To watch Senator Capito’s remarks, click here or the image above.

WASHINGTON, D.C. – U.S. Senator Shelley Moore Capito (R-W.Va.) today joined a group of her colleagues to highlight the Democrats’ proposal to raise the state and local tax (SALT) deduction cap from $10,000 to $80,000, which would almost exclusively benefit wealthy Americans.

The provision included in the House-passed version of the Build Back Better Act accounts for the second-largest part of the legislation.

Until the Republicans’ 2017 Tax Cuts and Jobs Act was signed into law, which capped the SALT deduction at $10,000, there was no limit on the amount that could be deducted. Usually only the highest-income earners itemize taxes while most taxpayers take the standard deduction instead.

HIGHLIGHTS:

ON DEMOCRATS’ TAX WINDFALL FOR THE RICH: “What I see is the hypocrisy of the supposed ‘Build Back Better’ or better term, the reckless tax and spending spree that that bill represents…This is a giveaway to the top and most wealthiest 5% in this country.”

REPUBLICANS 2017 TAX LAW CAPPED THE DEDUCTION AT $10,000: “We had this discussion when we passed what I think was one of the most monumental pieces of legislation 2017, the tax cut bill. We had this discussion on SALT. I remember it was an active discussion on the floor on what direction we're going to go. And we decided that this was a fair way to spread the tax burden across the country.”

WEST VIRGINIA IMPACT: “In West Virginia, we are one of the states who has the lowest participation in terms of being able to take advantage of the SALT deduction. So, I don't want to subsidize the billionaires in these states, the 10 biggest states that are going to be getting the largest amount of benefit from this SALT deduction.”

HYPOCRISY OF BIDEN/DEMOCRATS: “Supposedly, as the president has explained, ‘nobody under $400,000 is going to bear the tax burden. This is all aimed at helping those who need help the most.’ However, their second priority is to answer the call of those who were in the higher income tax brackets in the states where many of them represent, particularly on the House side.”

CAPITO PLANS TO FILE AMENDMENT TO KEEP CAP AT CURRENT LEVEL: “If and when this bill comes before us, and if and when it has a readjustment of the SALT deduction, I plan to put forth an amendment that will strip that, and take it back to the original 2017 provisions that we wrote into that law. I think that would be well received. I think it would be one that we see is fair in terms of spreading the tax burden. And, I think it would also be fair…so those taxpayers in those states are not subsidizing states, and people who live in states who mismanaged their money, who have high taxes, who don't pay attention to what those impacts are to the people of their state.”

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