Bill Text: NY S05895 | 2023-2024 | General Assembly | Introduced
Bill Title: Imposes a surcharge of twenty-five cents on every online delivery sale where such delivery terminates within the city of New York; deposits funds into a special New York city infrastructure capital fund.
Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Democrat 1-0)
Status: (Introduced) 2024-01-03 - REFERRED TO INVESTIGATIONS AND GOVERNMENT OPERATIONS [S05895 Detail]
Download: New_York-2023-S05895-Introduced.html
STATE OF NEW YORK ________________________________________________________________________ 5895 2023-2024 Regular Sessions IN SENATE March 22, 2023 ___________ Introduced by Sen. GOUNARDES -- read twice and ordered printed, and when printed to be committed to the Committee on Investigations and Govern- ment Operations AN ACT to amend the tax law and the state finance law, in relation to a surcharge on online delivery sales in the city of New York The People of the State of New York, represented in Senate and Assem- bly, do enact as follows: 1 Section 1. The tax law is amended by adding a new article 29-E to read 2 as follows: 3 ARTICLE 29-E 4 SURCHARGE ON ONLINE DELIVERY SALES IN THE CITY OF NEW YORK 5 Section 1299-T. Definitions. 6 1299-U. Imposition of surcharge. 7 1299-V. Liability for surcharge. 8 1299-W. Registration. 9 1299-X. Payment and returns. 10 1299-Y. Records to be kept. 11 1299-Z. Secrecy of returns and reports. 12 1299-AA. Practice and procedure. 13 1299-BB. Deposit and disposition of revenue. 14 § 1299-T. Definitions. As used in this article: (a) "Person" means an 15 individual, partnership, limited liability company, society, associ- 16 ation, joint stock company, corporation, estate, receiver, trustee, 17 assignee, referee or any other person acting in a fiduciary or represen- 18 tative capacity, whether appointed by a court or otherwise, any combina- 19 tion of individuals and any other form of unincorporated enterprise 20 owned or conducted by two or more persons. 21 (b) "Online delivery sale" means a transaction that results in the 22 delivery of any item purchased online from a seller to a buyer. 23 (c) "Buyer" means the person receiving the item in the online delivery 24 sale. EXPLANATION--Matter in italics (underscored) is new; matter in brackets [] is old law to be omitted. LBD06978-03-3S. 5895 2 1 (d) "Seller" means the person selling the item in the online delivery 2 sale. 3 § 1299-U. Imposition of surcharge. In addition to any other tax or 4 assessment imposed by this chapter or any other law, there is hereby 5 imposed, a surcharge of twenty-five cents on every online delivery sale 6 where such delivery terminates within the city of New York. 7 § 1299-V. Liability for surcharge. (a) Notwithstanding any provision 8 of law to the contrary, any person that sells by any means any item to 9 be delivered within the city of New York is subject to a surcharge 10 imposed by this article and shall be liable for the surcharge imposed by 11 this article. 12 (b) Notwithstanding any law to the contrary, the surcharge imposed by 13 this article shall be passed along to the purchaser and separately stat- 14 ed on any receipt that is provided to such passenger. The passing along 15 of such surcharge shall not be construed by any court or administrative 16 body as the imposition of the surcharge on the person or entity that 17 pays for the delivery transaction. 18 § 1299-W. Registration. (a) Every person liable for the surcharge 19 imposed by this article shall file with the commissioner a properly 20 completed application for a certificate of registration, in a form 21 prescribed by the commissioner. Such application shall be accompanied by 22 a fee of one dollar and fifty cents, and shall set forth the name and 23 address of the registrant, and any other information that the commis- 24 sioner may require. 25 (b) Except as otherwise provided in this section, the commissioner 26 shall issue a certificate of registration to each person that applies 27 for one for a specified term of not less than three years. Any certif- 28 icate of registration referred to in this subdivision shall be subject 29 to renewal in accordance with rules promulgated by the commissioner, and 30 upon the payment of a fee of one dollar and fifty cents. Whether or not 31 such certificate of registration is issued for a specified term, it 32 shall be subject to suspension or revocation as provided for in this 33 section. Each certificate shall state the registrant and the regis- 34 trant's taxpayer ID number. Certificates of registration issued pursuant 35 to this article shall be non-assignable and non-transferable, and shall 36 be surrendered to the commissioner immediately upon the registrant's 37 ceasing to do business at the address provided in its application, 38 unless the registrant amends its certificate of registration in accord- 39 ance with rules promulgated by the commissioner. All registrants must 40 notify the commissioner of changes to any of the information stated on 41 their certificate of registration, on a calendar quarterly basis, and 42 shall amend their certificates of registration accordingly. 