House Democrats promise 'meaningful' relief for state and local tax deduction cap

[FBaggins]

20. That cuts both ways

Let's say you're a hypothetical state that needs to raise $5,000 from a given taxpayer.

It's easier to "sell" to that taxpayer when it's only going to be a net drain of $3500 and the federal government will pick up the rest of the bill.

It's a reasonable question to ask what authority a state legislature ought to have to effectively tax the federal government (or, more precisely, the taxpayers of other states).

It was an easy sell to the republicans who passed it since it hurt comparatively few people and they were mostly in blue states - but that doesn't change the competing priorities.

Consider an alternative plan. Federal tax brackets are somewhat progressive, but they're the same across the country. Meanwhile, $100k for a family of four in a South Carolina suburb is a very different lifestyle than that same income for the same family in San Francisco. Should the federal tax brackets be differentiated by the cost of living where the taxpayer lives?