Connecticut
New Jersey is pushing local telecommuters who work for New York companies to appeal their Empire State tax bills
Telecommuting, a pandemic-era novelty that has become a permanent alternative for many people, has some Connecticut and New Jersey employees of New York-based companies questioning why they still have to pay personal income tax to the Empire State.
Their home states are wondering as well.
Fed up with losing out on hundreds of millions of dollars in tax revenue each year, New Jersey is now offering a state tax credit to residents who work from home and successfully appeal their New York tax assessment. Connecticut is considering a similar measure.
The Garden State’s bounty — a rebate worth roughly half a person’s refund of income taxes they paid to New York for the 2020-2023 period — has been claimed so far by one winning litigant since the state made the offer in July, according to the state’s Division of Taxation. That taxpayer received a $7,797.02 refund for their efforts. Officials hope that person’s windfall will encourage others to follow suit.
Another New Jersey resident who is taking up the state’s offer is Open Weaver Banks, a tax attorney who prefers working from home to braving an “awful” commute into the Big Apple. She’s also filed one of a growing number of similar challenges.
“The process of doing the refund and the appeal isn’t all that intimidating to me,” said Banks, a tax partner at Hodgson Russ LLP. “I’m on New Jersey’s team here. I would like to see more residents doing this. I think they have a really fair point.”
New York requires out-of-state commuters who work for New York-based companies to pay New York income taxes, even if they’ve stopped physically going in to the office most days a week, unless they can satisfy very strict requirements for what constitutes a bona fide home office.
A home office near a specialized track to test new cars, for example, might qualify if it couldn’t be replicated in New York. But a worker with specialized scientific equipment set up in their home that could be duplicated over the border would still have to pay, according to a memorandum from the New York State Department of Taxation.
When the nature of work was upended in 2020, New York should have “softened” these requirements, Banks said. “And they didn’t. They are just standing by and fighting the claims.”
Both neighboring states have implemented “retaliatory” tax rules that affect New Yorkers who work remotely for Connecticut or New Jersey-based companies, but these workforces are far smaller and their overall tax payments don’t make up the difference.
Out-of-state taxpayers paid New York nearly $8.8 billion in 2021 in taxes, roughly 15% of the state’s total income tax revenues, according to the Citizens Budget Commission in New York. Of that, $4.3 billion came from New Jersey taxpayers and $1.5 billion from Connecticut taxpayers.
It’s unclear how much of that was earned at home. But out-of-state employees of New York-based companies who work remotely are increasingly appealing their tax bills, Amanda Hiller, the acting commissioner and general counsel for the New York Department of Taxation and Finance, told state legislators recently.
Hiller acknowledged that New York’s decades-old policy, known as a “convenience of the employer rule,” has created a financial burden for New Jersey and Connecticut, which provide tax credits to their residents for the income taxes they’ve paid New York so they are not double-taxed.
New Jersey’s Division of Taxation said the state’s long-term goal is to have New York’s rule overturned entirely, something that will likely require a taxpayer’s legal challenge to succeed before the U.S. Supreme Court. That could be a tall order: New Hampshire tried to sue Massachusetts for temporarily collecting income tax from roughly 80,000 of its residents who worked from home during the pandemic, and the Supreme Court rejected the complaint without comment.
Officials in New Jersey estimate it could reap as much as $1.2 billion annually if residents working from home for New York companies are taxed at home. Connecticut could recoup about $200 million, its officials say.
Connecticut Gov. Ned Lamont has proposed an initiative similar to New Jersey’s that needs final legislative approval. It’s unclear, however, whether it can pass before the session ends May 8.
“We think it’s an unconstitutional overreach by the state of New York,” Jeffrey Beckham, secretary of Connecticut’s state budget office, said recently. “We think our residents should paying tax to us and they’d be paying at a lower rate.”
Indeed, the top marginal state income tax rate, as of Jan. 1, for individuals in New York is 10.90%. Connecticut’s top rate is 6.99% and New Jersey’s is 10.75%, according to the Tax Foundation.
“An awful lot of people are hurt by these laws,” said Edward Zelinsky, a Connecticut resident, tax law expert and professor at Yeshiva University’s Cardozo School of Law in New York City. “While New York and other states like to pretend that these are wealthy people, the people who are most hurt by this rule are often people of modest income, middle income, people who can’t afford lawyers.”
Zelinksy has been trying, so far without success, to challenge New York’s tax rule for about 20 years, including a pending case over the income he earned working from home while his school was closed due to COVID-19 restrictions.
A small number of states, including Arkansas, Delaware, Nebraska and Pennsylvania, have tax rules similar to New York’s. New Jersey and Pennsylvania have a reciprocal income tax agreement.
Andrew Sidamon-Eristoff, who is in the unique position of being the former New Jersey state treasurer and a former New York commissioner of taxation and finance, believes eventually the right litigant will “get it before the right court to challenge it.”
But former New Jersey state Sen. Steven Oroho, an accountant who commuted for nearly two decades into New York City and who pushed as a legislator to address the inequity, said he’s skeptical of New Jersey’s commitment to the effort, which puts the financial onus of a potentially lengthy and expensive legal challenge on the individual taxpayer.
“New York is very, very aggressive and unfortunately, in my view,” said Oroho, “New Jersey has been extremely passive.”