43 (c) (1) The commissioner may refuse to issue a certificate of regis- 44 tration to a person, or may suspend or revoke a certificate of registra- 45 tion that was issued to a person, pursuant to this section upon finding 46 that: (i) such person failed to pay any monies that are finally deter- 47 mined to be due for any surcharge or imposition that is administered by 48 the commissioner; (ii) such person failed to file any report or return 49 that is due from it under this chapter; (iii) such person willfully 50 filed a false report, return or other document due under this chapter; 51 (iv) such person willfully violated any provision of this article, or 52 any rule or regulation of the commissioner promulgated under this arti- 53 cle; or (v) a certificate of registration issued pursuant to this 54 section to such person, or to any business or entity under control of 55 such person, or that is subject to substantially the same ownership, 56 direction or control of such person, has been revoked or suspended with-S. 5895 3 1 in one year from the date on which a certificate of registration is 2 filed. 3 (2) A notice of proposed revocation, suspension or refusal to issue 4 shall be given to the person that applies for a certificate of registra- 5 tion pursuant to this section in the manner prescribed for a notice of 6 deficiency in subsection (a) of section one thousand eighty-one of this 7 chapter, and except as otherwise provided herein, all the provisions of 8 article twenty-seven of this chapter applicable to a notice of deficien- 9 cy shall apply to a notice issued pursuant to this paragraph, insofar as 10 such provisions can be made applicable to such notice, and with such 11 modifications as may be necessary in order to adapt the language of such 12 provisions to the notice authorized by this paragraph. All notices of 13 proposed revocation, suspension or refusal to issue shall contain a 14 statement advising the person to whom it is issued that the suspension, 15 revocation or refusal to issue may be challenged through a hearing proc- 16 ess and that the petition for such challenge must be filed with the 17 division of tax appeals within ninety days after the giving of such 18 notice. 19 (3) In the case of a proposed revocation or suspension, notice of such 20 must be given to a person within three years from the date of the act or 21 omission described in paragraph one of this subdivision, except that in 22 the case of acts involving falsity or fraud, such notice may be issued 23 at any time. 24 (4) In any of the foregoing instances where the commissioner may 25 suspend or revoke or refuse to issue a certificate of registration, the 26 commissioner may condition the retention or issuance of a certificate of 27 registration upon the filing of a bond or the deposit of tax in the 28 manner provided in paragraph two or three of subdivision (e) of section 29 eleven hundred thirty-seven of this chapter. 30 (d) If the commissioner considers it necessary for the proper adminis- 31 tration of the surcharge imposed by this article, he or she may require 32 every person who holds a certificate of registration issued pursuant to 33 this section to apply for a new certificate of registration in such form 34 and at such time as the commissioner may prescribe, and to surrender 35 each previously issued certificate of registration. The commissioner may 36 require such filing and such surrender not more often than once every 37 three years. Upon the filing of an application for a new certificate of 38 registration and the surrender of all previous certificates, the commis- 39 sioner shall issue, within such time as the commissioner may prescribe, 40 a new certificate of registration, without charge, to each registrant. 41 § 1299-X. Payment and returns. (a) (1) Every person required to regis- 42 ter with the commissioner as provided in section twelve hundred ninety- 43 nine-W of this article whose taxable receipts total less than three 44 hundred thousand dollars, in every quarter of the preceding four quar- 45 ters, shall file a return quarterly with the commissioner. Provided, 46 however, that if the commissioner in the exercise of his or her 47 discretion deems it necessary to protect the revenues to be obtained 48 under this article, he or she may give notice requiring such person, in 49 addition to filing a quarterly return, to file either short-form or 50 long-form part quarterly returns, as specified in such notice. 