Good morning, it’s Wednesday.
It is also Tax Day – the deadline for most Americans to file their federal and state income tax returns and pay the respective governments what they owe (if they, indeed, owe). It’s also the last day you can file for an automatic 6-month extension and/or make IRA or HSA contributions.
To be clear, if you seek an extension, you’re only getting more time to FILE your returns, not more time to pay the piper. If you fail to do so, you will be penalized.
For those who are stressed about making this deadline, take heart! At least it’s not March 1 anymore. That was the original deadline when the federal income tax was first established in 1913 through the ratification of the 16th Amendment.
And here we make a slight detour for a history refresher.
The 16th Amendment reads, “The Congress shall have power to lay and collect taxes on incomes, from whatever source derived, without apportionment among the several States, and without regard to any census or enumeration.”
This overturned an 1895 Supreme Court decision that ruled an income tax would be unconstitutional because it violated Article 1 of the Constitution, requiring that direct taxes be apportioned according to state population.
Interestingly, President Teddy Roosevelt at the time made an income equality argument in favor of income and inheritance taxes that sound strikingly similar to the rhetoric being deployed by modern-day progressive politicians. He strongly believed that the wealth could afford taxes on their so-called “swollen fortunes” to benefit the broader and less fortunate population.
Five years later, filers got a brief reprieve when the date was moved to March 15, perhaps to accommodate the ever increasing complexity of tax return forms and/or the rising rate of taxes increased to fund WW I. The date was moved another month back to its current date one year after the Internal Revenue Code of 1954 was adopted. This shift was made to further ease administrative burdens on both filers an the IRS.
April 15 has remained Tax Day ever since, with the exception of small shifts when April 15 falls on a Saturday, Sunday, or legal holiday. Since 2016, however, March 15 has been the date that certain informational forms – like 1099s and W2s, for example – need to be issued to ensure that filers have the documents they need to prepare their returns.
The IRS is predicting that some164 million individual tax returns will be filed this year (and by that I mean for the 2025 tax season). Millions of people wait until the final days of the season to file, with approximately 24 percent saying that they planning to file in April and 22 percent waiting until the eleventh hour to do so. Only about one in 10 Americans do their taxes in January.
I think I land somewhere in the middle, as we took care of this in February.
It will again be warm, with highs topping out in the low-to-mid 70s, and cloudy with a chance of showers in the afternoon and evening.
In the headlines…
Israeli and Lebanese officials held rare direct talks yesterday, as the Trump administration convened neighbors who share one of the Middle East’s most violent borders as it tries to roll back Iranian influence.
The talks, hosted by Secretary of State Marco Rubio, concluded with encouraging words and talk of further meetings, albeit no firm commitments and no change in Israel’s refusal to halt its military campaign against Iran-backed Hezbollah militants in the country.
The U.S. military said early this morning that it had completely stopped all commercial trade to and from Iranian ports less than 36 hours after implementing a naval blockade.
California Gov. Gavin Newsom issued a proclamation setting the date for a special election to fill the remainder of former Rep. Eric Swalwell’s term for Aug. 18.
A woman who turned to Swalwell for political help said yesterday that he raped her in a West Hollywood hotel, the latest in a series of accusations that have ended his political career and put him in legal jeopardy.
A culture of secrecy and silence on Capitol Hill has persisted years after the #MeToo movement and continued to allow men like Swalwell to serve and ascend the ranks of power even when there are whispers of misbehavior with women.
One of the sleepiest governor’s races in recent California history has turned into a mad scramble after the sudden departure of the former frontrunner, Swalwell, amid sexual assault allegations.
Republican Rep. Clay Fuller was sworn into office after winning a special election to replace former Georgia Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene, helping Republicans maintain their razor-thin majority in the House and bolster support for Trump’s agenda in Congress.
King Charles III and Queen Camilla of Britain will make a four-day visit to the United States at the end of April to celebrate America’s 250th anniversary of independence, Buckingham Palace announced. The visit will include a stop in New York City.
As New York leaders argue over whether to raise taxes on high earners to help solve New York City’s multibillion-dollar budget gap, Gov. Kathy Hochul has decided to push for a so-called pied-à-terre tax aimed at the ultrawealthy who primarily live outside the city.
Hochul will formally propose a yearly tax surcharge on second homes in New York City that are worth $5 million or more, and she hopes to raise $500 million annually that would be used to address New York City’s estimated $5.4 billion deficit.
The governor‘s new proposal is a shift. She had previously resisted New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani’s calls to raise taxes on the rich and corporations, saying she did not want to drive wealthy people out of the state.
Hochul’s push to erect legal barriers around Trump’s deportation tactics is turning the nation’s immigration politics on its head.
Albany’s budget impasse has delayed progress on key education issues, including whether to give New York City more time to reduce class sizes, as Hochul and state lawmakers remain entangled in other policy fights.
State Senate Democrats canceled a closed-door meeting yesterday as budget talks hit a wall, indicating that not much progress has been made by the governor and legislative leaders.
Hochul knows just who to blame for her bid to weaken the state’s 2019 climate law: the climate advocates who had the temerity to sue her when she violated it.
Hochul told reporters that Deputy Senate Majority Leader Michael Gianaris was wrong to deem her as the impediment to moving forward the $263 billion spending and policy package.
