New York City Form NYC-245 is the Activities Report of Business and General Corporations that a corporation files with the NYC Department of Finance when it disclaims liability for the NYC Business Corporation Tax under Title 11, Chapter 6, Subchapter 3-A of the NYC Administrative Code. Filing this form puts the corporation on record as having activity touching New York City but not enough activity to create taxable nexus.
The stakes are real. The NYC Department of Finance reports that thousands of corporations every year receive nexus questionnaires after filing federal returns showing a New York City address, and a missing NYC-245 often leads to a jeopardy assessment under the city’s best information available rule. Anchor the current revision printed in the lower-left corner of the form (the 2024 revision is the most recent at the time of writing) so you do not file a stale version. The form itself carries no filing fee, but a wrong answer in any single box can convert a non-taxable corporation into a taxable one with penalties and interest going back years.
- 📄 The exact purpose of NYC-245 and which corporations must file it under NYC Admin Code §11-653.
- 🧾 A line-by-line walkthrough of every box, schedule, and signature block on the current form.
- 👥 Three filled-in scenarios using named filers so you can see what real entries look like.
- ⚠️ The ten most common NYC-245 mistakes and the exact consequence of each one.
- 📬 How to file by mail, certified mail, private delivery service, or through a tax preparer with a Power of Attorney (Form POA-1).
What the Form Is and Who Must File It
NYC-245 is the disclaimer of liability return for the NYC Business Corporation Tax, which replaced the General Corporation Tax for tax years beginning on or after January 1, 2015 under the 2015 NYC corporate tax reform. A corporation files NYC-245 when it has some contact with New York City but believes that contact is too limited to create taxable nexus. The corporation is telling the city, on the record, we touched New York City this year, but we do not owe Business Corporation Tax.
Three categories of corporations typically file NYC-245. The first is a foreign (out-of-state) corporation that solicits orders inside New York City but is protected by federal Public Law 86-272, which shields sellers of tangible personal property from net-income tax when their only in-state activity is solicitation. The second is a corporation that owns a passive interest in a New York City partnership but does not itself do business in the city. The third is a corporation that received an NYC nexus questionnaire or a failure to file notice and must affirmatively show why it owes nothing.
Filing NYC-245 is not optional once activity exists. Under 19 RCNY §11-06, a corporation that fails to file when required is treated as a non-filer of Form NYC-2, the regular Business Corporation Tax return, and the city may issue a deficiency based on best information available. A common misconception is that no income equals no filing. NYC-245 exists precisely because the city wants the disclaimer in writing, even when the corporation owes zero dollars.
Before You Start: Documents and Information You Need
Open the form only after you have every piece of information ready. NYC-245 is short, but each box draws on documents the filer must already have in hand. Missing any one of the items below either delays the filing or forces an amended return later, which the NYC Department of Finance treats as a separate event for penalty purposes.
- Federal Employer Identification Number (EIN). The city cross-checks every NYC-245 against the IRS database, and a transposed digit triggers a manual review that can take 90 days. Pull the EIN directly from the most recent IRS CP-575 letter.
- State of incorporation and date of incorporation. This drives the foreign vs. domestic analysis the city runs on every disclaimer. Pull the date from your articles of incorporation or the New York Department of State entity search.
- Date business activity began in New York City. This date controls the short-period question on the form and the statute of limitations on any later assessment. Use the earliest of: first New York City sale, first New York City employee, or first New York City office.
- Federal Form 1120 (or 1120-S) for the tax year. The city may request a copy if it audits the disclaimer, and the income figures must match what you report on Schedule A.
- List of all New York City activities during the year. Write down every visit, sale, employee, contractor, server, warehouse, and office. The Schedule A description draws directly from this list.
- Copy of any prior NYC-245, NYC-2, or NYC-3L filed by the corporation. Consistency across years is the single biggest factor in whether the city accepts the disclaimer.
- Power of Attorney (POA-1) if a CPA or attorney is signing. Without a current POA-1 on file, the city will reject any preparer signature and treat the form as unsigned.
- Officer name, title, and direct phone number. The signature block requires a responsible officer, not just a preparer, and the city calls the listed number first when it has questions.
- Mailing address for correspondence. Notices, refund checks, and audit letters go to this address, so use a monitored mailbox, not a defunct registered-agent address.
- Any NYC nexus questionnaire or notice received from DOF. Attach a copy if the form is being filed in response to a notice; otherwise the city may treat it as a stand-alone disclaimer and miss the link.
Where to Get the Form and How to Access It
The official current-year NYC-245 lives on the NYC Department of Finance Business Tax Forms page under the Business Corporation Tax heading. Always download the form fresh each year because the city revises the PDF in late January or early February, and using a prior-year version causes the scanner at DOF to reject the filing. The revision date appears in the lower-left corner of page 1 in the format Rev. MM.YY.
