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- Sen. Bernie Sanders described it as "beyond unacceptable" part of the Democratic reconciliation bill.
- According to analyses, a planned repeal of the SALT deductions cap would amount to a massive windfall for the wealthiest.
- The $1.75 trillion bill has been mired in the Senate amid disputes among Democrats.
Sen. Bernie Sanders of Vermont, in a tweet, described as "beyond unacceptable" a proposed Democratic social care and climate change bill that, according to a new analysis, could end up delivering a tax cut to the wealthiest 5% of Americans.
On Tuesday, Insider reported that a new provision was being added to the stalled $1.75 social spending plan that would overwhelmingly benefit wealthier Americans.
The repeal of the SALT provision – which caps federal deductions for state and local tax at $10,000 – has long been championed by some Democratic lawmakers, who believe that the Trump-era law unfairly impacted those in high tax blue states, like New Jersey or California.
The SALT deduction allows taxpayers to deduct their state and local tax totals from their federal obligation. Trump's tax plan especially hit people with properties in multiple states, which could deduct their state property-tax totals in, for instance, New York City, if they had a property there and a nearby state like New Jersey, Pennsylvania, or Connecticut.
-Bernie Sanders (@SenSanders) November 2, 2021
But according to an analysis by the Committee for a Responsible Federal Budget, the repeal of the cap could end up costing the federal government far more than any proposed tax rises on the wealthy would raise and would result in a $30 billion net direct tax cut for the top 5%.
"That is beyond unacceptable. I will not support more tax breaks for billionaires," tweeted Sanders on Tuesday, linking to a CNN report on the analysis.
"Democrats campaigned and won on an agenda that demands that the very wealthy finally pay their fair share, not one that gives them more tax breaks," Sanders said in a statement. "I am open to a compromise approach which protects the middle class in high-tax states."
"I will not support more tax breaks for billionaires," he added.
The social and climate change bill has been mired for weeks in Congress amid disputes between progressive Democrats and moderates over its scale and how it should be funded. The Democrats have a razor-thin majority in the 50-50 split Senate to pass the bill, meaning the objections of a single lawmaker to measure included in it have to be accommodated.
Sanders has previously signaled that he is open to revising but not repealing the SALT code altogether, which under the current plan would take place until 2026.
"There are middle-class families in states where property taxes are very high that are paying a whole lot in state and local taxes. And I think we have to support them," Sanders said during an interview with MSNBC in June.