New York Protects Nonprofits From State Tax on Commuter Benefits

Nonprofit organizations have dodged a bullet on their 2018 state tax returns under legislation signed by Gov. Andrew M. Cuomo (D) to decouple part of the state tax code from the revised federal code.

Cuomo signed a bill (A. 11501) to decouple the state from a federal provision that imposes an unrelated business income tax (UBIT) on the commuter benefits that nonprofits provide to their employees.

The state would have imposed a 9 percent UBIT on the benefits because the state tax code follows the federal code on these provisions. ...