1283. Liability for tax; special provisions. Notwithstanding any provision of law to the contrary: (a) The taxicab owner or HAIL base, as the case may be, shall be liable for the tax imposed by this article.
(b) If the taxicab owner has designated an agent, then the agent shall be jointly liable with the taxicab owner for the tax on trips occurring during the period that such designation is in effect. Even if the TLC has specified that the taxicab owner's agent cannot operate as an agent, that agent shall be jointly liable with the taxicab owner if the agent has acted for the taxicab owner. During the period that a taxicab owner's designation of an agent is in effect, the agent shall file the returns required by this article and pay any tax due with such return, but the taxicab owner shall not be relieved of liability for tax, penalty or interest due under this article, or for the filing of returns required to be filed, unless the agent has timely filed accurate returns and timely paid the tax required to be paid under this article. If a taxicab owner has designated an agent, then the agent must perform any act this article requires the taxicab owner to perform, but the failure of such agent to perform any such act shall not relieve the taxicab owner from the obligation to perform such act or from any liability that may arise from failure to perform the act.
(c) (1) Although the tax is imposed on the taxicab owner or the HAIL base, the city or the TLC shall adopt or amend ordinances or regulations to ensure that the economic incidence of the tax is passed through to passengers, such as by increasing taxicab or HAIL vehicle trip fares. The passing along of such economic incidence may not be construed by any court or administrative body as imposing the tax on any person other than the taxicab owner or the HAIL base. The city or the TLC must adjust trip fares to include therein the pass-through of the economic incidence of the tax imposed by this article, as the rate of such tax may from time to time change, and must timely require that any taximeter in a taxicab or HAIL vehicle used to provide trips that originate in the city be adjusted to include the pass-through.
(2) A taxicab owner or a HAIL base or HAIL vehicle owner in such city must timely adjust the taximeter in any of such person's taxicabs or HAIL vehicles so that it reflects such pass-through as such pass-through amount may from time to time change.
(3) Neither the failure of such city or the TLC to adjust fares nor the failure of a taxicab owner, HAIL base, HAIL vehicle owner, or other person to adjust a taximeter will relieve any person liable for the tax imposed by this article from the obligation to pay such tax timely, at the correct rate.
(d) Nothing in this article shall be construed as limiting the imposition of any tax imposed by article twenty-eight of this chapter on transportation service provided by a HAIL base, HAIL vehicle, or owner or operator of a HAIL vehicle. Nor shall anything in article twenty-eight of this chapter be construed as limiting the imposition of any tax imposed by this article on a HAIL vehicle trip or as limiting the obligation on a HAIL base to pay such tax.
Last modified: February 3, 2019