The President-elect Trump, who is about to take office, revealed during a meeting with New York Congressmen on Saturday (January 11th) that he plans to halt the congestion pricing scheme that has just been implemented in New York City, and raise the limit of the State and Local Tax (SALT) deduction by ten thousand dollars.
According to the New York Post, on Saturday night, Trump met with a delegation of Republican members of Congress from New York at his Mar-a-Lago estate in Florida, where he agreed to assist in abolishing the nation’s first congestion tax.
New York State Congressmen Malliotakis and Lawler confirmed the news and expressed hope that under the leadership of Trump, the Federal Highway Administration (FHA) would revoke the authority for the congestion fee.
A week ago, the Metropolitan Transportation Authority (MTA) began collecting congestion fees from drivers entering streets below 60th Street in Manhattan.
Trump also indicated support for the efforts of New York Republican representatives regarding SALT, aiming to increase the limit on the amount New York residents can deduct from federal taxes for state and local taxes. The limit will not be completely eliminated, but the goal is to break the ten-thousand-dollar cap.
As the tax reform issue progresses, some Republican lawmakers view significantly expanding the SALT deduction limit as a bargaining chip for supporting broader tax reform legislation. For example, Lawler explicitly stated that this issue would be a key point of discussion within the party.
Currently, the Republican majority in the House of Representatives has only a narrow advantage, and House Speaker Mike Johnson must face the risk of dissent from a few Republican members or differing opinions when pushing for partisan bills.
The SALT deduction is a provision in the U.S. tax code that allows taxpayers to deduct state and local taxes already paid from federal taxable income. However, the 2017 tax reform law limited this deduction amount to ten thousand dollars, causing dissatisfaction among residents of high-tax states like New York and California, especially in areas with high real estate prices. This cap is considered to have a significant impact on the middle class, and the current provision is set to expire in 2025. Both Democratic and Republican members of Congress from New York hope to increase or eliminate this cap.