Senate Bill S8313

                                
 
BILL NUMBER: S8313

SPONSOR: KENNEDY
 
TITLE OF BILL:

An act providing relief to businesses for late fees and interest on
certain tax payments

 
PURPOSE::

This bill eliminates any late fees or interest accrued associated with
late property or sales tax filings by a business during the state emer-
gency related to COVID-19.

 
SUMMARY OF SPECIFIC PROVISIONS::

Section one waives any late fees or interest accrued for businesses
filing sales or property taxes during the current state disaster emer-
gency.

Section two establishes the effective date.
              

 
JUSTIFICATION::

Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, businesses have found themselves, at no
fault of their own, with substantially lower revenue as a result of the
prudent implementation of the New York on PAUSE plan. This has left many
in a precarious financial situation, with difficult decisions being made
about what bills to pay. By waiving late fees and interest accrual
during the declared state of emergency, business owners can have comfort
that while the taxes owed must still be paid, but they won't be subject
to additional penalties that they cannot afford if they don't have
enough cash flow to pay the taxes on the date owed. This flexibility
gives businesses the ability to stretch their cash on hand further,
setting them up to survive the economic downturn in a better financial
condition, which preserves local jobs as well as future sales and prop-
erty tax payments in the years ahead.

 
LEGISLATIVE HISTORY::

New legislation

 
FISCAL IMPLICATIONS::

Reduced state revenue expected as no late fees or interest will be paid.

 
EFFECTIVE DATE::

This act shall take immediately.