Employers – metropolitan commuter transportation mobility tax (MCTMT)

The metropolitan commuter transportation mobility tax (MCTMT) is a tax imposed on certain employers and self-employed individuals engaging in business within the metropolitan commuter transportation district (MCTD). This department administers the tax for the Metropolitan Transportation Authority. The MCTD includes the counties of New York (Manhattan), Bronx, Kings (Brooklyn), Queens, Richmond (Staten Island), Rockland, Nassau, Suffolk, Orange, Putnam, Dutchess, and Westchester.

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The tax applies to you if:

you're required to withhold New York State income tax from wages; and
your payroll expense exceeds
- $2,500 for the first quarter of 2012 (1/1/12-3/31/12) and prior quarters, or
- $312,500 in any calendar quarter beginning on or after April 1, 2012.

Video: About the Metropolitan
Commuter Transportation
Mobility Tax

The tax does not apply to you if you're:

an agency or instrumentality of the United States;
the United Nations;
an interstate agency or public corporation created pursuant to an agreement or compact with another state or Canada;
a federally chartered credit union;
a household employer on wages paid to household employees; or
effective April 1, 2012, any eligible educational institution including;
- a public school district,
- Board of Cooperative Educations Services (BOCES),
- a public elementary or secondary school,
- a school that serves students with disabilities of school age as defined in Article 85 or 89 of the Education Law, or
- a nonpublic elementary or secondary school that provides instruction in grade one or above.

Calculating the tax

For the first quarter of 2012 (1/1/12-3/31/12) and prior quarters, your MCTMT due is .34% (.0034) of your payroll expense for all covered employees for each calendar quarter.
For calendar quarters beginning on or after April 1, 2012, your MCTMT due is your payroll expense for all covered employees for each calendar quarter multiplied by applicable MCTMT rate from the table below.

Payroll expense	MCTMT Rate
Over $312,500 but not over$375,000	.11% (.0011)
Over $375,000 but not over $437,500	.23% (.0023)
Over $437,500	.34% (.0034)

When to file and pay

You must file and pay for each calendar quarter as follows:

Quarter	Due date
January 1 to March 31	April 30
April 1 to June 30	July 31
July 1 to September 30	October 31
October 1 to December 31	January 31

When the due date falls on a Saturday, Sunday, or legal holiday, you may file on the next business day.

No extensions of time to file or pay the tax are allowed.

For calendar quarters beginning on or before January 1, 2012, once an employer files (or filed) a quarterly MCTMT return, the employer is required to continue to file quarterly MCTMT returns for each subsequent quarter, even if no MCTMT is due, unless the employer permanently ceased paying wages subject to the MCTMT.
For calendar quarters beginning on or after April 1, 2012, an employer not subject to the MCTMT for a quarter is not required to file a quarterly MCTMT return for that quarter. However, if an employer becomes subject to the MCTMT in a subsequent quarter, the employer must file a quarterly return and pay the tax due.
Employers who have made any MCTMT payments during the quarter, or that have an overpayment carried over from a previous quarter must file a quarterly return to request a refund (or credit to the next quarter if you anticipate owing MCTMT in that quarter).

How to file and pay

File and pay online: Web File Form MTA-305, Employer's Quarterly Metropolitan Commuter Transportation Mobility Tax Return and pay directly from your bank account. (To Web File you must create an Online Services business account.)
File paper Form MTA-305 , Employer's Quarterly Metropolitan Commuter Transportation Mobility Tax Return (MCTMT forms), and pay by check or money order.
- Make your check or money order payable in U.S. funds to Commissioner of Taxation and Finance for the total payment due. Write your EIN and MTA-305 on your payment.
- Do not combine your MCTMT payment with your withholding tax payment. You must submit a separate MCTMT payment.
You can choose to pay this tax using the PrompTax program if you currently use the PrompTax program to file New York State withholding tax. See employers participating in the PrompTax program for details.
You do not have to attach a listing of covered employees when filing and paying the tax.

For more information, see:

Updated: April 05, 2012