Will Go up from $10,000 to $40,000
By Hank Russell
A Long Island congressman is praising his fellow representatives for approving the new SALT (State And Local Taxes) cap deduction that will be four times greater than the current cap and what he calls “a big win for Long Islanders.”
The change, included in the House-passed version of the One Big Beautiful Bill, now heads to the Senate and awaits the President’s signature. If enacted, the measure would provide long-overdue relief — saving many Suffolk County families as much as $8,000 on their 2026 federal tax returns.
The deal raises the SALT deduction cap to $40,000 for households earning under $500,000, with both thresholds indexed to grow by about 1% annually — reaching roughly $44,000 and $552,000 by year ten. A household earning $333,000 and paying $20,000 in property taxes would now be fully covered under the new cap. The provision is valued at $344 billion over ten years.
U.S. Representative Nick LaLota (R-Rocky Point) secured the breakthrough after resisting heavy internal party pressure and rejecting a weaker proposal that would have capped deductions at $30,000 for households earning under $400,000 — with no indexing and a reset to $10,000 after a decade. That rejected proposal, worth $225 billion, might have covered a household earning $250,000 with $15,000 in property taxes — but it would have fallen far short for many Long Islanders, according to LaLota.
“This was a years-long battle, and I’m proud my colleagues finally came around to a plan that fixes the unfair $10,000 cap from 2017,” said LaLota. “Raising it to $40,000 means 92% of the families I represent will finally be made whole. For too long, Suffolk County’s middle class has been punished by double taxation. That ends now.”
According to the Tax Foundation, median property taxes in Nassau and Suffolk Counties far exceed $10,000, meaning most homeowners have long been penalized under the current $10,000 cap. Only 16.3% of taxpayers in LaLota’s district currently claim a SALT deduction — evidence of just how narrow and inequitable the benefit has been.
“Securing this deal took months of pressure, standing firm, and refusing to settle,” LaLota said. “I meant what I said: No SALT, no deal—for real. That wasn’t a slogan—it was a promise to Suffolk County families. And today, we delivered.”
LaLota also highlighted his consistent opposition to tax packages that failed to fix the SALT deduction.
“In 2021 and 2022, Democrats controlled Washington and broke their promise to fix SALT. In 2024, when the Smith/Wyden tax plan ignored it again, I voted no. And when a $30,000 cap was floated, I pushed back. That wasn’t a compromise—it was an insult.”
LaLota credited Speaker Mike Johnson (R-Louisiana) and Chairwoman Elise Stefanik (R-Plattsburgh) for working with him to deliver meaningful reform.
“This is a major win for Long Island — but we’re not done yet. I’ll keep fighting until this provision is signed into law and middle-class families get the relief they deserve. I didn’t come to Washington to play politics — I came to fight for Suffolk County. And I’m just getting started.”