§ 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.