When used in this chapter the following terms shall mean or include:
1. "Person." An individual, partnership, society, association, joint stock company, corporation, estate, receiver, trustee, assignee, referee, or any other person acting in a fiduciary or representative capacity, whether appointed by a court or otherwise and any combination of individuals or of the foregoing.
2. "Operator." Any person operating a hotel in the city of New York, including, but not limited to, the owner or proprietor of such premises, lessee, sublessee, mortgagee in possession, licensee or any other person otherwise operating such hotel.
3. "Occupant." A person who, for a consideration, uses, possesses, or has the right to use or possess, any room or rooms in a hotel under any lease, concession, permit, right of access, license to use or other agreement, or otherwise. "Right to use or possess" includes the rights of a room remarketer as described in subdivision twelve of this section.
4. "Occupancy." The use or possession, or the right to the use or possession of any room or rooms in a hotel, or the right to the use or possession of the furnishings or to the services and accommodations accompanying the use and possession of the room or rooms. "Right to the use or possession" includes the rights of a room remarketer as described in subdivision twelve of this section.
5. "Hotel." A building or portion of it which is regularly used and kept open as such for the lodging of guests. The term "hotel" includes an apartment hotel, a motel, boarding house or club, whether or not meals are served.
6. "Room." Any room of any kind, other than a bathroom or lavatory, in any part or portion of a hotel which is available for, or let out for, use or possession for any purpose other than a place of assembly as defined in section 27-232 of the code.
7. "Rent." The consideration received for occupancy valued in money, whether received in money or otherwise, including all receipts, cash, credits, and property or services of any kind or nature, including any service or other charge or amount required to be paid as a condition for occupancy, and also any amount for which credit is allowed by the operator or room remarketer to the occupant, without any deduction therefrom whatsoever, whether received by the operator or a room remarketer or another person on behalf of either of them.
8. "Permanent resident." Any occupant of any room or rooms in a hotel for at least one hundred eighty consecutive days shall be considered a permanent resident with regard to the period of such occupancy.
9. "Commissioner of finance." The commissioner of finance of the city.
10. "Comptroller." The comptroller of the city.
11. "Tax appeals tribunal." The tax appeals tribunal established by section one hundred sixty-eight of the charter.
12. "Room remarketer." A person who reserves, arranges for, conveys, or furnishes occupancy, whether directly or indirectly, to an occupant for rent in an amount determined by such room remarketer, directly or indirectly, whether pursuant to a written or other agreement. Such person's ability or authority to reserve, arrange for, convey, or furnish occupancy, directly or indirectly, and to determine rent therefor, shall be the "rights of a room remarketer". A room remarketer is not a permanent resident with respect to a room for which such person has the rights of a room remarketer.
13. [Repealed.]
14. [Repealed.]
Editor's note: For related unconsolidated provisions, see Appendix A at L.L. 2009/043.
a. (1) On and after July first, nineteen hundred seventy until and including August thirty-first, nineteen hundred eighty, there is hereby imposed and there shall be paid a tax for every occupancy of each room in a hotel in the city of New York at the rates set forth in, and determined in accordance with the following table:
If the rent per day for the room is: | The tax is: |
Less than $10 | $.25 per day |
$10 or more, but less than $15 | $.50 per day |
$15 or more, but less than $20 | $.75 per day |
$20 or more | $1.00 per day |
(2) On and after September first, nineteen hundred eighty, there is hereby imposed and there shall be paid a tax for every occupancy of each room in a hotel in the city of New York at the rates set forth in, and determined in accordance with, the following table:
If the rent per day for the room is: | The tax is: |
$10 or more, but less than $20 | $.50 per day |
$20 or more, but less than $30 | $1.00 per day |
$30 or more, but less than $40 | $1.50 per day |
$40 or more | $2.00 per day |
Where a person occupies a room for less than a full day and pays less than the rent for a full day, the tax shall nevertheless be the same amount as would be due had such person occupied the room for a full day at the rent for a full day.
