TLC License Renewal Planner

In short: A TLC driver license lasts three years. You can renew online starting 90 days before it expires, and TLC wants the full application at least 30 days before. Each year you also take a drug test in the 90 days before your license anniversary, and in the renewal year the drug test must be in the 90 days before expiration. If you miss the date, you have 180 days to finish a late renewal, with a $25 late fee. Enter your expiration date and the planner puts every one of these dates in order for you.

How to use it

1. Find the expiration date on your TLC license or in TLC UP.
2. Enter it. Optionally enter the date of your last Defensive Driving Course, so the planner can tell you if it is still recent enough.
3. Read the list from top to bottom. Each line shows the date (or date range) and how many days are left. Lines in red are the ones that can cost you your license.
4. Copy the dates into your phone's calendar. The planner does not export a calendar file, so add a reminder a week before each window opens.

How the dates are worked out

The rules come from TLC's renewal page, drug testing page and rule 80-06, as copied into the site's rate file on October 12, 2026:

• Yearly (interim) drug tests: medallion, green cab and FHV drivers must pass one every year, "no more than ninety (90) days before the interim date". The planner assumes your anniversary is the same calendar day as your expiration date. TLC UP shows your exact interim date; follow it if it differs.
• Renewal drug test: within the 90 days before expiration. If you don't pass it in time, the license expires.
• Defensive Driving Course: the certificate cannot be older than three years before your expiration date. This is separate from the TLC Driver License Renewal Course, which every driver takes every three years.
• File early: rule 80-06(d)(1) says to file at least 30 days before expiration. A late-filed application "may not be completed until after the expiration date", and you can't drive on an expired license.
• Late window: up to 180 days after expiration, with a $25 late fee. The license stays expired until TLC approves it.

Worked example: license expiring January 31, 2029

Moving your date (advancement)

If you will be away and can't take the drug test in the 90 days before expiration, rule 80-06(c) lets you ask TLC to move your expiration to an earlier date. You can do this once per license term, on TLC's form. The planner does not model this; see renewal date advancement.

Vehicle licenses run on a different clock

This planner covers the driver license. An FHV vehicle license has its own rules, from TLC's vehicle renewal page: submit the renewal at least 30 days before expiration; if you miss it you have 60 more days to complete it, with a $25 late fee; the vehicle needs a current NYS DOT inspection report (MC300) and a current FH-1 insurance certificate. TLC's February 2026 license review adds that, once renewed late, an owner has another 120 days to pass inspection.

When licenses come up for renewal

Limits: what this tool can't tell you

• It doesn't read your TLC record. Unpaid tickets, a suspension or a missing document can stop a renewal even if every date is met. TLC's renewal page says to pay outstanding parking, traffic and TLC tickets first.
• It doesn't cover commuter van or paratransit driver licenses, which have their own renewal pages. TLC's drug testing page says paratransit and commuter van drivers are not drug tested by TLC.
• It doesn't know if TLC has already applied for a ban or suspension. See one- and three-year application bans.
• It is general information, not legal advice.

The full renewal steps are in TLC license renewal; drug test details in the TLC drug test and where to go in the drug test site finder. New applicants have their own clock: the 90-day application planner. The yearly drug test itself is required by rule 80-14(d). The data behind the chart is on TLC driver license expirations.