NY taxes highest in nation
12.7% of your income goes to gov’t: study
New York has once again landed a prize it doesn’t want — the highest tax burden in the nation.
Another study, this one conducted by the financial news site 24/7 Wall Street, found that New Yorkers on average paid 12.7 percent of their income in state and local taxes — a larger percentage than residents of any other state.
Oil-rich Alaska had the lowest tax-share burden at just 6.5 percent.
New York was the fourthwealthiest state with an average per capita income of $59,563 — but tax collections averaging $2,208 per resident were the secondhighest per capita in the US.
The Web site culled state and local income-tax data from 2012 to 2016 as part of its analysis.
In general, the wealthiest states imposed the highest taxes. Barely behind New York in the tax-burden competition were Connecticut (12.6 percent), New Jersey (12.2 percent ) and California, Illinois and Wisconsin, where 11 percent of income went to state and local tax collectors.
Gov. Cuomo’s office dismissed the study as outdated and said it failed to account for tax cuts implemented in New York since 2012. The analysis reviewed state and local tax burdens for the 2012 fiscal year and reviewed propertytax collections for fiscal year 2014, state income-tax collections for fiscal year 2015 and personal income data for 2016.
“This is old data that doesn’t reflect all of Governor Cuomo’s reforms that led to the lowest middle-class tax rates in more than 70 years, the lowest manufacturing tax rate since 1917, the lowest cor- porate tax rate since 1968 and a property-tax cap, freeze and cut,” said Cuomo spokesman Richard Azzopardi.
But Syracuse state Sen. John DeFrancisco, a Republican candidate for governor, said “people are voting with their feet” to leave or avoid New York because of its high tax-and-spend reputation.
DeFrancisco said New York needs to slash spending, singling out Medicaid, the insurance program for the needy, as one in need of immediate reform. “One-third of the people are on Medicaid right now. That makes no sense. We need to look at the Medicaid eligibility standards,” he said.
He also said the state needs to trim education mandates.
DeFrancisco also called on the state to phase out tax subsidies that cater to politically influential industries — singling out the $420 million film and TV program.
“It’s pay-to-play,” he said, referring to campaign donations Cuomo has received from Hollywood. Cuomo allies noted DeFrancisco’s own law firm previously benefited from tax credits.