State taxpayers supported worthy causes with contributions to the state’s personal income tax checkoff programs, but too much money is sitting idle instead of helping nonprofit organizations or research and other efforts. A new analysis from State Comptroller Thomas P. DiNapoli found that while some of New York’s tax checkoff funds reported increased spending in State Fiscal Year (SFY) 2026, over half had no spending at all, an ongoing issue that DiNapoli has highlighted for more than a decade.
“New Yorkers have generously given their hard-earned dollars to income tax checkoffs,” DiNapoli said. “It is unacceptable this money is unspent. The agencies responsible for managing these funds must ensure contributions are put to good use.”
For tax year 2024, two new checkoffs were added, the Diabetes Research and Education Fund and the Cure Child Cancer and Research Fund, increasing the total number of Personal Income Tax (PIT) checkoffs to 36. Through SFY 2025, the most recent year for which checkoff contribution data is available, total annual contributions grew to $3.8 million, up from $2.6 million in SFY 2024.
28 of the 36 funds rely primarily on taxpayer donations through the checkoffs. Although disbursements made from these PIT-supported funds increased from $3.7 million in SFY 2025 to $4.5 million in SFY 2026, only 13 of the 28 eligible funds made any disbursements, only a slight improvement from previous years.
With disbursements lagging contributions, the balances in many funds have steadily increased over time. In SFY 2026, fund balances associated with the 28 PIT checkoff funds totaled $17.5 million, up from $16.7 million in SFY 2025.
The Gift for Food Banks Fund and the Volunteer Firefighter Recruitment and Retention Fund were among those with the highest fund balances, at $1.1 million and $2.3 million, respectively. Neither fund had any disbursements since SFY 2024. In contrast, more than $1.2 million was spent from the Homeless Veterans Assistance Fund in SFY 2026, reducing its balance by nearly 91% from the prior year, to $130,641.
DiNapoli urged state agencies to improve compliance with reporting requirements to provide greater clarity on why spending from the PIT checkoff funds may be delayed and to redouble their efforts to ensure funds are spent promptly.
Analysis
Personal Income Tax Checkoffs: Disbursements Increasing but Fund Balances Still High