(3) In addition to the tax imposed by paragraph two of this subdivision, there is hereby imposed and there shall be paid a tax for every occupancy of each room in a hotel in the city of New York (A) at the rate of five percent of the rent or charge per day for each such room up to and including August thirty-first, nineteen hundred ninety, (B) at the rate of six percent of the rent or charge per day for each such room on and after September first, nineteen hundred ninety and before December first, nineteen hundred ninety-four, (C) at the rate of five percent of the rent or charge per day for each such room on and after December first, nineteen hundred ninety-four and before March first, two thousand nine, (D) at the rate of five and seven-eighths percent of the rent or charge per day for each such room on and after March first, two thousand nine and before December first, two thousand thirteen, (E) at the rate of five percent of the rent or charge per day for each such room on and after December first, two thousand thirteen and before December twentieth, two thousand thirteen, (F) at the rate of five and seven-eighths percent of the rent or charge per day for each such room on and after December twentieth, two thousand thirteen and before December first, two thousand twenty-seven, and (G) at the rate of five percent of the rent or charge per day for each such room on and after December first, two thousand twenty-seven.
(4) (i) When occupancy is provided, for a single consideration, with property, services, amusement charges, or any other items, the separate sale of which is not subject to tax under this chapter, the entire consideration shall be treated as rent subject to tax under paragraph one of this subdivision; provided, however, that where the amount of the rent for occupancy is stated separately from the price of such property, services, amusement charges or other items on any sales slip, invoice, receipt, or other statement given the occupant and such rent is reasonable in relation to the value of such property, services, amusement charges, or other items, only such separately stated rent will be subject to tax under this subdivision.
(ii) In regard to the collection of tax on occupancies by remarketers, when occupancy is provided, for a single consideration, with property, services, amusement charges, or any other items, whether or not such other items are taxable, the rent portion of the consideration for such sale shall be computed as follows: the total consideration for the sale multiplied by a fraction, the numerator of which shall be the consideration paid to the hotel for the occupancy and the denominator of which shall be the consideration paid to the hotel for the occupancy plus the consideration paid to the providers of the other items being sold, or by any other reasonable method pursuant to which the rent portion of consideration would be no less than the computation of rent portion of consideration under subparagraph (i) of this paragraph. Nothing herein shall be construed to subject to tax or exempt from tax any service or property or amusement charge or other items otherwise subject to tax or exempt from tax under this chapter.
(5) A room remarketer shall be allowed a refund or credit against the taxes collected and required to be remitted pursuant to section 11-2505 of this chapter in the amount of the tax it paid to the operator of the hotel or another room remarketer under this subdivision. Provided, however, that in order to qualify for a refund or credit under this paragraph with respect to any quarterly period, as described in subdivision a of section 11-2504 of this chapter, the room remarketer must, with respect to such quarter, (i) be registered for hotel room occupancy tax purposes under section 11-2514 of this chapter, and (ii) collect the taxes imposed by paragraphs two and three of this subdivision. Subject to the conditions and limitations of this paragraph, the provisions of section 11-2507 of this chapter shall apply to refunds or credits under this paragraph.
(6) Where the rent is paid or charged or billed, or falls due on either a weekly, monthly or other term basis, the daily rent upon which the tax is determined shall be the result obtained by dividing the rent for such term by the number of days in such term. Where the rent is for more than one room, including but not limited to a suite of rooms, the daily rent per room upon which tax is determined shall be calculated by multiplying the daily rent for the group of rooms by a fraction, the numerator of which shall be the daily rent for the particular room, or a similar room, when such room is rented alone with similar bath facilities, and the denominator of which shall be the total of the daily rent for the individual rooms in the group of rooms, or similar rooms, when such rooms are rented alone with similar bath facilities. In any case in which it is not possible to determine the daily rent per room in the foregoing manner, the commissioner of finance shall prescribe methods for making such determination.
b. (1) No tax shall be imposed hereunder upon a permanent resident.
(2) For purposes of this subdivision, an occupant who is eligible to request and has requested a lease pursuant to the provisions of paragraph two of subdivision (a) of section 2522.5 of the rent stabilization regulations promulgated by the division of housing and community renewal of the state of New York (title nine, subtitle S, chapter VIII of the official compilation of codes, rules and regulations of the state of New York), shall tentatively be accorded the status of permanent resident as of the date of such request, notwithstanding that such occupant has not met the one hundred eighty-consecutive-day requirement contained in subdivision eight of section 11-2501 of this chapter as of such date. In the case of such an occupant, the operator or room remarketer shall not collect the taxes imposed by this chapter for any day, commencing with the date such lease is requested, which falls within a period of continuous occupancy by such occupant of a room or rooms in the hotel. Provided, however, if such occupant ceases to occupy a room or rooms in the hotel prior to the completion of one hundred eighty consecutive days of occupancy, any taxes not collected theretofore by reason of the provisions of this paragraph shall become immediately due and payable on the date of cessation of occupancy and shall be collected by the operator or room remarketer from such occupant. In the event, however, that the operator or room remarketer is unable to collect such taxes from the occupant, the operator or room remarketer shall not be liable to the city for such taxes. The provisions of this paragraph shall apply with respect to leases requested on or after September first, nineteen hundred ninety.
