Gotham Gazette

The Place for New York Policy and politics

Taxes

Taxes

  • How Much to Raise, How Much to Spend: Hochul and Legislature Wrangle Over Tax Rates in State Budget Negotiations

    Gov. Hochul makes a budget presentation (photo: Mike Groll/Governor's Office)


    When Governor Kathy Hochul delivered her State of the State address in January, she promised to keep income taxes flat this year while identifying other revenue sources to pay for major funding needs.

    "A majority of economists are predicting a recession," she said. "And it's also one of the reasons why we will not be raising income taxes this year."

    The Legislature is now putting that promise to the test, seeking to increase taxes on the state’s highest individual and corporate earners as the legislative and

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  • Max Politics Podcast: A Vision for Limited Government in New York

    The Capitol Building in Albany New York (photo: Mike Groll/Governor's Office)


    March 16, 2022 - Max Politics Podcast: A Vision for Limited Government in New York

    Peter Warren, research director at the Empire Center for Public Policy, joined the show to discuss a limited government vision for New York's economic and fiscal policies, including lowering taxes and reducing government spending.

    Listen to the conversation and let us know what you think, on Twitter @TweetBenMax. You can listen to the show through the embedded

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  • Leveraging Titans of Industry to Jump-Start NYC’s Engine of Social Mobility

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    The mayor at Google (photo: Mayoral Photography Office)


    In September, Google announced that it will expand its physical presence on the West side of Manhattan by purchasing St. John’s Terminal. The price tag? $2.1 billion. The new office space will open in 2023, and when it does Google will be one of the largest leaseholders in the city.

    In 2023, approximately...

  • Letter from a Constituent: Speaker Heastie, Please Stand Up for the Bronx

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    Speaker Carl Heastie (photo: Michael Appleton/Mayoral Photography Office)


    I’ve lived in The Bronx all my life — and all my life, our political leaders have hung our borough out to dry.

    For as long as I can remember, being from The Bronx meant going to underfunded schools, surviving in food deserts, and living in overcrowded homes or crumbling NYCHA units. None of these conditions are inevitable; rather, they’re the outcome of negligence and disinvestment by lawmakers. The people of The Bronx deserve better. Assembly Speaker Carl Heastie: to deliver

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  • State Legislators Eye Revenue from Inheritances and Gifts with New ‘Heirs Tax’

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    The State Capitol in Albany (photo: Michael Appleton/Mayoral Photography Office)


    As New York State faces a severe budget shortfall and awaits federal aid, some lawmakers and activists are advocating for a package of legislation that would increase taxes on the state’s wealthiest residents to avoid cuts to services for the most vulnerable. Among those proposals is a bill that would tax inheritances for multi-millionaires and raise as much as $8 billion for the state every year, according to supporters’ calculations. 

    State Senator Jabari

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  • Democrats Hold Senate Majority, All of State Government; Here's What's on Their Agenda

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    Gov. Cuomo, Speaker Heastie, Majority Leader Stewart-Cousins (photo: Governor's Office)


    Despite facing tough battles in districts that they narrowly won two years ago and being on the verge of defeat in some places, Democrats also flipped a few seats and will grow their large majority in the State Senate, retaining control of both chambers of the Legislature by wide margins. Along with the ongoing tenure of third-term Governor Andrew Cuomo, Democrats will keep full control of New York state government through 2022, the next state election

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  • Could a Tax on Stock Trading Help New York Fill Its Massive Budget Hole?

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    Gov. Cuomo at the New York Stock Exchange (photo: Darren McGee/Governor's Office)


    This story was published in partnership with New York Focus, an independent, investigative news publication covering New York state and city politics, as part of its launch.
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    As the pandemic roiled markets in the spring, New York recorded surging revenue from an obscure

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  • A Wall Street Investor and an Unemployed Immigrant Cook Agree: Tax Billionaires, Support Excluded Workers

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    Gov. Cuomo at the New York Stock Exchange (photo: Don Pollard/governor's office)


    Income inequality in our state was a crisis before anyone had even heard of COVID-19, but five months into the pandemic, it is now a question of life or death for millions of New Yorkers.

    As two individuals sitting on opposite sides of that inequality divide, we are united in our demand to the State of New York: we must tax the rich, and we must do it right now.

