1. Introduction
This blog post summarizes the New York City Tax Commission’s updates for the 2025 filing season. It includes revised filing deadlines, changes to income and expense reporting, modifications to various Tax Commission forms, and other relevant topics. These details are taken from publicly available statements, guidance, and FAQs provided by the Tax Commission.
2. Filing Deadlines for 2025
- Tax Classes 2, 3, 4: Normally due March 1. In 2025, because March 1 falls on a weekend, the deadline is March 3.
- Tax Class 1: Normally due March 15. In 2025, because March 15 falls on a weekend, the deadline is March 17.
3. Income and Expense (I&E) Filing Requirements
3.1 General Requirements
An income and expense schedule may be required with an application for correction, depending on the property type:
- Form TC201: For properties that produced rental income in 2024 (e.g., apartment buildings, multi-tenant commercial buildings).
- Form TC203: For residential/commercial cooperatives and condominiums.
- Form TC208: For hotels and motels.
- Form TC214: For department stores, public parking garages/lots, and theaters where the applicant is the business operator or a related person.
- If the applicant operates its own business in part of the property and rents part of the property, both Form TC201 and Form TC214 must be attached.
A net lessor leasing to a related lessee who occupies the property may use Form TC200, Part 5, to report net lease information instead of TC201. However, a net lessor with a related lessee who sublets any part of the property to unrelated sublessees must use Form TC201.
3.2 Change for 2025: Reporting Vacant or No-Income Properties
- Prior Rule: If a property produced no rental income in the prior year, no I&E schedule was required.
- New for 2025: The Tax Commission has removed the exemption for properties that produced no rental income in 2024.
- The Tax Commission’s stated reason is to review operating expenses even for properties that had no income. According to the Tax Commission, these expenses “are relevant to the valuation process.”
3.3 Form TC201 Instructions for Vacant Properties
If the property was 100% vacant, the form instructions indicate that income should be reported as “$0” (or partially collected income, if any), and all expenses pertaining to the property must be reported.
4. Changes to Form TC201
4.1 Section 6 (Line a) Subtotal of Residential Income
- New for 2025: A subtotal line now follows “residential regulated” income and “residential unregulated” income. This is similar to how the Department of Finance’s RPIE (“Real Property Income and Expense”) form works.
- The Tax Commission states it implemented this change to assist hearing officers in reviewing and comparing the data with the annualized rent listed in TC201 §3.
4.2 Section 3 (Residential Occupancy)
- Asks for the residential occupancy as of January 5, 2025 (number of units and monthly rent by type).
- The occupancy types include: rented regulated, rented unregulated, owner-occupied, vacant, and total.
- New for 2025: The superintendent’s apartment is now to be included on the “owner-occupied” line.
4.3 Section 4 (Non-Residential Occupancy)
- Requires a breakdown of non-residential occupancy by floor range and type as of January 5, 2025 (e.g., floors 3 and up, floor 2, floor 1, basement, entire building).
- Occupancy categories: applicant or related party use, rented to unrelated parties, and vacant.
- Change for 2025: Must report gross square footage only (no more percentages).
5. High Value Threshold Increase
- The threshold at which the Tax Commission begins hearing certain Class 4 (non-residential) properties first has risen from $55 million to $250 million in assessed value.
- Manhattan has 42 non-exempt Class 4 tax lots exceeding $250 million in tentative assessed value for 2025/26, which includes 41 office buildings and 1 hotel.
- The Tax Commission indicates it will hear these high-value cases early in April, possibly delaying hearing opportunities for properties assessed between $55 million and $250 million. Delayed review means a property will not get an assessment reduction before DOF prints the June tax bills for payment due July 1, 2025, and the property will have to pay its full billed tax and seek retroactive refunds subsequent to successfully settling its case with the Tax Commission.
6. BBL Information Placement on Forms
- New for 2025: Borough-Block-Lot (BBL) information and the tax year now appear at the top of the forms (rather than vertically on the right side).
- The Tax Commission has expressed a preference (but not a requirement) to list the borough by number (1 for Manhattan, 2 for Bronx, 3 for Brooklyn, 4 for Queens, 5 for Staten Island).
7. TC10 Filing Receipt Expansion
- The TC10 filing receipt used to indicate only the BBL and whether the filing was for an application or a supplemental application.
- Now: The filer must indicate which forms are attached. For example, if a TC109 application is filed for a residential condominium board of managers with a TC203, the filer should note that the TC203 is attached.
- The Tax Commission describes this as an improvement in tracking and proof-of-filing
8. Unchanged Provisions and 2024 Year in Review
8.1 TC309 Threshold
- The TC309 AV threshold remains at $5 million. (see my prior blog post: The Changing Threshold for the TC309 Requirement: A Look Ahead to 2025/26 | Rosenberg & Estis, P.C.)
- A TC309 CPA certification is required when a TC201 I&E form is required, the property’s gross income is at or above $100,000, and the tentative actual assessed value is at or above $5 million.
8.2 Vacancy Substantiation Threshold
- Required substantiation remains triggered by a continuing vacancy of 15% or more, or a more than 15 percentage point increase in vacancy. According to the Tax Commission, failure to submit substantiation (on or attached to Form TC159) may result in denial of review. The 15% threshold has not increased, despite the fact that the New York City office market vacancy rate remains above 15%.
8.3 2024 Hearing Season Statistics
- The Tax Commission received 57,302 applications covering 259,000 tax lots in 2024.
- The percentage of eligible properties receiving offers was 15.20%, slightly down from 15.50% in 2023.
- The average current-year reduction offer in 2024 was 8.50%, down from 9.20% in 2023.
- The Tax Commission received 125 not-for-profit exemption appeals, many of which are still backlogged, and only 1 full-time and 1 part-time attorney are assigned to review them.
8.4 Staff and Operational Notes
- Fewer than 50 people work at the Tax Commission.
- The Tax Commission states that budget cuts, retirements, and other issues impacted 2024 operations, contributing to fewer interactive virtual hearings and the longest hearing season on record (ending December 27, 2024).
- The role of Tax Commission president remains unfilled.
- Reconsideration requests were not heard in 2024 due to limited resources.
- An OCR scanning program for TC201 forms was tested in 2024 but not completed. Income and expense information is manually extracted and typed.
9. Upcoming Changes
- TC309 Threshold Based on Consolidated AV (Effective 2026)
- Currently, if multiple tax lots are operated together but none individually exceeds $5 million in assessed value, a TC309 is not required to certify a TC201 form.
- The Tax Commission indicates that for 2026 filings, the threshold will be calculated based on the total (aggregated) assessed value of consolidated lots.
- Owner-occupied Buildings
- Currently, owner-occupied buildings with no rental income are not required to file an income and expense schedule. The Tax Commission may require the reporting of real property-related expenses for owner occupied properties starting in 2026.
10. Conclusion
These updates reflect the latest guidance and procedural adjustments issued by the New York City Tax Commission for the 2025 filing season, along with a preview of potential changes ahead. Property owners, representatives, and practitioners should review all official Tax Commission instructions and forms carefully for any further details or clarifications.
Disclaimer
This blog post is for informational purposes only and does not constitute legal advice. If you require legal advice, please consult with an attorney qualified in the relevant field.