c. No tax shall be imposed hereunder upon any organization described in subdivision (a) of section eleven hundred sixteen of the tax law to the extent such organization is not subject to the tax imposed under subdivision (e) of section eleven hundred five of the tax law.
d. (1) No tax shall be imposed hereunder upon any person occupying any room or rooms in a hotel solely and directly as a result of such person's involuntary displacement from premises by the attack on the World Trade Center on September eleventh, two thousand one, provided such premises were not subject to the tax imposed by this section or the tax imposed under section eleven hundred seven of the tax law.
(2) Where an occupant claims exemption from the tax under the provisions of paragraph one of this subdivision, the rent shall be deemed taxable hereunder unless the operator shall receive from the occupant claiming such exemption a signed written statement describing the specific circumstances providing the basis for such claim and containing such other information as the commissioner of finance may require. The operator shall retain such statement and provide it to the commissioner of finance upon request.
e. Where any corporation, or association, or trust, or community chest, fund or foundation, organized and operated exclusively for religious, charitable, or educational purposes, or for the prevention of cruelty to children or animals, and no part of the net earnings of which inures to the benefit of any private shareholder or individual and no substantial part of the activities of which is carrying on propaganda, or otherwise attempting to influence legislation, carries on its activities in furtherance of any of the purposes for which it was organized, in premises in which, as part of said activities, it operates a hotel, occupancy of rooms in said premises and rents therefrom received by such corporation or association shall not be subject to tax hereunder. Nothing in this subdivision shall be deemed to include an organization operated for the primary purpose of carrying on a trade or business for profit, whether or not all of its profits are payable to one or more organizations described in this subdivision.
f. The tax to be collected shall be stated separately from the rent on a sales slip, invoice, receipt, or other statement of the price ("invoice") given to the occupant prior to the occupant's completion of his or her occupancy and be verifiable from the books and records of an operator or room remarketer responsible for collecting and remitting the tax.
(1) Where an occupant rents a room directly from an operator, the tax shall be paid by the occupant to the operator as trustee for and on account of the city, and the operator shall be liable for the collection of the tax on the rent and for the payment of the tax on the rent.
(2) The operator or room remarketer and any officer of any corporate operator or room remarketer shall be personally liable for the portion of the tax collected or required to be collected under this chapter, and the operator shall have the same right in respect to collecting the tax from the occupant, or in respect to nonpayment of the tax by the occupant as if the tax were a part of the rent for the occupancy payable at the time such tax shall become due and owing, including all rights of eviction, dispossession, repossession and enforcement of any innkeeper's lien that he or she may have in the event of nonpayment of rent by the occupant; provided however, that the commissioner of finance shall be joined as a party in any action or proceeding brought by the operator to collect or enforce collection of the tax.
g. Where the occupant has failed to pay and the operator or room marketer has failed to collect a tax as imposed by this chapter, then in addition to all other rights, obligations and remedies provided, such tax shall be payable by the occupant directly to the commissioner of finance, and it shall be the duty of the occupant to file a return thereof with the commissioner of finance and to pay the tax imposed therein to the commissioner of finance within fifteen days after such tax was due.
h. The commissioner of finance may, wherever he or she deems it necessary for the proper enforcement of this chapter, provide by regulation that the occupant shall file returns and pay directly to the commissioner of finance the tax herein imposed, at such times as returns are required to be filed and payment over made by the operator or room remarketer.
