Schumer: With property taxes in New York sky-high, homeowners deserve a break
WASHINGTON – There’s nothing certain but death and taxes, but according to U.S. Senator Charles E. Schumer, upstate New Yorkers who don’t itemize their tax returns are paying more than their fair share.
Current rules are costing the approximately 800,000 homeowners in upstate New York about $415 million per year or more. New legislation proposed by the Senator Wednesday would save the 67,000 homeowners in the Southern Tier alone on average of $290 per year, for a total regional savings of $20 million.
“For most people, the mere mention of April 15 leads to shudders and raised eyebrows. Next year’s tax season may not be so bad,” said Schumer in a conference call to reporters yesterday.
Current rules allow homeowners who do not itemize their taxes to deduct only $500 in property taxes ($1,000 if filing jointly) from their federal tax burden, and even that provision expires at the end of this year.
Schumer’s bill, called the Homeowner Tax Fairness Act, would allow all homeowners to deduct the full amount of their property taxes from their federal tax bill.
Property taxes that must be paid once or twice a year is “a clobbering that hits the middle class more than anybody else,” he said. The legislation would be a part of the Obama Adminstration’s plans for a middle class tax cut, and, if applied nationwide, would amount to $3.2 billion in savings.
“This legislation is particularly important at a time of financial uncertainty – it will free up money that can be saved or spent on our families, and give people everywhere a little bit more breathing room.”
For example: A non-itemizing family with $75,000 of taxable income and a $3,000 property tax bill would receive a $800 tax cut next year or a non-itemizing senior citizen on a fixed income of $35,000 per year and a $1,500 property tax bill would see a $300 tax cut next year.
New Yorkers pay more in property taxes than people in all but four other states, and five New York counties rank in the top 15 for property taxes nationwide.
“Non itemizers are already racked by sky high property taxes ... This is a tax break New Yorkers could certainly use,” he said.
The source for all data is the Tax Foundation, U.S. Census, and Schumer staff calculations.
Current rules are costing the approximately 800,000 homeowners in upstate New York about $415 million per year or more. New legislation proposed by the Senator Wednesday would save the 67,000 homeowners in the Southern Tier alone on average of $290 per year, for a total regional savings of $20 million.
“For most people, the mere mention of April 15 leads to shudders and raised eyebrows. Next year’s tax season may not be so bad,” said Schumer in a conference call to reporters yesterday.
Current rules allow homeowners who do not itemize their taxes to deduct only $500 in property taxes ($1,000 if filing jointly) from their federal tax burden, and even that provision expires at the end of this year.
Schumer’s bill, called the Homeowner Tax Fairness Act, would allow all homeowners to deduct the full amount of their property taxes from their federal tax bill.
Property taxes that must be paid once or twice a year is “a clobbering that hits the middle class more than anybody else,” he said. The legislation would be a part of the Obama Adminstration’s plans for a middle class tax cut, and, if applied nationwide, would amount to $3.2 billion in savings.
“This legislation is particularly important at a time of financial uncertainty – it will free up money that can be saved or spent on our families, and give people everywhere a little bit more breathing room.”
For example: A non-itemizing family with $75,000 of taxable income and a $3,000 property tax bill would receive a $800 tax cut next year or a non-itemizing senior citizen on a fixed income of $35,000 per year and a $1,500 property tax bill would see a $300 tax cut next year.
New Yorkers pay more in property taxes than people in all but four other states, and five New York counties rank in the top 15 for property taxes nationwide.
“Non itemizers are already racked by sky high property taxes ... This is a tax break New Yorkers could certainly use,” he said.
The source for all data is the Tax Foundation, U.S. Census, and Schumer staff calculations.
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