Senate Bill S1763

                                 BILL NUMBER:  S1763

 TITLE OF BILL :
An act to amend the tax law, in relation to the requirement to file a
personal income tax return


 PURPOSE :
To set minimum personal income tax filing levels at the level of the
standard deduction based upon New York adjusted gross income, rather
than the arbitrary $4,000 which is currently in statute. The change
would mean that most persons with no State personal income tax
liability or refundable credits would be exempt from having to file
State tax returns.

 SUMMARY OF PROVISIONS :
Amends sec. 651 of the Tax Law to replace the statutory $4,000 filing
minimum with a minimum equal to the standard deduction. Applies a base
of New York adjusted gross income, rather than the federal adjusted
gross income.

 EXISTING LAW :
Existing law requires filing of a State return by persons required to
file a federal return or with a federal adjusted gross income of
$4,000 or more, regardless of whether or not State tax is owed.

              

 JUSTIFICATION :
The current $4,000 minimum filing limit has been in statute for many
years, and forces persons who owe no taxes and who file no federal
returns to file State income tax returns.  This is a burden for low
income persons, particularly senior citizens.

It also adds administrative costs for the Department of Taxation and
Finance which must process numerous returns for which no tax is due.

Persons with incomes lower than the standard deduction owe no tax and
this will eliminate the patently unnecessary filing.

Use of the New York adjusted gross income, instead of the federal
adjusted gross income, will especially benefit senior citizens subject
to New York's $20,000 pension and annuity exemption.

The Department of Taxation and Finance estimates that approximately
530,000 persons with no tax liability and no refunds or refundable
credits will be removed from filing requirements. Many of these would
be retirees with mostly exempt pension or annuity income.

 LEGISLATIVE HISTORY :
Similar bills include: 1992: A.5591/S.3497 referred to Assembly Ways &
Means, favorably reported from Senate Investigations & Taxation to
Senate Finance. 1993-1994:  A.1481/S.907 referred to Assembly Ways &
Means, passed Senate in 1993.  1995: S.2305 passed Senate. 1996:
S.2305B passed Senate.  1997 and 1998: S.2275 referred to
Investigations, Taxation, and Government Operations. 1999:
S.1603A/A.6434 (Governor's Executive Budget proposal) included similar
language as originally introduced.  1999 and 2000: S.1544 referred to
Investigations, Taxation, and Government Operations. 2001 and 2002:
S.1601 passed Senate in 2002.  2003 and 2004: S.979B passed Senate in
2003. 2005 and 2006:  S.1849A/A.7712A passed Senate in 2006.  2007 and
2008: passed Senate in 2007 and 2008.

 FISCAL IMPLICATIONS :
Expected to reduce administrative costs of State Department of
Taxation and Finance by $1 million annually.

 LOCAL FISCAL IMPLICATIONS :
None.

 EFFECTIVE DATE :
Immediate, and applies to taxable years beginning after 2009.