How Did the Pease Limitation Work (and Why Was It Repealed?)

The Pease limitation put a cap on how much certain taxpayers could claim in the way of itemized deductions before it was repealed in December 2017. Taxpayers with adjusted gross incomes (AGIs) over certain thresholds were limited as to the deductions they could claim.

Named for Congressman Donald Pease from Ohio, the politician who first introduced the legislation in 1991, the Pease limitation was first repealed from 2010 through 2012 before the American Taxpayer and Relief Act of 2012 reinstated it. Then it was repealed again by the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act (TCJA).

What the Pease Limitation Prevented

Itemized deductions can be a somewhat tricky tax concept. You can deduct certain expenses that you've paid all year from your taxable income when you itemize. Many of these expenses are necessary things that you'd have to pay even if you couldn't claim a deduction for them, such as mortgage interest and state and local property taxes.

As an example, let's say that Taxpayer A is struggling to get by and can't afford to give any of their money to charity. But Taxpayer B regularly makes qualified charitable donations of $30,000 a year. Taxpayer B can subtract that $30,000 from their taxable income, whereas Taxpayer B can't afford to claim this tax break.

Taxpayer A might spend $2,500 a year on property taxes, while Taxpayer B spends $10,000 because they own a pricier home. Taxpayer B used to be able to shave another $10,000 a year off their taxable income, while Taxpayer A could claim only a $2,500 deduction because they can't afford a fancy home.

These unfair circumstances existed until Congressman Pease got involved to put a stop to it, and the Pease limitations were implemented.

How the Pease Limitation Worked

The Pease limitation didn’t apply to all itemized deductions. Those for medical expenses, investment expenses, and some theft and casualty losses were spared, maybe because many of these deductions had their own separate built-in limitations anyway. But the deductions for mortgage interest, state and local taxes, charitable contributions, and certain miscellaneous deductions became more limited for wealthier taxpayers under the Pease limitation rules.

The AGI limit for single taxpayers was $261,500 in 2017, the last year the Pease limitation was in place. You would have had to subtract $600 from your itemized deductions in these categories if you were single with an AGI of $281,500 because 3% of that additional $20,000 in income works out to $600. You could only claim $29,400 if you had $30,000 in itemized deductions.

The Limitation Cap

A few hundred dollars might not sound like a big deal when you're earning upward of $280,000 a year, but it still represents some lost tax savings. And Congress was kind in one respect: It capped the reduction at 80% overall, but this rule only helped the wealthiest taxpayers.

Your income would have to have been so significant that 3% of the difference between the threshold and your AGI exceeded 80% of the itemized deductions you could otherwise have claimed.

Adjusted Gross Income Thresholds

The Pease limitation AGI thresholds increased somewhat in 2017 from what they were in 2016 because they were indexed for inflation. Even so, they achieved what Congressman Pease intended: Higher-income individuals were affected. The limitations were based on filing status. 

• The AGI limit for single taxpayers was $261,500 in 2017, up from $259,400 in 2016.
• The limit for married taxpayers filing jointly was $313,800 in 2017, increased from $311,300 in 2016.
• Heads of household were capped at $287,650 in 2017, up from $285,350 in 2016.

Other Related Tax Changes

The TCJA resulted in a great many other tax code changes as well, and some of them make the elimination of the Pease limitation almost redundant. For example, many work-related miscellaneous deductions were eliminated under that tax reform anyway. Applying the Pease limitation to them no longer serves any purpose because they no longer exist.

The TCJA also imposes a ceiling of $10,000 on the deduction of property, state, and local taxes. This limit applies to the total of all three when they're added together. If you pay $20,000 in 2018, that extra $10,000 won't do you any good at tax time because you can no longer claim it. This cap serves a similar purpose to that achieved by the Pease limitation.

The mortgage interest deduction has been adjusted downward as well. It's limited to $750,000 in acquisition debt for mortgages taken out after December 14, 2017. The limit used to be $1 million. So again, the Pease limitation would only limit a tax provision that the TCJA affected anyway. Congress apparently felt that the Pease limitation and these other terms of the TCJA overlapped, serving the same purpose.

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