Politicians like to profess their support for business, especially small business. But their claims don’t always stand up to careful scrutiny.
Take Gov. Andrew Cuomo’s recent claim that his administration is doing everything it can to reverse the “perception and reality†of New York as an anti-business state.
In an op-ed at Syracuse.com earlier this month, Cuomo wrote:
We’ve begun to reverse that trend with a fiscally responsible financial plan, which includes the Property Tax Cap, the largest middle-class tax cut in 60 years, and limiting state spending to 2 percent.
Among other accomplishments, Cuomo mentioned:
More Spending Instead of Tax Cuts
This year, Cuomo also says the state will create a $50 million venture capital fund to invest in commercialization of technologies developed in the state’s research institutions. The governor also recently signed into law a new Tax Free NY initiative.
No, this doesn’t mean there aren’t any more taxes in New York state. The new law creates special zones around state university campuses where businesses will pay no taxes for the next 10 years.
The problem, observed the New York Post recently, is that the governor and the state legislature still haven’t cut the state’s bloated $143 billion budget. And they say they can’t lower personal income tax by even 1 percent. In fact, as the Post reports, Cuomo actually raised the top income tax rate almost two percent.
Where Things Stand
In 2011, the Tax Foundation, a non-partisan Washington D.C.-based research group, found New York state to have the worst tax climate for small business in the U.S. And the foundation’s latest index in 2013 shows nothing has changed.
Politicians seem to think that added state funding grows businesses. But small business owners know only cutting taxes and spending can do that. Below is an ad from the state’s New York Open for Business campaign. Knowing what you know about New York state’s tax laws, would you open a business there?
Gov. Andrew Cuomo Photo via Shutterstock
