Gov. Cuomo’s proposal to “protect” state taxpayers from the federal tax overhaul signed into law last year was included in the $168 billion budget agreed to by New York lawmakers last Friday into Saturday.

Employers can opt into a plan in which taxes will be shifted from the worker to employer and a 5 percent tax will be placed on all annual payroll expenses in excess of $40,000 per employee, which will be phased in over three years beginning on Jan. 1. The move was devised as a workaround to the new $10,000 cap on state and local tax deductions that was included in the tax bill.

The Citizens Budget Commission said state lawmakers “deserve credit” for the move, and estimated another state initiative, to “decouple” from the federal tax code in certain areas, will eliminate a $1 billion tax increase, “but may present new challenges in this administration.”