London Daily

Focus on the big picture.
Saturday, Sep 05, 2026

Millionaire New Yorkers are now set to pay the highest taxes in the country

Millionaire New Yorkers are now set to pay the highest taxes in the country

Gov. Andrew Cuomo finalized a proposal Tuesday that puts a 13.5% to 14.8% local and state tax on New York City's highest earners.

New York City millionaires will soon be subject to the highest tax rate in the country.

Gov. Andrew Cuomo and state legislative leaders finalized a $212 billion budget proposal for 2022 on Tuesday that's set to raise an extra $4.3 billion a year by raising income and corporate taxes, The New York Times' Luis Ferré-Sadurní and Jesse McKinley reported. The proposal calls for two new personal income-tax brackets, set to expire by the end of 2027, per exclusive details given to the Times earlier this week.

Those earning between $5 million and $25 million will be taxed on 10.3% of their income. That increases to 10.9% for those earning more than $25 million. And individuals raking in over $1 million and couples bringing in over $2 million will see tax rates climb from 8.82% to 9.65%.

These tax rates hit especially hard for New York City's highest earners. The city already has a top income-tax rate of 3.88%, which means they'll now be shelling out between 13.5% and 14.8% in both state and city taxes. That exceeds the highest top marginal income tax rate in the country: 13.3% for top earners in California.

However, they may not be the highest taxed for long if Hawaii's legislature passes a bill imposing a 16% tax on residents earning over $200,000.

New York is dealing with economic pain


Cuomo said in January he planned on raising taxes if the White House didn't help the state recover from its $15 billion deficit, Insider's Grace Dean reported. It's the highest deficit in New York's history, exceeding the previous high of $10 billion, which Cuomo said was "very, very hard" to manage.

In an address, Cuomo attributed New York's deficit to the state being "assaulted by the federal government" in recent years as well as to the cost of COVID-19, which caused the state's revenues to fall by $5.1 billion.

As the epicenter of the US' first wave of COVID-19, New York City was slammed with small-business closures and saw many of its top-earning residents move to take advantage of lower taxes in other states. Urbanism expert Richard Florida told Insider the flight of the wealthy caused a lot of financial pain for superstar cities like New York.

Cuomo called for the federal government to provide New York with emergency pandemic relief. He said that if Washington gave the state only $6 billion in a "worst-case scenario," he would hike taxes to cover the difference.

"We have a plan in place, a strength that we have not had before and I believe our future is bright, but Washington must act fairly if we are to emerge on the other side of this crisis," he said.

While Democrats considered raising more than $7 billion in new revenue for the state, The Times reported, such discussions fell to the side when President Joe Biden's $1.9 trillion stimulus package was approved, which included $12.9 billion in direct aid for New York state. It also included $5.6 billion for New York City, which Insider's Juliana Kaplan reported might have saved catastrophic cuts to the city budget.

Cuomo has resisted raising taxes for years out of fear it would drive businesses and the wealthy to other states. If all of the wealthiest New Yorkers fled the city, they could take more than $133 billion with them. That's how much the top 1% of New Yorkers earned in income in 2018, a report from Bloomberg found.

The Times attributed Cuomo's change of mind to the economic fallout of the pandemic, a growing progressive influence in the legislature, and the governor's own "waning influence."

The budget proposal is finalized as Biden reportedly gets even more serious about taxing the wealthy. He's said that Americans making over $400,000 will see a "small to significant" tax increase and high-earning Americans could see their top income-tax rate increase to 39%.

If Biden's tax proposal is enacted now that Cuomo's has been, that means some of the richest New York City dwellers could be paying out more than half of their earnings in taxes.

