NEW YORK STATE ASSEMBLY MEMORANDUM IN SUPPORT OF LEGISLATION submitted in accordance with Assembly Rule III, Sec 1(f)
BILL NUMBER: A5728
SPONSOR: Forrest TITLE OF BILL:
An act to amend the tax law, in relation to excluding unemployment
compensation benefits from state income tax
PURPOSE OR GENERAL IDEA OF BILL:
To stop local and state government from imposing income taxes on unem-
ployment benefits
SUMMARY OF SPECIFIC PROVISIONS:
Section one of the bill amends subdivision c of section 612 of the tax
law by adding a new paragraph to exempt unemployment benefits from taxa-
ble income
Section two species when the bill will take effect
JUSTIFICATION:
New York is just one of seven states that fully tax unemployment bene-
fits, putting it drastically out of touch with the majority of the coun-
try and even many conservative states. This tax amounts to a penalty on
the most vulnerable New Yorkers and detracts from the already paltry
income they receive from unemployment. For New Yorkers who reside in New
York City, the situation is even more dire as they will have to pay both
state and the city taxes on an amount that is already very difficult to
get by on.
With the specter of another recession on the horizon, it is high time to
correct this injustice so that future New Yorkers are given every oppor-
tunity to recover from economic hardship without the state making that
hardship more severe.
PRIOR LEGISLATIVE HISTORY:
None
FISCAL IMPLICATIONS:
To be determined
EFFECTIVE DATE:
This act would take effect immediately
STATE OF NEW YORK
________________________________________________________________________
5728
2023-2024 Regular Sessions
IN ASSEMBLY
March 23, 2023
___________
Introduced by M. of A. FORREST -- read once and referred to the Commit-
tee on Ways and Means
AN ACT to amend the tax law, in relation to excluding unemployment
compensation benefits from state income tax
The People of the State of New York, represented in Senate and Assem-bly, do enact as follows:
1 Section 1. Subsection (c) of section 612 of the tax law is amended by
2 adding a new paragraph 47 to read as follows:
3 (47) For each taxable year beginning on and after January first, two
4 thousand twenty-three, the amount of any unemployment compensation
5 received by a taxpayer.
6 § 2. This act shall take effect immediately.
EXPLANATION--Matter in italics (underscored) is new; matter in brackets
[] is old law to be omitted.
LBD09825-01-3
