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Income Tax Reduction Act of 1995: Benefit to New Yorkers

In 1994, New York State's personal income tax combined high marginal rates with low taxable income thresholds.  To address this adverse situation, Governor Pataki proposed a comprehensive State income tax cut program designed to revitalize New York's economic competitiveness and job creation potential. The "Income Tax Reduction Act of 1995" (part of Chapter 2 of the Laws of 1995) reduced the top marginal rate from 7.875 percent to 6.85 percent, and increased taxable income thresholds and standard deduction amounts. The result was a tax savings of at least 25 percent for the majority of New Yorkers. In aggregate, taxpayers have annually saved over $4 billion annually, or some 20 percent, compared to their liability under 1994 law.

This report examines the impact of the 1995 law on aggregate groups of taxpayers and on individual taxpayers at various income levels. The Office of Tax Policy Analysis has prepared this report because complete income tax return data for the 1997 tax year now exists.

The following reports can be downloaded.   Download documents include complete publications in Adobe Acrobat pdf format (to view and print pdf reports, you need an installed copy of the Adobe Acrobat Reader -- which is available for free) and statistical tables available in spreadsheet files in Microsoft Excel 95 xls format. 

Income Tax Reduction report (pdf)

Statistical tables (xls)

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