Washington Post: NJ Democrats Loved the Idea of Taxing the Rich Until They Could Actually Do It

A spokesman for Sweeney, the state Senate president, said families earning over $1.1 million in New Jersey already face an average $738 tax hike under the GOP law, citing data from the Institute on Taxation and Economic Policy (ITEP), a left-leaning think tank. That number accounts only for the GOP tax law’s changes for households and individuals, excluding the law’s cuts to the estate tax and corporate rates. …

But some of the tax experts cited by state Democrats have a different view. Factoring in all the law’s changes, including the corporate and estate cuts, ITEP says the GOP tax law cuts taxes for the richest 1 percent of New Jersey residents by an average of $21,700 in 2018. Only 3 percent of those earning between $315,000 and $925,000 get a tax hike, ITEP analysts say.

“It is not logical to consider provisions that raise taxes on the rich, while ignoring provisions that cut their taxes,” said Steve Wamhoff, ITEP’s director of federal tax policy, in an email. Read more

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