March 2000

State Advises Extensions for Nonresident New York City Commuters

Society Committee Chair Urged Change

The New York State Department of Taxation and Finance has issued a notice advising out-of-state taxpayers who commute into New York City to extend their tax returns pending the final decision of the cases challenging the partial repeal of the commuter tax.

The notice resulted directly from a suggestion made by Barry Horowitz, chair of the NYSSCPA New York State, Municipal, and Local Taxation Committee and a member of State Tax Commissioner Arthur J. Roth's Taxpayer Advisory Council. The department expressed its gratitude for Horowitz's suggestion.

The notice follows the state's decision last year to repeal the commuter tax for New York state residents only. New York City questioned the constitutionality of this selective repeal in court, and the trial court declared the selective repeal unconstitutional. The Supreme Court's appellate division upheld the trial court decision but refused to toss out the tax entirely pending further appeal (City of New York v. State of New York, 1st Dept, Oct. 5, 1999). The matter is currently on appeal to the New York Court of Appeals, whose decision will not be made until after the due date for filing tax returns.

The notice recognizes that the city's tax is included on the same form used to file New York state income taxes and reminds taxpayers that an extension to file is not an extension to pay any taxes owed. The notice, as well as a link to electronically file an extension, is available at http://www.nysscpa.org and http://www.tax.state.ny.us/nyshome/nyc_comm_tax.htm. *