Cuomo’s Tax Blindness

Yet another report — this one from the news site 24/7 Wall Street — confirms New York’s sad status as the highest-taxing state in America. Naturally, Gov. Cuomo continues to deny the ugly reality. The study found that Empire State taxes amount to 12.7 percent of total salaries, which reflects its income taxes (second highest per capita nationally) and property taxes (fifth highest).

The report echoes what the Tax Foundation and other watchdogs have said for years. And what New Yorkers know firsthand, which is why so many move away. Indeed, in 2013, income-tax-free Florida overtook New York as the third-most-populous state.

So how do Cuomo & Co. react to the news? An aide simply dismissed it as “old data” and repeated the gov’s claims that he has cut taxes dramatically — with middleclass taxes now their lowest in years.

Those claims are misleading: Yes, Cuomo trimmed middle-class income taxes, but only slightly. And at the same time, he also, in effect, taxes for high earners — by repeatedly reinstating a surcharge that was scheduled to expire in 2011.

The hikes slapped high-income New Yorkers with $2.5 billion in new taxes. His cuts for middle-class earners that year, by comparison, totaled just $700 million; for a family of four making $100,000, that meant savings of all of $200 or so.

Yes, he also OK’d other cuts in 2016 that start to phase in this year. But those are small, too: A married couple with $100,000 in income would save less than $100 a year. Similarly, his 2 percent property-tax-hike cap won’t bring those levies down from the stratosphere any time soon.

How ironic that Cuomo opted to channel House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi and call the federal tax cuts “crumbs from the table” — even though they’ll save the average household $1,600 this year, according to the Tax Policy Center.

Fact is, Cuomo can deny New York’s hightax reality all he wants. But unless New Yorkers see greater relief, there may soon be no one left here to deny it to.