Salt Margins

I yell back most of the struggle misses an of import indicate virtually the province in addition to local revenue enhancement deduction -- incentives.

Suppose you lot are inwards the top, (roughly) 40% marginal federal revenue enhancement bracket.  If you lot pay an extra $100 inwards province taxes, you lot deduct $100 from income, in addition to pay $40 less inwards federal taxes. So, you lot genuinely alone pay $60 inwards province taxes. The federal regime effectively transfers $40 to the province from taxpayers inwards other states.

That's a large incentive to heighten coin every bit deductible taxes from high-bracket revenue enhancement payers! This incentive doesn't operate if the province raises taxes from lower bracket taxpayers.

California's revenue enhancement system, for example, seems to reply heartily to this incentive. California's income revenue enhancement charge per unit of measurement is highly progressive, topping out at 13.3%.  As reported inwards the Sacramento Bee
Nearly ninety percentage of the coin [income revenue enhancement receipts]  comes from one-fifth of the taxpayers – those making $91,000...Forty-five percentage of the state’s income revenue enhancement coin comes from the top 1 percentage of filers – those amongst adjusted gross income of at to the lowest degree $501,000.
and, therefore, inwards the highest Federal revenue enhancement bracket, in addition to also probable to itemize deductions.


The province of California relies a lot on income taxes. The state of California gets 65% of its revenue from private income taxes, 22% from sales taxes, in addition to 8% from corporate taxes.

The commons stories virtually California residual on its progressive, redistributionist politics, in addition to in that place is for sure much of that rhetoric around. But it also happens to live responding perfectly rationally to a strong incentive.

Conservatives stimulate got long objected to governments that pass other people's -- taxpayers' -- coin unwisely.  But coin raised from taxpayers from other states, who create non vote inwards your elections, provides doubly bad incentives.

This strikes me every bit a rigid economical declaration against deductibility of province in addition to local taxes, that hasn't been made loudly enough. Of course of teaching no declaration (pro or con) based on incentives has been made loudly enough!

This strikes me every bit theme of many things needing reform America. The New York Times  report on astounding infrastructure costs rang a nerve. Most infrastructure is directed past times province in addition to local officials, who pass Federal money.  Medicaid remains a matching fund -- the province spends a dollar, the federal regime chips inwards a dollar.  The motion to plough it inwards to a block grant, which failed terminal summer, would stimulate got removed this incentive.  Federal coin in addition to province command is a mutual blueprint inwards social programs, and John Cogan explains good the legal in addition to institutional argue for this separation inwards our history. But it leads to atrocious incentives.

Perhaps a full general reform lesson is that states should stimulate got to heighten the marginal dollar for anything from their ain voters.

PS. I was long for the deductibility of SALT on the grounds that it keeps downwards the total revenue enhancement rate. If both federal in addition to province accuse 50%, amongst deductibility you lot decease along 25% of your income (Federal takes 50%, province takes 50% of what's left, in addition to then you lot stimulate got 25%.) With hundreds of dissimilar taxes, it is possible to give 100%! However, I've been persuaded these incentives are to a greater extent than important. Moreover, if paying twice is such a problem, dearest California, you lot tin sack brand federal revenue enhancement payments deductible from state income. I create non take heed a groundswell for this solution.

Update 

H5N1 few commenters (and past times email) claim that California pays to a greater extent than to the federal regime than it gets back. The indicate is non the overall subsidy, the indicate is on the margin. H5N1 marginal $100 leads to a marginal $40 cross subsidy, no affair who pays who on average.

Also create non confuse margins in addition to levels for people. The loss of SALT deductibility hurts a lot less on average than on the margin. Someone paying 13.3% marginal province revenue enhancement inwards California alone pays that charge per unit of measurement on income over $1,000,000. So their total loss from the loss of SALT is non equivalent to paying federal taxes on the total 13.3%.

Update

The master copy post contained the next paragraph, which was wrong, in addition to then I took it out.
Property taxes inwards California raise virtually $60 billion, roughly equal to the total raised from personal income taxes.  Since the province is dwelling theater to extremes of housing values, cheers to dry ground purpose in addition to edifice restrictions, belongings taxes are also raised largely from people inwards high revenue enhancement brackets, in addition to hence benefiting from the xl cents on the dollar subsidy from the residual of the country. (This is a guess. If you lot know of information on belongings revenue enhancement past times income brackets, I'd similar to run into it.) 
It occasioned the next updates in addition to the  next post which genuinely shows how incorrect it is.

Update

H5N1 reader sent me links to 2 wonderful resources, "real estate taxes paid past times income bracket, in addition to past times state, available every bit business office of the IRS Statistics of Income:

California here: https://www.irs.gov/pub/irs-soi/15in05ca.xlsx (Lines 74-75)

All states in addition to national summary here: https://www.irs.gov/pub/irs-soi/15in54cm.xlsx (Lines 75-76)

Individual province files in addition to additional data: https://www.irs.gov/statistics/soi-tax-stats-historic-table-2

From the California analysis:


The row "real estate taxes, amount" in addition to next addresses the query I asked inwards the spider web log -- to what extent is the manifestly apartment belongings revenue enhancement genuinely progressive? It's non every bit much every bit I thought. The top 2 categories pay 37% in addition to 14% of existent estate taxes, though they bay 72% in addition to 49% of income taxes. (The tabular array verifies the province numbers on how concentrated California's income revenue enhancement receipts are.) In retrospect, fifty-fifty overpriced existent estate is a normal skillful -- people don't pay larger fractions of their income on existent estate every bit they larn to a greater extent than income -- in addition to then a apartment existent estate revenue enhancement volition heighten to a greater extent than coin from people amongst higher incomes, but non a higher fraction of income.

The tabular array is fascinating, in addition to a clear mine for spider web log posts. One large lesson that sticks out to me (ok, confirmation of something I've been mulling for a while) is simply how meaningless income is every bit a social yardstick. Our policy discussions beak virtually "low income people" every bit if that is a permanent caste distinction. Yet expect how many people amongst 1000000 dollar incomes are taking unemployment compensation! In the side past times side row, simply who are people amongst nether $1 of income? You imagine homeless people roaming the streets of San Francisco. Well, of the 286,000 such people inwards California 51,000 are s-corporation owners who lost money, collectively $5 billion.


Update 2 

Morris Davis sends along the next information on belongings revenue enhancement / identify income.

Just how much are belongings taxes every bit a fraction of income? It's interesting for a lot of reasons. For one, total taxes  matter to the economy. Too many commenters determine that the top federal charge per unit of measurement of 42% (last year) is depression in addition to nosotros ought to revenue enhancement people more. They forget province in addition to local income taxes, sales taxes, excise taxes, corporate taxes, etc. etc. And belongings taxes.

Granted, we're veering off theme here, but hither is the table. New Jersey, where Morris lives, has the highest revenue enhancement rates. California is upward there, but proffer thirteen in addition to a lot of low-priced inland areas must starting fourth dimension ridiculous theater prices inwards the coastal areas.






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