NEW YORK – New York is seeing an increase in revenue this year following the increase in taxes on the state’s highest-earning individuals and businesses.
New York ended September with a balance of roughly $ 20 billion in the core operating fund, which is where most of the state’s revenue goes.
That’s more than $ 15 billion in September 2020, $ 9 billion in September 2019, and $ 6.4 billion in September 2018.
Comptroller Thomas DiNapoli said Monday that strong tax collections are an “encouraging sign of economic recovery.”
He asks lawmakers to use surplus dollars to boost the emergency fund and pay for critical infrastructure projects.
DiNapoli has also said that New York could ask Congress to forgive a portion of the $ 10 billion the state borrowed for unemployment benefits.
Meanwhile, the Democratic-led Legislature and Democratic Gov. Kathy Hochul face calls from businesses to reverse the tax increases.
Left-wing advocacy groups urge lawmakers to use surplus funds from COVID-19 relief for vulnerable groups, including undocumented workers, and 800,000 New Yorkers who recently lost federal unemployment benefits.
New York’s economy is recovering better than expected, though Hochul has said he’s concerned is that more contagious variants of COVID-19 could slow down tax collection.
Last month, Hochul put an additional 1.1 billion revenue into reserve funds, including a reserve to finance labor deals. It also set aside $ 650 million to reduce loans for capital projects.
New York City residents now face the highest state and local income tax rate in the country: 14.776% for taxpayers with incomes over $ 25 million.
Previously, New York had a top income tax rate of 8.82%.
This spring, lawmakers raised that rate to 9.65% for individual taxpayers with incomes over $ 1,077,550 and joint taxpayers with incomes over $ 2,155,350.
New York also launched two new tax brackets: 10.3% for taxpayers with income greater than $ 5 million and 10.9% for taxpayers with income greater than $ 25 million.
Those income tax increases expire in 2028.
Through September, New York collected $ 35.8 billion in personal income taxes.
That represents an increase of $ 26.9 billion through September 2020 and $ 28 billion through September 2019.
New York also raised the corporate income tax rate from 6.5% to 7.25% for companies with more than $ 5 million in taxable income.
New York has collected $ 5.9 billion in business taxes through September, compared to $ 5 billion through September 2020 and $ 4.2 billion through September 2019.
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