As New Yorkers rush to meet the April 15 deadline for filing state and federal income tax returns, here is a collection of recent articles about taxes from the Empire Center and the Manhattan Institute for Policy Research:

How ‘soaking the rich’ clobbers you
Nearly half of American tax filers didn’t have to pay any federal income tax last year. But Americans — especially New Yorkers — shouldn’t enjoy the free ride. Soon enough, everybody will pay for the higher spending that Washington’s “generosity” encourages. And thanks to Washington, we’ll be paying for higher state and local spending at the same time, too.

NY’s Taxes: Headed for a New High
Advocates of the misnamed “millionaire’s tax” enacted in New York state last year claimed that it would restore “fairness” to a tax code that favored the rich. But thanks to the complex interplay of federal and state tax rules, Albany’s share of all income taxes paid by New York’s wealthiest residents has actually been rising since the 1970s. And it will soon rise to its highest level ever — unless President Obama and congressional Democrats reverse course.

Tax Code Chaos
Over the last dozen years, the IT-201 (New York’s long form) has swelled to four pages – twice as many as the federal 1040 form. This doesn’t include the extra paperwork needed to claim any of New York’s 34 separate income-tax credits, which have spread like weeds over the last dozen years.

The High-Tax Trap
Well, what do you know? After raising taxes on high-income households by up to 31 percent, New York state is collecting far less income tax than it had anticipated.

Pat Moynihan’s Tax Lessons for the States
“The graduated income tax, a signal aim of the progressive movement, was meant to bring about more equality among citizens. To an extent it did that, but it also brought about a huge disparity in the uncommitted resources of the Federal against State and local governments.”