New York – A little-noticed provision in the state budget adopted by the Legislature in April imposes a sales tax on livery car, limousine and corporate black-car trips.
Passengers begin paying the new tax – 8.375% in the city – Monday.
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In the five boroughs, the statewide tax will generate about $25.6 million for Albany’s coffers and an equal amount for the city. Less than $1 million will go to support mass transit.
As expected, news of the added cost – another in a slew of tax hikes, new fees or raised fees in the state budget – was not well-received by drivers and passengers who use local livery car services, many of which operate in the city’s poorer neighborhoods.
“Minimum wage is still $6, but everything else is going up,” said Jesus Garcia, 18, waiting for a livery car outside Harlem Hospital with his two younger sisters. “We only use car services when we absolutely have to. Now, it’ll be less affordable than it already was.”
Moussu Toure, 47, a driver for Malcolm Car Service, saw many problems ahead.
“People already get out of my car saying they can’t pay,” Toure said. “If you go to the police, they need a lot of information. You waste a lot of time and you still get nothing.”
The state budget didn’t create a new tax but expanded the targets of a service tax to include trips in these so-called for-hire vehicles.
There are approximately 2,700 livery cars licensed by the Taxi and Limousine Commission to carry passengers in the city, along with 8,600 black cars and 5,223 limousines.
The sales tax is to be collected by the driver and forwarded to the state by the car service or the base with which a driver is affiliated.
A separate transit-funding bill approved earlier this year imposes a 50-cent surcharge on each trip in a yellow cab to help subsidize subway, bus and commuter train service provided by the Metropolitan Transportation Authority.
That hike goes into effect in January.
The first thing Mr. Bloomberg will do with the new, extra 25 million, will be to pull another two hundred people who are now those 300 pounders, out of Donkin Donuts where they spend most of their welfare money, and give them jobs giving tickets to the middle class people who are dumb enough to live in this city. The middle class idiots can then pay fines for garbage violations. If they are also foolish enough to own cars, Mr. Bloomberg can then instruct his army of HUGE bagel swallowers to give out parking tickets to all those they are jealous of. Who cares if this causes anger and frustration in the hearts of the middle class citizens, and racial hatred? As long as it looks good on the surface, that is all that counts.
Oh, and let’s not forget the expenses these large humans pay. We must not forget, they all have to buy very large sunglasses to hide their faces, and they also have to pay to put in elastic stretch pockets on the back of their pants so they can get that pack of tickets out without losing a few minutes pulling.
Does this tax include the Heimishe car services? if yes, poor them they’ll be losing lotsa business. And to you bloomy how much of all these taxes do you pocket???
how many more taxes can they invent
if benjamin franklin thougt taxes without representation was bad wit til he see this
they keep on taxing us here and the average person will be forced to leave nyc.
it will be a playground for the rich which in my opinion is what hizzoner wanted from the get go.
nyc , for him and his cronies
we already have on water, gas, how about the air that we breathe???
There are approximately 2,700 livery cars licensed by the Taxi and Limousine Commission to carry passengers in the city, along with 8,600 black cars and 5,223 limousines.
Totally wrong!! Those numbers are just the vehicles for Black Car. If you check the number for Car Service at the website for TLC you will find over 21,000 THOUSAND car service vehicles. So to understand the issues this ILLEGAL tax, which was not brought to a vote to the floor of the NY State for passage, will affect over 40,000 income earners. The assumption is that there is at least one driver to a vehicle. Many of the car service companies double shift the cars. Additionally there are at least that amount that are registered in New Jersey, Westchester, Long Island who come to work in New York City as well.
In America we have always had EQUAL taxation, which goes back to the Boston Tea Party days. Yet here in New York if you take a Taxicab the surcharge is 50 cents while on any car service / black car/ limo ride the tax is 8.675.
So if you go to the JFK airport by Taxi from New York City it will cost you a minimum $5.25 more to use any service other than a Taxi. You are charged the tax on the TOTAL fare including stops, waiting time, and other incidentals.
This illegal Tax comes at a time when the industry is reeling from cutbacks due to the severe recession we are in. Most companies are not traveling and those that still are, seek cheaper (taxi) or personal transportation.
What you will see are more low-income people who tended to migrate to the transportation business, have no other recourse and go on the public dole to stay alive.
For the true reason why the state is doing this, it comes down to money. Now that Bloomberg has shown that they know precisely what a Taxicab generates in income due to GPS monitoring and credit card payments in the car. They feel that why have these car services when they can sell the driver a Medallion from the NYC Taxi commission at 500 thousand dollars. YES 1/2 a MILLION dollars each!!!
Now you know the rest of the story!
This tax is insane!
I can’;t stand Blomstein/berg, but this tax is not his fault, it’s the guy in Albany.
This tax will only effect the middle class and rich who used real,legal black cars.Only they can get tracked for their revenues.The other car services will not end up paying