New York State (NYS) tax

What is NY state tax?

A state income tax is a tax levied by a state on your income or what you earn within a tax year. State income taxes, which vary by state, are payments based on a percentage of your income that you pay to the state government.

Similar to federal taxes, state income taxes are self-assessed. Some states have a flat tax rate or no tax at all, even. New York State (NYS or NY State), imposes a state-level income tax.

Who pays NY state tax? 

Similar to federal income taxes, states generally impose income taxes on your earnings if you have a sufficient connection to the state or if you earned income in the state even without sufficient connections.

So, if you earn an income or live in NY, you must pay NY state tax. As a traditional W-2 employee, your NYS taxes will be drawn on each payroll automatically. You will see this on your paycheck, near or next to the federal taxes.

If you work remotely or earn income in New York, you should pay taxes to the state in which the work is performed. Employers will generally also pay taxes on wages paid to these workers to the same state, even if the employer has no physical presence in that state. However, some states may require that workers are taxed based on their employer’s location.

How do you pay NYS taxes? 

View more information about paying NYS taxes at https://www.tax.ny.gov/pit/file/prepare.htm.

How much should you pay in NY state tax?

New York State income tax rates range from 4% to 8.82%, depending on your income. Learn more about NYS tax rates.

When are NYS tax returns due? 

View when your new NYS tax returns are due.

How do you check if you paid NYS income tax? 

If you want to make sure your NYS income taxes were paid, contact the New York State Department of Revenue to see if your payment was received. View the state’s Department of Revenue page at https://www.tax.ny.gov/help/contact/default.htm.

Deducting NYS income tax

If you pay NYS income tax, the IRS allows you to claim a deduction on your federal tax return for them. You can claim a state income tax deduction if you itemize deductions on your federal return.

To determine if you should itemize your deductions, add up your calendar-year deductible expenses, including your state income taxes, to see if the total is greater than the standard deduction amount for your filing status. So, if you pay more than your standard deduction in NYS income tax and other itemized deductions, then consider itemizing your taxes.

Due to the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act, state and local tax deductions, including state income taxes, are limited to $10,000 per year.

More help with NYS income tax

Understanding your tax obligations can be time consuming. What’s even more time-intensive is how to NYS income tax from your federal taxes as an itemized deduction.

So, get help with H&R Block Virtual! With this service, we’ll match you with a tax pro with New York tax expertise. Then, you will upload your tax documents, and our tax pros will do the rest! We can help with your NY taxes, including federal deductions for paying state taxes.

Prefer a different way to file? No problem – you can find New York state tax expertise with all of our ways to file taxes.