#New York state income tax filing extended to May 17

ALBANY — New York will push back its state income tax filing deadline for the second year in a row due to the coronavirus pandemic, bringing it in line with the newly extended federal income tax filing deadline of May 17. 

State Division of the Budget Robert Mujica said Friday that the Department of Tax and Finance will follow the federal government’s lead.

The US Department of the Treasury and IRS announced the new 30-day extension on Wednesday.

“At the Governor’s direction, the Department of Tax and Finance will be extending the New York State income tax deadline to May 17 to align with the federal decision to do the same. This 30-day extension provides New Yorkers still coping with the complications of the COVID-19 pandemic ample time to file,” Mujica said in a statement. 

“This will shift approximately $6 billion of revenue from April to May and the State will make any necessary adjustments to cash-flow.”

The date change will require state officials to find a backup plan for filling the hole in the meantime, a DOB spokesman told The Post, as Gov. Andrew Cuomo’s office and the state Legislature are in the process of negotiating the final stages of the state budget due April 1. 

The state will also be reviewing how the change impacts recipients of unemployment benefits. 

“We agree that tax consequences for unemployment insurance benefits, which has been the law for 50 years, should be reviewed anew. The Legislature decoupled the state from federal tax law changes and, therefore, under current law this income is taxed,” DOB spokesman Freeman Klopett told The Post. 

“Complicating matters is language in the new federal law that prohibits the states from reducing taxes if federal aid is accepted.

“We will work with the Legislature to review this, and many ideas of merit, ahead of the April 1 deadline to enact a budget that delivers support for New Yorkers and closes a deficit caused entirely by the pandemic’s decimation of state revenue.”

Several other states — including neighboring New Jersey — have similarly extended their state income tax filing deadline.