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 $68 billion in State taxes and about $35 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 42 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.

Budget Highlights

The FY 2017 Executive Budget recommends $456.4 million All Funds ($267.5 million General Fund; $188.9 million Other Funds) for the Department of Taxation and Finance. This is a decrease of $5.8 million or 1.2 percent from FY 2016 levels. The decrease reflects $7.8 million savings from reducing personal and non-personal spending, partially offset by a $2.0 million increase in the medical marihuana local assistance appropriation for paying State aid to counties where medical marihuana is manufactured and dispensed.

The Executive Budget recommends a workforce of 4,267 FTEs for the Department. This represents a decrease of 92 FTEs from FY 2016 budget due to attrition.

Major budget actions include:

• 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 insource the processing of Personal Income, Sales and Corporation Tax returns.
• 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 01/13/2016

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