Maryland Dems ask Hogan about response to tax law

Maryland’s Democratic lawmakers are asking the state’s Republican governor if he plans to take steps to prevent residents from seeing higher federal taxes due to the tax-cut legislation President Trump signed last month.

“We are writing to ask about your plans to respond to the double-taxation imposed by the new federal cap on the state and local tax deduction, and to offer our assistance as needed,” the lawmakers wrote in a letter sent Friday to Gov. Larry Hogan. Sen. Chris Van Hollen (D-Md.) took the lead on the letter.

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The new tax law limits the state and local tax deduction to $10,000, which could be an issue for residents of high-tax areas. According to the letter, IRS data found that Maryland is the state with the greatest percentage of its households taking the deduction, with an average deduction amount of nearly $13,000.

Democratic state-level politicians in New York, New Jersey and California are considering options for how to circumvent the cap on the deduction. These options include allowing residents to get a tax credit for charitable contributions made to the state, shifting from an income-tax system to a payroll-tax system, and filing a legal challenge to the new tax law.

Hogan has not said whether he is looking into any of those options. However, he has said that he is planning on proposing legislation to prevent the new federal tax law from hiking Maryland residents’ state taxes.

“We understand that you are exploring ways to prevent increases in Maryland state income taxes due to the linkages between the state and federal tax code, but we would like to know if you plan to protect Marylanders from higher federal taxes as well,” the members of Congress wrote.

Hogan is a Republican who represents a heavily Democratic state, but is one of the nation’s most popular governors. He is up for reelection this year, and a recent poll showed him leading his potential Democratic opponents.