Aug. 13, 2018 – As a result of the new federal tax law, nonprofit employers must now pay Unrelated Business Income Tax (UBIT) on commuter benefits, including Buffalo NFTA Metro Pass, NYC Metrocard, Rochester RTS Pass, or employee parking. Because of your advocacy, the New York legislature recently passed S8831 and A11051 to decouple the federal and state tax law to eliminate the New York State tax. The law is now awaiting Governor Cuomo’s signature. We need your help! Please do two things:
- Tell Governor Cuomo that signing the bill is important to your nonprofit using the script below.
- Fill out this survey to tell us about the impact of this tax on your organization so that we can better advocate for you.
What to say to Governor Cuomo when you call or email his office:
As Governor, you have championed the fight in New York State against the disproportionately harmful effects on federal tax reform on New Yorkers. Please sign S8831/A11051 into law to prevent nonprofits from being taxed on commuter benefits – and to protect this benefit for nonprofit workers. For my organization that would be a yearly increase of $([total amount of pre-tax compensation your organization’s employees direct to commuter benefits each month] * 12 * .09) in state taxes. My nonprofit’s resources should be used for our mission. New York State should not impose this new tax on commuter benefits. By signing this bill, you continue to protect New Yorkers against the adverse consequences of federal tax reform, while also encouraging nonprofits to continue to invest in the services they provide to communities throughout the state. I strongly urge you to sign this important legislation into law.
Thank you for helping in this critical effort! Together, we can get this done.