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| Health workers that volunteered to come to NY during pandemic have to pay state income tax: Cuomo |
| 2020-05-07 |
| [PIX11] NEW YORK — Health care workers that came to New York to help fight the coronavirus pandemic at its epicenter will have to pay state taxes, according to the governor. He addressed the issues Tuesday at a news conference. "We're not in a position to provide any subsidies right now because we have a $13 billion deficit," Gov. Andrew Cuomo said. "So there's a lot of good things I'd like to do, and if we get federal funding, we can do, but it would be irresponsible for me to sit here looking at a $13 billion deficit and say I'm gonna spend more money, when I can't even pay the essential services." Even though the state government asked thousands of people to come to New York from out of state to help fight coronavirus, they will have to pay New York state taxes, even on income they might make from their home states that they're paid while in New York. Next time NY needs outside help, tell them to "GFY" Cuomo said he needs help from Washington in order to cover budget deficits from COVID-19, let alone subsidize state income tax for essential workers that flocked to New York's aid. "If we don't get more money from Washington, we can't fund schools, right, so at the rate we want to fund them. We are in dire financial need," he said. The issue first came up when the temporary hospital in Central Park was being erected by Samaritan's Purse. "Our financial comptroller called me," said Ken Isaacs, a vice president of the organization, "and he said, 'Do you know that all of you are going to be liable for New York state income tax?' "I said, 'What?'" Isaacs continued. "[The comptroller] said, 'Yeah, there's a law. If you work in New York State for more than 14 days, you have to pay state income tax.'" "I didn't know that," Isaacs told PIX11 News. "What we're even more concerned about than the money," Isaacs continued, "is the bureaucracy, and the paperwork, and I think that once that's unleashed...once you start filing that, you have to do that for like a whole year or something." A top New York City certified public accountant explained the situation further in a FaceTime interview with PIX11 News at the time. Entities from "these other states will have to register in New York," said Lawrence Spielman, a partner at the accounting firm Spielman, Koenigsberg & Parker, LLP, "and do withholding here in New York." Any out-of-state resident who's come to the Empire State to work on coronavirus relief is subject to the tax after 14 days here. There are thousands of emergency workers here who've responded to requests by Cuomo and Mayor Bill De Blasio for help. Many of them are collecting paychecks from companies back in their home states, which allowed them to come to New York to volunteer. |
| Posted by:Beavis |
| #22 ...so when NY (or any other state) comes begging for a bailout, treat them the same way. |
| Posted by: Procopius2k 2020-05-07 19:26 |
| #21 Clever move by Cuomo. Budget problems - get some more revenue in the state, by any means necessary. Luring the rubes in, then hit them hard with taxes. That's the New York way, and they're proud of being complete sociopaths like this. Seriously, meanness is a virtue there. |
| Posted by: Thurong Whusomp1457 2020-05-07 14:00 |
| #20 NY's Division of Taxation and Finance is as equally awful as CA's Franchise Tax Board. As a Californian I can tell you, that's quite a statement. |
| Posted by: Abu Uluque 2020-05-07 13:25 |
| #19 What Andrew "Fuck you, pay me" Cuomo doesn't grasp (or care about) is that this is not the last time NY will need the infra dig to come to their rescue. He's just revealed to those people that it is better to let NY sink in the next crisis. Hopefully, this story goes viral and NY pays a heavy price in the fire next time. |
| Posted by: charger 2020-05-07 13:17 |
| #18 /\ Your dad was right on the money (no pun intended). Strange isn't it, we look back through the foggy window of time, the 'ole man' was right much more often than wrong. It's always smart to owe them a little money and pay it promptly. The massive refund people are the ones that get the IRS.......special attention. |
| Posted by: Besoeker 2020-05-07 12:25 |
