NY State Senate Bill 2023-S1299

Senate Bill S1299

2023-2024 Legislative Session

Establishes a personal income tax credit for tolls paid by resident taxpayers during the course of commuting to and from their place of employment

download bill text pdf

Archive: Last Bill Status - In Senate Committee Budget And Revenue Committee

Introduced
- In Committee Assembly
- In Committee Senate
- On Floor Calendar Assembly
- On Floor Calendar Senate
- Passed Assembly
- Passed Senate
Delivered to Governor
Signed By Governor

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Actions

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	Assembly Actions - Lowercase Senate Actions - UPPERCASE
Jan 03, 2024	referred to budget and revenue
Jan 11, 2023	referred to budget and revenue

2023-S1299 (ACTIVE) - Details

Current Committee:: Senate Budget And Revenue
Law Section:: Tax Law
Laws Affected:: Amd §606, Tax L
Versions Introduced in Other Legislative Sessions:: 2013-2014: S6736
2015-2016: S1660
2017-2018: S1730
2019-2020: S1397
2021-2022: S3584

2023-S1299 (ACTIVE) - Summary

Establishes a personal income tax credit for tolls paid by resident taxpayers during the course of commuting to and from their place of employment.

2023-S1299 (ACTIVE) - Sponsor Memo

                                 
BILL NUMBER: S1299

SPONSOR: COMRIE
 
TITLE OF BILL:

An act to amend the tax law, in relation to establishing a personal
income tax credit for tolls paid by a taxpayer in the course of commut-
ing to and from his or her place of employment

 
PURPOSE:

To provide relief from high toll expenses by creating an income tax
credit for individuals that must pay tolls as part of their daily
commute.

 
SUMMARY OF PROVISIONS:

Section 1. Amends section 606 of the tax law by adding a new subsection
(coo) creating a commuter toll credit, available to individuals who must
pay a toll at least three times a week for forty-five weeks of the year
while going to and from their place of employment. It applies to tolls
paid for the use of public highways or bridges, including those paid to

any public authority established under the laws of New York. The credit
is capped at $250 for single filers or $500 for those filing jointly, if
both persons are eligible for the credit.

Section 2. Effective date.

 
JUSTIFICATION:

Every day, hundreds of thousands of New Yorkers have to pay tolls during
their commute. Many of our commuters have to pay very high tolls,
including drivers crossing the Verrazano-Narrows Bridge, who pay the
highest toll charged for crossing any bridge in the United States. Even
with an EZ-pass account these drivers have to pay at least $6 a day to
cross that bridge. Recently, there was an agreement to cut that to $5.50
for Staten Island residents, but if one commutes five times a week for
50 weeks, the cost of crossing that bridge remains $1,375 a year. Driv-
ers crossing over many outer borough bridges or crossing bridges run by
the Port Authority also pay very high tolls.

Outside of the New York City area, tens of thousands must travel across
the New York State Thruway and use the Tappan Zee bridge, or any of the
various toll bridges operated by the New York State Bridge Authority.
Annual costs for tolls across the Tappan Zee exceed $720 a year for
those who pay for EZ-pass commuter plans. Given these high costs, one
way the State can provide relief for these drivers without cutting fund-
ing for our road and bridge network, or other transportation needs, is
to provide direct and targeted tax relief for those individuals who have
the highest toll expenses, which would be those who need to pay these
tolls as part of their daily commute. For this reason, we want to create
this tax credit, which would provide that targeted relief for thousands
of New York drivers.

 
LEGISLATIVE HISTORY:

2022: S3584

2017-18: S1730/A1472 - INVESTIGATIONS & GOV'T CPS/ways & means
2015-16: S1660/A7483 - Finance/Ways and Means

2014: S6736 - Investigations & Government Operations Committee

 
FISCAL IMPLICATIONS:

To be determined.

 
EFFECTIVE DATE:
This act shall take effect immediately and shall apply to the taxable
year in which it takes effect and taxable years commencing thereafter.

