NAR Support Letter to Senator Collins Re SALT Deduction Fairness (Marriage Penalty) Act

On March 22, NAR sent a letter to Senator Collins. The letter thanks the Senator for introducing the “SALT Deduction Fairness Act,” a bill to eliminate the marriage penalty in the current-law limitation on the deduction for state and local taxes (SALT). This legislation would significantly increase the tax incentives for purchasing and owning a home for tens of millions of Americans. 

 

For the typical American household, limiting the amount of state and local taxes that can be deducted diminished or entirely erased the long-standing tax incentives of buying or owning a home. The SALT cap also features an inherent flaw that results in the inequitable treatment of taxpayers. Because the limit is the same for single and for joint filers, it creates a penalty on marriage. The legislation, If enacted, would alleviate the negative impact of the SALT deduction limit on homeownership incentives and also greatly increase the fairness in the tax code by eliminating the indefensible marriage penalty in the SALT cap.