N.Y. Environmental Conservation Law § 27-2805: Paper carryout bag reduction fee

§ 27-2805. Paper carryout bag reduction fee.

1. (a) Notwithstanding any other provision of law to the contrary, any

city and any county, other than a county wholly within such a city,

acting through its local legislative body, is hereby authorized and

empowered to adopt and amend local laws, ordinances or resolutions

imposing a paper carryout bag reduction fee within the territorial

limits of such city or county, to take effect on or after March first,

two thousand twenty. Notwithstanding the foregoing, if a county and a

city wholly within such county both impose such fee, the fee imposed by

such county shall not apply within the territorial limits of such city.

(b) Such paper carryout bag reduction fee, whether or not any tangible

personal property is sold therewith, shall be imposed at a rate of five

cents on each paper carryout bag provided by a person required to

collect tax to a customer in this state; provided, however, that such

paper carryout bag reduction fee shall not be imposed on paper carryout

bags that are subject to a fee on the provision of such paper carryout

bag pursuant to a local law or ordinance that was adopted prior to the

effective date of this section. The paper carryout bag reduction fee

must be reflected and made payable on the sales slip, invoice, receipt,

or other statement of the price rendered to the customer.

(c) Such paper carryout bag reduction fee shall not constitute a

receipt for the sale of tangible personal property subject to tax

pursuant to article twenty-eight and pursuant to the authority of

article twenty-nine of the tax law, and transfer of a bag to a customer

by a person required to collect tax shall not constitute a retail sale.

(d) It shall be unlawful for a municipal corporation to adopt or amend

a local law, ordinance or resolution requiring the imposition of any fee

on the provision of a paper carryout bag except as expressly authorized

by this section. Where a municipal corporation that adopted such a local

law, ordinance or resolution prior to the effective date of this section

is, or is located in, a county that has imposed a paper carryout bag

reduction fee pursuant to this section, such municipal corporation shall

be prohibited from requiring the imposition of a fee on any provision of

paper carryout bags that occurs more than one year after such county

paper carryout bag reduction fee takes effect.

2. Any such local law, ordinance or resolution adopted pursuant to

this section shall state the amount of the paper carryout bag reduction

fee and the date on which a person required to collect tax shall begin

to add such paper carryout bag reduction fee to the sales slip, invoice,

receipt, or other statement of the price rendered to its customers. No

such local law, ordinance or resolution shall be effective unless a

certified copy of such law, ordinance or resolution is mailed by

registered or certified mail to the commissioner of taxation and finance

in accordance with the provisions of subdivisions (d) and (e) of section

twelve hundred ten of the tax law.

3. The paper carryout bag reduction fee imposed by this section shall

not apply to any customer using the supplemental nutritional assistance

program, special supplemental nutrition program for women, infants and

children, or any successor programs used as full or partial payment for

the items purchased.

4. The paper carryout bag reduction fee must be reported and paid to

the commissioner of taxation and finance on a quarterly basis on or

before the twentieth day of the month following each quarterly period

ending on the last day of February, May, August and November,

respectively. The payments must be accompanied by a return in the form

and containing the information the commissioner of taxation and finance

may prescribe.

5. Any sales slip, invoice, receipt, or other statement of price

furnished by a person required to collect tax to a customer shall

separately state the paper carryout bag reduction fee and shall state

the number of bags provided to the customer.

6. (a) Except as otherwise provided in this section, any paper

carryout bag reduction fee imposed under the authority of this section

shall be administered and collected by the commissioner of taxation and

finance in a like manner as the taxes imposed by articles twenty-eight

and twenty-nine of the tax law. All the provisions of articles

twenty-eight and twenty-nine of the tax law, including the provisions

relating to definitions, exemptions, returns, personal liability for the

tax, collection of tax from the customer, payment of tax and the

administration of the taxes imposed by such article, shall apply to the

paper carryout bag reduction fee imposed under the authority of this

section, with such modifications as may be necessary in order to adapt

the language of those provisions to the paper carryout bag reduction fee

imposed under the authority of this section. Those provisions shall

apply with the same force and effect as if the language of those

provisions had been set forth in full in this section, except to the

extent that any of those provisions is either inconsistent with a

provision of this section or is not relevant to the paper carryout bag

reduction fee imposed under the authority of this section. For purposes

of this section, any reference in this chapter to a tax or the taxes

imposed by articles twenty-eight and twenty-nine of the tax law shall be

deemed also to refer to the paper carryout bag reduction fee imposed

under the authority of this section unless a different meaning is

clearly required.

(b) Notwithstanding the provisions of paragraph (a) of this

subdivision:

(1) the exemptions provided for in section eleven hundred sixteen of

the tax law, other than the exemptions in paragraphs one, two and three

of subdivision (a) of such section, shall not apply to the paper

carryout bag reduction fees imposed under the authority of this section;

(2) the credit provided in subdivision (f) of section eleven hundred

thirty-seven of the tax law shall not apply to this section.

(c) Notwithstanding the provisions of paragraph (a) of this

subdivision or subdivision (a) of section eleven hundred forty-six of

the tax law, the commissioner of taxation and finance may, in his or her

discretion, permit the commissioner or his or her authorized

representative to inspect any return related to the paper carryout bag

reduction fee filed under this section, or may furnish to the

commissioner or his or her authorized representative any such return or

supply him or her with information concerning an item contained in any

such return, or disclosed by any investigation of a liability under this

section.

7. All paper carryout bag reduction fee monies and any related

penalties and interest remitted to the commissioner of taxation and

finance under this section, except as hereinafter provided, shall be

deposited daily with such responsible banks, banking houses, or trust

companies as may be designated by the state comptroller. Of the revenues

deposited, the comptroller shall retain in the comptroller's hands such

amount as the commissioner of taxation and finance may determine to be

necessary for refunds or reimbursements of the fees collected or

received pursuant to this section, out of which the comptroller shall

pay any refunds or reimbursements of such fees to which persons shall be

entitled under the provisions of this section. The comptroller, after

reserving such refund and reimbursement fund shall, on or before the

twelfth day of each month, pay to the appropriate fiscal officers of the

counties or cities imposing tax under subdivision one of this section an

amount equal to forty percent of the paper carryout bag reduction fee

monies and any related penalties and interest collected by the

commissioner of taxation and finance in respect of each such county or

city in the preceding calendar month to be used for the purpose of

purchasing and distributing reusable bags, with priority given to low-

and fixed-income communities. Provided further that at the end of each

fiscal year, any funds which have not been used for the purpose defined

in this section shall be returned to the comptroller and be deposited

into the general fund to be used for the purpose of purchasing and

distributing reusable bags with priority given to low- and fixed-income

communities. Any remaining amount of paper carryout bag reduction fee

monies and any related penalties and interest shall be deposited monthly

into the environmental protection fund established pursuant to section

ninety-two-s of the state finance law.