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Did the 2017 Tax Reform Discriminate against Blue-State Voters?

Author

Listed:
  • David Altig
  • Alan Auerbach
  • Patrick Higgins
  • Darryl Koehler
  • Laurence Kotlikoff
  • Ellyn Terry
  • Victor Ye

Abstract

The Tax Cuts and Jobs Act of 2017 (TCJA) significantly changed federal income taxation, including limiting SALT (state and local property, income, and sales taxes) deductibility to $10,000. We estimate the TCJA’s differential effect on red- and blue-state taxpayers and the SALT limitation’s contribution to this differential. We find an average increase in remaining lifetime spending of 1.6 percent in red states versus 1.3 percent in blue states. Among the richest 10 percent of households, red states enjoyed a 2 percent increase compared to 1.2 percent in blue states, with the gap driven almost entirely by the SALT deduction limitation.

Suggested Citation

  • David Altig & Alan Auerbach & Patrick Higgins & Darryl Koehler & Laurence Kotlikoff & Ellyn Terry & Victor Ye, 2020. "Did the 2017 Tax Reform Discriminate against Blue-State Voters?," National Tax Journal, National Tax Association;National Tax Journal, vol. 73(4), pages 1087-1108, December.
    • Handle: RePEc:ntj:journl:v:73:y:2020:i:4:p:1087-1108
    DOI: 10.17310/ntj.2020.4.08
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    Citations

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    Cited by:

    1. David E. Altig & Elias Ilin & Alexander Ruder & Ellyn Terry, 2020. "Benefits Cliffs and the Financial Incentives for Career Advancement: A Case Study of the Health Care Services Career Pathway," FRB Atlanta Community and Economic Development Discussion Paper 2020-01, Federal Reserve Bank of Atlanta.
    2. David Altig & Alan J. Auerbach & Laurence J. Kotlikoff & Elias Ilin & Victor Ye, 2020. "The Marginal Net Taxation of Americans’ Labor Supply," NBER Working Papers 27164, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    3. Bishop, Kelly C. & Dowling, Jakob & Kuminoff, Nicolai V. & Murphy, Alvin D., 2025. "Tax policy and the heterogeneous costs of homeownership," Journal of Urban Economics, Elsevier, vol. 147(C).
    4. David Altig & Laurence J. Kotlikoff & Victor Yifan Ye, 2022. "How Much Lifetime Social Security Benefits Are Americans Leaving on the Table?," NBER Chapters, in: Tax Policy and the Economy, Volume 37, pages 135-173, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    5. LaLumia, Sara, 2025. "The 2017 SALT cap reduced charitable contributions: Evidence from form 990 data," Journal of Public Economics, Elsevier, vol. 251(C).
    6. Julie L. Hotchkiss & Robert E. Moore & Fernando Rios-Avila, 2021. "Impact of the 2017 Tax Cuts and Jobs Act on Labor Supply and Welfare of Married Households," FRB Atlanta Working Paper 2021-18, Federal Reserve Bank of Atlanta.
    7. Thi, Hoang Ha Nguyen & Weichenrieder, Alfons J., 2021. "C and S corporation banks: Did Trump's tax reform lead to differential effects?," SAFE Working Paper Series 328, Leibniz Institute for Financial Research SAFE.
    8. David Altig & Alan J. Auerbach & Erin Eidschun & Laurence Kotlikoff & Victor Yifan Ye, 2025. "Inflation’s Fiscal Impact on American Households," NBER Macroeconomics Annual, University of Chicago Press, vol. 39(1), pages 159-207.
    9. Siraj G. Bawa & Nam T. Vu, 2020. "International effects of corporate tax cuts on income distribution," Review of International Economics, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 28(5), pages 1164-1190, November.
    10. David Parsley & Helen Popper, 2021. "Risk Sharing in a Politically Divided Monetary Union," Open Economies Review, Springer, vol. 32(4), pages 649-669, September.

    More about this item

    JEL classification:

    • D15 - Microeconomics - - Household Behavior - - - Intertemporal Household Choice; Life Cycle Models and Saving
    • D31 - Microeconomics - - Distribution - - - Personal Income and Wealth Distribution
    • D72 - Microeconomics - - Analysis of Collective Decision-Making - - - Political Processes: Rent-seeking, Lobbying, Elections, Legislatures, and Voting Behavior
    • E62 - Macroeconomics and Monetary Economics - - Macroeconomic Policy, Macroeconomic Aspects of Public Finance, and General Outlook - - - Fiscal Policy; Modern Monetary Theory
    • H20 - Public Economics - - Taxation, Subsidies, and Revenue - - - General
    • H22 - Public Economics - - Taxation, Subsidies, and Revenue - - - Incidence
    • H71 - Public Economics - - State and Local Government; Intergovernmental Relations - - - State and Local Taxation, Subsidies, and Revenue

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