N.Y. Tax Law § 1283: Liability for tax; special provisions

§ 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) (1) 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.

(2) (A) Notwithstanding the foregoing, a TSP that collects the trip

record and the trip fare on behalf of a taxicab owner or a HAIL vehicle

owner shall withhold from daily collections the taxes due on such trips,

and shall withhold from such collections the taxes due on cash trips. If

the TSP's daily collections, after retaining any fees to which it is

entitled pursuant to a contract with such taxicab owner or HAIL vehicle

owner, are insufficient to cover the taxes due on such cash trips, the

TSP shall withhold an amount from subsequent daily collections, to the

extent funds are available, until all taxes due for a quarterly period

described in section twelve hundred eighty-four of this article have

been withheld. If a TSP is unable to withhold all the taxes due in such

quarterly period, it shall withhold such unwithheld taxes from daily

collections in the next quarterly period. A TSP shall be jointly liable

for the tax due on all trips for which it collects the trip record, but

shall be relieved of liability for any taxes attributable to cash trips

for which it was unable to withhold the taxes due because there was

insufficient daily collections during four successive quarterly periods.

(B) For any period that the TSP collects trip records on behalf of a

taxicab owner or HAIL vehicle owner, the TSP shall file returns

reporting the tax due on all trips for which it collected trip records

and shall remit the taxes withheld on all such trips and shall report

any unwithheld taxes due because of insufficient daily collections to

cover the taxes due on cash trips.

(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.