New Jersey Hit Hardest By New Tax Law, Report Says

According to a new report, 10.2 percent of New Jersey taxpayers will see their tax bills rise. 

A copy of the "Tax Cuts and Jobs Act," a 1,097-page Republican tax bill.
A copy of the “Tax Cuts and Jobs Act,” a 1,097-page Republican tax bill. Daniel Acker/Bloomberg via Getty Images

New Jersey will have the highest percentage of taxpayers facing a tax hike this year as a result of the Republican rewrite of the federal tax code, according to a new report.

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The Tax Policy Center, a think tank based in Washington, D.C., said in a report Wednesday that 10.2 percent of New Jersey taxpayers will see their tax bills rise. Maryland (9.4 percent), California (8.6 percent), Connecticut (8.4 percent) and New York (8.3 percent) joined New Jersey as the states hit hardest by the new tax law.

The report said 61.5 percent of New Jersey taxpayers will get a tax cut, the fifth lowest among the 50 states.

The tax overhaul capped the state and local tax (SALT) deduction at $10,000, a move that disproportionately harms high-tax states like New Jersey, which is said to have the highest property taxes in the nation.

If the SALT deduction was not scaled back, only 6.7 percent of New Jersey taxpayers would have paid more in taxes this year, while 64.8 percent would have seen a tax cut, according to the Tax Policy Center, which is a joint venture of the Urban Institute and Brookings Institution.

“The Tax Policy Center report confirms what many of us warned when the federal tax reform legislation was being debated—that New Jersey citizens will bear an unfair and disproportionate share of tax increases and that this measure will make our state less competitive,” New Jersey Chamber of Commerce President Tom Bracken said in a statement.

All but one member of Congress from New Jersey voted against the tax overhaul: Rep. Tom MacArthur (R-3). MacArthur spokeswoman Camille Gallo defended the tax law on Thursday, saying it provided a boost to the economy.

“The truth is New Jersey families are seeing bigger paychecks and lower utility bills, frontline employees are getting bonuses and better benefits, and the tax cuts are helping to lower the cost of living,” she said in a statement. “Since the tax cuts have passed, our economy has seen robust growth that simply can’t be disputed no matter how hard liberals try.”

Rep. Bill Pascrell (D-9) said the tax law “was written specifically to whack New Jersey taxpayers and the law is whacking New Jersey taxpayers.”

“New Jerseyans have been carrying the rest of the country for years. Garden State taxpayers get less back on every dollar they put into the Treasury than just about any other state,” he said in a statement. “Especially galling to me is that some members from our own region voted for the scam… They knew they were hurting their own constituents and did it anyway.”

New Jersey Hit Hardest By New Tax Law, Report Says