All prepared sandwiches — whether on a bagel, roll, pita or wrap- regardless of filling — are taxed in New York State.
That means once a bagel is sliced, even if it is just toasted, the buyer is schmeared — with the standard New York sales tax of 8.875%.
However, if a person buys a whole bagel and a container of cream cheese in the Big Apple they save some dough — they are not taxed.
“I may just have to get my bagels and slice them myself,” said Upper West Side TV host Darley Newman of PBS’ “Travels with Darley.”
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“I’ve tried different iterations of bagels as I’ve traveled all over the world, but I have to say, nothing beats a New York bagel. Please don’t make me pay more … As a bagel connoisseur, I do not consider bagels as sandwiches.They stand alone as beautiful bread goodness.”
The state has been taking a bite out of New York sandwich buyers since Nelson Rockefeller was governor and Robert F. Wager was mayor, when in 1965, the sales tax was amended, according to a Tax Department spokesperson.
A tax on restaurant meals had been in place since 1934.
“What constitutes ‘prepared’ has evolved,” said tax lawyer Christopher Doyle, a partner at Hodgson Russ LLP. “It started off as just food in restaurants and morphed as more purveyors of prepared foods appeared on the scene — delis, supermarkets, etcetera.”
