Who Pays the 50-Cent MTA Tax in a Taxi?

The passenger pays the 50-cent MTA tax. It is added to the fare on trips that start in New York City and end in the city or in seven nearby counties. The law puts the tax on the taxi owner (or on the base, for green cabs). Today the company that runs the meter's payment system takes it out of fares and sends it to New York State. As a driver, you collect it but do not keep it. If your owner or agent is the taxpayer, TLC rules let them collect it from you, first out of your card money.

The tax is officially the "MTA State Surcharge" on TLC's fare page. TLC's Chapter 51 defines the MTA Tax as "the 50 cent tax on taxicab trips imposed by Article 29-A of the NYS Tax Law." The State calls the area it covers the Metropolitan Commuter Transportation District (MCTD): the five boroughs plus Dutchess, Nassau, Orange, Putnam, Rockland, Suffolk and Westchester counties.

Which trips have it

Rule 58-26(a)(3) says the MTA tax "must be charged on any trip that starts in New York City" and ends in New York City or one of those seven counties. Where the trip starts matters as much as where it ends.

TLC's fare page only mentions where the trip ends. The rule and the State's trip tax page also require that the trip starts in New York City. Follow the rule.

How the money moves

The tax is collected from riders but owed by the business. The State's 2009 memo TSB-M-09(9)M says the taxi vehicle owner "is liable for and must pay the tax," but "must pass along the economic incidence of the tax to the passenger by adjusting the fare." That is why it sits on the meter.

The State page says that if the provider cannot withhold the full amount from one day's fares, it takes the rest from later days. If it still can't collect after 12 months, the owner or agent has to pay what is still owed.

What this means for a lease driver

• Card trips. Rule 58-21(f)(4) lets a taxpayer owner deduct the MTA tax for your trips from the card money it owes you. This is one of the few deductions allowed. It is listed with the $1 improvement surcharge and amounts the technology provider is allowed to take under TLC rules.
• Cash trips. You hold the 50 cents in cash. The owner can take it from your card money or, if that is not enough, from your security deposit (Rule 58-21(e)(2)(v)).
• The Driver Bill of Rights. TLC's fleet driver poster says owners "must keep" all MTA taxes, together with Taxi Improvement Fund surcharges and tolls charged to the owner's E-ZPass. Every deduction still needs a receipt showing the rule that allows it (Rule 58-21(g)).

The full picture of every fare item is in who keeps what from a taxi fare.

Green cabs: hail trips vs dispatched trips

For a green cab (Street Hail Livery), Rule 82-26(a)(3) adds the MTA tax to hail trips that start in NYC and end in the city or the seven counties. On green cabs the State puts the tax on the hail base (the Street Hail Livery base), not the vehicle owner. The base owes the tax for every taxable trip by its affiliated vehicles (TSB-M-12(3)M).

A trip that starts when a customer calls the base and the base dispatches the car is different. The memo says it "is not subject to the fifty-cents-per-trip tax but may be subject to the sales tax on transportation services (unless the hail vehicle is also an affiliated livery vehicle)." The green-cab tax was set to start June 1, 2012. A court case delayed it, and it took effect after the Court of Appeals upheld the HAIL Act on June 6, 2013 (TSB-M-13(8)M).

The law behind it

The amount is set in State law, not in TLC's fare rules. The State memo says TLC must adjust taxi fares to include the tax "as the rate may change from time to time." As of 2026-10-12 it is $0.50 (TLC fare page). How it fits with the other charges on a receipt is in every surcharge on a NYC taxi fare.

Check your own pay

• Look at your payout statement. The MTA tax deducted should match the number of taxable trips times $0.50. It should not be a round weekly fee.
• Ask for receipts. Each deduction needs the date, amount, purpose and the rule section (Rule 58-21(g)).
• Report problems. TLC's Driver Protection Unit takes overcharge complaints at 718-391-5539 or driverprotection@tlc.nyc.gov (from the Driver Bill of Rights poster).

Other driver taxes are different things: the MCTMT is a payroll and self-employment tax, and the commercial motor vehicle tax is an owner's vehicle tax. Who pays tolls on taxi trips follows its own rules. More money topics are on the money hub.