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.
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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.