October 5, 2006
NY'S TAX TEST
NEW York voters who accept the in evitability of an Eliot Spitzer governorship risk creating a second inevitability: that the state will continue to limp along hobbled by some of the highest income taxes in the nation. Spitzer's opponent, John Faso, offers at least a faint hope of altering that course.
New York's state and local income taxes rank No. 1 in America, according to the Tax Foundation. The state's top rate, nearly 7 percent, hits couples with gross incomes starting at about $55,000 (with taxable income of $40,000). This rate is among the top quarter nationwide, and it snares a good chunk of a New York family's income: more than $4,000 a year for a family earning just shy of six figures.