Maryland Attorney General Brian Frosh said last week that he plans sue the federal government over the GOP-passed tax law put into effect in January. Maryland will become the fourth state, joining New York, New Jersey and Connecticut planning legal challenges.
At heart of the states’ complaint is a roll back of a tax provision that let residents of some states deduct state and local taxes from federal returns. That deduction, known as SALT, is now capped at $10,000 under the new law. States are claiming the limit is unconstitutional.
“By eliminating the SALT deductions, Trump’s tax bill will jack up taxes for more than half a million Marylanders,” Frosh said. “It is an attack on state sovereignty and an attempt to cripple our ability to educate our kids, protect the Chesapeake Bay, and build the infrastructure that Maryland needs to be competitive in the world economy.”
The tax, experts say, disproportionately effects blue states which end to have higher taxes. The lawsuits are unlikely to be successful as the federal government, it’s long been understood, has broad authority to levy and repeal income taxes.