Personal income tax
New York State’s largest revenue source
The Tax Department collected nearly $59 billion in personal income taxes in fiscal year 2023. This is the state’s largest revenue source, supporting programs and services including education, health, and public safety.
Personal income tax collected in billions of dollars from fiscal years 2019 to 2023. Upward trend from 2019 through 2022, with marked increase from 2021 (approximately $55 billion) to 2022 ($70 billion). Downward trend from 2022 to 2023 (approximately $59 billion). For exact numbers, see data table.
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Fewer tax filers
Taxpayers filed fewer than 10.7 million personal income tax returns in New York State in 2022, down from almost 11 million in 2020 when the COVID-19 pandemic drove an expansion in government relief programs.
Personal income tax returns filed from tax year 2017 to 2023; upward trend 2017through 2020, then quick downturn through 2022. 2017: 10,635,350; 2018: 10,728,408; 2019: 10,861,338; 2020: 10,987,142; 2021: 10,878,455; 2022: 10,692,519
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Fast refunds
The Tax Department processes most personal income tax refunds in 30 days or less. In 2023, the department issued 7.4 million personal income tax refunds from tax year 2022 for a total of $14.4 billion.
Time between filing and refund issuance: 57% in 15 or fewer days; 35% from 16 to 30 days, 5% from 31 to 60 days, and 2% take 121 days or more
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Progressive tax system
New York State's progressive tax system imposes a lower tax rate on lower-income taxpayers. A small number of high-income taxpayers pay most personal income tax.
Top 200 Taxpayers Paid 6.7% of Personal Income Tax in Tax Year 2022: 6.7%; All other taxpayers: 93.3%
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New York State millionaires Paid Nearly Half of Personal Income Tax in Tax Year 2022: Millionaires paid 41.9%; Other New York State taxpayers paid 58.1%
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Top 200,000 Taxpayers Paid Half of Personal Income Tax in Tax Year 2022: 50.8%; All other taxpayers: 49.2%
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Top 50% of Taxpayers Paid Nearly all Personal Income Tax in Tax Year 2022: Top 50% paid 99.7%; lower 50% paid 0.7%
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More millionaires
The number of tax returns reporting $1 million or more in New York State adjusted gross income was greater than 90,000 in tax year 2021. The number shown below for 2022 is preliminary and likely to increase as the department continues to review and process tax year 2022 returns.
NYS Income Tax Millionaires by Tax Year: General upward trend of number of millionaires in New York State from 2016 (approximately 56,000) through 2021 (approximately 90,000); growth of millionaires in the state in years from greatest to lowest: 2021, 2017, 2018, 2020, 2019. Preliminary data for 2022 shows a slight dip in total number of millionaires after 2021 (approximately 84,000), but no breakdown for millionaire growth is visible yet. For exact numbers, see data table.
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Growth of millionaires
The number of millionaires fluctuates with the New York State economy, but not with any single economic indicator.
Growth of millionaires relative to economic indicators from 2011 to 2023. Economic indicators are millionaires, gross state product, personal income, dividends, interest, and rent, and S&P 500 Index. Personal income, NYS GSP, and Dividends, Interest, and Rent remained consistent from 2011 to 2021, hovering between -1% and 6%. In 2021, there was a decrease in personal income (from approximately 6% to -3%); dividends, interest, and rent (from approximately 6% to 0%); and NYS GSP (from approximately 6% to 5%). The S&P 500 Index and number of millionaires was more volatile for all years, with large spikes in S&P Index in 2013, 2017, 2019, 2021, and 2023, and large decreases from 2013 to 2015, 2018, 2020, and 2022. Large spikes in millionaires occurred in 2012, 2014, 2017, and 2021, with large decreases in 2013, 2016, and 2022.
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Tax filing composition in New York State is changing
More single filers
Tax filing status distribution has shifted, with single filers now comprising the majority of resident income tax returns.
| Filing status | 2017 | 2018 | 2019 | 2020 | 2021 | 2022 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Single | 48.4% | 48.9% | 49.9% | 52.1% | 51.6% | 51.1% |
| Married filing jointly | 32.8% | 32.6% | 31.9% | 30.3% | 30.3% | 30.7% |
| Head of household | 16.3% | 16.1% | 15.5% | 14.7% | 15.1% | 15.3% |
| Married filing separately | 2.3% | 2.4% | 2.6% | 2.8% | 2.9% | 2.8% |
Fewer dependents
The number of dependents reported on New Yorkers' tax returns markedly declined over the past 6 years. Residents claimed 600,000 fewer dependents in 2022 than 6 years ago.
Difference between number of returns versus number of dependents claimed from tax year 2017 to 2022. Slow decrease in number of dependents from 2017 through 2022. Slow increase in returns from 2017 through 2020, then slight decrease from 2020 through 2022. For exact numbers, see data table.
