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City Council Speaker Christine Quinn will be giving a State of the City address today at noon, and one big thing she will propose is a tax break for renters. The tax break would be $300; individual renters would be eligible if they earn $43,000 or less while the salary is $54,000 for married couples. Couples with one child would be eligible if they make less than $65,000; couples with two or more are eligible at $75,000 or less.
In order for the tax break to go into effect for what Quinn calls a "city of renters," the state legislature would need to approve it. And you'll be able to see Speaker Quinn's speech on NY1.
Also interesting, since tax season is upon us: Room Eight's Larry Littlefield looked at how young NYC couples pay almost three times in taxes than what a senior couple would pay.
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Pathetic. Is this Soviet Russia? Rent control already subsidizes these people. Now I'm supposed to help them pay their rent DIRECTLY OUT OF MY OWN POCKET???
Remember, according to the Democrats if you make more than $50,000 YOU'RE RICH!!!! I used to think I was middle class until Al Gore and John Kerry set me straight. I'm part of the problem!!! I definitely deserve to be in the same tax bracket as a managing director at Morgan Stanley!!!
Hmmm. Nine people were interested enough to comment on the NYC Condoms, and 24 on the Ching Chong song, but none on the fact that a young couple would pay nearly three times the taxes as a senior couple on the same income?
I'd bet that if the reverse was posted on the AARP website, there'd be some comment!
No wonder the distribution of the tax burden is what it is.
And yet no one mentions the tax break for renters. Minnesota -- or at least the city of St. Paul -- has a renters' credit that functions like a property tax refund for apartment dwellers. For a $600/month apartment, I got a refund of $1,200 come tax time. That was for everyone. Not just low income renters. I miss that.
its called the re-ellect speaker quinn fund. What exactly is her function? Like the city council, these people are nothing but an added tax expense and come up with the most inane suggestions. Glad they all get 6 figure salaries now.
Renters in Massachusetts get a pretty sweet deduction on their state taxes for rent paid:
General Rules:
A deduction is allowed for rent paid by the taxpayer during the taxable year for a principal residence located in Massachusetts. For tax years beginning on or after January 1, 2001, this deduction is limited to 50% of the rent paid or $3,000, whichever is less. The deduction must be for rent that the taxpayer paid to a landlord for the rental or lease of taxpayer's principal residence in Massachusetts.
(From the MA Dept of Revenue website)
If only NYC/NYS were as nice to us.
MC: not so fast, that's a $3K deduction from your taxable income, not a flat deduction off your taxes paid. So, in other words, if you made $30,000 of taxable income at the MA rate of 5.3%, you would owe $1590 in taxes (which would be withheld during the year). Subtract the deduction and mulitply the 5.3 tax rate by your new net of 27K and you get $1431. about half of the quinn proposal.
Larry: cry me a river, jackass. think about how much of YOUR money has financed a unwinable war? at least this helps some folks.
This is my first year in the US. I come from Canada. I've been collecting my rent receipts for the past year. My boyfriend asked me why and I said, "for my rent reduction on my taxes." He said, "huh?"
So I guess we don't get a tax break on our rent...
Many people in NYC can't afford to own. We shouldn't tax the poor and then give deductions to the rich, should we? There's a sort of reverse Robinhood thing going on here.
Vanessa: welcome to America. You just figured out what it is that makes this cuntry gggggggggggreat.
Dear Uh Huh,
Yeah, that and no healthcare and crappy public education system... :S
Still, we are taxed so much! Where is all of this money going if not to the people?
But I do love New York.
Somehow....
With so little housing inventory in NYC, if there was a tax break on rents the rents would rise as people chase the available apartments. Thats the whole reason they are as expensive as they are. Every break you provide will just get eaten up by the landlord over time... just leave it alone.
Huge waste of money and nothing but a political stunt.
This will cost almost $300 million dollars. Fix the damn subways! Help our poor city schools! There are 1000 better things to do with our money!
If 300 bucks really makes that that much of a difference to you.. commute from long island, or jersey!!
Christine Quinn is exactly the type of politician this ciy does not need.
This idea is long overdue and should be extended to all renters who pay above a certain amount (the rare and lucky few who get the breaks that seem to irk the first poster unduly should be excluded).
Why should those who are rich enough to own get a rebate each year when renters pay their property taxes to a landlord who then gets a rebate he or she doesn't pass back to us?
Give all residents the same rebate or give them all nothing. I'm fine with either course but sick of seeing renters get screwed. And most of us do--we'd buy if we could (that is, if the market wasn't in this insane bubble and if developers didn't just build for the super-rich).
thats a ridiculous idea. no one stops you from working hard and getting your own place if you are dieing to pay property tax just to get pennies back...we don't need to subside rents which in turn just subsidize the current real estate owners... such a dumb proposal....
Hardly ridiculous James (and it is spent dying, btw). Many necessary occupations--nursing, teaching, NYPD--pay very little compared to the cost of housing in NYC. People who are younger or moved here after the speculation in property pushed prices into the stratosphere cannot buy as they cannot save for a downpayment and pay insane rents. I've seen what was my nearly 20% downpayment plummet and have decided to wait for the ineveitable correction in the market.
Believe me, saving pennies is all most renters can do in the current market. Rents are high, salaries are stagnant (check the current figures if you don't believe me) and it's not easy to just change careers to get that huge jump. And you can't have a culture where everyone earns top dollars in finance and law.
Renters pay property tax in their rents. Therefore they should receive the same rebates as owners--and landlords should perhaps not get this break (they aren't paying the taxes and then they pocket the break).
Most renters are not being subsidized by taxpayers (what an insane idea). Section 8 vouchers have been unavailable for years and most renters do not qualify anyway. To rent in NYC you need credit and income comparable (if not better) than you need to buy elsewhere. Rent control has been over for years and unless you are old or inherited that kind of lease. But you are not subsidizing these rents unless you are the unlucky landlord. Rent stabilization does give breaks to much older tenacies but not to the new ones (often market rents). And, again, no tax payer breaks.
You are, however, subsidizing new luxury private developments thanks to the city's tax breaks on these. Save your ire for that.
My point: renters pay taxes too and are entitled to the same break. I frankly don't care if it is $0 and would like to see the property tax break abolished. It's not like the city taxes property the way it does in NJ.
Renters are not poor or lazy slobs and I resent your ignorant generalizations. Fact: if many renters (like me) were older, we would have been able to buy. We save, pay our bills on time and are responsible tax payers and should get that respect.
Believe me, I'm not dumb. Nor is this proposal.
there is no free lunch as much as you might want one.
Read what I said. I'm not asking for a free lunch but parity in terms of taxes and tax relief across rentals and property owners. Why should the latter get tax relief and not the former when both pay taxes?
And your comment makes no sense.