New York governor questions the constitutionality of federal tax overhaul

DECEMBER 28, 2017   18H:10  GMT/UTC/ZULU TIME

by Suzanne Gould and Biodun Iginla, BBC News and Reuters, Washington DC

WASHINGTON - The governor of New York said on Thursday that the state was considering restructuring its tax code in response to a federal tax overhaul bill that recently became law, which he said may be unconstitutional.

New York State Governor Andrew Cuomo speaks to the press near the Port Authority Bus Terminal in Manhattan, New York, U.S., December 11, 2017. REUTERS/Amr Alfiky

Republicans in Congress passed the largest overhaul to the nation’s tax code in three decades last week, a bill that U.S. President Donald Trump signed into law on Friday.

Among the changes to the tax code is a cap on a deduction for state and local taxes. Critics to that provision say it penalizes states like New York that have high taxes, many of which did not vote for Trump or have Republican senators.

“We’re going to propose a restructuring of our tax code. I‘m not even sure what they did is legally constitutional and that’s something we’re looking at now,” said Andrew Cuomo in an interview with CNN.

“You can change the tax code. You can’t penalize my state because of its political affiliation. There’s never been a double taxation before in the history of the nation,” Cuomo added, although he suggested a legal battle in the court system may prove difficult.