Metro

Taxman cometh – but not for 41% of NYers

It’s Tax Day — but fewer New Yorkers are forking over money to the government than ever before.

An eye-popping 41 percent of the state’s filers did not pay any federal income tax last year — up from 33 percent in 2001, according to an analysis by Citizens for Tax Justice.

And the number of Big Apple filers no longer paying state or city income taxes has also skyrocketed.

About 38 percent of the city’s income tax filers did not pay any state income tax in 2007, the most recent year available — up from 32 percent in 2000 and 24 percent in 1993, according to the city Independent Budget Office.

And 37 percent didn’t pay the city income tax in 2007 — up from 33 percent in 2005.

The steady increase of people removed from the income tax rolls is a result of policies approved by both Democratic and Republican presidents and Congress to help the working poor–largely through increases in exemptions and credits.

The Earned Income Tax Credit — approved in 1978 under President Jimmy Carter — was expanded under presidents Ronald Reagan and Bill Clinton.

The credit is a maximum $5,000 for this year’s filers.

The tax credit per child was doubled from $500 to $1,000 under President George W. Bush.

Additional tax reductions approved by President Obama and Congress last year boosted tax refunds by an average of 10 percent for all Americans.

An increase in the earned income tax credit last year saved a single parent with three children making $15,700 an additional $600, the White House said.

Filers who lost their jobs last year were exempt from paying taxes on unemployment benefits — for a savings of $2,400.

And 95 percent of single workers and married couples received “Making Work Pay” tax credits of up to $400 and $800, respectively.

The average tax break for New York state filers this year is $1,335, the Citizens for Tax Justice Center said.

Like the government, Albany and City Hall have instituted a progressive taxation system that has lightened the load on lower-income New Yorkers — and put more burden on the wealthy.

“It’s bad fiscal policy. Fewer people have a stake in having lower taxes and spending because they’re not paying. They don’t have any skin in the game,” said Nicole Gelinas, senior fellow at the Manhattan Institute.

“It’s good for everybody to pay at least a little bit of income tax. That way they care.”

Kent Smetters, an economics professor at the University of Pennsylvania’s Wharton Institute, agreed, saying: “It’s more healthy for the economy to have everyone paying something than fewer people paying a lot of taxes.”

Smetters said putting a heavier tax burden on the wealthy reduces investment and job growth.

But Ryan Ellis, policy director for the conservative Citizens for Tax Reform, said: “It’s not our mission to raise taxes on people.”

Bob McIntyre of the liberal Citizens for Tax Justice disputed claims that lower-income workers don’t pay their fair share of taxes.

He said a study by his group found that when all taxes are factored in — Social Security, Medicare and state and local taxes as well as income — all filers pay about the same tax rate, “whether you make $50,000 or $50 million.”

“The progressive income tax helps offset the regressive nature of other taxes. It makes working people’s lives better. You don’t want to have higher taxes on poorer people than richer people. It’s not a good thing,” he said.

david.seifman@nypost.com