Bill Text: NY A08179 | 2023-2024 | General Assembly | Amended

NOTE: There are more recent revisions of this legislation. Read Latest Draft

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Bill Title: Imposes a tax on certain businesses when people are displaced from their employment due to certain technologies based on the sum of any taxes or fees imposed by the state or any political subdivision thereof computed based on a displaced employee's wage.

Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Democrat 4-0)

Status: (Introduced) 2024-01-03 - referred to ways and means [A08179 Detail]

Download: New_York-2023-A08179-Amended.html

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                STATE OF NEW YORK
        ________________________________________________________________________

                                         8179--A

                               2023-2024 Regular Sessions

                   IN ASSEMBLY

                                    October 27, 2023
                                       ___________

        Introduced  by  M.  of  A.  BURKE, REYES, DE LOS SANTOS -- read once and
          referred to the Committee on Ways and Means --  committee  discharged,
          bill  amended,  ordered  reprinted  as amended and recommitted to said
          committee

        AN ACT to amend the tax law, in relation to imposing a  tax  on  certain
          businesses  when  people  are  displaced  from their employment due to
          certain technologies

          The People of the State of New York, represented in Senate and  Assem-
        bly, do enact as follows:

     1    Section  1. This act shall be known and may be cited as the "robot tax
     2  act".
     3    § 2. The tax law is amended by adding a new section 209-A to  read  as
     4  follows:
     5    §  209-A.  Additional  tax on using technology to displace workers. 1.
     6  (a) For the privilege of exercising its corporate franchise, or of doing
     7  business, or of employing capital, or of owning or leasing property in a
     8  corporate or organized capacity, or of  maintaining  an  office,  or  of
     9  deriving  receipts  from  activity in this state, for all or any part of
    10  its taxable year, there is hereby imposed on every  corporation  subject
    11  to  tax under section two hundred nine of this article, or any receiver,
    12  referee, trustee, assignee or other fiduciary, or any officer  or  agent
    13  appointed  by  any  court,  who conducts the business of any such corpo-
    14  ration, a tax surcharge, in addition to the tax  imposed  under  section
    15  two hundred nine of this article, to be in an amount equal to the sum of
    16  any  taxes  or  fees  imposed  by the state or any political subdivision
    17  thereof computed based on an employee's wage, paid by the corporation or
    18  the employee, including, but not limited to,  state  income  tax,  state
    19  unemployment  insurance, and local occupational taxes, for an employee's
    20  final year of employment  with  the  company  where  such  employee  was
    21  displaced  in  such  taxable  year  due to the employee's position being
    22  replaced by technology. For the  purposes  of  this  section,  the  term
    23  "technology" shall include, but not be limited to, machinery, artificial
    24  intelligence algorithms, or computer applications.

         EXPLANATION--Matter in italics (underscored) is new; matter in brackets
                              [ ] is old law to be omitted.
                                                                   LBD13007-02-3
        A. 8179--A                          2

     1    (b)  A corporation is deriving receipts from activity in this state if
     2  it has receipts within this state of one million dollars or more in  the
     3  taxable  year.  For  purposes of this section, the term "receipts" means
     4  the receipts that are subject to the apportionment rules  set  forth  in
     5  section two hundred ten-A of this article, and the term "receipts within
     6  this  state"  means the receipts included in the numerator of the appor-
     7  tionment factor determined under section two hundred ten-A of this arti-
     8  cle.
     9    (c) A corporation is doing business in  this  state  if:  (i)  it  has
    10  issued credit cards to one thousand or more customers who have a mailing
    11  address  within  this state as of the last day of its taxable year; (ii)
    12  it has merchant customer contracts with merchants and the  total  number
    13  of  locations  covered  by  those  contracts equals one thousand or more
    14  locations in this state to whom the corporation  remitted  payments  for
    15  credit  card  transactions  during the taxable year; or (iii) the sum of
    16  the number of customers described in subparagraph (i) of this  paragraph
    17  plus  the  number  of  locations  covered  by its contracts described in
    18  subparagraph (ii) of this paragraph equals one thousand or more. As used
    19  in this subdivision, the term "credit card" includes bank, credit, trav-
    20  el and entertainment cards.
    21    (d)(i) A corporation with less than one million dollars but  at  least
    22  ten  thousand  dollars  of  receipts within this state in a taxable year
    23  that is part of a unitary group that  meets  the  ownership  test  under
    24  section  two  hundred  ten-C  of  this article is deriving receipts from
    25  activity in this state if the receipts within this state of the  members
    26  of the unitary group that have at least ten thousand dollars of receipts
    27  within this state in the aggregate meet the threshold set forth in para-
    28  graph (b) of this subdivision.
    29    (ii)  A corporation that does not meet any of the thresholds set forth
    30  in paragraph (c) of this subdivision but has at least ten customers,  or
    31  locations,  or customers and locations, as described in paragraph (c) of
    32  this subdivision, and is part of a unitary group that meets  the  owner-
    33  ship test under section two hundred ten-C of this article is doing busi-
    34  ness  in  this state if the number of customers, locations, or customers
    35  and locations, within this state of the members  of  the  unitary  group
    36  that have at least ten customers, locations, or customers and locations,
    37  within this state in the aggregate meets any of the thresholds set forth
    38  in paragraph (c) of this subdivision.
    39    (e) At the end of each year, the commissioner shall review the cumula-
    40  tive  percentage  change  in  the consumer price index. The commissioner
    41  shall adjust the receipt thresholds set forth in this subdivision if the
    42  consumer price index has changed by ten percent or  more  since  January
    43  first,  two thousand fifteen, or since the date that the thresholds were
    44  last adjusted under this subdivision. The thresholds shall  be  adjusted
    45  to  reflect  that  cumulative  percentage  change  in the consumer price
    46  index.  The adjusted thresholds shall be  rounded  to  the  nearest  one
    47  thousand  dollars.  As  used  in  this paragraph, "consumer price index"
    48  means the consumer price index for all urban consumers (CPI-U) available
    49  from the bureau of labor statistics of the United States  department  of
    50  labor.  Any  adjustment  shall apply to tax periods that begin after the
    51  adjustment is made.
    52    (f) If a partnership is doing business, employing capital,  owning  or
    53  leasing  property  in this state, maintaining an office in the state, or
    54  deriving receipts from activity in this state, any corporation that is a
    55  partner in such partnership shall be subject to tax under  this  article
    56  as described in the regulations of the commissioner.
        A. 8179--A                          3

