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I still don't really see why the elimination of this deduction was seen as unfair - and I live in California. Why should contributions to one's own State be sub

I still don't really see why the elimination of this deduction was seen as unfair - and I live in California. Why should contributions to one's own State be subsidized by the Federal government via a tax cut? It doesn't seem right that I get to get out of paying federal taxes for the rest of the nation (which is, on average, poorer than California) by paying taxes to my own State. On the whole, this makes the tax structure more progressive, which I always thought was something liberals like.

klipt 8y ago
What's more progressive, public schools (benefit everyone) or private schools (benefit the rich)? Now consider that the tax bill makes private school tuition tax deductible, but state taxes that pay for public school non-deductible. Hardly progressive.
- manfredo 8y ago
  You're missing the point: why should I get a tax break for funding my rich neighborhood, at the expense of the rest of the country's neighborhoods (most of which are almost certainly worse off than mine)? The addition of other subsidies is orthogonal to the capping of the state and local tax deduction.
  - klipt 8y ago
    > The addition of other subsidies is orthogonal to the capping of the state and local tax deduction. No, the context is important. The republicans would look a lot less hypocritical if they also capped tuition deductions, church donation deductions, etc, because the services those fund overlap a lot with what state taxes fund. As it is, the tax bill largely looks like a trampling of states rights to determine their own taxes, and a pushing of the conservative model of "private schools are better than public schools", "homeless shelters should be run by churches, not by the state" etc.
ojbyrne 8y ago
Saying the federal government "subsidizes" contributions seems backwards to me. The state takes its cut (being more local, they provide more services, etc, they should get first off the top). Then the Federal system takes their cut of what's left. Avoidance of double taxation is a long standing principle of taxes. And if other parts of the country are poorer, the Federal government should address that by its outlays, which it does: https://wallethub.com/edu/states-most-least-dependent-on-the-federal-government/2700/ https://wallethub.com/edu/states-most-least-dependent-on-the...

klipt 8y ago

What's more progressive, public schools (benefit everyone) or private schools (benefit the rich)? Now consider that the tax bill makes private school tuition tax deductible, but state taxes that pay for public school non-deductible. Hardly progressive.

manfredo 8y ago
You're missing the point: why should I get a tax break for funding my rich neighborhood, at the expense of the rest of the country's neighborhoods (most of which are almost certainly worse off than mine)? The addition of other subsidies is orthogonal to the capping of the state and local tax deduction.
- klipt 8y ago
  > The addition of other subsidies is orthogonal to the capping of the state and local tax deduction. No, the context is important. The republicans would look a lot less hypocritical if they also capped tuition deductions, church donation deductions, etc, because the services those fund overlap a lot with what state taxes fund. As it is, the tax bill largely looks like a trampling of states rights to determine their own taxes, and a pushing of the conservative model of "private schools are better than public schools", "homeless shelters should be run by churches, not by the state" etc.

ojbyrne 8y ago

Saying the federal government "subsidizes" contributions seems backwards to me. The state takes its cut (being more local, they provide more services, etc, they should get first off the top). Then the Federal system takes their cut of what's left. Avoidance of double taxation is a long standing principle of taxes. And if other parts of the country are poorer, the Federal government should address that by its outlays, which it does: https://wallethub.com/edu/states-most-least-dependent-on-the-federal-government/2700/ https://wallethub.com/edu/states-most-least-dependent-on-the...