§ 27-2805 — Paper carryout bag reduction fee

§ 27-2805. Paper carryout bag reduction fee.\n 1. (a) Notwithstanding any other provision of law to the contrary, any\ncity and any county, other than a county wholly within such a city,\nacting through its local legislative body, is hereby authorized and\nempowered to adopt and amend local laws, ordinances or resolutions\nimposing a paper carryout bag reduction fee within the territorial\nlimits of such city or county, to take effect on or after March first,\ntwo thousand twenty. Notwithstanding the foregoing, if a county and a\ncity wholly within such county both impose such fee, the fee imposed by\nsuch county shall not apply within the territorial limits of such city.\n (b) Such paper carryout bag reduction fee, whether or not any tangible\npersonal property is sold therewith, shall be imposed at a rate of five\ncents on each paper carryout bag provided by a person required to\ncollect tax to a customer in this state; provided, however, that such\npaper carryout bag reduction fee shall not be imposed on paper carryout\nbags that are subject to a fee on the provision of such paper carryout\nbag pursuant to a local law or ordinance that was adopted prior to the\neffective date of this section. The paper carryout bag reduction fee\nmust be reflected and made payable on the sales slip, invoice, receipt,\nor other statement of the price rendered to the customer.\n (c) Such paper carryout bag reduction fee shall not constitute a\nreceipt for the sale of tangible personal property subject to tax\npursuant to article twenty-eight and pursuant to the authority of\narticle twenty-nine of the tax law, and transfer of a bag to a customer\nby a person required to collect tax shall not constitute a retail sale.\n (d) It shall be unlawful for a municipal corporation to adopt or amend\na local law, ordinance or resolution requiring the imposition of any fee\non the provision of a paper carryout bag except as expressly authorized\nby this section. Where a municipal corporation that adopted such a local\nlaw, ordinance or resolution prior to the effective date of this section\nis, or is located in, a county that has imposed a paper carryout bag\nreduction fee pursuant to this section, such municipal corporation shall\nbe prohibited from requiring the imposition of a fee on any provision of\npaper carryout bags that occurs more than one year after such county\npaper carryout bag reduction fee takes effect.\n 2. Any such local law, ordinance or resolution adopted pursuant to\nthis section shall state the amount of the paper carryout bag reduction\nfee and the date on which a person required to collect tax shall begin\nto add such paper carryout bag reduction fee to the sales slip, invoice,\nreceipt, or other statement of the price rendered to its customers. No\nsuch local law, ordinance or resolution shall be effective unless a\ncertified copy of such law, ordinance or resolution is mailed by\nregistered or certified mail to the commissioner of taxation and finance\nin accordance with the provisions of subdivisions (d) and (e) of section\ntwelve hundred ten of the tax law.\n 3. The paper carryout bag reduction fee imposed by this section shall\nnot apply to any customer using the supplemental nutritional assistance\nprogram, special supplemental nutrition program for women, infants and\nchildren, or any successor programs used as full or partial payment for\nthe items purchased.\n 4. The paper carryout bag reduction fee must be reported and paid to\nthe commissioner of taxation and finance on a quarterly basis on or\nbefore the twentieth day of the month following each quarterly period\nending on the last day of February, May, August and November,\nrespectively. The payments must be accompanied by a return in the form\nand containing the information the commissioner of taxation and finance\nmay prescribe.\n 5. Any sales slip, invoice, receipt, or other statement of price\nfurnished by a person required to collect tax to a customer shall\nseparately state the paper carryout bag reduction fee and shall state\nthe number of bags provided to the customer.\n 6. (a) Except as otherwise provided in this section, any paper\ncarryout bag reduction fee imposed under the authority of this section\nshall be administered and collected by the commissioner of taxation and\nfinance in a like manner as the taxes imposed by articles twenty-eight\nand twenty-nine of the tax law. All the provisions of articles\ntwenty-eight and twenty-nine of the tax law, including the provisions\nrelating to definitions, exemptions, returns, personal liability for the\ntax, collection of tax from the customer, payment of tax and the\nadministration of the taxes imposed by such article, shall apply to the\npaper carryout bag reduction fee imposed under the authority of this\nsection, with such modifications as may be necessary in order to adapt\nthe language of those provisions to the paper carryout bag reduction fee\nimposed under the authority of this section. Those provisions shall\napply with the same force and effect as if the language of those\nprovisions had been set forth in full in this section, except to the\nextent that any of those provisions is either inconsistent with a\nprovision of this section or is not relevant to the paper carryout bag\nreduction fee imposed under the authority of this section. For purposes\nof this section, any reference in this chapter to a tax or the taxes\nimposed by articles twenty-eight and twenty-nine of the tax law shall be\ndeemed also to refer to the paper carryout bag reduction fee imposed\nunder the authority of this section unless a different meaning is\nclearly required.\n (b) Notwithstanding the provisions of paragraph (a) of this\nsubdivision:\n (1) the exemptions provided for in section eleven hundred sixteen of\nthe tax law, other than the exemptions in paragraphs one, two and three\nof subdivision (a) of such section, shall not apply to the paper\ncarryout bag reduction fees imposed under the authority of this section;\n (2) the credit provided in subdivision (f) of section eleven hundred\nthirty-seven of the tax law shall not apply to this section.\n (c) Notwithstanding the provisions of paragraph (a) of this\nsubdivision or subdivision (a) of section eleven hundred forty-six of\nthe tax law, the commissioner of taxation and finance may, in his or her\ndiscretion, permit the commissioner or his or her authorized\nrepresentative to inspect any return related to the paper carryout bag\nreduction fee filed under this section, or may furnish to the\ncommissioner or his or her authorized representative any such return or\nsupply him or her with information concerning an item contained in any\nsuch return, or disclosed by any investigation of a liability under this\nsection.\n 7. All paper carryout bag reduction fee monies and any related\npenalties and interest remitted to the commissioner of taxation and\nfinance under this section, except as hereinafter provided, shall be\ndeposited daily with such responsible banks, banking houses, or trust\ncompanies as may be designated by the state comptroller. Of the revenues\ndeposited, the comptroller shall retain in the comptroller's hands such\namount as the commissioner of taxation and finance may determine to be\nnecessary for refunds or reimbursements of the fees collected or\nreceived pursuant to this section, out of which the comptroller shall\npay any refunds or reimbursements of such fees to which persons shall be\nentitled under the provisions of this section. The comptroller, after\nreserving such refund and reimbursement fund shall, on or before the\ntwelfth day of each month, pay to the appropriate fiscal officers of the\ncounties or cities imposing tax under subdivision one of this section an\namount equal to forty percent of the paper carryout bag reduction fee\nmonies and any related penalties and interest collected by the\ncommissioner of taxation and finance in respect of each such county or\ncity in the preceding calendar month to be used for the purpose of\npurchasing and distributing reusable bags, with priority given to low-\nand fixed-income communities. Provided further that at the end of each\nfiscal year, any funds which have not been used for the purpose defined\nin this section shall be returned to the comptroller and be deposited\ninto the general fund to be used for the purpose of purchasing and\ndistributing reusable bags with priority given to low- and fixed-income\ncommunities. Any remaining amount of paper carryout bag reduction fee\nmonies and any related penalties and interest shall be deposited monthly\ninto the environmental protection fund established pursuant to section\nninety-two-s of the state finance law.\n