Currently, businesses attempting to start up in New York City face daunting high combined City and State business taxes, at a time when losses from start-up investments would be expected. The high tax burden acts as a disincentive for new types of industries, industries that are the leading edge of new technologies and the information revolution. If the City is to regain its historical role as the incubator of new firms for the nation's economy, it must provide the business climate which is attractive to such entrepreneurs. The proposed tax moratorium is another key component of this strategy. Qualifying firms must maintain at least 75 percent of their workforce in New York City over the next ten years and must employ fewer than 100 workers at the initial moment of the moratorium.
College textbooks are currently subject to all three sales taxes.
Vallone proposes the State Legislature eliminate the State, MTA and local sales taxes on college textbooks. The high cost of textbooks is another factor that impedes the ability of middle and moderate income people to obtain a college education. The current job market requires people to obtain a college degree in order to achieve middle class standards of living. Currently, the City's real property tax system does not treat all types of home ownership by the same set of rules. State legislation creating that abatement, introduced at the request of the City Council and the Mayor, called for the City to submit a plan to the State Legislature by December 1996 outlining how complete tax burden equity was to be achieved.