51 (2) Every person required to register with the commissioner as 52 provided in section twelve hundred ninety-nine-W of this article whose 53 taxable receipts total three hundred thousand dollars or more in any 54 quarter of the preceding four quarters, shall, in addition to filing a 55 quarterly return described in paragraph one of this subdivision, fileS. 5895 4 1 either a long-form or short-form, part-quarterly return monthly with the 2 commissioner. 3 (3) For purposes of this article the term "long-form, part-quarterly 4 return" shall mean a return in a form determined by the commissioner 5 providing for the calculation of the actual surcharges for the preceding 6 month. A person filing a long-form, part-quarterly return for each of 7 the months contained in a quarter shall also be required to file a quar- 8 terly return for such quarter. 9 (4) For purposes of this article the term "short-form, part-quarterly 10 return" shall mean a return which shall be available for use in filing 11 as a return for the first two months of any quarter and only by a person 12 required to file a return monthly who has had at least four successive 13 quarterly tax periods immediately preceding the month for which the 14 return is to be filed and who elects such use, and is in a form deter- 15 mined by the commissioner and providing for the calculation of one-third 16 of the total surcharges paid by the person to the commissioner in the 17 comparable quarter of the immediately preceding year under this article. 18 (b) The returns and information returns required by this section to be 19 filed quarterly shall be filed for quarterly periods ending on the last 20 day of February, May, August and November of each year, and each return 21 and each information return shall be filed within twenty days after the 22 end of the quarterly period covered thereby. The returns required by 23 this section to be filed monthly shall be filed for monthly periods 24 ending on the last day of each month and each return shall be filed 25 within twenty days after the end of each prior month. The information 26 returns required to be filed annually shall be filed for twelve month 27 periods ending on the last day of May of each year, and each such infor- 28 mation return shall be filed within twenty days after the end of the 29 twelve month period covered thereby. 30 (c) The tax commission may permit or require returns to be made cover- 31 ing other periods and upon such dates as it may specify. If the tax 32 commission deems it necessary in order to ensure the payment of the 33 surcharges imposed by this article, it may require returns to be made 34 for shorter periods than those prescribed pursuant to the foregoing 35 subdivisions of this section, and upon such dates as it may specify. 36 (d) The form of returns shall be prescribed by the tax commission and 37 shall contain such information as it may deem necessary for the proper 38 administration of this article. The commission may require amended 39 returns to be filed within twenty days after notice and to contain the 40 information specified in the notice. 41 (e) In addition to any other penalty or interest provided for under 42 this article or other law, and unless it is shown that such failure is 43 due to reasonable cause and not due to willful neglect, any person 44 liable for the surcharge imposed by this article that fails to pay such 45 surcharge when due shall be liable for a penalty in an amount equal to 46 two hundred percent of the total surcharge amount that is due. 47 § 1299-Y. Records to be kept. Every person liable for the surcharge 48 imposed by this article shall keep, and shall make available for review 49 upon demand by the commissioner: 50 (a) records of online delivery sales completed by such person, includ- 51 ing all amounts paid, charged or due thereon, in such form as the 52 commissioner may require; 53 (b) true and complete copies of any records required to be kept by any 54 applicable regulatory department or agency; and 55 (c) such other records and information as the commissioner may require 56 to perform his or her duties under this article.S. 5895 5 1 § 1299-Z. Secrecy of returns and reports. (a) Except in accordance 2 with proper judicial order or as otherwise provided by law, it shall be 3 unlawful for the commissioner, any officer or employee of the depart- 4 ment, any person engaged or retained by the department on an independent 5 contract basis, or any