Letters to the Editor: The utter hypocrisy of Democrats asking for higher SALT deductions

To the editor: Where do we start in listing all the things wrong in columnist George Skelton’s plea to restore full federal deductions for state and local taxes, also known at SALT?

Skelton quotes the letter written by seven Democratic governors, including Gavin Newsom, asking President Biden to reinstate the deduction: “Americans were forced to pay taxes on the amount they paid in state, local and property taxes.” They call his “double taxation.”

By the same token, the state should allow the deduction of federal income taxes from their state taxes.

Secondly, the deduction increases as one’s income increases because of the progressive federal income tax structure. An often overlooked impact of this deduction is that it provides an incentive for mostly affluent individuals to buy larger homes than they would without the subsidy.

Larger homes result in greater consumption, which contributes to global warming.

Norm King, Palm Springs

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To the editor: Aside from the fact that former President Trump’s $10,000 cap on the SALT deduction is indeed double taxation, there are other troubling aspects.

Previously, under the old deduction, after determining what my taxes were, I would take most of what I had left over and allot it between several deserving charities and organizations. But with the $10,000 cap in place, I no longer have extra money to donate.

As a retired private school teacher, I have no pension, and my Social Security income is $300 a month. Yet the property taxes alone on my 90-year-old home are higher than the $10,000 cap.

I am in the middle class and not someone of extreme wealth who benefited the most from Trump’s tax reform. Although I will survive, it is the charities and nonprofits that are hurting.

Meg Quinn Coulter, Los Angeles

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To the editor: I would benefit from lifting the cap on the federal SALT deduction but am in favor of keeping it.

Residents of high-tax states apparently favor the local government spending on programs that drives higher taxes, so they should be willing to accept the consequences.

If you are going to talk the talk that government employees should be richly paid, social programs are important and bullet trains should be built, then walk the walk and pay for it without being subsidized by the federal government.

The high housing costs, taxes and gasoline prices that Californians experience all result from decisions we have made about regulation, social programs and the environment. Own them.

As for Newsom and other politicians decrying “double taxation,” if they truly believed that, they would allow residents to deduct federal taxes on their state returns.

Gerry Swider, Sherman Oaks