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Share of returns with dependents
The share of residents claiming dependents on their tax filings dropped by more than 3 percentage points between 2017 and 2022.
| Tax year | 2017 | 2018 | 2019 | 2020 | 2021 | 2022 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Percentage of returns with dependents | 33.60% | 33.10% | 31.70% | 29.10% | 29.60% | 30.06% |
As the share of single filers increased, the share of married filing jointly returns with no dependents was largely unchanged. However, married filing jointly returns with dependents declined 2 percentage points and head of household filings with dependents dropped 1 percentage point over the same period.
Changes in filing status with and without dependents in tax years 2017 through 2022. Similar decreases in returns with head of household and married filing jointly with dependents from 2017 through 2019, then a continued gradual decline for head of household returns and a steep decline for married filing jointly with dependents. Gradual increase in head of household and married filing jointly with dependents returns from 2020 through 2022. Returns with married filing jointly with no dependents remained stable from 2017 through 2022. For exact numbers, see data table.
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Composition of income for tax year 2022
The nature of income varies considerably as incomes rise. For taxpayers under $1 million, the primary source of income is from wages and salary. As income rises above $1 million, however, wages and salary are displaced by other sources of income, most notably "unearned income" such as dividends and capital gains.
Composition of income types at various total income levels in New York State in tax year 2022. Income types include retirement income; unearned income; business and farm income; wages and salary; rent, royalties, flow-thrus, and estates and trusts; and other income. The primary type of income for incomes up to $5 million is from wages and salary. For incomes of less than $50,000, retirement income is a large component of income. For incomes of $5 million or more, the predominant type of income is unearned income. For exact numbers, see data table.
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Capital gains are highly variable
Taxpayers reported over $200 billion in net capital gains in 2021, nearly doubling the annual average amount from all other years since 2017. In 2022, the amount returned to a more typical level.
The share of filers reporting these gains is relatively stable, however, ranging from 17% to less than 20% of all returns over this same period.
Taxpayers reporting capital gains by tax year: Amount of capital gains is consistent from 2017 through 2019, hovering around $100 billion. It climbs in 2020 to approximately $130 billion, then approximately $200 billion in 2021. There is a drastic decrease in the amount of capital gains from 2021 to 2022 (approximately $100 billion). The percentage of taxpayers reporting capital gains followed a similar trend: stable from 2017 to 2019 (approximately 17%), then an uptick from 2019 to 2021 (22%), and a decrease from 2021 to 2022 (approximately 19.5%). The percentage of all New York adjusted gross income that is comprised of capital gains followed the same trends: stable from 2017 to 2018 (approximately 11%), with a small dip in 2019 (approximately 10%), then an increase until 2021 (approximately 18%). From 2021 to 2022, the percentage dropped to about 9.5%. For exact numbers, see data table.
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Distribution of capital gains for tax year 2022
Capital gains are more concentrated among high-income taxpayers, with millionaires accounting for over 75% of all reported capital gains.
Distribution of capital gains by New York Adjusted Gross Income (NYAGI) in Tax Year 2022: 41% of capital gains attributed to taxpayers with NYAGI of $25 million or more; 20% with NYAGI of $5 million to $24,999,999; 17% with NYAGI of $1 million to $4,999,999; 11% with NYAGI of $100,000 to $499,999; 7% with NYAGI of $500,000 to $999,999; 2% with NYAGI of $50,000 to $99,999; 2% with NYAGI of less than $50,000.
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Digital assets (including cryptocurrency)
Tax filings now include information on the use of digital assets, including cryptocurrencies and non-fungible tokens. More than 200,000 returns indicated use of these assets in tax year 2022, about half the number of the previous year, with a concentration in younger taxpayers.
Taxpayers reporting the use of digital assets on their federal tax filings in tax years 2021 and 2022, broken down by age. For 2021, most use of digital assets was reported by those younger than 30, closely followed by those ages 30 to 39, and then less closely by those ages 40 to 49, then those ages 50 to 59, those ages 60 to 60, and those age 70 or older. For 2022, the most use of digital assets was reported by those ages 30 to 39, closely followed by those younger than age 30. The remaining age brackets, from youngest to oldest, correlated with a decrease in the use of digital assets.
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Voluntary contributions
The number of voluntary contribution funds has increased steadily, but the number of contributions has declined over the same period and the total amount contributed has remained largely unchanged.
from 1993 to 2023. The numbers of contributions decreased from 1993 to 1995, then increased from 1995 through 1998. In 1998, sharp downturn in the number of contributions into 1999, followed by another increase into the year 2000. Beginning in 2000, there’s a gradual decline until 2005 in number of contributions, then some ups and downs until restabilizing in 2009. Additional ups and downs from 2009 to present, but there is an overall downward trend. For the total amount contributed, there is a gradual decline beginning in 1993 and then a stabilization from1995 to 1997. Beginning in 1997, there is an overall upward trend in the total amount contributed until 2009. From 2009 to 2016, there’s an overall downward trend, and then from 2016 to present there is an upward trend. The increase from 2022 to 2023 in total amount contributed is steep. For exact numbers, see data table.
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