NY Tax L § 186-F (2021)
2021 New York Laws TAX - Tax Article 9 - Corporation Tax 186-F - Public Safety Communications Surcharge.

§  186-f.  Public safety communications surcharge.  1. Definitions. As used in this section,  where  not  otherwise  specifically  defined  and unless a different meaning is clearly required:  (a)  "Place  of  primary  use"  has  the  same meaning as that term is defined in paragraph twenty-six of subdivision  (b)  of  section  eleven hundred one of this chapter.  (b) "Wireless communications customer" means mobile telecommunications customer  as  defined  in  subparagraph (i) of paragraph twenty-seven of subdivision (b) of section eleven  hundred  one  of  this  chapter,  who contracts for or is the end user of wireless communications service.  (c)  "Wireless  communications  device"  means  any  equipment used to access a wireless communications service.  (d) "Wireless communications  service"  means  all  commercial  mobile services,  as  that term is defined in section 332(d) of title 47 of the United States Code, as amended from time to  time,  including,  but  not limited  to,  all  broadband  personal communications services, wireless radio telephone  services,  geographic  area  specialized  and  enhanced specialized  mobile  radio services, and incumbent-wide area specialized mobile radio licensees, which offer real time,  two-way  voice  or  data service  that  is  interconnected  with  the  public  switched telephone network  or  otherwise  provides  access  to  emergency   communications services.  (e)  "Wireless  communications  service supplier" means a home service provider as defined in subparagraph (ii) of  paragraph  twenty-seven  of subdivision  (b) of section eleven hundred one of this chapter, provided that the home service provider provides wireless communications  service and has one or more wireless communications customers in New York state.  (f)  "Prepaid  wireless communications seller" means a person making a retail sale of prepaid wireless communications service.  (g) "Prepaid wireless communications service" means a  prepaid  mobile calling service as defined in paragraph twenty-two of subdivision (b) of section eleven hundred one of this chapter.   2.  Public  safety  communications  surcharge.  (a) (1) A surcharge on wireless communications service provided to  a  wireless  communications customer  with  a  place  of primary use in this state is imposed at the rate of  one  dollar  and  twenty  cents  per  month  on  each  wireless communications  device  in  service  during  any part of each month. The surcharge must be reflected and made payable on bills  rendered  to  the wireless communications customer for wireless communication service.  (2) A surcharge is imposed on the retail sale of each prepaid wireless communications service, whether or not any tangible personal property is sold therewith, at the rate of ninety cents per retail sale. A sale of a prepaid wireless communications service occurs in this state if the sale takes  place  at  a seller's business location in the state. If the sale does not take place at the seller's  place  of  business,  it  shall  be conclusively  determined  to  take  place  at  the  purchaser's shipping address or, if there is no item  shipped,  at  the  purchaser's  billing address,  or,  if the seller does not have that address, at such address as approved by the commissioner that reasonably reflects the  customer's location  at the time of the sale of the prepaid wireless communications service.  (b) The surcharges must be reported and paid to the commissioner 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  may prescribe.  (c) The surcharges must be added as a  separate  line  item  to  bills furnished   by   a  wireless  communications  service  supplier  to  its customers, or must be added as a separate line item  to  a  sales  slip, invoice,  receipt,  or  other  statement  of  the price, if any, that is furnished  by  a  prepaid wireless communications seller to a purchaser, and must be identified as the "public safety communications surcharge".  (d) Each wireless communications service supplier and prepaid wireless communications seller is entitled to retain, as an  administrative  fee, an amount equal to three percent of fifty-eight and three-tenths percent of  the  total  collections  of  the surcharges imposed by this section, provided that the supplier or  seller  files  any  required  return  and remits the surcharge due to the commissioner on or before its due date.   3.  Exemption.  Lifeline consumers shall be exempt from the surcharges imposed by this section.   4. Applicable provisions. (a) Except as  otherwise  provided  in  this section, the surcharges imposed under this section shall be administered and  collected by the commissioner in a like manner as the taxes imposed by article twenty-eight of this chapter. All the provisions  of  article twenty-eight  of  this  chapter,  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 surcharges  imposed  under the authority of this section so far as those provisions can be made applicable to  the  surcharges  imposed  by  this section,  with  such modifications as may be necessary in order to adapt the language of those provisions  to  the  surcharges  imposed  by  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 surcharge  imposed  by  this  section. For purposes of this section, any reference in this chapter to a tax  or  the  taxes  imposed  by  article twenty-eight  of  this  chapter  shall  be  deemed  also to refer to the surcharges imposed by 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 this chapter, other than the exemptions in paragraphs one, two and three of subdivision (a) of that section, shall not apply  to  the  surcharges imposed by this section.  (2)  the  credit provided in subdivision (f) of section eleven hundred thirty-seven of this chapter shall not apply to this section.   5.   Deposits   of   surcharge   monies   collected   and    received. Notwithstanding  any  provision  of  law  to the contrary, all surcharge monies collected and received by the  commissioner  under  this  section must  be  deposited  daily  to  the credit of the comptroller with those responsible banks, banking houses or trust companies the comptroller may designate. Those deposits must be kept separate and apart from all other monies in the  possession  of  the  comptroller.  The  comptroller  must require  adequate  security  from  all  such  depositories. Of the total revenue collected or received under this section, the  comptroller  must retain   in   the  comptroller's  hands  an  amount  determined  by  the commissioner to be necessary for refunds  under  this  section,  out  of which  the  comptroller  will  pay  any  refunds  to which taxpayers are entitled under the provisions of this section.  The  comptroller,  after reserving the amount to pay refunds, must, on or before the tenth day of  each  month,  pay all surcharge monies collected and received under this section and remaining to the comptroller's credit as follows:  (a)  forty-one and seven-tenths of the revenues collected and received under this section into the state general fund; and  (b) after deducting the  amount  paid  under  paragraph  (a)  of  this subdivision and the amount retained by wireless communications suppliers pursuant  to  paragraph  (d)  of  subdivision  two  of this section, the balance of the revenues collected under this section into the  statewide public  safety  communications  account  of  the  miscellaneous  special revenue fund, created pursuant to section ninety-seven-qq of  the  state finance law.   6.  Distribution.  The  monies collected from the surcharge imposed by this section must be distributed to include the following:  (a) The sum of twenty-five million five hundred thousand dollars  must be  allocated  to  the  state  police  pursuant  to appropriation by the legislature annually;  (b) The sum of one million  five  hundred  thousand  dollars  must  be deposited into the New York state emergency services revolving loan fund annually;  provided,  however, that such sums shall not be deposited for state  fiscal  years  two  thousand  eleven--two  thousand  twelve,  two thousand  twelve--two  thousand  thirteen,  two  thousand  fourteen--two thousand  fifteen,  two  thousand  fifteen--two  thousand  sixteen,  two thousand  sixteen--two  thousand  seventeen, two thousand seventeen--two thousand eighteen, two thousand  eighteen--two  thousand  nineteen,  two thousand   nineteen--two   thousand  twenty,  two  thousand  twenty--two thousand  twenty-one   and   two   thousand   twenty-one--two   thousand twenty-two;  (c) Up to the sum of seventy-five million dollars annually may be used for  the  provision  of  grants  or  reimbursements  to counties for the development, consolidation, or operation of public safety communications systems  or  networks  designed  to  support   statewide   interoperable communications  for  first  responders,  to  be  distributed pursuant to standards and guidelines issued by the state. Annual grants may consider costs borne by a municipality related to the issuance  of  local  public safety  communications  bonds  pursuant  to  section twenty-four hundred thirty-two of the public authorities  law,  when  the  municipality  has qualified  as  an  approved  participant  in  a  statewide interoperable communications system under the standards and guidelines issued  by  the state,  and maintains compliance with such standards and guidelines. The grant amount will be  prescribed  pursuant  to  an  agreement  with  the municipality, and may not exceed thirty percent of the annual cost borne by the municipality in relation to such bonds;  (d) To provide the costs of debt service for bonds and notes issued to finance  expedited  deployment  funding  pursuant  to  the provisions of section three hundred thirty-three of the county law and section sixteen hundred eighty-nine-h of the public authorities law; and  (e) services and expenses that support the operations and  mission  of the division of homeland security and emergency services as appropriated by the legislature.  (g)  The  sum  of  ten  million dollars annually shall be used for the provision of grants to counties for costs related to the  operations  of public  safety  dispatch  centers,  to be distributed pursuant to a plan developed  by  the  commissioner  of  homeland  security  and  emergency services  and  approved  by  the  director  of the budget. Such plan may consider such factors as population density and emergency call volume.