October 17, 2018

New York: Who Pays? 6th Edition


NEW YORK

Read as PDF



NEW YORK STATE AND LOCAL TAXES

Taxes as Share of Family Income

Top 20%
Income Group Lowest
20%
Second
20%
Middle
20%
Fourth
20%
Next
15%
Next
4%
Top
1%
Income Range Less than $19,400 $19,400 to $36,400 $36,400 to $60,900 $60,900 to $107,600 $107,600 to $251,800 $251,800 to $780,000 over $780,000
Average Income $11,700 $27,700 $47,600 $81,000 $155,800 $398,700 $2,491,200
Sales & Excise Taxes 7.1% 6.0% 4.9% 3.8% 2.8% 1.7% 0.9%
General Sales – Individuals 3.6% 3.4% 2.8% 2.3% 1.8% 1.1% 0.6%
Other Sales & Excise – Ind. 1.3% 0.8% 0.6% 0.4% 0.3% 0.1% 0.0%
Sales & Excise on Business 2.2% 1.8% 1.5% 1.1% 0.7% 0.4% 0.2%
Property Taxes 6.7% 4.7% 4.3% 4.6% 4.5% 3.5% 2.5%
Home, Rent, Car – Ind. 6.0% 4.0% 3.6% 4.0% 3.9% 2.7% 0.5%
Other Property Taxes 0.7% 0.7% 0.7% 0.6% 0.6% 0.9% 1.9%
Income Taxes -2.4% 0.6% 3.3% 4.5% 5.3% 6.4% 7.9%
Personal Income Tax -2.5% 0.5% 3.2% 4.4% 5.2% 6.2% 7.4%
Corporate Income Tax 0.1% 0.1% 0.1% 0.1% 0.2% 0.2% 0.5%
TOTAL TAXES 11.4% 11.3% 12.4% 12.9% 12.6% 11.6% 11.3%

Individual figures may not sum to totals due to rounding. Download the table

TAX FEATURES DRIVING THE DATA in New York

Progressive Features

Regressive Features

  • Graduated personal income tax structure
  • Provides a refundable Earned Income Tax Credit (EITC) in New York State and an additional credit in New York City
  • Provides a refundable child tax credit
  • Sales tax base excludes groceries
  • Requires the use of combined reporting for the corporate income tax
  • Levies a state estate tax
  • Comparatively high combined state and local sales tax rates
  • Comparatively high cigarette tax rate

ITEP Tax Inequality Index

According to ITEP’s Tax Inequality Index, which measures the impact of each state’s tax system on income inequality, New York has the 44th most unfair state and local tax system in the country. Incomes are more unequal in New York after state and local taxes are collected than before. (See Appendix B for state-by-state rankings and the methodology section for additional detail on the index.)

Note: Figures show permanent law in New York enacted through September 10, 2018, at 2015 income levels including fully phased-in middle-income tax cuts. The millionaires’ tax bracket is not included since it is set to expire in 2019. Top figure represents total state and local taxes as a share of non-elderly income. The sixth edition of Who Pays does not include the impact of the federal deduction for state and local taxes (SALT) because policy changes in the 2017 federal Tax Cuts and Jobs Act temporarily limited the extent to which the SALT deduction functions as a generalized offset of state and local taxes.