Professor Richard Kaplan recently provided commentary on the GOP tax proposals for both the Omaha World-Herald and the Christian Science Monitor.
The World-Herald piece focused on the Republican push to roll back or eliminate the state and local tax deduction, which lawmakers argue requires filers in states such as Nebraska and Iowa — who generally pay less state and local taxes — to subsidize those in higher-tax areas.
According to Kaplan, eliminating the state and local tax (or SALT) deduction is both part of Republican philosophy — not wanting high-tax locales subsidized — and a way of helping the proposal’s bottom line.
"Because the Senate wants a complete repeal of SALT, they were able to restore the deduction of medical expenses (which the House bill eliminates) and keep mortgage interest deductible on loans up to $1 million (versus $500,000 in the House bill), including second homes, which the House bill drops," Kaplan noted.
The Christian Science Monitor article provided more of an overall analysis of the bill, and asked the question "who is this really for, and who will benefit the most?"
"This is really tiny tinkering for individuals, [while] on the business side this is a major reduction of business taxes," Kaplan said. "That seems to be the real focus."
Read the full articles at omaha.com and csmonitor.com.