Earned Income Tax Credit^
Income Tax Rate: Graduated, 4-6.86 percent
State EITC: Yes
Refundable: Yes
Enacted: 1994
Formula: 30 percent of federal EITC
Notes/News: The New York State EITC has strong bipartisan support. In tax year 2007, almost 1.5 million claimants of the NYS EITC received more than $860 million in state tax credits. New York State now also provides a supplement to the federal EITC for non-custodial parents who are paying child support. An amendment was also introduced in 2009 to provide a state EITC specifically for young workers.
In addition to the state credit, New York City offers its own EITC which is calculated as 5 percent of the federal credit. In TY 2007, 865,341 families claimed $87 million from the New York City EITC.
Reports/Fact Sheets: Earned Income Tax Credit Analysis of Claims for 2007, Office of Tax Policy Analysis, December 2009
New York: State and Local Taxes in 2007, Institute on Taxation and Economic Policy, November 2009
Background Paper on New York’s State Earned Income Tax Credit, Schuyler Center for Analysis and Advocacy
Outreach: The Campaign to Expand the State Earned Income Tax Credit (EITC) is an affiliation of more than 20 organizations statewide including SCAA, the Business Council of NYS, the United Way of NYS, Citizens Committee for Children, AFL-CIO, National Federation of Independent Business, and the UJA-Federation. The campaign produces a toolkit: Helping Hands for Working Family
Child Tax Credit^
State Credit: Yes
Refundable: Yes
Eligibility: Same as federal.
Formula: 33 percent of the filer’s federal child credit or $100 per qualifying child. Filers with income above $75,000 ($110,000 for couples) must use the percentage formula.
Notes/News: New York is the only state with its own Child Tax Credit based on a percentage of the federal credit. This credit is known as the Empire State Child Credit and is up to $330 per child. North Carolina also has a state Child Tax Credit, but the credit is set at $100 for families meeting certain income requirements. In tax year 2007, 1,685,114 New Yorkers claimed $660 million in Child Tax Credits.
Child and Dependent Care Tax Credit^
State Credit: Yes
Refundable: Yes (except for out of state filers)
Eligibility: Same as federal
Formula: The credit is calculated based on the filer’s income. Filers with New York AGI below $25,000 (including negative income) may claim up to 110 percent of the federal child and dependent care credit. The percentage decreases as income increases beyond $25,000. Filers earning NY AGI $25,001-$39,999 may claim between 109 and 100 percent of the federal credit. Filers earning NY AGI $50,001-$64,999 may claim 100 percent of the federal credit. Filers earning NY AGI $65,000 or more may claim 20 percent of the federal credit. AThe exact percentages are in the table on page six of Form IT-216-I
Notes/News: In 2007, New York filers claimed $332.3 million worth of child and dependent care credits.
Reports/Materials: Wrenching Choices for New York City’s Working Families: Child Care Funding Slashed as Need Grows, Fiscal Policy Institute, May 2011
Property Tax Circuit Breaker^
Circuit Breaker: Yes
Refundable: Yes
Eligibility: The credit is available to homeowners and renters. Property taxes for renters are calculated as 25 percent of rent paid, not including utilities. Filers must have a household income below $18,000 and live in New York for the entire year including at least six months in one residence. Filers are ineligible if they own property worth more than $85,000, if they can be claimed as a dependent or if they live in a building not subject to property tax.
Formula: The credit is 50 percent of the amount by which property taxes exceed a filer’s overload limit. The circuit breaker limit is calculated according to the following chart:
|
Household Income |
Overload Limit |
|
$3,000 |
3.5 percent |
|
$3,001-$5,000 |
4 percent |
|
$5,001-$7,000 |
4.5 percent |
|
$7,001-$9,000 |
5 percent |
|
$9,001-$11,000 |
5.5 percent |
|
$11,001-$14,000 |
6 percent |
|
$14,001-$18,000 |
6.5 percent |
News/Notes: On June 24, the New York State Legislature passed Governor Andrew Cuomo’s plan for a very tight statewide cap on property tax increases for towns and cities outside of New York City. A strong coalition of advocates had been trying to convert the cap to a Circuit Breaker, a more cost-effective approach that would target relief to families whose property taxes are too high a share of their income. Unfortunately, the cap as enacted will not provide effective relief for the hundreds of thousands of low- and middle-income families in New York State who are already paying an excessive share of their income in property taxes on their primary residences, and are most in danger of being forced out of their homes.
Reports/Materials: 2010 Residential Property Tax Comparison: New York, New Jersey, and Connecticut, U.S. Census, September 2011
Proposed Cap Does Not Address New York’s Property Tax “Problem”, Fiscal Policy Institute, June 2011
Incorrect Diagnosis of New York’s Property Tax “Problem” Will Lead to a Remedy That Is Likely to Do More Harm Than Good, Frank Mauro, Fiscal Policy Institute, June 2011
Short Term Property Tax Relief and Long Term Tax Reform: An Omnibus Approach, Testimony of Frank Mauro Before the Assembly Standing Committees on Ways and Means, Education, Real Property Taxation, Local Government and Cities at the Public Hearing on Cap on Real Property Taxes, March 1, 2011
The Omnibus Tax Reform Bill – Restoring Fairness to Taxation Short Term Relief and Long Term Solutions, Omnibus Consortium
New York’s Effort to Provide Targeted Property Tax Relief, Daphne A Kenyon, Adam H. Langley and Bethany P. Paquin, Property Tax Relief: The Case for Circuit Breakers, Lincoln Institute of Land Policy, April 2010
Circuit Breaker Calculator: What Does All This ADD UP to?, NY State Property Tax Reform Coalition
Press Release: Omnibus Consortium on Senate Property Tax Proposal Supports Stronger Circuit Breaker – Says No to Caps, Omnibus Consortium, March 2010
Media Release: What is a Circuit Breaker?, New York State United Teachers, July 2008
TREND NY Poll Says New Yorkers Prefer Circuit Breaker over Cap, A Better Choice for New York, June 2008
Briefing Bulletin: Property Tax Circuit Breakers, New York State United Teachers, June 2008
The Property Tax Circuit Breaker: Getting to the root of the problem, New Yorkers for Fiscal Fairness & the Fiscal Policy Insitute (FPI), 2007
