O'Mara: President, Congress consider imposing 'huge' tax increase on New Yorkers

Albany, N.Y., April 18-State Senator Tom O’Mara (R-C, Big Flats) welcomed Governor Andrew Cuomo’s call earlier this week for Congress and President Barack Obama to reject proposals surfacing as part of federal budget discussions to eliminate the ability of New York State taxpayers to deduct their state and local taxes, including property taxes, from their federal taxes.

Cuomo released an analysis in Albany on Tuesday showing that such a move at the federal level would cost millions of New York taxpayers billions of dollars annually.

“Governor Cuomo’s right on this one.  This proposal out of Washington would produce a huge tax increase for taxpayers in the Southern Tier and Finger Lakes regions, and statewide,” said O’Mara.  “It’s wrong, it’s unfair and it’s being put on the table during one of the worst economic times for families, small businesses and workers everywhere.”

According to a report released today and submitted to Congress by the Cuomo administration, the federal proposal to end a long-standing policy of allowing taxpayers to deduct their state and local tax liability, including property taxes, from their federal taxes, would result in an approximately $15 billion tax increase for New York families.  The average increase would be more than $4,500 per taxpayer. The average federal tax bill for taxpayers impacted by the federal proposal would increase 30 percent. The governor’s report can be found at:  http://www.governor.ny.gov/assets/documents/Impact-of-Federal-Tax-Proposals.pdf

"The proposals under consideration that would repeal or cap the deduction for state and local taxes would have severe consequences for taxpayers here in New York and across the nation," Cuomo said. "I urge Congress and the Administration to act in the best interests of taxpayers and reject these proposals that would cost New York families thousands of dollars extra each year."

According to the governor’s report, the federal proposal to repeal the state and local taxes paid deduction would impact more than 55,000 taxpayers in the Southern Tier with an average increase of $2,800 per taxpayer. 

For nearly 160,000 taxpayers across the Finger Lakes region, the proposal would lead to an average increase of $2,900 per taxpayer.