Legislation Waiving Taxes on Small Business Recovery Grants Signed Into Law

Sean Ross Collins

June 25, 2021

Law proposed by Cuomo and introduced by Kaplan and Dilan waives State taxes on grants from the State's $800 million COVID-19 Pandemic Small Business Recovery Grant Program

ALBANY, NY (June 25, 2021) - Today, Governor Andrew M. Cuomo signed legislation he proposed, which was introduced and sponsored by State Senator Anna M. Kaplan (D-North Hills) and Assemblymember Erik Dilan (D-Brooklyn), S.7230/A8033, which exempts funds awarded through the State's $800 million COVID-19 Pandemic Small Business Recovery Grant Program from State income taxes.

The Small Business Recovery Grant Program, established in the recently enacted New York State Budget, provides flexible grants to qualifying small businesses between $5,000 and $50,000. The program is now accepting applications at nysmallbusinessrecovery.com.

Bill Sponsor Senator Anna M. Kaplan, Chair of the New York State Senate Committee on Commerce, Economic Development, and Small Business, said "the pandemic has been devastating to New York's small business community, and they need our help if they're going to survive these challenging times. I fought hard to include $800 million in the State budget for a Small Business Recovery Grant Program because I believe this kind of support is vital to keeping our small businesses open and thriving. Now that the program is up and running, we need to make sure that we’re stretching every dollar for the biggest impact and the strongest economic recovery possible, and by removing state taxes from these grants, we’re putting more money into the small businesses who need it most.”

The legislation, S.7230/A8033,

Provides an exemption from the corporate franchise tax for grants received under the COVID-19 Pandemic Small Business Recovery Grant Program
Provides an exemption from personal income tax for grants received under the COVID-19 Pandemic Small Business Recovery Grant Program

The new law takes effect immediately and applies to taxable years beginning on or after January 1, 2021.