I try not to just cite articles, but here's one people in NY really ought to read. It is a commentary by Hawaii Governor Neil Abercrombie in a local newspaper. "Together we must face a fiscal deficit of $844 million over the next two years. Every possible solution is on the table for consideration. This includes improving our current tax system so that everyone pays their fair share."
To see who isn't paying their fair share according to the Governor, read the article.
He didn't go as far as I would go. Income is income. There are no breaks for retirement income at the federal level, though there is (was?) a partial exclusion for Social Security income that is being gradually eaten away by inflation. Many if not most states with income taxes also tax retirement incomes.
And the Governor's tie to the problems of public employee pensions are telling, because in New York the exclusions for former public employees are far greater than for private sector retirees.
Some may be concerned with the additional costs, such as health care, many seniors incur. Excess health care costs, however, are already deductable under the federal and New York State tax code.
In the past, it was assumed that future generations would be better off than those who went before, making special consideration for those old at any time sensible. That is no longer a reasonable assumption.
In other parts of New York, seniors whose income has fallen to retirement levels might object that high local property taxes hit them hard enough to offset the state income tax break. But in New York City, we have a local income tax that carries the same retirement income exemptions as the state income tax.
I’ll be 65 myself in 15 years, though I don’t expect to retire then and, unlike today’s retirees, would not be able to collect Social Security until age 67 (if then). But I wouldn’t want to benefit at the expense of my own children, and perhaps future grandchildren. Do any of the seniors and near seniors in the state legislature agree?