Mayor Zohran Mamdani is urging Albany to raise taxes on high-income New Yorkers and large corporations, arguing that additional revenue should be on the table as state lawmakers consider the city’s fiscal needs. Speaking after the 2026 Joint Legislative Budget Hearing, he said he supports increasing taxes on New Yorkers earning $1 million or more a year and on “the most profitable corporations.” Whether the idea gains traction in the legislature or triggers pushback from business groups could influence how the city and state approach future budgets.
Mamdani’s Albany Pitch Targets Millionaires and Corporations
Following the 2026 Joint Legislative Budget Hearing, Mamdani held a media availability where he made his tax posture explicit. He voiced direct support for increasing taxes on “New Yorkers who are making a million dollars or more a year” and on “the most profitable corporations,” according to the Mayor’s Office transcript published in February 2026. The language was deliberate: rather than floating vague calls for “revenue solutions,” Mamdani named the income threshold and the corporate tier he wants to hit. That specificity matters because it narrows the political debate from abstract fairness arguments to a concrete legislative question about rate schedules, brackets, and how to define corporate profitability in state tax law.
The setting itself carried weight. Joint Legislative Budget Hearings are where the city formally makes its case to state lawmakers for the fiscal tools it needs. By centering his remarks on taxing high earners and profitable firms, Mamdani signaled that new revenue, not spending cuts alone, is a priority in his administration’s public messaging about the city’s finances. That approach could face resistance from lawmakers who oppose higher income taxes on top earners, citing concerns about competitiveness and taxpayer flight. It also forces legislative leaders to decide whether they are willing to align themselves publicly with a more redistributive tax regime amid warnings from business groups and fiscal watchdogs.
Why the Revenue Strategy Carries Real Risk
The core tension in Mamdani’s approach is straightforward: taxing wealth where it is concentrated can generate large sums quickly, but it also creates incentives for the taxed population to leave or reclassify income. New York already sits near the top of state and local tax burdens nationally, and the remote-work shift that accelerated during the pandemic gave high earners more geographic flexibility than they had a decade ago. If even a modest share of millionaires relocate their tax residency to Florida, Texas, or another state without a personal income tax, the net revenue gain from a rate hike could shrink faster than budget planners expect. The risk is not just outright moves; high-income filers can also spend more days out of state, adjust how they report bonuses and capital gains, or shift ownership stakes to family members in lower-tax jurisdictions, all of which can erode the projected yield of a new top bracket.
Corporations present a different but related challenge. Large firms with operations in multiple states can shift profits through transfer pricing, subsidiary structures, and other legal mechanisms that reduce their effective tax rate in any single jurisdiction. Targeting “the most profitable corporations,” as Mamdani put it, sounds precise, but the definition of profitability is elastic in corporate accounting and can be managed with timing and internal charges. Without tight statutory language and aggressive enforcement, a corporate tax hike could raise less than projected while generating significant lobbying opposition. To persuade Albany skeptics, the administration will have to demonstrate that any new levy is paired with clear apportionment rules, anti-avoidance provisions, and adequate funding for auditors, or else lawmakers may conclude that the headline numbers are more aspirational than reliable.
The Political Math in Albany
Mamdani’s tax push does not exist in a vacuum. New York’s state legislature has shifted leftward in recent cycles, and several progressive members have introduced their own proposals to raise taxes on the wealthy. That creates potential allies for the mayor, but it also creates competition over whose version of a millionaire tax gets priority and how the proceeds are distributed. Legislative leaders may prefer a statewide approach that channels revenue into the general fund and spreads it across all municipalities rather than a city-specific authorization that benefits only the five boroughs. To win them over, Mamdani will need to argue convincingly that the city’s fiscal needs are acute enough to justify targeted action and that the state’s overall economic health depends on a solvent New York City that can maintain transit, housing, and public safety without deep cuts…