STATE OF NEW YORK ________________________________________________________________________ 2522 2025-2026 Regular Sessions IN ASSEMBLY January 17, 2025 ___________ Introduced by M. of A. STERN -- read once and referred to the Committee on Labor AN ACT to amend the tax law, in relation to establishing a qualified transportation fringe benefits program The People of the State of New York, represented in Senate and Assem- bly, do enact as follows: 1 Section 1. The tax law is amended by adding a new section 50 to read 2 as follows: 3 § 50. Qualified transportation fringe benefits program. (a) As used in 4 this section, the following terms shall have the following meanings: 5 (1) "Qualified transportation fringe benefits" shall mean any of the 6 following provided by an employer to an employee: 7 (i) transportation in a commuter highway vehicle if such transporta- 8 tion is in connection with travel between the employee's residence and 9 place of employment; 10 (ii) any transit pass; 11 (iii) qualified parking; or 12 (iv) qualified bicycle commuting reimbursement. 13 (2) "Covered employee" shall mean any person who performed an average 14 of at least ten hours of work per week for compensation for the same 15 employer within the previous calendar month. 16 (3) "Covered employer" shall mean an employer for which an average of 17 twenty or more persons per week perform work for compensation. In deter- 18 mining the number of persons performing work for an employer during a 19 given week, all persons performing work for compensation on a full-time, 20 part-time or temporary basis shall be counted, including persons made 21 available to work through the services of a temporary services or staff- 22 ing agency or similar entity. A covered employer shall not include any 23 governmental entity. EXPLANATION--Matter in italics (underscored) is new; matter in brackets [ ] is old law to be omitted. LBD01459-01-5
A. 2522 2 1 (4) "Transit pass" shall mean any pass, token, fare card, voucher or 2 similar item entitling a person to transportation, or transportation at 3 a reduced price, if such transportation is: 4 (i) on mass transit facilities, whether or not publicly owned; or 5 (ii) provided by any person in the business of transporting persons 6 for compensation or hire if such transportation is provided in a vehicle 7 meeting the requirements of subparagraph (i) of paragraph five of this 8 subdivision. 9 (5) "Commuter highway vehicle" shall mean any highway vehicle where: 10 (i) the seating capacity is at least six adults, not including the 11 driver; and 12 (ii) at least eighty percent of the mileage use can reasonably be 13 expected to be: 14 (A) for purposes of transporting employees in connection with travel 15 between their residences and their place of employment; and 16 (B) on trips during which the number of employees transported for such 17 purposes is at least one-half of the adult seating capacity of such 18 vehicle, not including the driver. 19 (6) "Qualified parking" means parking provided to an employee on or 20 near the business premises of the employer or on or near a location from 21 which the employee commutes to work by transportation described in para- 22 graph four of this subdivision, in a commuter highway vehicle, or by 23 carpool. Such term shall not include any parking on or near property 24 used by the employee for residential purposes. 25 (7) "Qualified bicycle commuting reimbursement" shall mean, with 26 respect to any calendar year, any employer reimbursement during the 27 fifteen month period beginning with the first day of such calendar year 28 for reasonable expenses incurred by the employee during such calendar 29 year for the purchase of a bicycle and bicycle improvements, repair, and 30 storage, if such bicycle is regularly used for travel between the 31 employee's residence and place of employment. There shall be an annual 32 limitation with respect to any employee for any calendar year, the prod- 33 uct of twenty dollars multiplied by the number of qualified bicycle 34 commuting months during such year. 35 (8) "Qualified bicycle commuting months" shall mean, with respect to 36 any employee, any month during which such employee: 37 (i) regularly uses the bicycle for a substantial portion of the travel 38 between the employee's residence and place of employment; and 39 (ii) does not receive any benefit described in subparagraph (i), (ii), 40 or (iii) of paragraph one of this subdivision. 41 (b) Covered employers may provide the following transportation benefit 42 programs to covered employees: 43 (1) a pre-tax election program allowing employees to elect to exclude 44 from taxable wages and compensation, employee commuting costs incurred 45 for transit passes, commuter highway vehicle charges, qualified parking, 46 and qualified bicycle commuting. The amount of qualified transportation 47 fringe benefits shall not exceed: 48 (i) the maximum dollar amount permitted under subsection (f) of 49 section one hundred thirty-two of the internal revenue code in case of 50 the aggregate of the benefits described in subparagraphs (i) and (ii) of 51 paragraph one of subdivision (a) of this section; 52 (ii) the maximum dollar amount permitted under subsection (f) of 53 section one hundred thirty-two of the internal revenue code in the case 54 of qualified parking; and 55 (iii) the applicable annual limitation in the case of any qualified 56 bicycle commuting reimbursement.
A. 2522 3 1 (2) the maximum dollar amount permitted under subsection (f) of 2 section one hundred thirty-two of the internal revenue code in the case 3 of an employer paid benefit program whereby the employer supplies a 4 transit pass for a public transit system of the employer's choosing upon 5 request by each covered employee or reimbursement for equivalent commu- 6 ter highway vehicle charges equal in value to the purchase price of the 7 appropriate benefit; or 8 (3) the maximum dollar amount permitted under subsection (f) of 9 section one hundred thirty-two of the internal revenue code in the case 10 of employer provided transit furnished by the employer at no cost to the 11 covered employee in a commuter highway vehicle or bus, or similar 12 multi-passenger vehicle operated by or for the employer. 13 (c) (1) The duly authorized officer having predominant jurisdiction 14 over transportation issues in the municipality in which a transportation 15 benefits program is administered shall promulgate such rules and regu- 16 lations as necessary to implement the provisions of this section. 17 (2) Such officer shall maintain an education and advice program to 18 assist covered employers with meeting the requirements of subdivision 19 (b) of this section. 20 § 2. Subsection (d) of section 615 of the tax law is amended by adding 21 a new paragraph 6 to read as follows: 22 (6) the full amount of expenses for any qualified transportation 23 fringe benefit provided to an employee of the taxpayer in accordance 24 with section fifty of this chapter. 25 § 3. Paragraph (a) of subdivision 9 of section 208 of the tax law is 26 amended by adding a new subparagraph 24 to read as follows: 27 (24) The full amount of expenses for any qualified transportation 28 fringe benefit provided to an employee of the taxpayer in accordance 29 with section fifty of this chapter. 30 § 4. This act shall take effect immediately; provided, however, that 31 section one of this act shall take effect on the one hundred twentieth 32 day after it shall have become a law; provided, further, that sections 33 two and three of this act shall apply to taxable years beginning on and 34 after January 1, 2026.