person who in any manner may acquire knowledge of 6 the contents of a return or report filed with the commissioner pursuant 7 to this article, to divulge or make known in any manner any particulars 8 set forth or disclosed in any such return or report. The officers 9 charged with the custody of such returns and reports shall not be 10 required to produce any of them or evidence of anything contained in 11 them in any action or proceeding in any court, except on behalf of the 12 commissioner in an action or proceeding under the provisions of this 13 chapter, or in any other action or proceeding involving the collection 14 of a surcharge due under this chapter to which the state, the commis- 15 sioner or an agency that is authorized to permit or regulate the 16 provision of any relevant transportation is a party or a claimant, or on 17 behalf of any party to any action, proceeding or hearing under the 18 provisions of this article, when the returns or the reports or the facts 19 shown thereby are directly involved in such action, proceeding or hear- 20 ing, in any of which events the court, or in the case of a hearing, the 21 division of tax appeals, may require the production of, and may admit in 22 evidence so much of said returns or reports or of the facts shown there- 23 by as are pertinent to the action or proceeding and no more. Nothing 24 herein shall be construed, however, to prohibit the commissioner, in his 25 or her discretion, from allowing the inspection or delivery of a certi- 26 fied copy of any return or report filed under this article, or from 27 providing any information contained in any such return or report, by or 28 to a duly authorized officer or employee of the comptroller; nor to 29 prohibit the inspection or delivery of a certified copy of any return or 30 report filed under this article, or the provision of any information 31 contained therein, by or to the attorney general or other legal repre- 32 sentatives of the state when an action shall have been recommended or 33 commenced pursuant to this chapter in which such returns or reports or 34 the facts shown thereby are directly involved; nor to prohibit the 35 commissioner from providing or certifying to the division of budget or 36 the comptroller the total number of returns or reports filed under this 37 article in any reporting period and the total collections received ther- 38 efrom; nor to prohibit the delivery to a person liable for the surcharge 39 imposed by this article, or a duly authorized representative of such, a 40 certified copy of any return or report filed by such person pursuant to 41 this article, nor to prohibit the publication of statistics so classi- 42 fied as to prevent the identification of particular returns or reports 43 and the items thereof; nor to prohibit the disclosure, in such manner as 44 the commissioner deems appropriate, of the names and other appropriate 45 identifying information of those persons required to pay the surcharge 46 imposed by this article. 47 (b) Notwithstanding the provisions of subdivision (a) of this section, 48 the commissioner may permit the secretary of the treasury of the United 49 States or such secretary's delegate, or the authorized representative of 50 either such officer, to inspect any return filed under this article, or 51 may furnish to such officer or such officer's authorized representative 52 an abstract of any such return or supply such person with information 53 concerning an item contained in any such return, or disclosed by any 54 investigation of liability under this article, but such permission shall 55 be granted or such information furnished only if the laws of the United 56 States grant substantially similar privileges to the commissioner orS. 5895 6 1 officer of this state charged with the administration of the surcharge 2 imposed by this article, and only if such information is to be used for 3 purposes of tax administration only; and provided further the commis- 4 sioner may furnish to the commissioner of internal revenue or such 5 commissioner's authorized representative such returns filed under this 6 article and other tax information, as such commissioner may consider 7 proper, for use in court actions or proceedings under the internal 8 revenue code, whether civil or criminal, where a written request there- 9 for has been made to the commissioner by the secretary of the treasury 10 of the United States or such secretary's delegate, provided the laws of 11 the United States grant substantially similar powers to the secretary of 12 the treasury of the United States or his or her delegate. Where the 13 commissioner has so authorized use of returns and other information in 14 such actions or proceedings, officers and employees of the department 15 may testify in such actions or proceedings in respect to such returns or 16 other information. 