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Bills & payments - collections
If you haven’t paid your outstanding business tax debt, the Department of Finance may take legal action against you to collect your business tax debt, including:
- Issuing a warrant and “docketing” the warrant in the County Clerk’s office, which means we will have an enforceable judgment against you. The judgment (tax warrant) will be a matter of public record, which can affect your credit ratings.
- Enforcing the judgment debt by levying bank accounts and seizing assets. The Sheriff may padlock a taxpayer's business and auction its assets. We can also refer the judgment debt to an outside collection agency.
After an audit, we will send you a Notice of Determination if additional taxes are owed or if there will be a reduction in a refund you requested.
You can dispute the Notice of Determination within 90 days by:
- Filing an informal appeal through a conciliation conference
- Filing a formal appeal with the New York City Tax Appeals Tribunal
For more information about how to appeal, please visit our audit appeals process webpage.
At the end of 90 days, if you have not disputed the debt, or if you have, but the challenge has not been decided in your favor, and you still have not paid the taxes due, your case will be referred to our Collections Division. Collections will then send you a final notice. This notice will include information about the debt owed and information on how you can pay the debt and contact Collections. The Collections Division may issue and docket a warrant for the debt and begin enforcing the judgment.
If you voluntarily file your taxes, but do not pay the amount you owe, we will send you a Notice of Tax Due, followed by a Notice and Demand. If your original filing contains an error, in order to dispute your charges, you must file an amended return. If you do not pay, your case will be referred to the Collections Division, which may docket a warrant.
A business no longer operating in New York City is still liable for taxes (plus the penalties and interest) that were charged while it was in business. If you are trying to dissolve a business incorporated in New York State and doing business in New York City, you are required by law to request that the Department of Finance certify that the business has paid its taxes to New York City. If there are any outstanding business-tax charges, they must be resolved before the Department of Finance will issue clearance, and New York State will not allow the corporation to be dissolved without this clearance.
To resolve business tax debt or request approval for a corporate dissolution, you should contact the Collections Division.
Active military personnel may request relief from the lien sales, tax warrants, Environmental Control Board judgments, and parking judgments.
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Call: 212-440-5300