The Assault on New York Taxpayers Continues

We're not just talking about the increase of personal income or corporate taxes. We're talking about hiking all kinds of fees to raise revenues.

Comptroller Bill Thompson is floating the idea of a massive hike of motor vehicle registration fees to fund the MTA.

At a press conference outside Grand Central Terminal, Mr. Thompson said that drivers now pay $30 every two years to register a vehicle in New York City, though they also pay additional state fees.

He proposed adding an annual fee of $100 for drivers in the city and nearby counties who register vehicles weighing up to 2,300 pounds, with vehicles above that weight also being assessed an additional 9 cents per pound.

The fees, which Mr. Thompson said would go directly to the authority, could total about $1 billion per year, with some $350 million from New York City residents. The authority faces a $1.2 billion deficit next year, and it unveiled a budget on Thursday that called for a 23 percent increase in tolls and fares along with cutbacks in service and layoffs. Mr. Thompson, a Democratic candidate for mayor, said he feared that the proposed fare increases would make mass transit unaffordable for some riders.

Twelve New York counties served by the MTA could see an increase in the annual fee by $100 for drivers in the city and nearby counties who register vehicles weighing up to 2,300 pounds, with vehicles above that weight also being assessed an additional 9 cents per pound.

The current fee is $30 ever two years. Such a proposal could raise hundreds of millions of dollars a year. No word on how many people would simply choose not to register their vehicles in New York opting for out of state registration, or moving out of New York altogether. Such a proposal would be highly regressive since the registrations would disproportionately affect those in the lower income tax brackets more than those with higher incomes.

Thompson is also floating the idea of reviving the commuter tax, which was abolished in 1999. That tax could increase revenues by hundreds of millions of dollars, but again raises the question of how many people and businesses would be driven out of the region by the soaring tax burden being imposed by municipalities and the state at a time when they are all too reluctant to cut costs.

Meanwhile, the NYS Department of Taxation and Finance is busy going after celebrities and rich people to get them to settle up on their tax bills.

Fashion powerhouse Ralph Lauren, Brooklyn-born billionaire Ira Rennert and gossip-column staple Shelby Bryan are among thousands of New Yorkers who recently settled big debts with the state taxman as Albany aggressively moves to fill its dwindling coffers, records show.

The Polo designer's high-flying ways couldn't escape the reach of the New York Department of Taxation and Finance when it came to operating his $50 million Gulf Stream V private jet.

On Oct. 2, Lauren's shell company, R.L. Wings, technically the jet's owner, paid $4.18 million on its two-year-old tax debt, according to public documents.

Through a spokesman, Lauren said he was fighting to get the money back.

Rennert's The Renco Group also lost its dispute with the state over how it records its business expenses. The state filed a warrant against The Renco Group, whose mining operations have been criticized as major environmental polluters, on Aug. 6, seeking a fortune in back taxes.

Rennert, whose Sagaponack, LI, mansion is considered the largest single residence in the country, settled the score by having his firm cut a check to the state for $1.77 million on Oct. 31.

"This was a disagreement that arose during the course of routine tax audits for years in which Renco filed its return and paid the state substantial taxes," Rennert said in a statement.

Another notable settlement came from Bryan, Vogue editor Anna Wintour's paramour.

As times become more difficult and municipalities and states find it more difficult to raise revenues, collection and enforcement of existing tax obligations becomes a way for the states to bring in revenues due them. Expect this to only increase.