Now That the One Big Beautiful Bill Act Is Law, How Will States Respond?

This was a question often raised during the annual Council On State Taxation (COST)/Tax Leadership Roundtable Southeast Regional SALT Update held earlier this month at the Encompass Health headquarters in Birmingham. The conference was co-sponsored by Bradley and Grant Thornton LLP and included a panel discussion chaired by long-time Commissioner of Revenue and FTA President Vernon Barnett. To even begin to answer that question, we first must revisit the landmark Tax Cuts and Jobs Act of 2017 (TCJA), which among other things drastically reduced the top federal corporate income tax rate from 35% to 21%, increased certain individual tax credits while reducing personal income tax rates, imposed limitations on business interest deductions, imposed the now infamous “SALT Cap” and made a myriad