The SALT Deduction: How “Tax Relief for Homeowners” Became Another Giveaway to the Rich.

Unf*cking The Republic

UNFTR Media

Government, News, Politics

4.9 • 683 Ratings

🗓️ 10 July 2025

⏱️ 16 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

Today we’re diving into one of the most contentious tax battles happening in Washington right now—the State and Local Tax deduction (SALT). Now, if you’ve been hearing politicians talk about “tax relief for hard-working homeowners” or “supporting middle-class families,” you might think this sounds pretty good, right?

But here’s the thing— like so many tax policies that sound great on the surface, the SALT deduction is actually one of the most regressive tax breaks in our entire system. We’re talking about a policy that overwhelmingly benefits wealthy households while doing absolutely nothing for the majority of Americans. And right now, Congress is debating whether to make this tax break even more generous.

Resources

Brookings: The SALT tax deduction is a handout to the rich. It should be eliminated not expanded

CNBC: Trump’s ‘big beautiful bill’ passes SALT deduction limit of $40,000. Here’s who benefits

Forvis Mazars: Be Wary of Pre-Emptive Tax Planning on Itemized Deductions & SALT

TIME: A Wonky Tax Break for the Well-Off Is a Bigger Problem for Democrats Than You'd Think

Gottheimer: RELEASE: SALT Caucus Co-Chairs, Members Meet & Discuss Fight to Restore State and Local Tax Deduction

Tax Foundation: A More Generous SALT Deduction Cap in the Big, Beautiful Bill Would Cost Revenue and Primarily Benefit High Earners

RSM US: Bill limits SALT deductions for some financial and professional services firms

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Transcript

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0:00.0	Topical cream
0:02.5	A pod listener's dream
0:06.1	Unfucking the news
0:08.7	And current events
0:11.4	Topical cream
0:13.4	Yeah, you know what I mean
0:16.8	A quarter of an hour
0:19.6	It gets you out two cents topical cream.
0:28.6	Okay, so today we're diving into a new tax provision that just came out of the Big Beautiful Bill Act,
0:38.2	but it's been knocking around D.C. in a big bone of contention for a while now.
0:41.9	It's something called the state and local tax deduction, better known as salt.
0:45.5	The big beautiful bill, as it's called, will likely include a $40,000 salt deduction,
0:51.1	that is state and local tax deduction.
0:54.0	Before 2017, it was unlimited. It then got
0:57.4	capped at $10,000 and now $40,000. Now usually when you hear politicians talk about it, they frame it as like
1:05.3	tax relief for hardworking homeowners or supporting middle class families. And here's the thing. Like so many tax
1:12.9	policies that sound great on the surface, the salt deduction is actually one of the most regressive
1:18.3	tax breaks in our entire system. So we're talking about a policy that overwhelmingly benefits
1:24.0	wealthy households while doing surprise, surprise surprise absolutely nothing for the majority of
1:28.9	Americans. So I live in a part of New York as an example with extremely high property tax
1:35.0	assessments. And I'm in a pretty cookie cutter neighborhood that looks a lot like every other suburban
1:39.9	development across the country. So we're talking about homes built in the 60s and the 70s during
	...

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