Connecticut
Florida High School State Bronze Medalist Dajah German Verbals To Connecticut For Fall 2027
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Florida high school state bronze medalist Dajah German has announced her verbal commitment to swim and study at the University of Connecticut beginning in the fall of 2027. She publicized the news on SwimCloud, writing:
I am so excited to announce my verbal commitment to continue my academic and athletic career at the University of Connecticut! I’m incredibly grateful for everyone who has supported me throughout this journey, my family, coaches, teammates, and friends who have pushed me to be my best throughout the years. And a very special thank you to Coach Chris and Coach Nicole for believing in me and giving me this opportunity. I’m so excited for what’s ahead. GO HUSKIES!
A rising senior at Fort Lauderdale High School in Florida, German trains year-round with Swim Fort Lauderdale and primarily specializes in the sprint and middle-distance freestyle events.
German has improved each year of her high school career, most recently dropping from 23.78, 51.39, and 1:50.56 in the 50/100/200 free to 23.54, 51.35, and 1:49.69 during the 2025-26 short course season.
German’s top meet of the season was the Florida Senior Championships in March, where she recorded her current PBs in both the 50 and 200 free. She finished second in the 500 free (4:55.94) and 1650 free (17:02.78), third in both the 50 free and 200 free, and fifth in the 100 free (51.43). She set her current 100 free PB at a smaller holiday meet in December. In the 500 free, she clocked a season-best 4:55.21 at the Speedo Cup in January, with her lifetime best of 4:53.19 coming at the 2025 Florida Senior Championships.
German has qualified for the FHSAA (Florida High School Athletic Association) State Championships for the past three years, with her top performance coming at the 2025 iteration in November. She placed third in the 50 free (23.96), fifth in the 500 free (5:01.12), and helped Fort Lauderdale to fourth place in both the 200 free relay (24.64 leadoff) and 400 free relay (53.08 anchor).
Top SCY Times:
- 50 Freestyle: 23.54
- 100 Freestyle: 51.35
- 200 Freestyle: 1:49.69
- 500 Freestyle: 4:53.19
A Division I Mid-Major program, Connecticut competes in the Big East, with the women’s team placing second out of seven teams at this past season’s conference championships. German’s current lifetime bests would have placed third in the 200 free, fourth in the 500 free, eighth in the 50 free, and ninth in the 100 free, setting her up as an immediate contributor with two full seasons of training still ahead before her first conference meet.
German joins Anna Mumford, Lyla Devlin, Lena Brown, and Louisa Holda in committing to the Huskies’ class of 2031 so far.
If you have a commitment to report, please send an email with a photo (landscape, or horizontal, looks best) and a quote to [email protected].
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Here are the forecast details for northern Connecticut via the National Weather Service:
Today: Sunny, with a high near 80. Light west wind increasing to 6 to 11 mph in the morning.
Tonight: Partly cloudy, with a low around 56. Northwest wind around 6 mph becoming calm in the evening.
Monday: A chance of showers before 2pm, then a chance of showers and thunderstorms between 2pm and 4pm, then showers likely and possibly a thunderstorm after 4pm. Increasing clouds, with a high near 76. Calm wind becoming southeast around 6 mph in the afternoon. Chance of precipitation is 60%. New rainfall amounts between a quarter and half of an inch possible.
Monday Night: Showers and possibly a thunderstorm. Some of the storms could produce heavy rainfall. Low around 59. Southeast wind around 8 mph becoming southwest after midnight. Chance of precipitation is 90%. New precipitation amounts between three quarters and one inch possible.
WASHINGTON (7News) — A Park Police chase ends with a moped rider getting hit and killed on the Taft Bridge in Northwest D.C.
7News’ Washington, D.C. reporter, Phylicia Ashley, went to the scene moments after it happened Saturday evening and spoke to multiple witnesses.
Ximen DeFillippes was riding her bike near Woodley Road when she saw the chase.
ALSO READ | Secret Service detains fleeing driver after deadly crash near White House
“The Park Police passed me. We were on Woodley Road. And then I saw the car they were pursuing,” said DeFillippes. “It was going very fast on the sidewalk. It drove up on the sidewalk up Woodley Road.”
DeFilippes was on one side of the Taft Bridge.
“I’d never seen anything that crazy,” said DeFillippes. “It was, it was like really like homicidal. It was just insane. I’ve never seen anything like that.”
7News also saw the aftermath of the chase and found Lamont Penry on the other side of the bridge. He also saw the chase. It ended on the steps of the Chinese Embassy staff housing.
“The car crashed into the diplomatic car,” Penry said. “A young man jumps out, takes off running down the street. The other three guys came out kind of dizzy. They apprehended one who was on the bench. One was at the rear. Tire of the vehicle, looked to be a Camry, and the other was on the other side of the diplomatic car.”
In the middle of the bridge, 7News saw the victim’s body covered by a white sheet. Witnesses said that when the chase reached the Taft Bridge, one of the vehicles involved struck someone riding a scooter.
“Once the gentleman on the bridge was hit. We realized that no one stopped,” said Penry. “Police continued the pursuit until here, and then they turned around.”
RELATED | President Trump allows US Park Police to chase fleeing vehicles
Penry said all the alleged suspects involved looked young. While on scene, 7News saw one person get arrested and placed in an ambulance.
DeFilippes was riding her bike when she said two cars blocked her from getting caught in the midst of the chase.
“I’m feeling lucky that for those few seconds of my path being kind of blocked,” said DeFillippes. “I’m just so glad that happened. Or else I would have been right there. I’m not at all surprised that someone was hurt. Just. Just from the way everything was unfolding, I could just tell it was going to be bad.
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