City Council mulling downtown tax break.The City Council may eliminate the commercial rent tax for all businesses south of Houston Street. If the tax is axed, the combined incentives package for both landlords and tenants would be considerably sweetened sweet·en v. sweet·ened, sweet·en·ing, sweet·ens v.tr. 1. To make sweet or sweeter by adding sugar, honey, saccharin, or another sweet substance. 2. To make more pleasant or agreeable. . "Because of what happened downtown, we want to make sure that there is an incentive for people to stay or return or for landlords to get new tenants," said one council official quoted in Crain's last week. If the CRT (1) (C RunTime) See runtime library. (2) (Cathode Ray Tube) A vacuum tube used as a display screen in a computer monitor or TV. The viewing end of the tube is coated with phosphors, which emit light when struck by electrons. were axed, it would represent a $25 million revenue loss for the city. The CRT only applies to businesses below 96th Street in Manhattan who pay in excess of $250,000 a year in rent. New York City New York City: see New York, city. New York City City (pop., 2000: 8,008,278), southeastern New York, at the mouth of the Hudson River. The largest city in the U.S. is the only taxing jurisdiction in the nation that taxes business rents. Many people believe that the CRT is a bad policy because it taxes a business expense, which anywhere else is deductible. Also, the CRT results in double taxation of property. Since 1995, the city has lowered the number of businesses subject to the tax. Still, the combined New York New York, state, United States New York, Middle Atlantic state of the United States. It is bordered by Vermont, Massachusetts, Connecticut, and the Atlantic Ocean (E), New Jersey and Pennsylvania (S), Lakes Erie and Ontario and the Canadian province of State and City tax burden remains the highest and-- some would argue--most complex in the nation. The New York City Partnership, an alliance of prominent business leaders, is strongly opposed to the CRT. Their website claims that eliminating the CRT would not only do away with the city's "most indefensible tax", but it would foster a sounder investment climate here. "Any step towards eliminating the commercial rent tax would be good. But given the fiscal situation in New York City right now, doing so would be tough," said Kathryn Wylde, president of the New York City Partnership. "The problem with repealing this tax is that you already have a budget crisis. Politically, it would be very hard to do," said attorney Joel Poretsky, a tax partner at Jenkens & Gilchrist Parker Chapin. According to according to prep. 1. As stated or indicated by; on the authority of: according to historians. 2. In keeping with: according to instructions. 3. Poretsky, the CRT only amounts to 6% of a tenant's rent which--in the case of a $400,000 per annum Per annum Yearly. rent--comes out to $24,000. |
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