Today, Wednesday, May 22, 2019, U.S. Congressman Josh Gottheimer (NJ-5) questioned U.S. Treasury Secretary Steve Mnuchin on state and local tax (SALT) caps and charitable tax deductions during a House Financial Services Committee hearing.

“The recent Tax Hike Bill had a devastating impact on the Fifth District of New Jersey, gutting the SALT deduction, sharply limiting New Jersey’s property tax deductions, and imposing a massive tax hike on Jersey’s families and businesses,” said Congressman Josh Gottheimer (NJ-5). “Last year, I worked with New Jersey officials on legislation to provide real tax relief for my constituents via tax credits for charitable contributions to our towns.”

Gottheimer continued, “After New Jersey passed the law, the IRS, without any legislative basis, against legal precedent, and decades of previous IRS approval, issued provisional rules that would severely limit New Jersey’s ability to offer tax relief — not to mention curtail the tax benefits in other states like Alabama, Georgia, and South Carolina that have been using the charitable provision for decades. This is not a red state or blue state issue, Mr. Secretary, and Congress didn’t give the you or the IRS permission to interpret the tax law as they see fit.”

Watch Gottheimer’s questioning of Secretary Mnuchin here.