Surprise fee for NYS businesses

ALBANY, NY - New York businesses will be hit with an unexpected $50 registration fee. The state is asking businesses that collect sales tax to register again with the state tax department. Nearly 600,000 businesses fit that category and more than half will have to cough up the new $50 fee.

The state Department of Taxation and Finance is sending out 5,000 letters a week to retailers telling them about the new requirements.

The fee is expected to raise about $16 million over the next three years, a big help for the multi-billion dollar budget shortfalls.

The move is a surprise since the tax department hasn’t asked businesses to update their registrations since the state began collecting sales taxes in 1965. No registration fee was previously required.