i. The tax imposed by this chapter shall be paid upon any occupancy on and after July first, nineteen hundred seventy, although such occupancy is had pursuant to a contract, lease or other arrangement made prior to such effective date. Where rent is paid, or charged or billed, or falls due on either a weekly, monthly, or other term basis, the rent so paid, charged, billed or falling due shall be subject to the tax herein imposed to the extent that it covers any portion of the period on and after July first, nineteen hundred seventy, and such payment, bill, charge or rent due shall be apportioned on the basis of the ratio of the number of days falling within said period, to the total number of days covered thereby. Where any tax has been paid hereunder upon any rent which has been ascertained to be worthless, the commissioner of finance may by regulation provide for credit and/or refund of the amount of such tax upon application therefor as provided in section 11-2507 of this chapter.
j. For the purpose of the proper administration of this chapter and to prevent evasion of the tax hereby imposed, it shall be presumed that all rents are subject to tax until the contrary is established, and the burden of proving that a rent for occupancy is not taxable hereunder shall be upon the operator, the room remarketer, or the occupant. Where an occupant claims exemption from the tax under the provisions of subdivision c of this section, the rent shall be deemed taxable hereunder unless the operator or room remarketer shall receive from the occupant claiming such exemption a copy of the exempt organization certificate that is necessary to obtain exemption from the tax imposed under subdivision (e) of section eleven hundred five of the tax law, together with a certificate duly executed by the organization named in such certificate certifying that the occupant is its agent, representative or employee and that his or her occupancy is paid or to be paid by, and is necessary or required in the course of or in connection with the affairs of said organization.
k. No operator or room remarketer shall advertise or hold out to the public in any manner, directly or indirectly, that the tax imposed by this chapter is not considered as a mandatory addition to the rent charged to the occupant.
l. An occupancy that an operator conveys or furnishes to a room remarketer that the room remarketer intends to convey or furnish, directly or indirectly, to an occupant for rent shall be exempt from the taxes imposed by this section, provided that such room remarketer furnishes the operator with a certificate in such form and containing such information as may be prescribed by the commissioner of finance. The operator shall retain such statement and provide it to the commissioner of finance upon request.
(Am. L.L. 2015/112, 11/30/2015, eff. 11/30/2015; Am. 2016 N.Y. Laws Ch. 60, 4/13/2016, eff. 4/13/2016; Am. L.L. 2019/207, 11/27/2019, eff. 11/27/2019; Am. L.L. 2023/153, 11/17/2023, eff. 11/17/2023)
Editor's note: For related unconsolidated provisions, see Appendix A at L.L. 1986/069 and L.L. 2009/043.
a. Every operator and every room remarketer shall keep records of every occupancy and of all rent paid, charged or due thereon and of the tax payable thereon, in such form as the commissioner of finance may by regulation require. Such records shall be available for inspection and examination at any time upon demand by the commissioner of finance or his or her duly authorized agent or employee and shall be preserved for a period of three years, except that the commissioner of finance may consent to their destruction within that period or may require that they be kept longer.
b. Notwithstanding the provisions of section three hundred five and three hundred nine of the state technology law or any other law, the commissioner may require any person who has elected to maintain in an electronic format any portion of the records required to be maintained by that person under this chapter, to make the electronic records available and accessible to the commissioner, notwithstanding that the records are also maintained in a hard copy format.
Editor's note: For related unconsolidated provisions, see Appendix A at L.L. 2009/043.
a. Every operator and every room remarketer shall file with the commissioner of finance a return of occupancy and of rents, and of the taxes payable thereon, for the quarterly periods ending on the last day of February, May, August and November of each year. Such returns shall be filed within twenty days after the end of the quarterly period covered thereby. The commissioner of finance may permit or require returns to be made by other periods and upon such dates as he or she may specify. If the commissioner of finance deems it necessary in order to insure the payment of the tax imposed by this chapter, he or she may require returns to be made for shorter periods than those prescribed pursuant to the foregoing provisions of this subdivision and upon such dates as he or she may specify.
b. The forms of returns shall be prescribed by the commissioner of finance and shall contain such information as he or she may deem necessary for the proper administration of this chapter. The commissioner of finance may require amended returns to be filed within twenty days after notice and to contain the information specified in the notice.
c. If a return required by this chapter is not filed or if a return when filed is incorrect or insufficient on its face the commissioner of finance shall take the necessary steps to enforce the filing of such a return or a corrected return.
Editor's note: For related unconsolidated provisions, see Appendix A at L.L. 2009/043.