17 (c) (1) Any officer or employee of the state who willfully violates 18 the provisions of subdivision (a) of this section shall be dismissed 19 from office and be incapable of holding any public office for a period 20 of five years thereafter. 21 (2) Cross-reference: For criminal penalties, see article thirty-seven 22 of this chapter. 23 (d) (1) Notwithstanding the provisions of subdivision (a) of this 24 section, upon written request from the chairperson of the committee on 25 ways and means of the United States House of Representatives, the chair- 26 person of the committee on finance of the United States Senate, or the 27 chairperson of the joint committee on taxation of the United States 28 Congress, the commissioner shall furnish such committee with any current 29 or prior year returns specified in such request that were filed under 30 this article by the president of the United States, vice-president of 31 the United States, member of the United States Congress representing New 32 York state, or any person who served in or was employed by the executive 33 branch of the government of the United States on the executive staff of 34 the president, in the executive office of the president, or in an acting 35 or confirmed capacity in a position subject to confirmation by the 36 United States Senate; or, in New York state: a statewide elected offi- 37 cial, as defined in paragraph (a) of subdivision one of section seven- 38 ty-three-a of the public officers law; a state officer or employee, as 39 defined in subparagraph (i) of paragraph (c) of subdivision one of such 40 section seventy-three-a; a political party chairperson, as defined in 41 paragraph (h) of subdivision one of such section seventy-three-a; a 42 local elected official, as defined in subdivisions one and two of 43 section eight hundred ten of the general municipal law; a person 44 appointed, pursuant to law, to serve due to vacancy or otherwise in the 45 position of a local elected official, as defined in subdivisions one and 46 two of section eight hundred ten of the general municipal law; a member 47 of the state legislature; or a judge or justice of the unified court 48 system; or filed by a partnership, firm, association, corporation, 49 joint-stock company, trust or similar entity directly or indirectly 50 controlled by any individual listed in this paragraph, whether by 51 contract, through ownership or control of a majority interest in such 52 entity, or otherwise, or filed by a partnership, firm, association, 53 corporation, joint-stock company, trust or similar entity of which any 54 individual listed in this paragraph holds ten percent or more of the 55 voting securities of such entity; provided however that, prior to 56 furnishing any return, the commissioner shall redact any copy of aS. 5895 7 1 federal return (or portion thereof) attached to, or any information on a 2 federal return that is reflected on, such return, and any social securi- 3 ty numbers, account numbers and residential address information. 4 (2) No returns shall be furnished pursuant to this subdivision unless 5 the chairperson of the requesting committee certifies in writing that 6 such returns have been requested related to, and in furtherance of, a 7 legitimate task of the Congress, that the requesting committee has made 8 a written request to the United States secretary of the treasury for 9 related federal returns or reports or return or report information, 10 pursuant to 26 U.S.C. Section 6103(f), and that if such requested 11 returns are inspected by and/or submitted to another committee, to the 12 United States House of Representatives, or to the United States Senate, 13 then such inspection and/or submission shall occur in a manner consist- 14 ent with federal law as informed by the requirements and procedures 15 established in 26 U.S.C. Section 6103(f). 16 § 1299-AA. Practice and procedure. The provisions of article twenty- 17 seven of this chapter shall apply with respect to the administration of 18 and procedure with respect to the surcharge imposed by this article in 19 the same manner and with the same force and effect as if the language of 20 such article twenty-seven had been incorporated in full into this arti- 21 cle and had expressly referred to the surcharge imposed by this article, 22 except to the extent that any such provision is either inconsistent with 23 a provision of this article or is not relevant to this article. 