The state budget was due on April 1, but it was not submitted until Tuesday, April 6. Governor Cuomo announced that he had reached an agreement with Albany legislative leaders yesterday.

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The new budget is massive and it includes $212 million in spending. State officials indicate that such a large budget is needed due to safety measures dealing with COVID-19.

The new budget calls for a tax increase for big businesses and for individuals in high tax brackets.

According to the New York Times, Couples earning more than $2 million will see a tax increase from 8.82% to 9.65%. Individuals earning more than $1 million a year will also see a significant increase in their taxes. Earnings over $5 million will be taxed at 10.3% and income earned over $25 million must pay 10.9% in income taxes.

Businesses that earn more than $5 million a year will see their corporate franchise taxes increase from 6.5% to 7.25% until 2024.

Liz Krueger, State Senate Finance Committee Chairwoman, took to the debate floor to justify the tax increases. She said, “This is not a tax increase on the vast majority of New Yorkers. It’s a relatively small, approximately 50,000 taxpayers who are the wealthiest end of the scale even during a pandemic and economic meltdown.”

We couldn’t expect both sides of the political realm to agree on an issue like raising taxes for the most wealthy individuals in New York. Critics have warned that tax increases could endanger revenue when the businesses that are affected move to a place where they won’t be taxed so heavily.

Any way you look at it, someone has to pay for the damage that COVID-19 has done to every city and state throughout the country. Perhaps tax increases for businesses will somewhat balance out the damage that was done to the economy when the rich received such an enormous tax cut under the previous administration.

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