A New York business that has partnered with a college or university sponsoring the tax-free area in which the company seeks to locate and do business, and demonstrates that it will create new net jobs in its first year of operations may participate in the START-UP NY program and, in doing so, operate tax-free for ten years.[1] Pass through entities do qualify for the tax benefits; in order to qualify for the program, the business must either be organized as a sole proprietorship, partnership, corporation, or limited liability company.[2]
START-UP NY eliminates tax liability for “any business or owner of a business in the case of a business taxed as a sole proprietorship, partnership or New York S corporation, that is located in the tax-free NY area,”[3] for ten years by providing tax credits for the following:
[1] N.Y. Econ. Dev. Law §§ 433–434 (McKinney’s 2015); see also STARTUPNY, http://startup.ny.gov/business-growth (last accessed Aug. 5, 2015).
[2] N.Y. Econ. Dev. Law § 433(1)(d).
[3] N.Y. Tax Law § 39(a)(1) (McKinney’s 2015).
[4] Id. § 40(b).
[5] Id. § 40(c).
[6] STARTUPNY, supra note 1.
[7] N.Y. Tax Law § 40(d)(2).
[8] Id. § 39(c-1); STARTUPNY, supra note 1.
[9] N.Y. Tax Law § 39(d); STARTUPNY, supra note 1.
[10] I.e., New York, Bronx, Kings, Queens, and Richmond counties.
[11] N.Y. Dep’t. of Tax and Fin, Guide to the Metropolitan Commuter Transportation Mobility Tax 5 (2012), available at http://www.tax.ny.gov/pdf/publications/mctmt/pub420.pdf.
[12] N.Y. Tax Law § 39(f); STARTUPNY, supra note 1.
[13] N.Y. Tax Law § 39(g). See also STARTUPNY, supra note 1.
[14] A “net new job” is defined by statute as a job that: “(a) is new to the state; (b) has not been transferred from employment with another business located in this state, through an acquisition, merger, consolidation or other reorganization of businesses or the acquisition of assets of another business, or except as provided in [N.Y. Econ. Dev. Law § 431(6)(d)] has not been transferred from employment with a related person in this state; (c) is not filled by an individual employed within the state within the immediately preceding sixty months by a related person; (d) is either a full-time wage-paying job or equivalent to a full-time wage-paying job requiring at least thirty-five hours per week; and (e) is filled for more than six months.” N.Y. Econ. Dev. Law § 431(5).
[15] N.Y. Tax Law § 39(e); STARTUPNY, supra note 1; START-UP NY Employee Information, N.Y. Dep’t. of Tax and Fin., http://www.tax.ny.gov/pit/sny/employee_information.htm (last accessed July 30, 2015).
[16] START-UP NY Employee Information, supra note 14. “Employees hired for and whose jobs are certified as net new jobs in a tax-free area will pay no state or local income taxes for the first five years. For the second five years, employees will pay no taxes on income up to $200,000 for individuals, $250,000 for a head of household and $300,000 for taxpayers filing a joint return.” STARTUPNY, supra note 1 (emphasis added).
[17] START-UP NY Employer Information, N.Y. Dep’t. of Tax and Fin., http://www.tax.ny.gov/pit/sny/employer_information.htm (last accessed July 30, 2015).
[18] Id. “There is a maximum of 10,000 tax-free jobs after year one, 20,000 tax-free jobs after year two, etc.” Id.