Why Repealing the SALT Deduction Would Not Create Double Taxation

By Dominic Pino. He is the Thomas L. Rhodes Fellow at National Review Institute. Excerpt:

"It is a bedrock principle of American government that the states are not mere administrative divisions of the country. Federalism means states have their own tax and spending powers that exist independent of the federal government. As a result, each American lives in more than one tax jurisdiction. It is not double taxation for each of them to tax you separately.

State and local governments do not provide the same services as the federal government. The federal government provides military protection, Social Security, Medicare, diplomacy, veterans’ benefits, national parks, and many other services that state and local governments do not. State and local governments provide education, transportation, law enforcement, child protective services, record-keeping, state and local parks, and many other services that the federal government does not.

When you pay state and local taxes, you are paying for different things than when you pay federal taxes. That’s not double taxation.

Calling it double taxation is akin to accusing your car insurance company of double-charging you because you also had to pay your home insurance company, as they both provide you with insurance. That’s true, they are both providing insurance, but it’s insurance for different things, so it’s perfectly reasonable to pay for it separately."