New Jersey Governor Phil Murphy Continues Push for SALT-Cap Removal

(Bloomberg) -- New Jersey Governor Phil Murphy said he will continue to back a legal challenge to President Donald Trump’s limit on state and local tax deductions despite a recent setback in federal court.

In an interview with Bloomberg TV, Murphy said the Trump administration “weaponized” the tax law against states like New Jersey and reiterated his commitment to legally challenging the deduction cap. His state joined with New York, Connecticut and Maryland to file a lawsuit to challenge the law that limited write-offs for state and local taxes. A federal judge tossed out that suit on Sept. 30, saying the federal government has the “exhaustive” power over U.S. taxes.

Related Story: SALT Tax-Cap Challenge by New York and New Jersey Is Tossed

Murphy said that the cap is “bad public policy and is frankly unconsitutional in our judgement.”

The state and local tax cap has been widely criticized by high tax states like New Jersey and California, whose residents used to be able to deduct all of what they paid to the state on their federal returns.

To contact the reporter on this story: Danielle Moran in New York at dmoran21@bloomberg.net

To contact the editors responsible for this story: Elizabeth Campbell at ecampbell14@bloomberg.net, William Selway, Christopher Maloney

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