What's happening
This bill allows New York taxpayers to exclude certain qualified transportation fringe benefits from state income tax, retroactive to 2017.
Why it matters
Restores state tax savings for commuting benefits. By allowing New Yorkers to exclude qualified transportation fringe benefits (like transit passes and vanpooling expenses) from their state income, this bill helps commuters save on taxes, counteracting federal changes that had eliminated this exclusion.
Applies retroactively to 2017. Taxpayers could amend prior years’ returns to claim this exclusion for 2017 onward, potentially resulting in significant refunds for those who received these benefits since then.
Decouples from future federal limits. The bill ensures that even if federal law changes the monthly limits for transportation benefits, New York will continue to use the more favorable 2016 limits or set a $175/month minimum, giving taxpayers more predictability and potentially higher exclusions.
Targets fairness for employees. The measure is particularly important for workers in transit-dependent areas (like NYC), ensuring they aren’t penalized at the state level for changes made to federal tax policy regarding commuter benefits.
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Who cares
Headline styles
Exempt Transit Benefits from Taxes
Plain English, a few words. Used as the page title.
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History
- Referred to ways and means
- Referred to ways and means
Companion bill
The same bill in the other chamber. A bill becomes law when one version passes both houses and the governor signs it, so either number can carry it.
Make Transit Benefits Tax-Free
In Assembly Committee · Ways And Means · Sponsor David Carlucci
Full text
2 pagesUnderlined is new[Struck] is removedOfficial text on nysenate.gov ↗
STATE OF NEW YORK
1430
2017-2018 Regular Sessions
IN ASSEMBLY
January 12, 2017
Introduced by M. of A. ZEBROWSKI -- read once and referred to the Committee on Ways and Means
AN ACT to amend the tax law, in relation to qualified transportation fringe benefits
The People of the State of New York, represented in Senate and Assembly, do enact as follows:
Section 1. Subsection (c) of section 612 of the tax law is amended by adding a new paragraph 44 to read as follows:
(44) For taxable years beginning after December thirty-first, two thousand sixteen the amount of qualified transportation fringe benefits included in federal adjusted gross income, to the extent that such qualified transportation fringe benefits would have been excluded from gross income pursuant to paragraph five of subsection (a) of section one hundred thirty-two of the internal revenue code had the flush sentence of paragraph two of subsection (f) of section one hundred thirty-two of the internal revenue code that was in effect on December thirty-first, two thousand sixteen continued in effect after December thirty-first, two thousand sixteen; provided, however, that if subparagraph (A) of paragraph two of subsection (f) of section one hundred thirty-two of the internal revenue code is amended so that for any month the dollar amount in effect under such subparagraph (A) is greater than the dollar amount in effect under subparagraph (B) of paragraph two of subsection (f) of section one hundred thirty-two of the internal revenue code for the same month, the flush sentence of paragraph two that was in effect on December thirty-first, two thousand sixteen shall be deemed to provide that the dollar amount in effect for subparagraph (B) shall be applied as if the dollar amount therein were the same as the dollar amount in effect for such month under subparagraph (A). Notwithstanding the foregoing, if, pursuant to this paragraph, the amount that would be in effect for any month under subparagraph (A) or (B) of paragraph two of subsection (f) of section one hundred thirty-two of the internal revenue code is
EXPLANATION--Matter in italics (underscored) is new; matter in brackets
[ ] is old law to be omitted.
LBD01842-01-7
A. 1430 2
less than one hundred seventy-five dollars, subparagraphs (A) and (B) shall be applied as if the dollar amount in effect for such month under such subparagraphs was one hundred seventy-five dollars.
§ 2. This act shall take effect immediately.
Reflowed for reading: line numbers and page breaks removed. Cite the official text.
Summaries, headlines and scores are AI-generated from the official bill text. How we score bills. Source: NYS Open Legislation.