Cuomo calls for repeal of SALT provision to aid N.Y. taxpayers slammed amid Covid-19 pandemic

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In his Saturday address, Governor Cuomo called on Congress and President Trump to repeal the SALT provision of the 2017 Tax Cuts and Jobs Act to provide relief to residents of high-tax states like New York and California amid the pandemic.

The SALT provision eliminated all but $10,000 of the federal deduction for state and local taxes, known commonly as the SALT deduction, costing New Yorkers millions of dollars annually in federal taxes.

“You want to help New York … you want to help the places that are affected [by Covid-19], then repeal the SALT provision,” Cuomo said.

The provision “targeted” states like New York, the governor said.

In a March 26 editorial, the Herald called for repeal of the SALT provision. To read it, click here.

Cuomo urged people not to play politics around Covid-19, particularly given that it is a presidential election year. President Trump, he said, has been responsive to New York’s needs amid the coronavirus crisis.

“Keep politics out of the discussions,” Cuomo said.

He noted that he does not plan to run for president, despite some pleas within the Democratic Party that he should jump in the race — Joe Biden is now the presumptive nominee after Sen. Bernie Sanders dropped out this week.

Some 783 people died of the coronavirus statewide overnight from Friday into Saturday. The governor noted that was not an all-time high, which came three days earlier when 799 people died. He also said the number of intensive care unit admissions and number of intubations are both down dramatically, which could indicate the state has hit a plateau of infections.

In all, 8,627 have died of Covid-19 in New York.

Overnight, 69 people died in Nassau, bringing the total number of deaths here to 792, said County Executive Laura Curran Saturday afternoon. 

Nearly 22,600 people have tested positive in Nassau for the coronavirus since the outbreak here a little more than a month ago, Curran said.

Cuomo described the current phase of the pandemic in New York as the “end of the beginning.”

He urged people to continue to “stay the course” and practice social distancing. He noted that without it, a second wave of infection is possible.

When New York’s economy should fully reopen is a subject of study and debate, the governor said. Reopening it, he said, “cannot be at the expense” of human life.