- (a) Generally, for Federal income tax purposes, a taxpayer's taxable year is the same as its accounting period. In most cases, the taxable year for which the franchise tax imposed by article 32 of the Tax Law is to be computed and for which a franchise tax return is to be filed shall be the same as the taxpayer's taxable year for Federal income tax purposes or that portion of the Federal taxable year for which the taxpayer is subject to the tax imposed by article 32 of the Tax Law. (See section 16-2.18 of this Title - Definition of taxable year.) The taxable year under article 32 of the Tax Law will, generally, be the accounting period covered by the taxpayer's Federal income tax return, whether such period be a calendar year, a properly established fiscal year, an accounting period consisting of 52 or 53 weeks or an accounting period of less than 12 months as permitted or required under the Internal Revenue Code. If a taxpayer does not have a taxable year for Federal income tax purposes, the tax must be computed and a return must be filed for a calendar year, unless the Tax Commission authorizes the use of some different accounting period.
- (b) The tax imposed by article 32 of the Tax Law is imposed for each fiscal or calendar year of the taxpayer, or any part thereof, during which the taxpayer has a corporate franchise granted by New York State or is doing business in a corporate or organized capacity in New York State. Therefore, for purposes of article 32 of the Tax Law, the taxpayer's first taxable year begins, in the case of a taxpayer which has a corporate franchise granted by New York State, on the date of its incorporation and ends on the last day of its fiscal or calendar year or the last day it is subject to the tax imposed by article 32 of the Tax Law, whichever comes first. In the case of any other taxpayer, the taxpayer's first taxable year begins on the date it commences doing business in a corporate or organized capacity in New York State and ends on the last day of its fiscal or calendar year or the last day it is subject to the tax imposed by article 32 of the Tax Law, whichever comes first.
Tax Law, §§ 1450(b), 1451(a)