     1    2. (a) A foreign corporation shall not be deemed to be doing business,
     2  employing  capital, owning or leasing property, or maintaining an office
     3  in this state, or deriving receipts from activity in this state, for the
     4  purposes of this article, by reason of:  (i)  the  maintenance  of  cash
     5  balances with banks or trust companies in this state; (ii) the ownership
     6  of  shares  of stock or securities kept in this state, if kept in a safe
     7  deposit box, safe, vault or other receptacle rented for the purpose,  or
     8  if  pledged  as  collateral  security,  or if deposited with one or more
     9  banks or trust companies, or brokers who are  members  of  a  recognized
    10  security  exchange, in safekeeping or custody accounts; (iii) the taking
    11  of any action by any such bank or trust  company  or  broker,  which  is
    12  incidental  to the rendering of safekeeping or custodian service to such
    13  corporation; (iv) the maintenance of an office in this state by  one  or
    14  more  officers  or directors of the corporation who are not employees of
    15  the corporation if the corporation otherwise is not  doing  business  in
    16  this state, and does not employ capital or own or lease property in this
    17  state;  (v)  the  keeping  of  books or records of a corporation in this
    18  state if such books or records are not kept by employees of such  corpo-
    19  ration and such corporation does not otherwise do business, employ capi-
    20  tal,  own or lease property or maintain an office in this state; or (vi)
    21  any combination of the foregoing activities.
    22    (b) An alien corporation shall not be deemed  to  be  doing  business,
    23  employing  capital, owning or leasing property, maintaining an office in
    24  this state, or deriving receipts from activity in this  state,  for  the
    25  purposes  of  this  article, if its activities in this state are limited
    26  solely to: (i) investing or trading in stocks and securities for its own
    27  account within the meaning of clause (ii) of subparagraph (A)  of  para-
    28  graph  (2)  of subsection (b) of section eight hundred sixty-four of the
    29  internal revenue code; (ii) investing or trading in commodities for  its
    30  own  account  within  the  meaning of clause (ii) of subparagraph (B) of
    31  paragraph (2) of subsection (b) of section eight hundred  sixty-four  of
    32  the  internal  revenue  code;  or  (iii)  any  combination of activities
    33  described in subparagraphs (i) and (ii)  of  this  paragraph.  An  alien
    34  corporation that under any provision of the internal revenue code is not
    35  treated as a "domestic corporation" as defined in section seven thousand
    36  seven  hundred  one of such code and has no effectively connected income
    37  for the taxable year pursuant to clause (iv) of the opening paragraph of
    38  subdivision nine of section two hundred eight of this article shall  not
    39  be subject to tax under this article for that taxable year. For purposes
    40  of  this  article, an alien corporation is a corporation organized under
    41  the laws of a country, or any political subdivision thereof, other  than
    42  the United States, or organized under the laws of a possession, territo-
    43  ry or commonwealth of the United States.
    44    3. Any receiver, referee, trustee, assignee or other fiduciary, or any
    45  officer  or  agent  appointed by any court, who conducts the business of
    46  any corporation, shall be subject to the tax imposed by this article  in
    47  the same manner and to the same extent as if the business were conducted
    48  by  the  agents or officers of such corporation. A dissolved corporation
    49  which continues to conduct business shall also be  subject  to  the  tax
    50  imposed by this article.
    51    § 3. This act shall take effect immediately and shall apply to taxable
    52  years  starting  January  1,  2024. Effective immediately, the addition,
    53  amendment and/or repeal of any rule  or  regulation  necessary  for  the
    54  implementation  of  this  act on its effective date are authorized to be
    55  made and completed on or before such effective date.