STANDING IN THE NATION’S HIGHEST TAXED COUNTY, SCHUMER LAUNCHES NEW EFFORT TO RESTORE NYS’S ABILITY TO ‘WORKAROUND’ PART OF FED TAX LAW TAKING AIM AT WESTCHESTER, ROCKLAND & PUTNAM COUNTIES BY ELIMINATING HOMEOWNERS’ SALT TAX DEDUCTION, COSTING THEM THOUSANDS; SENATOR DEPLOYS SPECIAL LEGISLATIVE POWER TO OVERTURN IRS RULE & MAKE NY’ERS ELIGIBLE FOR FULL SALT DEDUCTION

NY Passed Law Allowing School Districts & Local Governments To Create Charitable Fund In Lieu Of Tax Payments, Allowing Homeowners To Retain Full SALT Deduction, But IRS Swooped In And Used Regs To Kill That Fed Workaround

Senator’s Congressional Review Act (CRA) Power Would Force A Vote To Overturn The IRS’s Block Of State Workaround

Schumer: There’s One More Rabbit In The Hat When It Comes To Making Unfair IRS Regs Disappear, And I’m Going To Use It    

As Westchester, Rockland and Putnam County homeowners wait with bated breath to learn the fate of a critical tax deduction they rely upon, U.S. Senator Charles Schumer today pushed a new effort to restore New York State’s ability to work-around the part of the federal tax law that takes an unfair aim at the state by eliminating a homeowners’ SALT tax deduction, costing them tens-of-thousands of dollars. Schumer explained that just as New York State was tying the bow on its workaround plan by passing a law that circumvented the feds, the IRS swooped in and used regulations to squash everything, adding insult to injury for local homeowners. Therefore, Schumer pushed his use of a special legislative power provided under the Congressional Review Act (CRA) Resolution of Disapproval to overturn that bad and recent IRS decision in hopes of once again making Westchester and Rockland County homeowners eligible for their full SALT deduction.

“While none of us have a magic wand to wave and undo the nasty tax predicament the federal government has cast on Westchester, Rockland and Putnam Counties, there is one more veritable rabbit in the hat Congress can use to make this unfair IRS rule disappear, and I am announcing today, that I’m going to use it,” said Senator Schumer. “The special legislative power comes from the Congressional Review Act (CRA) and I have recently dropped what is called a ‘Resolution of Disapproval’ to overturn the recent IRS decision that blocks New York State from implementing its workaround plan to allow Westchester, Rockland and Putnam homeowners to claim their rightful SALT deduction. New York State had a smart plan, and the IRS shot it down, but not all is lost.”

Schumer explained that he can use the special legislative power, provided for under the Congressional Review Act, in an attempt to nullify the recent IRS decision that blocks New York State from working around the provision in the federal tax law that strips Westchester, Rockland and Putnam homeowners from claiming their full SALT tax deduction. The disapproval resolution under the CRA gives Congress the power to expeditiously review any new federal regulation, like the recent IRS decision that hurts Westchester and Rockland Counties, so long as the CRA disapproval resolution is filed within 60 legislative days of the regulation being finalized. Last month, Schumer filed the disapproval resolution in Washington. Schumer said the use of the CRA power is comparable to declaring a policy emergency, and when it comes to the SALT deduction in Westchester and Rockland Counties, the issue is serious.

The CRA legislative review is not held to the 60-vote requirement to pass the Senate, Schumer added, making it an attractive plan in this anti-New York era. Schumer reiterated just how serious the SALT issue is across Westchester, Rockland and Putnam Counties. He pointed to the corresponding Congressional districts as he made his case and launched this nationwide push:

* prepared by the Government Finance Officers Association using 2015 IRS data

Under the pre-Trump tax code, taxpayers who itemized deductions on their federal income tax returns could deduct state and local real estate and personal property taxes, as well as either income taxes or general sales taxes. State and local income and real estate taxes had made up approximately sixty percent of local and state tax deductions while sales tax and personal property taxes made up the remainder. According to the Tax Policy Center, approximately one-third of tax filers had itemized deductions on their federal income tax returns.

“Taking away the SALT deduction was brutally unfair to Westchester, Rockland and Putnam homeowners and hit ‘em right between the eyes, and now the IRS has added insult to injury, and that’s why we have to keep fighting,” added Schumer.

Schumer said the recent IRS decision to block the workaround is unfair to Westchester, where the rate for home ownership is 63.59 percent and the cost of living is high. For instance, according to the NYS Department of Taxation and Finance, the median residential home sale price in Westchester County was $622,500 in 2018; in Rockland County the median residential home price was $465,000 in 2018; in Putnam County the median residential home price was $365,000 in 2018. ?According to the Tax Policy Center, between 2007 and 2011, the average annual property tax burden was $9,647 in Westchester County, $8,762 in Rockland County and $7,689 in Putnam County.

###