New Tax Benefits MTA Region

ALBANY, NY (10/26/2009)(readMedia)-- The New York State Department of Taxation and Finance has contacted more than 700,000 employers and self-employed individuals doing business in the 12-county Metropolitan Commuter Transportation District who may be required to pay a new tax, the first payment of which is due November 2.

The MTA region consists of the five boroughs of New York City and the Counties of Dutchess, Nassau, Putman, Orange, Rockland, Suffolk and Westchester.

This new tax applies to employers and is retroactive to March 1, 2009; employers that are school districts beginning September 1, 2009; and self-employed individuals for the entire tax year beginning January 1, 2009.

First payment of the tax - the Metropolitan Commuter Transportation Mobility Tax - is due November 2. The tax was approved in new state legislation, which directed the Tax Department to administer its collection. Revenues will be distributed to the Metropolitan Transportation Authority (MTA).

The tax applies to employers who are required to withhold New York State income tax from wages and who have payroll expenses exceeding $2,500 in any calendar quarter.

For the self-employed, the tax applies if you have net earnings in the MTA region that exceed $10,000 for the tax year. This includes partners in partnerships and members of an LLC treated as a partnership.

All employers and self-employed individuals required to pay the tax can file the appropriate tax forms and make payments by going online to the Tax Department's website at www.nystax.gov. Paper forms and instructions are available by calling 518-485-2392.

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