    One of us, Morris Pearl, is a millionaire. I built my fortune on Wall Street, but I retired from that job after deciding

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  • No to Austerity, Yes to Efficiency and Fairness: Getting Our Budget Priorities Straight for a Strong Post-COVID New York

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    Major budget questions loom as coronavirus takes its toll (photo: Edwin J. Torres/ Mayor's Office)


    As we work to show COVID the door, tough budget decisions are ahead. Governments at every level are grappling with the unprecedented toll this pandemic has had on the economy. 

    COVID has laid bare structural inequities too stark to ignore. While some work comfortably from home, others put themselves in danger on the front lines. While some flee to the Hamptons, others pass the virus between family members in cramped New York City apartments.

    These choices become

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  • Letter to the Editor: Raising Revenue for Medicaid and More

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    (photo: Governor's Office)


    To The Editor,

    I read with interest Gerald Benjamin's op-ed, Minding the Medicaid Gap, published on January 24, 2020. It's an excellent deep dive into the funding and administration of Medicaid at the state and local level.

    I disagree, however, that raising taxes is necessarily unpalatable. Experts have identified ways to raise $40 billion in revenue, per year, by taxing New York's wealthiest individuals and corporations. Here's what

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  • What's The [DATA] Point? $81.3 billion, with New York Tax Commissioner Michael Schmidt

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    What's The [Data] Point? Episode 83 -- $81.3 billion, with New York State Department of Taxation and Finance Commissioner Michael Schmidt [You can download What's The [Data] Point? wherever you get your podcasts, including on iTunes]

    michael schmidt dataAppointed to be the new Commissioner of the New York State Department of Taxation and Finance by Governor Cuomo earlier this year, Mike

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  • After Major Tax Revenue Drop, a ‘Positive Note’ & Much Uncertainty for State Fiscal Picture

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    Budget Director Mujica, Gov. Cuomo, Comptroller DiNapoli (photo: governor's office)


    New York’s tax revenue fell by $3.7 billion, a 4.7% decline, in the 2019 fiscal year that ended March 31, according to the cash report released Friday by State Comptroller Tom DiNapoli. A drop was expected in projections made last year, but not to the degree it occured, setting off alarm bells earlier this year as the state started to see apparent effects of New York taxpayer behavior resulting from the new federal tax code. The state's latest projections from February did,

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  • Federal Tax Reform is Shaking Up New York’s Finances But Flow of Bank Settlement Money is Bailing Out the State Budget

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    (photo: governor's office)


    The federal tax law overhaul enacted at the end of 2017 capped state and local income and property tax deductions on federal income tax returns at $10,000, damaging millions of New Yorkers’(and tens of millions of other Americans’) ability to itemize deductions on their federal tax returns. The change also resulted in sudden shifts in New Yorkers’ behavior toward their own New York tax payments. Over the past two budget cycles the changes have destabilized New York State’s tax revenue collection patterns and caused considerable

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  • Report Undercuts Cuomo and DiNapoli Claims of Outmigration Because of Federal Tax Law

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    Gov. Cuomo, middle, and Comptroller DiNapoli, right (photo: Governor's office)


    In the last few months, Governor Andrew Cuomo and State Comptroller Tom DiNapoli have raised red flags about the impact of the 2017 federal tax overhaul ushered through by President Trump and Republicans in Congress. Chiefly, they said that a new $10,000 cap on the State and Local Tax (SALT) deduction has led to a massive drop in revenue and is likely being accompanied by increased outmigration of high-earning New Yorkers to states with lower taxes.

    But

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  • Cuomo's Budget Priority Balancing Act

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    Gov. Cuomo on Long Island (photo: governor's office)


    Before Democrats reclaimed the state Senate last year, Governor Andrew Cuomo spent years triangulating with the Democratic-controlled Assembly, two factions of Senate Democrats, and the Republican Senate majority. The arrangement allowed him a heavy hand over the legislative and budget agendas in Albany and gave him the ability to claim credit and deflect blame as he saw fit (though critics didn’t always buy his explanations). Progressive legislation regularly withered on the vine

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  • State Leaders Must Follow Through on Their Promise of a More Fair New York

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    (photo: Governor's office)


    As we near the final days of state budget negotiations, a familiar anxiety is growing as advocacy groups and everyday New Yorkers await the fate of critical policy and funding decisions.

    Despite a fast start to the legislative session and optimism abounding from a Democratic trifecta that seemed focused and committed to delivering on campaign promises, the realities of the same-old behind-closed-doors budget process are setting in ahead of the April 1 deadline.

