Underwood, Casten try again to lift cap on tax deduction

Two local members of Congress have announced another attempt to lift a cap on a commonly used tax deduction.

Rep. Lauren Underwood, D-Naperville, and Rep. Sean Casten, D-Downers Grove, said they introduced legislation this week that would raise a $10,000 limit on the amount of state and local taxes that can be deducted from federal tax returns.

The cap was imposed in 2017 federal tax legislation and has stayed in place despite repeated attempts to have it lifted, both legislators said.

The latest proposal would increase the state and local tax deduction to as much as $15,000.

Underwood said the proposal to increase the cap is being made again with expectations that President-elect Donald Trump, in a second term, is willing to change the limit imposed in the tax bill enacted during his first term as president.

“I think that we have heard President-elect Trump express an openness to make changes in the SALT deduction in his tax plan that is coming together,” Underwood said.

Casten, too, said there appears to be an opportunity to increase the SALT cap.

“As Congress considers further changes to our tax code in the upcoming year, there have been preliminary discussions on increasing the SALT deduction cap,” Casten said in an email.

The SALT Fairness for Working Families Act would help save taxpayers money by increasing the SALT deduction cap to $15,000 and eliminating the marriage penalty, according to a news release issued by both Casten and Underwood.

Married couples filing jointly would be allowed to deduct up to $30,000 for state and local tax payments, according to the release.

The SALT Fairness for Working Families Act was first introduced in 2019, according to the release.

“This bill has been introduced in each Congress since I took office, most recently in April 2023,” Casten said in an email response to questions about the legislation.