New York Court Says Telecommuters Must Pay NY Tax

hal9000(jr) writes "The Boston Globe is running this story on an out-of-state programmer working for a New York company who had to pay state taxes. '"New York has the right to tax 100% of a nonresident employee's income derived from New York sources," according to the 4-3 decision by Court of Appeals. The court relied on a fairness rule called the "convenience of the employer" under law that says a worker's income is taxable if he chooses to live outside the state, as opposed to if he or she was transferred there.' The dissenting opinion: 'Judge Robert Smith argued that the basis of the majority's decision that all income is taxable is "that the commissioner says it is ... The majority cites no authority at all, and offers no persuasive reason, in support of this new interpretation."'"

Comments

Taxes have gotten out of hand.

[Mattcelt]

I think there should be a radical restructuring of the entire U.S. tax code. There are several things I would put as highest priority:

- You cannot be taxed twice on the same income
- all services, goods, and fees which are mandated by any government entitiy are counted as taxes
- total taxes paid, including all income taxes, fees, sales taxes, etc., cannot exceed a certain percentage of your income. Anything in excess of, say 40% (though I think 20% would be more reasonable) of gross income gets refunded.
- a flat tax rate instead of the ridiculous graduated tax rates. (Where I can actually make more money and end up with less because my tax percentage jumps.)
- taxes are subject to jurisdictional delineations; if you are not using the services provided by a jurisdiction, you cannot be taxed by that jurisdiction (including the Federal government if you live outside the U.S. (except a small stipend to help support the Embassy/Consul in your country of residence)).
- The inheritance tax should be abolished altogether. It is simply unconscionable.