Millionaires in NYC set to face highest tax rate in US

Date:

By MARINA VILLENEUVE Associated Press

ALBANY, N.Y. (AP) — The highest-earning New Yorkers would face the nation’s steepest income tax rate under a budget lawmakers expected to vote on Tuesday.

It would serve as a win for the Democratic party’s left wing, who say that millionaires in Manhattan penthouses have fared far better amid the pandemic then struggling small businesses and low-income New Yorkers.

States including California, Minnesota and Washington are also considering wealth taxes, raising taxes on capital gains or setting new top income tax rates. President Joe Biden — who said on the campaign trail he’d raise income taxes on high earners — has proposed tax hike s on wealthy individuals and families and a corporate tax rate increase to pay for his infrastructure plan.

Democrats in New York hope the tax increase could bring in at least $3 billion and prevent the need for spending cuts in years to come. Assembly Member Helene Weinstein said the bill would be introduced Tuesday, and Sen. Liz Krueger said the leaders of the Assembly and Senate have agreed on the bill.

New York’s top income tax rate is currently 8.82%, while New York City residents face an additional 3.88% top tax rate.

Democrats want to raise the combined top tax rate for New York City millionaires above California’s top income tax rate of 13.3%, though exact details of the proposal weren’t available Tuesday afternoon.

Senate Democratic Majority spokesperson Mike Murphy said he expected the public could view the revenue bill online shortly. Spokespeople for the governor and Assembly Speaker Carl Heastie’s office didn’t immediately respond to request for comment.

Democrats won control of the state Senate in 2018, but they gained more leverage last year by winning a veto-proof supermajority.

Gov. Andrew Cuomo expressed newfound openness to raising taxes on top-earners this year — his budget proposal included a limited, temporary tax increase on high-earners if New Yorkers didn’t receive extra COVID-19 aid.

He’s also long warned that raising taxes on the wealthy could drive them out of New York at a time when the state’s economy is still recovering from COVID-19 economic shutdowns last week. His budget director, Robert Mujica, has said the top 1% of earners pay 40% of New York’s income taxes.

And Mujica has said an additional $12 billion in expected federal COVID-19 aid could prevent the need for a tax hike.

But Democratic legislative leaders who have pushed forward with a proposed tax hike said there’s no conclusive evidence that tax hikes drive out the rich. And they criticize years of “fiscal austerity” under Cuomo, as health care costs rise and educational advocacy groups call for more spending on schools.

Medicaid costs have skyrocketed as New York has boosted enrollment, raised the minimum wage for all workers and taken on more Medicaid bills once shouldered by counties.

Find your latest news here at the Hemet & San Jacinto Chronicle

LEAVE A REPLY

Please enter your comment!
Please enter your name here

Share post:

Subscribe to The Hemet & San Jacinto Chronicle

Popular

More like this
Related

Why are so many dying in California jails?

More people are dying in California jails than they did before the pandemic, and it’s not because of COVID-19.

Why California Democrats are divided on retail theft bill

Legislators may be off for spring recess, but debates about their bills are still happening outside committee rooms.

California delays financial aid deadline over bungled FAFSA rollout

California Gov. Gavin Newsom on Monday signed legislation extending the deadline for students to apply for state scholarships as problems continue to beset the Biden administration’s rollout of a simplified federal aid form.

Where is employment heading in the Inland Empire?

Once a year, at the beginning of March, the national release of the monthly labor market data coincides with that of the state and the region.