Andrew Cuomo: Healthcare workers who volunteered to help New York with pandemic must pay state income taxes
Healthcare workers who traveled to New York to help patients during the coronavirus pandemic may not have realized they were also going to be assisting the state dig itself out of a financial hole.
New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo announced on Tuesday that he would not be giving the thousands of healthcare workers who came to the state from around the nation a break when it comes to state taxes. He said out-of-state healthcare workers, even if they were kept on the payroll back home, may have to pay the state of New York for the income earned while they worked to help COVID-19 patients.
"We're not in a position to provide any more subsidies right now because we have a $13 billion deficit," Cuomo said during a press conference. "So there's a lot of good things I'd like to do, and if we get federal funding, we can do, but it would be irresponsible for me to sit here looking at a $13 billion deficit and say, 'I'm gonna spend more money ... when I can't even pay the essential services.'"
"So we are in dire financial need," Cuomo added.
New York has some of the highest income taxes in the nation. A nurse who volunteered to travel from Texas, where there is not an income tax, will have to pay New York as much as 8.8%, the top marginal income tax rate in New York, of the money he or she earned while working in New York City hospitals.
Ken Isaacs, the vice president of Samaritan's Purse, a nonprofit organization that set up a temporary hospital in Central Park to help with the pandemic, told PIX 11 he was shocked to learn that workers who volunteered to come to the state would have to pay the state's income tax.
"Our financial comptroller called me, and he said, 'Do you know that all of you are going to be liable for New York state income tax?' I said, 'What?' [The comptroller] said, 'Yeah, there's a law. If you work in New York State for more than 14 days, you have to pay state income tax,'" Isaacs said.
Isaacs noted that the situation could be a nightmare for organizations and their employees as they deal with the "bureaucracy and the paperwork" that comes with filing in multiple states.
Not all healthcare workers who came to New York will be subject to the state's taxes. Those who were in the state for fewer than 14 days are not subject to the state's income tax.
"We're not in a position to provide any more subsidies right now because we have a $13 billion deficit," Cuomo said during a press conference. "So there's a lot of good things I'd like to do, and if we get federal funding, we can do, but it would be irresponsible for me to sit here looking at a $13 billion deficit and say, 'I'm gonna spend more money ... when I can't even pay the essential services.'"
"So we are in dire financial need," Cuomo added.
New York has some of the highest income taxes in the nation. A nurse who volunteered to travel from Texas, where there is not an income tax, will have to pay New York as much as 8.8%, the top marginal income tax rate in New York, of the money he or she earned while working in New York City hospitals.
Ken Isaacs, the vice president of Samaritan's Purse, a nonprofit organization that set up a temporary hospital in Central Park to help with the pandemic, told PIX 11 he was shocked to learn that workers who volunteered to come to the state would have to pay the state's income tax.
"Our financial comptroller called me, and he said, 'Do you know that all of you are going to be liable for New York state income tax?' I said, 'What?' [The comptroller] said, 'Yeah, there's a law. If you work in New York State for more than 14 days, you have to pay state income tax,'" Isaacs said.
Isaacs noted that the situation could be a nightmare for organizations and their employees as they deal with the "bureaucracy and the paperwork" that comes with filing in multiple states.
Not all healthcare workers who came to New York will be subject to the state's taxes. Those who were in the state for fewer than 14 days are not subject to the state's income tax.