Letters to the Editor
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‘Despite Albany Stall, City Seeks Traffic Plan Bids’
Before the federal government delivers more than $500 million to New York to launch a traffic reduction program, it should insist that Albany do more than approve the program [New York, “Despite Albany Stall, City Seeks Traffic Plan Bids,” June 26, 2007]. It should insist that Albany stop sabotaging the program by punishing state nonresidents who choose to telecommute to New York instead of drive. Under a state tax rule known as the “convenience of the employer” rule, nonresidents who telecommute to their New York employers some or most of the time have to pay taxes to New York, both on the income they earn when they travel here and on the income they earn at home, in a different state.
Because the telecommuter’s home state can also tax the income the telecommuter earns at home, he is threatened with two tax bills on the same income. This risk is a significant deterrent to telework. If the goal of congestion pricing is truly to reduce vehicular traffic, fining people who choose an eco-friendly driving alternative is completely counterproductive. To avoid squandering its investment, Washington should tell Albany that, if the city is to remain eligible for funding, the state must repeal the penalty for telecommuting.
NICOLE GOLUBOFF
Advisory Board Member
The Telework Coalition
Author of “The Law of Telecommuting and Telecommuting for Lawyers”
Scarsdale, N.Y.
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