By Bob Katzen

The Revenue Committee will hold a public hearing on Tuesday, January 23 at 11 a.m. in the Gardner Auditorium at the Statehouse on the impact on Massachusetts and its taxpayers of the many recent changes in federal tax law approved by Congress and signed by President Trump. The committee will also hear testimony on identifying and exploring creative ways in which the state might respond to counteract any ill-effects of the federal changes.

Front and center will be the part of the new federal code that beginning in 2018 caps at $10,000 the deduction of state and local taxes for taxpayers who itemize. Prior to this, there was no limit to the amount of those taxes that could be deducted.

“As the federal tax law reform begins to take its effect on state and local revenues, it’s imperative we explore how this will affect Massachusetts residents,” said Sen. Michael Brady (D-Brockton), Senate Chair of the Revenue Committee.

“The hearing is our chance to digest the impact of the massive federal tax cut and to explore appropriate actions we can or should take to protect the interests of the citizens, communities and commonwealth of Massachusetts,” said House Revenue Committee Chair, Rep. Jay Kaufman (D-Lexington).

The hearing comes on the heels of a report released last week by the Massachusetts Taxpayers Foundation reporting that of the $19 billion Bay State taxpayers could deduct under the system in place in 2015 before the passage of the new law, some $7.5 billion of that will no longer be available. The report also states that 34 percent of Massachusetts tax filers in 2015 claimed state and location tax deductions, with an average deductible claim of $17,000.