24 § 1299-BB. Deposit and disposition of revenue. All revenue from 25 surcharges, interest, and penalties collected or received by the commis- 26 sioner under this article shall be deposited in the special New York 27 city capital infrastructure fund established pursuant to section nine- 28 ty-nine-qq of the state finance law. 29 § 2. The state finance law is amended by adding a new section 99-qq to 30 read as follows: 31 § 99-qq. Special New York city capital infrastructure fund. 1. As 32 used in this section, the following terms shall have the following mean- 33 ings: 34 (a) "City" shall mean the city of New York. 35 (b) "Freight transportation infrastructure" shall mean the infrastruc- 36 ture used to support the commercial transportation of goods, commod- 37 ities, and merchandise by any means. 38 (c) "Fund" shall mean the special New York city capital infrastructure 39 fund created in this section. 40 (d) "Marine terminal" shall mean wharves, bulkheads, quays, piers, 41 docks, and other berthing locations and adjacent storage or adjacent 42 areas and structures associated with the primary movement of cargo and 43 goods from vessel to shore, or shore to vessel, including structures 44 which are devoted to receiving, handling, holding, consolidating, and 45 loading or delivery of waterborne shipments or passengers, including 46 areas devoted to the maintenance of the terminal or equipment. 47 (e) "Urban consolidation center" shall mean a storage facility in 48 which smaller shipments of freight goods are combined into larger truck- 49 loads bound for a similar destination. 50 2. (a) There is hereby established a special New York city capital 51 infrastructure fund to be jointly administered by the city and the 52 state. The revenues of such fund may be used to borrow money, to issue 53 negotiable notes, bonds, or other obligations and to provide for the 54 rights of the holders thereof, and to finance or refinance any and all 55 costs to the city and/or state for the planning, design, acquisition, 56 construction, installation, improvement, reconstruction, renovation,S. 5895 8 1 rehabilitation and/or repair of the freight transportation infrastruc- 2 ture described in subdivision four of this section. The fund described 3 herein shall be kept separate from and shall not be commingled with any 4 other funds established in this article or in any other provision of 5 law. 6 (b) The city and state may refund any debts, or any portion or combi- 7 nation thereof, of the fund in order that the state shall achieve a debt 8 service savings on a present value basis as a result of the refunding 9 transaction and in accordance with the provisions of section thirteen of 10 article VII of the state constitution. 11 3. Revenues from the online delivery sale surcharge created in article 12 twenty-nine-E of the tax law shall be dedicated towards the special New 13 York city capital infrastructure fund. Such revenues may be used to 14 contract indebtedness as authorized in section nine of article VII of 15 the state constitution and described in subdivision two of this section. 16 4. The fund shall be expended exclusively to support freight transpor- 17 tation infrastructure in the city of New York, which shall include the 18 repair of interstate route two hundred seventy-eight in Kings county, 19 otherwise known as the Brooklyn Queens Expressway, as well as the plan- 20 ning, design, acquisition, construction, installation, improvement, 21 reconstruction, renovation, rehabilitation, and/or repair of ferry 22 docks, marine terminals, piers, freight rail lines and facilities, urban 23 consolidation centers, and other related infrastructure. 24 5. No person executing the notes, bonds or other obligations 25 shall be liable personally on the notes, bonds or other obligations 26 or be subject to any personal liability or accountability by reason of 27 the issuance thereof. 28 6. The city and state shall produce an annual report to be delivered 29 to the temporary president of the senate, the speaker of the assembly, 30 and the speaker of the city council and posted publicly and conspicuous- 31 ly online regarding the special New York city capital infrastructure 32 fund and detailing all revenues and expenditures thereof. The city shall 33 clearly describe how the revenues from such fund have been expended to 34 support the infrastructure projects described in subdivision four of 35 this section in such report. 36 § 3. This act shall take effect on the first of January next succeed- 37 ing the date upon which it shall have become a law. Effective immediate- 38 ly, the addition, amendment and/or repeal of any rule or regulation 39 necessary for the implementation of this act on its effective date are 40 authorized to be made on or before such date.
