BILL NUMBER: S2213
SPONSOR: LIU
 
TITLE OF BILL:
An act to amend the tax law, in relation to filing of income tax returns
 
PURPOSE:
To eliminate a requirement in the Tax Law that requires the filing of an
NYS Income Tax return even when that taxpayer is not required to file a
federal return.
 
SUMMARY:
Section 1: Amends § 651(a) (1) of the Tax Law eliminating the require-
ment that a taxpayer with income coming only increased by modifications
under § 651(b)of the Tax Law in excess of $4000 file a State return.
Section 2: Establishes the effective date.
 
JUSTIFICATION:
Current NY law requires a taxpayer that files a federal income tax
return to also file a State return. The section of law requiring the
State return also requires a NY taxpayer who does not have to file a
federal return to file a State return under certain circumstances. They
must still file if they have taxable income in excess of $4000 or the
amount of the NY Standard Deduction, currently $8000 for a single filer
or $16,050 for a couple. Due to the increase in the Standard Deduction,
the $4000 qualifier is out of date and should be repealed.
For example, currently, a retired married couple with $2000 in bank
interest income, $12,000 in pension income, and $36,000 in Social Secu-
rity income would not be required to file a federal return. However,
because of the $4000 provision in NY, they must still file a State
return. Eliminating this provision will save time and money for taxpay-
ers who should not be filing State returns and reduce the amount of
unnecessary returns NYS Tax and Finance must process.
 
LEGISLATIVE HISTORY:
01/03/24 REFERRED TO BUDGET AND REVENUE
02/09/23 PASSED SENATE
03/24/22 PASSED SENATE REFERRED TO ASSEMBLY WAYS & MEANS COMMITTEE
 
FISCAL IMPACT:
None to the State. Those filers impacted should not need to file an NYS
Income Tax Return.
 
EFFECTIVE DATE:
This act shall take effect immediately.

Statutes affected:
S2213: 651 tax law, 651(a) tax law