At the time of filing a return of occupancy and of rents each operator and room remarketer shall pay to the commissioner of finance the taxes imposed by this chapter upon the rents required to be included in such return, as well as all other moneys collected by the operator or room remarketer acting or purporting to act under the provisions of this chapter, even though it be judicially determined that the tax collected is invalidly imposed. All the taxes for the period for which a return is required to be filed shall be due from the operator or room remarketer and payable to the commissioner of finance on the date limited for the filing of the return for such period, without regard to whether a return is filed or whether the return which is filed correctly shows the amount of rents and the taxes due thereon. Where the commissioner of finance in his or her discretion deems it necessary to protect revenues to be obtained under this chapter he or she may require any operator or room remarketer required to collect the tax imposed by this chapter to file with him or her a bond, issued by a surety company authorized to transact business in this state and approved by the superintendent of insurance of this state as to solvency and responsibility, in such amount as the commissioner of finance may fix, to secure the payment of any tax and/or penalties and interest due or which may become due from such operator or room remarketer. In the event that the commissioner of finance determines that an operator or room remarketer is to file such bond he or she shall give notice to such operator or room remarketer to that effect specifying the amount of the bond required. The operator or room remarketer shall file such bond within five days after the giving of such notice unless within such five days the operator or room remarketer shall request in writing a hearing before the commissioner of finance at which the necessity, propriety and amount of the bond shall be determined by the commissioner of finance. Such determination shall be final and shall be complied with within fifteen days after the giving of notice thereof. In lieu of such bond, securities approved by the commissioner of finance or cash in such amount as he or she may prescribe, may be deposited which shall be kept in the custody of the commissioner of finance who may at any time without notice to the depositor apply them to any tax and/or interest or penalties due, and for that purpose the securities may be sold by him or her at public or private sale without notice to the depositor thereof.
Editor's note: For related unconsolidated provisions, see Appendix A at L.L. 2009/043.
If a return required by this chapter is not filed, or if a return when filed is incorrect or insufficient, the amount of tax due shall be determined by the commissioner of finance from such information as may be obtainable and, if necessary, the tax may be estimated on the basis of external indices, such as number of rooms, location, scale of rents, comparable rents, type of accommodations and service, number of employees and/or other factors. Notice of such determination shall be given to the person liable for the collection and/or payment of the tax. Such determination shall finally and irrevocably fix the tax unless the person against whom it is assessed, within ninety days after giving of notice of such determination, or, if the commissioner of finance has established a conciliation procedure pursuant to section 11-124 of the code and the taxpayer has requested a conciliation conference in accordance therewith, within ninety days from the mailing of a conciliation decision or the date of the commissioner's confirmation of the discontinuance of the conciliation proceeding, both (1) serves a petition upon the commissioner of finance and (2) files a petition with the tax appeals tribunal for a hearing, or unless the commissioner of finance of his or her own motion shall redetermine the same. Such hearing and any appeal to the tax appeals tribunal sitting en banc from the decision rendered in such hearing shall be conducted in the manner and subject to the requirements prescribed by the tax appeals tribunal pursuant to sections one hundred sixty-eight through one hundred seventy-two of the charter. After such hearing the tax appeals tribunal shall give notice of its decision to the person against whom the tax is assessed. A decision of the tax appeals tribunal sitting en banc shall be reviewable for error, illegality or unconstitutionality or any other reason whatsoever by a proceeding under article seventy-eight of the civil practice law and rules if application therefor is made to the supreme court by the person against whom the tax was assessed, within four months after the giving of the notice of such tax appeals tribunal decision. A proceeding under article seventy-eight of the civil practice law and rules shall not be instituted by a person liable for the tax unless: (a) the amount of any tax sought to be reviewed, with penalties and interest thereon, if any, shall be first deposited with the commissioner of finance and there shall be filed with the commissioner of finance an undertaking, issued by a surety company authorized to transact business in this state and approved by the superintendent of insurance of this state as to solvency and responsibility, in such amount as a justice of the supreme court shall approve, to the effect that if such proceeding be dismissed or the tax confirmed, such person will pay all costs and charges which may accrue in the prosecution of the proceeding; or (b) at the option of such person such undertaking filed with the commissioner of finance may be in a sum sufficient to cover the taxes, penalties and interest thereon stated in such decision plus the costs and charges which may accrue against it in the prosecution of the proceeding, in which event such person shall not be required to deposit such taxes, penalties and interest as a condition precedent to the application.
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