    For far too long, the state budget has contributed to growing

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  • Pied-à-Terre Tax Should Be Just The Start

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    (image: mayor's office)


    Governor Andrew Cuomo, Senate Leader Andrea Stewart-Cousins, and Assembly Speaker Carl Heastie have all signaled their support for funding the long overdue MTA overhaul with a pied-à-terre tax. Cuomo has said it’s the “only agreed-to new money” for the upcoming state budget. But the challenges facing struggling families in New York demand more than just a pied-à-terre tax. We need an entire reimagining of New York’s upside-down tax system.

    There are over 75,000 apartments in New York City owned by people who don’t live there

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  • What's The [Data] Point? 18.6%, New York's Inequality & Social Safety Net

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    What's The [Data] Point? Episode 60 -- 18.6%, Inequality and the Social Safety Net, with Greg David and Cara Eisenpress [You can download What's The [Data] Point? wherever you get your podcasts, including on iTunes]

    gregdavid caraepress amazon18.6% is the poverty rate in New York City. Greg David and Cara Eisenpress, both from Crain's New York Business and the Craig Newmark

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  • A Closer Look at the Tax Incentives in the Amazon Deal

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    Cuomo, de Blasio & an Amazon rep celebrate (photo: Kevin P. Coughlin/Governor's Office)


    Amazon’s decision to put a corporate campus in Long Island City after a year-long, somewhat-public search for a host city and a series of incentives from New York City and State has drawn skepticism and outrage in Queens and beyond for a number of reasons.

    Some activists and elected officials oppose the secretive process by which Amazon got its land, tax breaks and grant, others feel like the company isn’t a corporate entity the city and state should be

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  • Tax Issues at Center of State Elections, Albany Year to Come

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    Gov. Cuomo (photo: Don Pollard/Governor's Office)


    When the dust settles on the 2018 elections, whoever is governing the state will be faced with problems like what to do about NYCHA and the MTA, and how New York should respond to climate change, among many others. Another

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  • Federal Corporate Tax Cuts Just Gave New Billions to New York Businesses - What About the MTA?

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    (Photo: Don Pollard/Office of Governor Andrew M. Cuomo)


    There is a sudden new source of money in New York that is getting little attention in the debate about where the MTA will get resources to fund the ambitious plans to solve its problems, let alone just manage to keep the mass transit system going. That source is the big corporate income tax cuts just enacted by the federal government that have put billions - yes, billions - of dollars into the hands of New York businesses and their owners.

    There are several reasons why tapping this resource

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  • Molinaro Starts Campaign on Attack, Policy Plans to Come

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    Marc Molinaro, left (photo via @marcmolinaro)


    Nearly three months after launching his campaign for governor, presumptive Republican nominee Marc Molinaro has spent most of his time hammering incumbent Andrew Cuomo, a two-term Democrat, on ethics scandals, economic development spending, and other issues. But key questions remain about Molinaro’s own policy stances.

    “I know that campaigns are marathons, not sprints,” he recently told Gotham Gazette, after

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  • On Taxes, the MTA and More, Molinaro Discusses Developing Campaign Platform

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    Marc Molinaro (photo: Ben Max/Gotham Gazette)


    Ask Marc Molinaro about nearly anything, and the Republican nominee for governor will likely bring the conversation back to property taxes and affordability.

    “My focus, ultimately, will be to drive down costs on middle class New Yorkers,” he said in a Wednesday interview with Gotham Gazette. “That focus, again, has to be on property taxes because New York, unlike every other state in America, forces more of its state spending on property taxpayers. Property taxpayers -- small tax base; large, acute burden on

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  • The Problem with Cuomo's Payroll Tax

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    Gov. Cuomo (photo: Kevin P. Coughlin/Governor's Office)


    Other high-tax states have considered it, but New York just became the first state to actually do it:  revamp its tax code to mitigate the new $10,000 federal cap on deducting state and local taxes (SALT). As part of the new state budget, the Legislature enacted the Governor’s plan for a new voluntary 5% payroll tax New York employers can opt into. It would exempt their employees from paying state income tax, and thereby help keep them below the federal cap.

    But the new payroll tax

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  • What's The [Data] Point? $9.5 Billion, with Andrew Rein

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    What's The [Data] Point? Episode 34 -- $9.5 billion with Andrew Rein [You can download What's The [Data] Point? wherever you get your podcasts, including on iTunes]

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    $9.5 billion is the new Citizens

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