High Taxes are Making People Leave New York

I am very concerned about a recent report from the Tax Foundation that shows New York residents are fleeing the state in record numbers due to high taxes.

The study found that 3.4 million New Yorkers left the state between 2000 and 2010, compared with only 2.1 million relocating to the state.  That represents a loss of 1.3 million residents.  Nearly half of those residents went to Florida, which does not have a state income tax.

It is incredibly disconcerting to see so many people leaving New York because our taxes are making living here almost impossible.  The goal of government should be to encourage our businesses and citizens to develop and grow, not cause them to flee under the weight of excessive taxation.

The loss of 1.3 million people represents a loss of nearly $46 billion for New York.  With such a massive loss in revenue, reinvesting in New York’s economy becomes even more difficult.

In New York, the income tax is between 6.45 percent and 8.82 percent.  Add in local sales taxes between seven and almost nine percent and New Yorkers have one of the highest tax burdens in the country.  New Yorkers paid $1.1 billion in estate and gift taxes in 2007, the highest in the nation, according to the Tax Foundation.  New York was ranked first in the nation for the highest tax burden from 1977 until 2006, excluding 1984, when the state was ranked second.

More needs to be done to prevent our citizens from paying billions more in taxes than residents in other states.  That’s why I am fighting to lower the tax burden on New Yorkers and help our state encourage economic growth and prosperity.  It is time for the Assembly Majority to take up the business tax incentive package recently passed by the senate.