184-a. Additional metropolitan transportation business tax surcharge on transportation and transmission corporations and associations services.
1. The term "corporation" as used in this section shall include an association, within the meaning of paragraph three of subsection (a) of section seventy-seven hundred one of the internal revenue code (including a limited liability company), and a publicly traded partnership treated as a corporation for purposes of the internal revenue code pursuant to section seventy-seven hundred four thereof. Every corporation, joint-stock company or association formed for or principally engaged in the conduct of canal, steamboat, ferry (except a ferry company operating between any of the boroughs of the city of New York under a lease granted by the city), express, navigation, pipe line, transfer, baggage express, omnibus, taxicab, telegraph or local telephone business, or formed for or principally engaged in the conduct of two or more such businesses, and every corporation, joint-stock company or association formed for or principally engaged in the conduct of a surface railroad, whether or not operated by steam, subway railroad, elevated railroad, palace car, sleeping car or trucking business or principally engaged in the conduct of two or more such businesses and which has made an election pursuant to subdivision ten of section one hundred eighty-three of this article, and every other corporation, joint-stock company or association formed for or principally engaged in the conduct of a transportation or transmission business (other than a telephone business) except a corporation, joint-stock company or association formed for or principally engaged in the conduct of a surface railroad, whether or not operated by steam, subway railroad, elevated railroad, palace car, sleeping car or trucking business or principally engaged in the conduct of two or more such businesses and which has not made the election provided for in subdivision ten of section one hundred eighty-three of this article, and except a corporation, joint-stock company or association principally engaged in the conduct of aviation (including air freight forwarders acting as principal and like indirect air carriers) and except a corporation principally engaged in providing telecommunication services between aircraft and dispatcher, aircraft and air traffic control or ground station and ground station (or any combination of the foregoing), at least ninety percent of the voting stock of which corporation is owned, directly or indirectly, by air carriers and which corporation's principal function is to fulfill the requirements of (i) the federal aviation administration (or the successor thereto) or (ii) the international civil aviation organization (or the successor thereto), relating to the existence of a communication system between aircraft and dispatcher, aircraft and air traffic control or ground station and ground station (or any combination of the foregoing) for the purposes of air safety and navigation, shall pay for the privilege of exercising its corporate franchise, or of doing business, or of employing capital, or of owning or leasing property in the metropolitan commuter transportation district in such corporate or organized capacity, or of maintaining an office in such district, a tax surcharge, which tax surcharge, in addition to the tax imposed by section one hundred eighty-four of this article, shall be computed at the rate of seventeen percent of the tax imposed under such section for such taxable years or any part of such taxable years after the deduction of any credits otherwise allowable under this article; provided, however, that such rates of tax surcharge shall be applied only to that portion of the tax imposed under section one hundred eighty-four of this article after the deduction of any credits otherwise allowable under this article which is attributable to the taxpayer's business activity carried on within the metropolitan commuter transportation district. Provided, however, that for taxable years beginning in two thousand and thereafter, for purposes of this subdivision the tax imposed under section one hundred eighty-four of this article shall be deemed to have been imposed at the rate of three-quarters of one percent, except that in the case of a corporation, joint-stock company or association which has made an election pursuant to subdivision ten of section one hundred eighty-three of this article, for purposes of this subdivision the tax imposed under section one hundred eighty-four of this article shall be deemed to have been imposed at the rate of six-tenths of one percent.
The term "local telephone business" shall have the same meaning as such term is used in section one hundred eighty-four of this article. The term "telecommunication services" shall have the meaning ascribed to such term in section one hundred eighty-six-e of this article.
2. (a) A transportation and transmission corporation shall determine the portion of its tax attributable to business activity carried on in the metropolitan commuter transportation district (except as otherwise provided for in this subdivision) by multiplying the tax imposed under section one hundred eighty-four of this article by a fraction, the numerator of which is the taxpayer's mileage within the metropolitan commuter transportation district, and the denominator of which is the taxpayer's mileage within the entire state during the period covered by the report or reports required by this article.
(b) A corporation principally engaged in the operation of vessels shall determine the portion of its tax attributable to business activity carried on in the metropolitan commuter transportation district during the period covered by the report or reports required by this section by multiplying the tax imposed under section one hundred eighty-four of this article by a percentage which represents the ratio of the aggregate number of working days of the vessels it owns or leases in all navigable lakes, rivers, streams and waters within the metropolitan commuter transportation district to the aggregate number of working days of all the vessels it owns or leases within the entire state and in the New York territorial waters during such period.
(c) A telephone or telegraph corporation shall determine the portion of its tax attributable to business activity carried on within the metropolitan commuter transportation district by multiplying the tax imposed under section one hundred eighty-four of this article by the ratio of its total gross operating revenue from transmission services performed wholly within the metropolitan commuter transportation district to its total gross operating revenue from transmission services performed within the entire state during the period covered by the report or reports required under this article.
(d) With respect to other types of transportation and transmission corporations or where the tax commission decides that with respect to a certain corporation the method prescribed above does not fairly and equitably reflect gross earnings from all sources within the metropolitan commuter transportation district, the tax commission shall prescribe methods of allocation or apportionment which fairly and equitably reflect gross earnings from all sources within such district. Also, the tax commission may, in order to properly reflect gross earnings, determine the report period in which any item of gross earnings shall be included without regard to the method of accounting employed by a corporation taxable hereunder.
3. The term metropolitan commuter transportation district as used in this section shall be defined pursuant to section twelve hundred sixty-two of the public authorities law.
4. Notwithstanding any contrary provisions of state or local law, the tax surcharge imposed under this section shall not be allowed as a deduction in the computation of any state or local tax imposed under this chapter or any chapter or local law. Furthermore, the credits otherwise allowable under this article shall not be allowed against the tax surcharge imposed by this section.
5. The provisions concerning reports under section one hundred ninety-two of this article shall be applicable to this section. An extension pursuant to section one hundred ninety-three shall be allowed only if a taxpayer files with the commissioner an application for extension in such form as said commissioner may prescribe by regulation and pays on or before the date of such filing in addition to any other amounts required under this article, either ninety percent of the entire tax surcharge required to be paid under this section for the applicable period, or not less than the tax surcharge shown on the taxpayer's report for the preceding taxable year, if such preceding taxable year was a taxable year of twelve months. The tax surcharge imposed by this section shall be payable to the commissioner in full at the time the report is required to be filed, and such tax surcharge or the balance thereof, imposed on any taxpayer which ceases to exercise its franchise or be subject to the tax surcharge imposed by this section shall be payable to the commissioner at the time the report is required to be filed, provided such tax surcharge of a domestic corporation which continues to possess its franchise shall be subject to adjustment as the circumstances may require; all other tax surcharges of any such taxpayer, which pursuant to the foregoing provisions of this section would otherwise be payable subsequent to the time such report is required to be filed, shall nevertheless be payable at such time. All of the provisions of this article presently applicable to section one hundred eighty-four of this article are applicable to the tax surcharge imposed by this section.
Last modified: February 3, 2019