| #17 what is supposed to happen is people have tax withheld then file in the States in which they temporarily worked and, since they will be below the taxable threshold, they will get a refund As my Dad pointed out a long, long time ago, if you are getting a refund, it just means you loaned the govt money interest free for a year. |
| Posted by: SteveS 2020-05-07 12:17 |
| #16 No volunteer should stay more than 12 days, at most. F the greedy bastards |
| Posted by: Frank G 2020-05-07 11:54 |
| #15 The left's primary consideration is if a politician says things they like to hear in a pleasing manner. |
| Posted by: Rob Crawford 2020-05-07 11:53 |
| #14 Cuomo is the George Costanza of politics. Every decision is wrong. But he gives nice speaches so the lefties love him. |
| Posted by: rjschwarz 2020-05-07 11:42 |
| #13 The people who paid the volunteers should send the bills for the pay and the taxes to Cuomo. If he fails to pay, seize his personal assets and issues warrants for his arrest for fraud. He asked them to come and didn't say the state would pay so that makes him personally responsible for the bills. I'm sure Abbot would love to send a Ranger swat team to frogmarch his ass to Texas for trial. |
| Posted by: Silentbrick 2020-05-07 11:11 |
| #12 Pretty standard; those people are going to get their paychecks and naturally compare them to their own state and perhaps draw conclusions. Talk about a clumsy, ugly political face to put on it. |
| Posted by: swksvolFF 2020-05-07 10:50 |
| #11 We used to shoot people that demanded we pay unfair taxes. |
| Posted by: DarthVader 2020-05-07 09:47 |
| #10 I haven't had the 'pleasure' of interacting with every state tax authority but NY's Division of Taxation and Finance is as equally awful as CA's Franchise Tax Board. I think they're worse than the Mass. Department of Revenue, and that's a high (low?) bar to clear. If they are forced to pay, they should do what I heard some guy did with the Mass. DOR back in the early 1990's - deliver a wheelbarrow of pennies with your tax return to the DOR's headquarters. |
| Posted by: Raj 2020-05-07 09:46 |
| #9 /\ Governor Cuomo is just confirming the national view of fast-talking, predatory New Yorkers taking advantage of naifs from elsewhere. A long-held view, and one backed by facts. |
| Posted by: Besoeker 2020-05-07 08:23 |
| #8 basically this is just existing State law and it is pretty much the same in most States So Mr. Wife tells me. But it would be easy enough to waive it in this special case — what did New York do for the volunteers who came to help after 9/11? What is done for the volunteers who come to help after the regular destructive storms around the country? Governor Cuomo is just confirming the national view of fast-talking, predatory New Yorkers taking advantage of naifs from elsewhere. |
| Posted by: trailing wife 2020-05-07 08:21 |
| #7 basically this is just existing State law and it is pretty much the same in most States what is supposed to happen is people have tax withheld then file in the States in which they temporarily worked and, since they will be below the taxable threshold, they will get a refund of course in reality, many people won't have the time or means to file in the visited States and will lose the money this is not a NY State problem so much as a systemic problem |
| Posted by: lord garth 2020-05-07 08:02 |
| #6 Want a vacation? If its to New York be prepared to pay state income tax. You might also reconsider any connecting flight through their airports when they reopen. |
| Posted by: Procopius2k 2020-05-07 06:13 |
| #5 Cuomo = Samaritan's Purse-Snatcher |
| Posted by: Lex 2020-05-07 05:37 |
| #4 Labeling Franklin Graham's NYC field hospital efforts as "homophobic" was a nice touch. |
| Posted by: Besoeker 2020-05-07 03:25 |
| #3 He had better pray that any possible future waves of CV are mild. |
| Posted by: gorb 2020-05-07 03:16 |
| #2 Only a sucker would volunteer to go help NY in an emergency now that this asshole's made clear he's gonna stick it to the samaritans |
| Posted by: Frank G 2020-05-07 03:00 |
| #1 Well, actually he said that he would find it in his heart to forgive those taxes, IF Truump would bailout New York. So it's actually Trump's fault, of course. |
| Posted by: Rambler in Virginia 2020-05-07 01:27 |