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State tax write offs are fundamentally unfair. The US government effectively subsidized high tax states. A guy making $100k in Texas ought to have the same exa

State tax write offs are fundamentally unfair. The US government effectively subsidized high tax states. A guy making $100k in Texas ought to have the same exact tax federal burden of a guy making $100k in New Jersey. As it stands now, those two guys pay a different amount to the federal government. That is unfair. A state can raise state taxes will little impact on residents however it results in lower tax revenue to the US government and more revenue to the specific state. High tax states hate giving up that deduction because they would effectively be giving up a subsidy.

dmode 9y ago
What about property tax deduction? Why isn't that on the table if you are concerned about fairness. Texas has some of the highest property tax rates in the country. Why not focus on that deduction?
- briandear 9y ago
  I was referring to all state and local deductions. At the end of the day, the same income should pay the same federal tax. What states choose to do is their business. My point is that states ought not benefit or be discriminated against based on their tax policy. My federal tax bill ought not be different because of the state I live in. I actually live outside the United States, yet I get to file and pay taxes subsidizing a country in which I don’t even live. Aside from Eritrea, the US is the only country that does that.
  - intopieces 9y ago
    >the same income should pay the same federal tax. Given the vast difference between local economies, this would result in huge disparities in effective tax rate depending on where you live. For example, a person who makes $100k in Kansas City, MO is far wealthier than someone making that much in San Jose, CA. Taxing them at the same rate is essentially a massive tax break for one and not the other. The SALT deductions account for this.
    - deleted 9y ago
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  - kelnos 9y ago
    > At the end of the day, the same income should pay the same federal tax. I suspect you say this with the belief that things like state/local tax deductions are unique in how they cause the same income to pay different tax, but that's simply not true, and there's precedent littered across the federal tax code that enables this. Consider simple things like dependent exemptions and the difference between filing status (single, joint, separately, head of household) that can change how much tax you owe even if you earn the same income.
    - deleted 9y ago
      [deleted]
nsxwolf 9y ago
Don't you have to do more work to make a claim about who is subsidizing who? How much does each state receive in federal grants and aid? And the guy in Texas has more money in his pocket than the guy in New Jersey no matter what. It's a weird thing to get hung up on. Nobody ever talked about the fairness of this deduction before. This was cooked up as a GOP talking point in some smoke filled room somewhere. Class envy as a Republican tactic is a curious development.
- briandear 9y ago
  Federal grants and aid is a seaparate issue. I’m Ron Swanson when it comes to that. I want a smaller federal government period. State and local governments should have the power.
  - nsxwolf 9y ago
    It's not a separate issue if someone is making the charge that he (a taxpayer from a state with no taxes) is subsidizing me (a taxpayer from a state with taxes) - when it could very well be the case that I'm actually still subsidizing him.
- deleted 9y ago
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ohazi 9y ago
You get what you pay for. California is able to spend my state taxes on things that I want, and the federal government gets to not pay for those things. Texas has to spend federal dollars if they want similar things. Their options are either to not have nice things, or to spend more federal dollars than California does. That's what the deduction attempts to account for.
- deleted 9y ago
  [deleted]

dmode 9y ago

What about property tax deduction? Why isn't that on the table if you are concerned about fairness. Texas has some of the highest property tax rates in the country. Why not focus on that deduction?

briandear 9y ago
I was referring to all state and local deductions. At the end of the day, the same income should pay the same federal tax. What states choose to do is their business. My point is that states ought not benefit or be discriminated against based on their tax policy. My federal tax bill ought not be different because of the state I live in. I actually live outside the United States, yet I get to file and pay taxes subsidizing a country in which I don’t even live. Aside from Eritrea, the US is the only country that does that.
- intopieces 9y ago
  >the same income should pay the same federal tax. Given the vast difference between local economies, this would result in huge disparities in effective tax rate depending on where you live. For example, a person who makes $100k in Kansas City, MO is far wealthier than someone making that much in San Jose, CA. Taxing them at the same rate is essentially a massive tax break for one and not the other. The SALT deductions account for this.
  - deleted 9y ago
    [deleted]
- kelnos 9y ago
  > At the end of the day, the same income should pay the same federal tax. I suspect you say this with the belief that things like state/local tax deductions are unique in how they cause the same income to pay different tax, but that's simply not true, and there's precedent littered across the federal tax code that enables this. Consider simple things like dependent exemptions and the difference between filing status (single, joint, separately, head of household) that can change how much tax you owe even if you earn the same income.
  - deleted 9y ago
    [deleted]

nsxwolf 9y ago

Don't you have to do more work to make a claim about who is subsidizing who? How much does each state receive in federal grants and aid? And the guy in Texas has more money in his pocket than the guy in New Jersey no matter what. It's a weird thing to get hung up on. Nobody ever talked about the fairness of this deduction before. This was cooked up as a GOP talking point in some smoke filled room somewhere. Class envy as a Republican tactic is a curious development.

briandear 9y ago
Federal grants and aid is a seaparate issue. I’m Ron Swanson when it comes to that. I want a smaller federal government period. State and local governments should have the power.
- nsxwolf 9y ago
  It's not a separate issue if someone is making the charge that he (a taxpayer from a state with no taxes) is subsidizing me (a taxpayer from a state with taxes) - when it could very well be the case that I'm actually still subsidizing him.
deleted 9y ago
[deleted]

ohazi 9y ago

You get what you pay for. California is able to spend my state taxes on things that I want, and the federal government gets to not pay for those things. Texas has to spend federal dollars if they want similar things. Their options are either to not have nice things, or to spend more federal dollars than California does. That's what the deduction attempts to account for.

deleted 9y ago
[deleted]