Hochul wants employers and the state’s health insurance marketplace to fill coverage gaps for some 450,000 individuals slated to lose access to Essential Plan health insurance this summer. But experts say it’s unlikely employers will take on the responsibility.
Health authorities in New York State are racing to devise strategies to blunt a new federal law that will restrict access to government health insurance programs, including Medicaid, that cover more than half of New York City’s residents.
Trump administration officials took a victory lap in Brooklyn to celebrate a natural gas pipeline that would serve customers in New York City and Long Island. But Hochul, whose environmental agency greenlit a key permit for the pipeline, was a no-show.
Hochul strongly defended the election law process used to replace outgoing Assembly Majority Leader Crystal Peoples-Stokes on the Democratic ticket in the face of critics’ allegations that the system deprives voters of the chance to select a replacement.
Officials across New York are sounding the alarm over a push by unions to allow government workers hired after 2012 to retire at 55 instead of 63 as part of a $1.5 billion proposed pension reform.
Former Rep. Anthony D’Esposito will not be making a comeback bid for Congress against Democratic Rep. Laura Gillen in a battleground Long Island district.
Nassau County GOP leaders endorsed a local tax official, Jeanine C. Driscoll, as their substitute choice to unseat Gillen, after months of speculation that D’Esposito would run.
In private conversations, several people responsible for trying to win the race conceded that D’Esposito’s Hamlet on Hempstead routine had left them at a disadvantage. “This wasn’t planned — put it that way,” said former Long Island Rep. Peter T. King.
Assembly Member Jake Blumencranz will give up his seat to run for a highly competitive state Senate seat in Nassau County that is being vacated by Sen. Jack Martins.
A controversial plan to build an underwater gas pipeline skirting the shores of New York City is charging forward on schedule, three high-ranking Trump administration officials said yesterday at a groundbreaking ceremony.
In a visit to Syracuse University yesterday, former President Joe Biden spoke to a standing-room-only crowd about his time at the university, his early days in politics, his legacy and the enduring importance of democracy.
Mamdani admitted that the promised lower prices at his city-owned grocery stores will only be guaranteed for a core set of everyday staples.
Mamdani said his planned city-run grocery stores would not be traditional municipally staffed supermarkets. Instead, the city would own the land, cover major overhead costs and bring in a private operator to sell staple foods at discounted prices
Over the years, the marketplace has struggled and has shrunk its footprint and its number of vendors. The city plans to spend $30 million to build the store at the site of La Marqueta, which is expected to open by 2029.
Opening the stores in each of the five boroughs — nonprofits with cheaper prices for essentials than at market-rate stores — was a key plank of Mamdani’s campaign. The program will cost $70 million in capital funds, he said. Food prices will be subsidized.
East Harlem residents gave mixed reviews for the city-owned grocery store that Mamdani said this week will come to the neighborhood before he leaves office.
The first official meeting at City Hall between a democratic socialist mayor who repeatedly vowed to freeze rents on the campaign trail and one of the city’s top landlord lobbyists seemed likely to end in an impasse. But the 30-minute conversation was cordial.
Tensions between Mamdani and City Council Speaker Julie Menin reached a new level during his 100-day address last weekend, with the councilwoman reportedly assisting in organizing a protest outside the Queens venue where he held his rally.
Councilmember Chi Osse’s Instagram post about the cost of a half grilled chicken at a Brooklyn wine bar ($40) set off a firestorm in the comments about whether that was indeed affordable for New York, or if it was an instance of egregious price gouging.
The Jewish Defense League had long been largely inactive. But an arrest in a plan to kill a Palestinian activist shed light on an apparent resurgence of far-right Zionism, inspired by the J.D.L.
More than 5,000 low-income New York City households face an impending deadline as a pandemic-era federal housing voucher program runs out of money.
Thousands of doormen, superintendents and other apartment building workers in New York City will vote tomorrow whether to authorize a strike if their union cannot reach a deal with building owners in coming days.
Springtime heat melting the Big Apple is poised to break a nearly 80-year record this week, and New Yorkers are basking in sunshine before cooler weather returns.
Hochul was in Troy yesterday to talk about constructing more affordable housing in the state of New York. She toured the Sol Apartments, a mixed-income housing development currently under construction, as part of her push to reform SEQRA.
After a cold, snowy winter, drought conditions have eased across New York. In other parts of the country, the opposite is happening.
County employees have racked up over $7,000 in fines and fees associated with school zone speed cameras in the city of Albany. Whether or not the county has paid is a matter of some dispute.
Two Capital Region restaurants are finalists in the Best NY Burger Competition, a promotion now in its 10th year and sponsored by the New York Beef Council.
Roger Martel, who has run the restaurant at the Albany municipal golf course for 32 years, and his son are the new proprietors of Otis & Oliver’s, the restaurant at Mill Road Acres Golf Course in Latham.
MVP Arena will be hosting R&B icons Ashanti and Trey Songz to kick off the summer on June 6.
Before the Tri-City ValleyCats kick off its 2026 home opener on May 15, the team is looking for batboys and batgirls for all of the team’s home games.
A former Guilderland man who killed his mom decades ago used shoelaces to kill his cellmate at Upstate Correctional Facility, State Police said.
Photo credit: George Fazio.
