(Bloomberg) — New York state tax revenue soared to $84.4 billion in the first nine months of the fiscal year, $12.9 billion more than forecast, bolstered by a business tax established in April as a work-around for federal limits placed on state and local tax deductions, state Comptroller Thomas DiNapoli said.
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New York collected $10.2 billion from a “pass-through entity” tax, DiNapoli said in a news release Friday evening. He cautioned that taxpayers paying the pass-through tax are expected to reduce their personal income tax payments by similar amounts, and the December results may not reflect those offsetting reductions, “clouding our revenue picture.” He urged Governor Kathy Hochul, who will introduce her first budget Tuesday, and the state Legislature to act prudently.
“Tax collections performed well in December, and the state’s economy and finances continue their recovery,” DiNapoli said in the release. “But there is continuing uncertainty about the impact of the ongoing Covid-19 surge, economic risks, and the need for continuing financial support for those still struggling to find their footing.”
As part of former President Trump’s 2017 tax cuts, the federal government limited the deductions for individuals, known as SALT, to $10,000. To get around the limits, higher tax states like Connecticut, New Jersey and New York enacted pass-through entity taxes, allowing certain taxpayers to make state business tax payments that are deductible from federal taxes, rather than making state income tax payments that aren’t deductible.
New York’s personal income tax receipts for the first three quarters totaled $49 billion and continue to exceed the most recent projections by $1.9 billion, DiNapoli said. Income tax revenue has been boosted by a strong stock market and higher taxes on millionaires.
Wall Street profits for the first half of 2021 surged to $31 billion before taxes from a year earlier, a gain of 13% helped by low interest rates and strong trading, underwriting and advisory activities.
New York ended the third quarter with a $30.7 billion surplus, $15.2 billion higher than the latest projections and $14.1 billion higher than last year at the same time.
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