SALT deduction

Emily Brock, director of GFOA’s federal liaison center, said restoration of advance refundings and increasing the limit on bank qualified debt to $30 million also are among the legislative priorities for 2019.

Rep. Richard Neal, D-Mass., has pledged to ask mayors, governors and other municipal market advocates to testify at hearings early in 2019.

If the workarounds states are using by creating charitable foundations as a way to pay property taxes or state and local income taxes are legal, Suffolk County Executive Steven Bellone said it’s up to Congress to decide whether to end them.

Most state and local governments are concerned the ceiling will make it harder to raise taxes to pay for public services and infrastructure.

County Executive Steven Bellone of Suffolk County, N.Y. is among those who have asked to speak at a Nov. 5 public hearing.

Thursday is the deadline for sending comments to the IRS on its proposal to prevent taxpayers from avoiding the $10,000 federal cap on state and local tax deductions that Congress enacted last December.

The Protecting Family and Small Business Tax Cuts Act of 2018 which passed 220 to 191 isn’t expected to become law because the Senate won’t consider it this year.

The threat of lower tax revenues after the IRS denied the SALT tax workaround isn’t the only worry.

House Republicans want to make permanent the $10,000 cap on state and local tax deductions and the lower tax rates for individuals, both of which are due to expire at the end of 2025.

New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo sent letters to the Internal Revenue Service and to Treasury's Inspector General for Tax Administration threatening litigation and and asking for a probe of alleged undue political interference.