New York Increases Taxes On Wealthy & Businesses, Making It Highest Taxed In The Nation

Gov. Andrew Cuomo (D) has signed a new $212 billion budget deal for the state, which will legalize mobile sports betting and raise taxes on the wealthiest residents.

This fiscal 2022 budget, which also includes $29 billion in aid for schools, $29 billion for public and private green economy investments and $2.5 billion for rent and homeowner relief, aims to revitalize New York’s economy after the state endured months of hardship during the coronavirus pandemic.

New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio (D) also weighed in on the matter, calling this new deal the “best state budget we’ve ever seen for New York City.”

The mayor added: “They created a budget based on what the legislators were actually hearing from the grassroots. For the first time in years and years and years, justice for our public school kids, for our public school parents — finally we see fairness in funding for New York City public schools being locked into this budget.”

Nonetheless, wealthy New Yorkers and corporations are concerned about the tax increases – the personal income tax rate for those making over $1 million will be raised from 8.82% to 9.65%, and the corporate tax for businesses making more than $5 million will increase from 6.5% to 7.25%. making New York the highest taxed state in the union.

Manhattan Chamber of Commerce CEO and President Jessica Walker expressed concerns about these tax increases. “We’re very concerned about the tax increases,” he said. “They could backfire and keep remote workers away, and those are the customers that small businesses are relying on to come back and shop in our stores and eat in our restaurants.”

However, many Democrats claim that these concerns are unfounded. “The vast majority of wealthy people — they are going to stay in New York City because they want to be in New York City, because they like the life available to them in New York City… because they can make more money in New York City than a lot of other places,” said de Blasio.