Professional employer organizations (PEOs) – metropolitan commuter transportation mobility tax (MCTMT)
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Certain Online Services applications will be unavailable during the following period. From 5:00 p.m. on Sunday, October 1 until 11:00 a.m. on Tuesday, October 3, the MCTMT Upload and MCTMT web file applications will be unavailable.
We apologize for any inconvenience.
The guidance on this page applies to tax quarters beginning on or after 7/1/23.
For guidance on the return due 7/31/23, for the quarter ending 6/30/23, see Publication 420, Guide to the Metropolitan Commuter Transportation Mobility Tax.
If you are a PEO (as defined in section 916 of the Labor Law; see TSB-M-12(2)MCTMT, Computation of the Metropolitan Commuter Transportation Mobility Tax for Professional Employer Organizations) you must calculate your MCTMT due based separately on:
- the payroll expense of your own organization; and
- the payroll expense of each client with whom you have entered into a professional employer agreement.
See MCTMT page for Employers for general information on who the tax does and does not apply to, definitions, and due dates.
Calculating the tax
- For purposes of calculating the MCTMT, the Metropolitan Commuter Transportation District (MCTD) is divided into two zones:
- Zone 1 includes the counties of New York (Manhattan), Bronx, Kings (Brooklyn), Queens, and Richmond (Staten Island).
- Zone 2 includes the counties of Rockland, Nassau, Suffolk, Orange, Putnam, Dutchess, and Westchester.
- Separately calculate the payroll expense in both Zone 1 and Zone 2 for all covered employees for each calendar quarter for your organization and for each of your clients.
- Multiply each payroll expense amount by the applicable MCTMT rate from Table 1 and Table 2 below.
- Add together the MCTMT amounts calculated based on the payroll expense in both zones for your organization and each client. This is your total MCTMT due.
Table 1:
| Payroll expense attributable to Zone 1 | MCTMT Rate |
|---|---|
| Over $0 but not over $375,000 | .11% (.0011) |
| Over $375,000 but not over $437,500 | .23% (.0023) |
| Over $437,500 | .60% (.0060) |
Table 2:
| Payroll expense attributable to Zone 2 | MCTMT Rate |
|---|---|
| Over $0 but not over $375,000 | .11% (.0011) |
| Over $375,000 but not over $437,500 | .23% (.0023) |
| Over $437,500 | .34% (.0034) |
Mandatory and voluntary PrompTax program participants who cannot calculate their quarterly payroll expense at the beginning of a calendar quarter should see Employers participating in the PrompTax program.
PEO's PrompTax payments
- You will need to continue making PrompTax payments if you are required or voluntarily participate in the PrompTax program.
Note: The optional MCTMT calculator will not properly calculate your tax; you must figure the payment as instructed above.
PEO's quarterly MCTMT return
- Filing due dates for your MCTMT quarterly returns are the same as any other employer.
- You must file your MCTMT returns using the Tax Department's Online Services MCTMT Upload. See the file formatting instructions for how to format your file.
Note: If any of your clients are a START-UP NY business you cannot include them in your upload.
- You must separately Web File Quarterly MCTMT returns for each START-UP NY business. See the START-UP NY MCTMT Exemption on how to calculate the MCTMT due.
- In addition, you must separately report eligible employees for each START-UP NY business annually by January 31. See the START-UP NY Employer Information web page for employer requirements.
For more information, see:
- TSB-M-12(2)MCTMT, Computation of the Metropolitan Commuter Transportation Mobility Tax for Professional Employer Organizations.
