EAST RUTHERFORD, N.J. – U.S. Senator Bob Menendez, a senior member of the Senate Finance Committee that sets national tax policy and the leader in the U.S. Senate in the fight to preserve the State and Local Tax Deduction (SALT), today joined Governor Phil Murphy as he signed state legislation protecting New Jersey taxpayers from being double-taxed by the Trump Corporate Tax Plan that limited SALT deductions. The new state law allows municipalities to establish charitable funds where taxpayers can donate in return for a property tax credit.

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“President Trump and Congressional Republicans declared war on New Jersey when they cut the State and Local Tax Deduction, many of our residents depend upon, in order to pay for their $2 trillion corporate giveaway. And, while we didn’t start this fight, we are not about to back down and surrender. So, I’m proud to stand here with the Governor and other state leaders to say together, in one voice, that we will not take this lying down,” said U.S. Senator Bob Menendez. “I led the fight against the Trump Tax Bill and the SALT cap, in particular, by sponsoring an amendment in the Senate to fully reinstate the state and local tax deduction. I see no reason why these contributions shouldn’t be fully deductible, just like any other charitable contribution, and I plan to use my role as a senior member of the Senate Finance Committee that oversees the IRS and Treasury Department to fight for New Jersey.”

The Republican federal tax law, which passed the Senate on a strictly party-line vote, will hurt many New Jersey taxpayers who pay more than $10,000 in state and local property taxes. Estimates indicate that more than one-in-10 New Jersey households will see an increase in their federal income taxes.

To mitigate the federal tax law, the legislation, S-1893, allows taxpayers to donate to a charitable fund established by their municipality, county, or school district. In return for their donation, the taxpayer receives a credit on their property tax bill of up to 90 percent of the donation.

Taxpayers would then be able to claim their donation as a charitable deduction on their federal income tax return, preserving the deduction homeowners enjoyed for the more than 100 years since the federal income tax was instituted in 1913.

When the GOP tax plan was first being introduced, Sen. Menendez called it, “One giant hit job of New Jersey’s middle class.” The senator stood with middle class homeowners in Bloomfield, N.J., to highlight how the bill was a direct attack on New Jersey, and after two different versions passed the House and Senate, Menendez was named by Senate Democrats to the Tax Conference Committee to defend deductions essential to New Jerseyans. Republicans, however, never had any intention of listening to Democrats’ concerns and released a bill they negotiated in secret.

In the week leading up to the vote, Sen. Menendez took to Facebook Live to explain the tax bill, responded to Sen. Pat Toomey’s (R-Pa.) attack on states like New Jersey and New York, detailed how the bill specifically hurts New Jersey, and offered measures to restore the state and local tax deduction New Jersey’s middle class relies on.

Unfortunately, the Republican legislation passed the Senate despite Menendez’s objections, and was signed by President Trump.

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