Tax Relief for Sales Tax Vendors Affected by COVID-19

On March 20, 2020 the State of New York issued an Executive Order that, among other things, issued the authority of the Commissioner of Taxation and Finance to abate interest, for a period of 60 days, for taxpayers who were required to file returns and remit sales and use taxes by March 20, 2020, for the sales tax quarterly period that ended February 29, 2020. The Department of Taxation and Finance already had the authority to abate late filing and payment penalties.

If you are a sales tax vendor affected by COVID-19, you may apply to have penalty and interest waived if you were unable to file or pay by the March 20, 2020 due date.

To apply for this relief go to https://www.tax.ny.gov/press/alerts/sales-tax-relief-for-covid-19.htm, select Request Relief and complete the form as follows:

1. Enter COVID-19 in the subject line
2. In the question section, provide the following:

• EIN (considered public information)
• Business name
• Business address

You will receive confirmation that your request was successfully submitted. 

https://www.tax.ny.gov/press/alerts/sales-tax-relief-for-covid-19.htm

Please note the following:

• This relief is not automatic but is at the discretion of the Department of Taxation and Finance
• You still have a sales tax liability that would be considered a personal liability for the “responsible persons”
• This does not include the prompt tax payment due March 25, 2020 (for ACH debit 5:59 PM March 24, 2020)

To view the guidance issued by Governor Cuomo, visit N-20-1, Announcement Regarding the Abatement of Penalties and Interest for Sales and Use Tax due to the Novel Coronavirus, COVID-19.