Govs fight Trump over tax cap law

Gov. Cuomo is spearheading a multi-state effort to overturn a Trump administration tax cap he says unfairly targets Democratic states.

Cuomo joined with New Jersey Gov. Phil Murphy, Connecticut Gov. Ned Lamont and others Friday in Washington in a bid to to compel Congress to make changes to the socalled SALT cap on federal deductions for state and local taxes.

“The President gave an unseemly tax cut to corporations and the rich and he financed it by raising taxes on primarily democratic states through the elimination of SALT,” Cuomo said. “New York has been fighting this economic assault for over a year and together with these partner states who are also affected by the loss of the SALT deduction, we will not rest until Congress ends this punitive policy once and for all.”

Cuomo, who met with President Trump to talk taxes two weeks ago, has blamed the 2017 GOP tax bill that capped SALT claims for a $2.3 billion shortfall in the state's estimates for personal income tax revenue.

Roughly 1.7 million tax filers in New York are directly impacted by the cap, Cuomo's budget director Robert Mujica has said, and if those residents choose to move elsewhere, the repercussions will be felt by everyone in the Empire State.

New York and three other high tax states sued the Treasury Department, the Internal Revenue Service and the Trump administration last year, claiming the deduction cap infringes upon states' rights.

"The disastrous federal tax law has become what we always expected: a windfall for the wealthy and a tax hike for millions of working and middle-class families,” Murphy said. “In New Jersey, we have been working tirelessly to provide long-term tax relief for our residents and have challenged this law in court to restore tax fairness.”

Trump has said he's open to possibly amending the GOPpenned tax law, but he's also run afoul of Cuomo by encouraging people to flee upstate New York.