| Not sure this is anywhere as good as it sounds. Most startups aren't profitable for several years (if ever), so income tax would not be an issue during this period. Even after there is income, there would be loss carry-forwards that would have soaked up income taxes from the first couple of profitable years. So this probably doesn't produce much benefit for much/most of the 10 years. Eliminating sales tax isn't that big a benefit either: SASS, social, or other popular startup types would not pay much of this anyway (on purchases of desks, computers, etc?). Property tax benefits could be sizable, though many bootstrapped startups don't have this for a couple of years anyway. Cutting franchise taxes provides a small benefit that would probably help all startups. As others have pointed out, the non-tax costs of being in an expensive city like NYC are substantial. And don't forget, NY isn't waiving personal income taxes—so if your startup does hit a homerun, they'll take their pound of flesh on the back end. For some startups (like the rare one with high anticipated sales tax costs), this program might be enough to tip the scales in favor of locating in NY. For most startups, however, state/local tax cuts in the first 10 years are just not that big a deal. As the saying goes: don't let the tax tail wag the dog. Looking at the policy from a macro perspective, it looks a lot like what Swiss cantons do to negotiate tax breaks for a limited time based on anticipated future tax revenues and job creation. Also seems a lot like what Ireland has done to build up its tech sector (and been chastised for of late: see Apple, Google, etc.). So it could be produce benefits (for NY), but it would of course pull talent from other regions, thereby reducing the net benefit. |
What is the Personal Income Tax exemption for employees?
Employees of businesses in START-UP NY will pay no income taxes on their wages for the first five years. For the second five years, employees will pay no taxes on income up to $200,000 of wages for individuals, $250,000 for a head of household and $300,000 for taxpayers filing a joint return.
(http://startup-ny.com/faq/#b-11)