New Yorkers may finally see relief from taxes on tips, with Gov. Kathy Hochul saying she’ll propose enacting the policy this year after garnering backlash — and a Post front-page story.
In a statement released Thursday morning, Hochul said she’d seek to eliminate state income taxes on up to $25,000 in tipped earnings — following through on President Trump’s initiative to eliminate federal taxes on tips.
“I’m kicking the new year off with a proposal of no state income tax on tips, continuing my efforts to make New York more affordable for hard working New Yorkers,” Hochul wrote.
The elimination of gratuity taxes will be included in Hochul’s state budget proposal to be released later this month, dropping taxes on tips earned in 2026.
Republicans have whacked blue states like New York, Illinois and California for not moving to make sure state income taxes were also eliminated starting this year.
Nassau County Executive Bruce Blakeman, who is running to unseat Hochul and was among those knocking her for being slow to act, cheered the move and said he’d be happy to provide the governor with “tips” of his own — tax free.
“I see Kathy Hochul is doing a u-turn on taxing tips. I was told she changed her mind after I said I would never tax tips. Kathy if you want more of my ‘tips’ on how to govern just continue to follow my lead,” Blakeman told The Post.
Hochul, a Democrat seeking re-election this year, also faced heat from New York bartenders and restaurant workers, who urged her to extend Trump’s policy to state income taxes, The Post reported Friday.
“If we weren’t taxed on our tips, we’d be able to save more, we’d enjoy life a little more, maybe we wouldn’t have to pick up that extra shift,” said Rion Gallagher, a bartender at The Blasket in Midtown.
Hochul’s announcement came with little fanfare. It was mentioned in a press release dropped just hours before New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani’s public inauguration ceremony, which the governor was slated to attend.
Hochul also used the opportunity to tout other aspects of her flimsy knee-jerk “affordability” agenda, including a 0.1% decrease in state income taxes on most middle class earners, a planned increase in the minimum wage and a boost to the child tax credit going into effect in 2026.
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