New York backtracks on carried interest tax hike

A proposal to change to the tax code for fund managers who work in the state of New York but live outside the region has quickly fallen out of favour and is unlikely to pass.

The plan to raise the tax on carry for non-residents of New York state was first introduced in April 2008 but was recently revisited as the region seeks new revenue to reduce its budget deficit. Proponents of the rule estimated that the tax increase would provide the state with an additional $50 million of revenue.

I can't imagine why every hedge fund won't pick up tomorrow and leave. New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg attacking plans by New York state to increase carried interest tax

Private equity real estate managers are currently taxed on their income by the state where they work and on their investment gains by the states where they live. Investment income in New York is subject to the same tax rate as other income like salary, so managers who live in New York have already been paying state tax on it.

If New York reclassified carried interest, it would have taxed non-resident managers as if their carried interest was no different from any other kind of fee paid for work performed. However, if the neighbouring state of Connecticut did not follow the same route as New York state in reclassifying carried interest as ordinary income, fund managers who work in New York but lived in Connecticut could be taxed by two states on the same profits.

New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg came out strongly against the proposal this week, saying that private equity, real estate and hedge funds would move their operations to Connecticut. Many Wall Street professionals already work in New York City but commute from nearby towns in Connecticut, including Greenwich, where Starwood Capital Group, among other private equity real estate firms are based.

“I think it's the best thing that ever happened to Connecticut,” Bloomberg told reporters this week. “I can't imagine why every hedge fund won't pick up tomorrow and leave.”

Connecticut governor Jodi Rell seized on the opportunity to capitalise on the tax proposal.

“As lawmakers in Albany [New York's state capital] consider a proposal to vastly increase the tax liability of hedge fund professionals who work in New York, many of whom have already wisely decided to live in Connecticut, I would like to convey a very simple, yet heartfelt, message: Connecticut welcomes you,” Rell wrote in a letter to fund managers.

The proposal has been included in a budget bill that had been supported by the state legislature. New York state's highest income tax rate of 8.97 percent for people who earn more than $500,000 a year tops the equivalent income tax rate of 6.5 percent in Connecticut.

A tax hike on carried interest at the federal level has repeatedly failed in the US Congress thus far. The most recent attempt stalled in the Senate last month.