — and pepper President Trump with questions eliminating restraints on tax writeoffs.

Cuomo said he will press the commander-in-chief to roll back a controversial cap on federal deductions for state and local taxes, known as SALT, during the meeting.

“This is unfair and egregious,” Cuomo said as he announced the trip Monday, adding that he plans to ask the President for a full repeal of the provision. The cap limits the amount of state and local taxes that can be deducted on federal returns at $10,000.

Cuomo (photo) last week blamed Trump and the GOP tax policy for a $2.3 billion shortfall in the state’s estimates for personal income tax revenue. “It has redistributed wealth in this nation from Democratic states, from socalled blue states, to red states,” he said Monday, pointing out the irony of Trump’s frequent critiques of socialism. “It has created two different tax structures in this country, and it has created a preferential tax structure in Republican states.”

Roughly 1.7 million tax filers in New York are directly affected by SALT, Cuomo’s budget director Robert Mujica pointed out, and if those residents choose to leave the state, the repercussions will be felt by everyone in the Empire State.

New York and three other high-tax states sued the Treasury Department, the IRS and the Trump administration last year, claiming the cap infringes on states’ rights. Cuomo, who also blasted Trump last week for urging people to flee upstate New York if they are unhappy with the state’s economic situation, warned an exodus could be all too real. “This changes the economic trajectory of the state,” Cuomo said. “People are mobile and they will go to a better tax environment.”

Trump said last week he may be open to some changes regarding the SALT provision.