Taxes, Cash & Savings · Surprise rank #275
Very Low Income and Living in NYC? There's a Small City Tax Credit You Can Claim on Your State Return
The New York City household credit is a modest credit for NYC residents with very low income, claimed right on your state return. It is worth checking if you already file, but the dollar amounts are small.
Who
New York City residents with New York income at or below $12,500 filing as single, or at or below $22,500 filing as married filing jointly, head of household with a qualifying person, or qualifying surviving spouse. Married filing separately has its own rules in the IT-201 instructions.
Where: New York City only — all five boroughs. Not available in Nassau or Suffolk.
What to do
Start here: If you are filing Form IT-201 as a full-year NYC resident, complete the New York City household credit lines using table 5 in the IT-201 instructions. If you moved into or out of the city during the year, complete Form IT-360.1 and attach it. Free help is available through NYC Free Tax Prep.
Eligibility: Full-year or part-year New York City residency and income at or below the thresholds above. You must file a New York State return to claim it.
What you get
The NYC household credit reduces New York City personal income tax for city residents whose income falls under a low threshold. You do not file a separate city return — you claim it directly on Form IT-201 if you were a full-year city resident, or on Form IT-360.1 if you were a part-year resident.
Benefit: Up to $15 for a single filer. For joint filers, heads of household and qualifying surviving spouses, the amount comes from a table based on the number of dependents you list plus one for yourself and one for a spouse on a joint return.
Possible value: Small. A single filer's maximum is $15, and family amounts from the household credit table are still modest — this is a rounding-error credit, not a meaningful refund. Look up your exact figure in New York City household credit table 5 in the Form IT-201 instructions. It is worth claiming because it costs nothing extra once you are already filing, but it should not be the reason you file.
Good to know
Important: The income cutoffs are extremely low — $12,500 for a single filer — so most working New Yorkers who think of themselves as low income are already over the line. The credit is also worth very little; do not confuse it with the much larger New York City earned income credit, New York City child and dependent care credit, or the Empire State child credit, which are the ones actually worth pursuing. Anyone eligible for this credit should be checking those first.
Availability: Active for the current tax year; claimed annually on the state return.
Why people miss it: It is buried as a line on the state return rather than presented as a program, so people who file on paper or use a bare-bones filing service often skip past it — though the amount at stake is genuinely small.
Sources reviewed: Aug 10, 2026