The chairman of the House tax committee warned lawmakers from high-tax states demanding relief from a $10,000 cap on the state and local deduction that they will have to settle for an “unhappy” compromise.

House Ways and Means Committee Chairman Jason Smith said Tuesday in a Bloomberg Television interview that he will strike a balance between those who want no limit on the SALT deduction and those who want no write-off at all.  

“The number we’ll find will probably make everyone unhappy,” Smith, a Missouri Republican, said. “And so that means it’s probably the right number.”

Smith said there will be an increase from the current $10,000 cap in the bill. While he did not reveal his preferred solution, lawmakers have been discussing at least doubling the cap for joint filers and indexing it to inflation. 

Lawmakers from high-tax states including New York, New Jersey and California are fighting for much bigger increases including $40,000 for individuals and $80,000 for joint filers.  

Such a change could cost more than $800 billion over ten years however, limiting the ability of Congress to pass other tax priorities, such as eliminating taxes on overtime and tips.

“We don’t have money sitting in a jar somewhere,” House Majority Leader Steve Scalise told reporters on Tuesday.

Those pushing a large SALT cap increase say they are not backing down. 

Representative Nick LaLota, a New York Republican, said five GOP lawmakers from five high-tax suburban districts are resolved to not back down on their unstated bottom line on a new SALT cap.

House Republican leaders cannot afford to lose support from more than three Republican lawmakers, unless they make concessions to Democrats — which the GOP leaders have said they would not do.

“Our strength is in numbers,” Lalota said. He told reporters that the SALT talks are far apart, on the 25-yard line with 75 yards to go. 

Smith said despite a postponement of a Ways and Means Committee vote on the tax package this week, Congress is still on track to enact the giant tax cut package by July 4. 

Ways and Means Committee member Kevin Hern of Oklahoma said that the committee would try to iron out its provisions behind closed doors by Friday in order to hold votes on them next week. 

In a separate Bloomberg Television interview, House Budget Committee Chairman Jodey Arrington said the biggest challenge to passing the bill will be ensuring the Senate agrees to trillions in spending cuts that the House wants in the package. The Senate outline for the bill only requires $4 billion in cuts while the House is aiming for $2 trillion. 

“That’s the scary piece for budget hawks like us,” he said.

Inflation-adjusted amounts for health savings accounts are headed up in 2026, according to the Internal Revenue Service, though not at levels seen in recent years.

The agency said for calendar year 2026, the annual limitation on deductions for an individual with self-only coverage under a high deductible health plan will be $4,400, up from $4,300 this year.

Among other increases for 2026:

• The annual limitation on deductions for an individual with family coverage under a high deductible health plan is $8,750, up from $8,550 in 2023. 
• A “high deductible health plan” will be a plan with an annual deductible that is not less than $1,700 for self-only coverage (up $50 from 2025) or $3,400 for family coverage (from $3,300 in 2025), and for which annual out-of-pocket expenses (but not premiums) are less than $8,500 for self-only coverage (up $100 from this year) or $17,000 for family coverage (up from this year’s $16,600).
• The maximum amount that may be made newly available for the plan year for an excepted-benefit health reimbursement arrangement is $2,200, up $2,150 from 2025.

These increases are smaller than those in recent years, which were fueled by high inflation.

Women working at small businesses have a higher likelihood of making it into upper management than women at larger employers, a new study shows.

The disparity grows the longer women stay with one company. ADP Research found that 20% of women with eight years on the job who were employed at small businesses with fewer than 50 employees reported having upper management positions, compared to 8% of women at larger businesses.

“We see two possible explanations for this finding,” the report said. “First, large employers have many layers of leadership, while smaller ones are flatter. Upper management at a small employer might be defined as just two levels of leadership rather than the eight levels that larger companies average.”

“A second reason could be that the scope of management roles at smaller companies is often broader for economic reasons, in contrast to the deeper but narrower scope of responsibilities of roles at larger companies. Either way, women could gain greater and broader management experience at small companies than large ones.”

Patrick T. Fallon/Bloomberg

Twenty-eight percent of respondents, both men and women, said they feel strongly connected to their organizations. Similarly, 28% of women in their first year on the job, at any sized business, said the same. But that share rises significantly over time for women at small businesses and remains higher than 40% by their eighth year. At larger employers, women who say they’re strongly connected doesn’t pass 30%.”Some small business owners and managers might be more intentional and assertive in their efforts to build connections with workers,” the report said. “But the relatively large share of connected workers also could be a natural advantage of their smaller size, which might make it easier for employees to communicate, build relationships, collaborate and feel valued.” 

Moreover, 37% of women, at any sized business, in their first year report they’re thriving. The figure remains steady for women who stay at small businesses long term, while the figure declines for women at larger businesses in the first four years and never fully recovers after that.