Matt Levine’s Money Stuff: Lawyers Are Mad About SALT

Programming note: Money Stuff will be off tomorrow.

SALT

The way US tax law works is that businesses mostly can deduct their business expenses from their taxable income, but people mostly can’t deduct their personal expenses. So a company that has $100 of revenue and spends $80 on inputs will have $20 of taxable income, but a person who has a $100 paycheck and spends $80 on food and rent will have $100 of taxable income. There are various exceptions. A person who has a $100 paycheck and spends $80 on food and a mortgage will have less than ...