The inflation refund checks coming to New Yorkers’ mailboxes aren’t tax-free.

State officials confirmed to Gothamist that the checks, which will start arriving this week , are subject to federal income tax. Federal charges won’t be deducted from the face value of the rebate checks, so it will be up to New Yorkers to report the rebates on their 2025 income tax returns when they’re filed next year.

That means the $2 billion program, championed by Gov. Kathy Hochul, will end up sending hundreds of millions of dollars to President Donald Trump’s administration.

Critics on both the political left and right shook their heads at the news. They said the federal tax liability could have been avoided if the rebate program were structured differently.

“We already thought that this was not an

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