Taxation and Finance, Department of

Agency Web Site: http://www.tax.ny.gov/

Mission

The Department of Taxation and Finance (DTF) collects tax revenue and provides associated services in support of certain New York State government operations. In fulfilling its responsibilities, the Department collects and accounts for $67 billion in State taxes and about $34 billion in local taxes; administers 37 State and 10 local taxes, including New York City and City of Yonkers income taxes, as well as the Metropolitan Commuter Transportation Mobility Tax; and processes about 41 million returns, registrations, and associated documents. The Department also manages the State Treasury, which provides investment and cash management services to various State agencies and public benefit corporations, and acts on the Tax Commissioner's behalf as joint custodian of the State's General Checking Account. On June 6, 2010, the Department statutorily merged with the former Office of Real Property Services (ORPS) in order to realize significant savings and efficiencies and enhance the State's oversight of local property tax administration by tapping the Department's vast information technology infrastructure and personnel assets.

Budget Highlights

The Executive Budget recommends $462.3 million All Funds ($271.4 million General Fund; $190.9 million Other Funds) for the Department of Taxation and Finance. This is an increase of $6.2 million or 1.4 percent from adjusted 2014-15 levels. The increase reflects the creation of a cigarette strike task force to investigate and prosecute criminal activity associated with the sale and trafficking of illegal cigarettes which will be supported by HCRA funds, a medical marihuana local assistance appropriation to pay State aid to counties who manufacture and dispense medical marihuana in the State, and additional administrative support to administer education investment tax credit.

The Executive Budget recommends a workforce of 4,359 FTEs for the Department. This represents a decrease of 9 FTEs from 2014-15 budget due to the transition of Human Resource (HR) services into the Business Services Center (BSC).

Major budget actions include:

• Establishing a Cigarette Strike Task Force that will collaborate with federal, state and local law enforcement agencies to investigate and prosecute the trafficking and sales of illegal cigarettes.
• Continuing investment in the Department’s successful consolidation of call center operations to provide call center support services for the Executive’s proposed Business Express Initiative that will deliver streamlined assistance to entrepreneurs starting businesses in New York.
• Continued expansion of the Returns Processing Center (RPC) to fully onboard the processing of Personal Income, Sales and Corporation Tax returns.
• Implementation of the Education Investment Tax Credit Program. The Budget creates a new Education Tax Credit, which allows taxpayers to contribute to public education entities, school improvement organizations, local education funds, and educational scholarship organizations that provide benefits to pupils from at least three qualified schools in New York. The program will be capped at $100 million in aggregate education tax credits annually.
• Implementing the local aid component of the Medical Marihuana Program through which participating counties will receive a share of gross receipts from the manufacture and sale of medical marihuana.
• Continuing to expand and enhance the Department's web filing options to drive efficiencies and improve customer service.
• Continuing to expand and enhance the Department's Business Analytics capabilities in order to drive efficiencies, increase revenue collections, and mitigate fraudulent activities.

Note: Most recent estimates as of 01/21/2015

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