Tax Time

[hanratty21]

Take the commuters away and NYC does not produce the same tax revenue.

Wrong. NY State commuters (see Long Island, Westchester) would pay state tax anyway. Also, the tax they pay is registered in the county that they live in, so they are out anyway.

NY and NJ have reciprocal tax laws. (PAlexC - you out there?)

So, if you pay tax in one state as a commuter, you deduct it from the other state. In general, if you live in NJ and work in NY, you would end up deducting your NJ paid tax from the tax you would have paid in NY State. This, essentially, is a wash. So...to argue against taking the commuters way...it's just not the case.

What I am talking about is resident NY City tax (about 6-7% for residents of the 5 boroughs). The commuter tax I am referring to is that the commuters would pay a fraction of a percent of their NYC earned income toward the collective NY City Tax. (keep in mind...in NY, you pay Federal, State, and Local tax) This commuter tax would be about .3% - .5% of NY City earned tax. I should explain that most municipalities collect property tax to make up what NY City calls local tax. The NY City property tax is very low as the land mass is very small in comparison to the population and revenue need. The local income tax model is a much more appropriate method given the land vs. population ratio. Also, if you raised property taxes, rents would be even MORE out of control than they already are.

I think I've sufficiently beat this thread into the dirt, no?

*Also - as any NYC resident will tell you...outsiders are completely welcome*