Underdog Republican gubernatorial candidate Rob Astorino on Wednesday called for dramatically slashing the state income tax rate, while also proposing to eliminate some tax credits, including for the politically-connected film and TV industry.
In a speech before the Association for a Better New York, Astorino proposed a 4 percent income tax for incomes under $ 200,000 and 6 percent for over $ 200,000.
There are now eight tax rates starting at 4 percent and topping out at 8.82 percent for the wealthiest New York.
He also recommended reducing the corporate tax to 5.9 percent by 2019, eliminating the estate tax by 2020, and scrapping a tax surcharge on utility bills.
Astorino, during his speech at the Warwick hotel in Midtown, said the plan “will give New York one of the lowest tax rates in the Northeast, making New York much more competitive than it has been in over a generation.”
Gov. Cuomo, the Democratic incumbent, has focused more on providing properrty and corporate tax relief. He has imposed a cap on annual property tax increases, which Astorino, the Westchester County executive, supports.
Cuomo and lawmakers have only tinkered with the income tax, keeping rates high on the wealthy while lowering them slightly for middle and lower income earners.
Astorino said he would make up the loss of revenue by eliminating “gimmicks” and corporate favoritism, particularly singling out the breaks for the well-heeled film and TV industry.
“We’ll eliminate most of the $ 1.7 billion in business tax credits starting with the $ 420 million New York Film Tax Credit,” he said.
The tax credits are used to woo shows from Hollywood or keep them in New York.
Yahoo Local News – New York Post
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