Newsletter

Related Articles

0:00
0:00
Close
UK Parliament Raises Concerns Over Funding Structure of £400 Million Tropical Forest Initiative
Andy Burnham Launches Number 10 North as Part of UK Devolution Push
UK Reaffirms Falkland Islands Sovereignty Amid Renewed Regional Pressure
Andy Burnham to Abstain From Assisted Dying Vote as Ministers Are Told to Remain Neutral
Kemi Badenoch Sacks Shadow Chancellor Mel Stride in Conservative Economic Strategy Shake-Up
UK Government Drops Early Prisoner Release Plan in Favor of Deportations and Wider Prison Reform
UK Farmers Warn Drought-Hit Harvests Could Push Grocery Prices Higher
UK Economy Faces Persistent Stagflation Risks Ahead of October Budget
Masked Protesters Block Port of Dover Roads, Disrupting Cross-Channel Traffic
Reform UK Suspends Senior Officials After Undercover Investigation Into Foreign Donation Plans
UK Urges Households to Keep Emergency Supplies Amid Severe El Niño Warning
Prime Minister Andy Burnham Sets Out Regional Industry and Prison Reform Agenda
Siemens Energy Wins Rolls-Royce Small Modular Reactor Manufacturing Contract
UK Mortgage Costs Rise as Gilt Yields and Swap Rates Climb
Bank of England’s Huw Pill Calls for Prompt Rate Rise as Inflation Risks Persist
National Audit Office Warns UK Is Unprepared for Major Food Supply Disruptions
British Army Suspends Some Training Exercises as Budget Pressures Intensify
HMS Queen Elizabeth Deploys as NATO Allied Response Force Command Ship
Reform UK Suspends Two Senior Officials Over Alleged Foreign Donation Scheme
UK Reasserts Falkland Islands Sovereignty After Argentina Threatens Sanctions
Scottish Tech Company PureLifi Enters Administration With More Than 40 Job Losses
Scottish Government Names Alyn Smith Innovation and Education Minister
Green Party Co-Leader Zack Polanski to Contest By-Election for Keir Starmer’s Former Seat
Palestine Action Activists Appeal Terrorism-Related Prison Sentences
PwC Report Highlights Persistent Regional Spending-Power Divide Across Britain
UK Names Hundreds of Employers for Minimum Wage Violations
UK Commits £400 Million to International Tropical Forest Fund
UK Extends £2 Bus Fare Cap Across England Through 2027
UK Warns Travellers as US-Iran Tensions Disrupt Middle East Security and Shipping
Andy Burnham Faces Kemi Badenoch in First Prime Minister’s Questions
Kemi Badenoch Names Andrew Griffith Shadow Chancellor in Conservative Reshuffle
UK Treasury and Markets Focus on Fiscal Headroom Ahead of Autumn Budget
UK Government Reverses Early Release Plans for Serious Violent and Sexual Offences
UK and France Review Border Cooperation After 48,000 Small-Boat Crossings Prevented
UK Growth Outlook Weakens as Inflation and Energy Costs Rise
Breeding Tropical Mosquitoes Discovered in East London
Sadiq Khan Agrees to Search of Digital Communications in Palantir Lawsuit
Scottish Protesters Call for Moratorium on AI Data Centre Expansion
Uber Drivers Bring London Class Action Over Algorithmic Management
Reform UK Accepts £4 Million Donation From Cryptocurrency Billionaire Pardoned by Trump
Justice Secretary Tightens Early Release Scheme to Exclude Manslaughter Offenders
Kemi Badenoch Reshuffles Conservative Team as Reform UK Pressure Grows
British Mortgage Rates Rise as Global Bond Sell-Off Pushes Up Borrowing Costs
UK Records Hottest Summer on Record in 2026
UK Government Urges Households to Stock Essential Supplies Ahead of Severe El Niño Risk
UK Prepares Targeted Sanctions Over Israeli Settlements in West Bank
Reform UK Faces Electoral and Police Scrutiny Over Foreign Donation Allegations
UK and France Expand Channel Migration Cooperation as Trade Tensions Surface
UK Marks Merchant Navy Day With Tribute to Civilian Seafarers
Burnham Pays Tribute to Two Police Officers Killed on Duty in Northern England
×