2023-S1299 (ACTIVE) - Bill Text download pdf

                             
                     S T A T E   O F   N E W   Y O R K
 ________________________________________________________________________
 
                                   1299
 
                        2023-2024 Regular Sessions
 
                             I N  S E N A T E
 
                             January 11, 2023
                                ___________
 
 Introduced  by  Sen.  COMRIE -- read twice and ordered printed, and when
   printed to be committed to the Committee on Budget and Revenue
 
 AN ACT to amend the tax law, in  relation  to  establishing  a  personal
   income  tax  credit  for  tolls  paid  by  a taxpayer in the course of
   commuting to and from his or her place of employment

   THE PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF NEW YORK, REPRESENTED IN SENATE AND  ASSEM-
 BLY, DO ENACT AS FOLLOWS:
 
   Section  1.  Section  606  of  the  tax law is amended by adding a new
 subsection (bbb) to read as follows:
   (BBB) COMMUTER TOLLS CREDIT. (1) GENERAL.  EACH  INDIVIDUAL  QUALIFIED
 TAXPAYER  SHALL  BE  ALLOWED  A  CREDIT  NOT TO EXCEED TWO HUNDRED FIFTY
 DOLLARS DURING ANY TAXABLE YEAR, TO BE  COMPUTED  AS  PROVIDED  IN  THIS
 SUBSECTION,  AGAINST THE TAX IMPOSED BY THIS ARTICLE FOR QUALIFIED TOLLS
 PAID DURING SUCH TAXABLE YEAR.
   (2) DEFINITIONS. (A) THE TERM "QUALIFIED TAXPAYER"  MEANS  A  RESIDENT
 TAXPAYER WHO COMMUTES TO AND FROM HIS OR HER PLACE OF EMPLOYMENT AND WHO
 DURING  THE  COURSE OF SUCH COMMUTING PAYS QUALIFIED TOLLS NOT LESS THAN
 THREE TIMES EACH WEEK FOR NOT LESS  THAN  FORTY-FIVE  WEEKS  DURING  THE
 TAXABLE YEAR.
   (B) THE TERM "QUALIFIED TOLLS" MEANS TOLLS AND FEES IMPOSED FOR USE OF
 A  PUBLIC  HIGHWAY OR BRIDGE WITHIN THE STATE, OR TOLLS AND FEES IMPOSED
 BY A PUBLIC AUTHORITY, ESTABLISHED BY THE LAWS OF THIS  STATE,  FOR  THE
 USE  OF  A  PUBLIC  HIGHWAY  OR BRIDGE; AND SUCH TOLLS OR FEES WERE PAID
 WHILE A QUALIFIED TAXPAYER WAS IN THE COURSE OF COMMUTING  TO  AND  FROM
 HIS OR HER PLACE OF EMPLOYMENT.
   (3)  AMOUNT  OF  CREDIT.  THE  AMOUNT  OF  THE CREDIT PURSUANT TO THIS
 SUBSECTION SHALL BE THE FIRST TWO HUNDRED  FIFTY  DOLLARS  OF  QUALIFIED
 TOLLS  PAID BY AN INDIVIDUAL QUALIFIED TAXPAYER DURING THE TAXABLE YEAR,
 EXCEPT IN THE CASE WHERE  TWO  QUALIFIED  TAXPAYERS  FILE  JOINTLY,  THE
 AMOUNT  OF  SUCH  CREDIT  SHALL BE THE FIRST FIVE HUNDRED DOLLARS OF THE
 QUALIFIED TOLLS PAID BY SUCH QUALIFIED TAXPAYERS DURING THE TAXABLE YEAR
 
  EXPLANATION--Matter in ITALICS (underscored) is new; matter in brackets
                       [ ] is old law to be omitted.
                                                            LBD03447-01-3

 S. 1299                             2
 
 AS COMPUTED BY ADDING THE TAX CREDITS EACH WOULD BE ALLOWED PURSUANT  TO
 THIS SUBSECTION IF THEY EACH FILED INDIVIDUALLY.
   §  2.  This  act  shall take effect immediately and shall apply to the
 taxable year in which it takes effect and taxable years commencing ther-
 eafter.

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