Three access methods exist. The first is the direct PDF download from the DOF forms page, which gives you a fillable Acrobat file you can type into and print. The second is a request by mail to the NYC Department of Finance Correspondence Unit at 59 Maiden Lane, 19th Floor, New York, NY 10038, which takes 7–10 business days. The third is through a commercial tax software package such as CCH Axcess, Lacerte, or UltraTax, which carries the current NYC-245 inside the New York City module.
A misconception worth correcting is that NYC-245 can be e-filed. It cannot. Unlike NYC-2 and NYC-2A, which the city accepts through the NYS Tax Department’s MeF program, NYC-245 is a paper-only filing as of the 2024 revision. Sending it through any e-file channel results in a non-filing and exposes the corporation to penalties.
Step-by-Step: How to Fill Out NYC-245 Line by Line
The form is two pages plus Schedule A. Work top to bottom, left to right, and never skip a box, because every blank field is treated as a no answer and not as not applicable. The instructions below track the exact field names and box numbers printed on the official NYC-245 PDF.
Box: Tax Year Beginning and Ending
This pair of dates at the very top of page 1 tells the city which tax year the disclaimer covers. Most filers use a calendar year, so the entries read 01/01/2025 and 12/31/2025. Fiscal-year filers enter their actual fiscal start and end dates in the same MM/DD/YYYY format.
Write the dates in MM/DD/YYYY with slashes, not dashes, because the DOF scanner reads only the slash format on this version of the form. Marcus Chen, the controller of a Delaware C-corp with a March fiscal year-end, writes 04/01/2025 and 03/31/2026. The most common mistake is leaving these dates blank on a calendar-year filing because the filer assumes blank means calendar year; the city instead treats the form as undated and rejects it. A frequent misconception is that the dates can be the federal tax year shown on Form 1120 even if the corporation has a different New York City activity period; the city wants the corporation’s tax year, not a partial-year period.
Box: Name of Corporation
This field asks for the legal name of the corporation as it appears on the articles of incorporation, not the doing business as name. Type the name in all capital letters because the DOF imaging system normalizes everything to uppercase and a mixed-case entry sometimes drops characters. Aisha Patel, signing for Patel Logistics Inc., a New Jersey corporation, enters PATEL LOGISTICS INC.
If the corporation does business under a trade name in New York City, that name belongs on Schedule A, not in this box. The most common mistake here is entering the trade name, which causes the city to fail the EIN cross-check and treat the form as filed by an unknown entity. A misconception is that punctuation can be dropped to save space; keep the period after INC and the comma before it because the IRS database stores them.
Box: Address (Number and Street)
Enter the corporation’s principal mailing address, which is where the city sends every notice, refund check, and audit letter for the next three years. Use a monitored address, not a registered-agent address that nobody checks. Janet Kowalski, president of a Pennsylvania manufacturing C-corp, enters 1450 INDUSTRIAL PARK DRIVE.
A P.O. Box is acceptable in this field as long as the corporation actually receives mail there, but the city prefers a street address because some certified-mail services will not deliver to P.O. Boxes. The most common mistake is using the CPA’s address; that creates a correspondence loop where the city sends notices the CPA never forwards, and statutes of limitation on responses run out. A misconception is that the address must be inside New York; it can be anywhere in the United States or abroad.
Box: City, State, and ZIP Code
Complete the address with city, two-letter state code, and the full nine-digit ZIP code if known. The nine-digit ZIP speeds up DOF mail routing by 4–6 days because the U.S. Postal Service sorts on ZIP+4 before any human handles the envelope. Marcus Chen enters WILMINGTON, DE 19801-1234.
For foreign corporations with non-U.S. addresses, write the country in the State field and the postal code in the ZIP field, and write the foreign city in the City field as usual. The most common mistake is using a four-digit state ZIP when the address actually has a ZIP+4, which slows processing. A misconception is that the city will look up a missing ZIP code; it will not, and a missing ZIP causes the form to be set aside until the filer corrects it.
Box: Employer Identification Number (EIN)
Enter the nine-digit EIN exactly as it appears on the IRS CP-575 letter the corporation received when it was issued. Use the format XX-XXXXXXX with one dash after the first two digits.
Aisha Patel enters 22-3456789 for Patel Logistics Inc. If the corporation has applied for an EIN but not yet received one, write APPLIED FOR and attach the SS-4 receipt; do not invent or estimate digits. The most common mistake is transposing two digits, which causes the city to fail the IRS database match and treat the form as filed by an unknown entity, triggering a manual review of 60–90 days. A misconception is that the New York State tax ID can be used instead; it cannot, because NYC-245 is matched on the federal EIN.
Box: Business Activity Code
This six-digit code comes from the North American Industry Classification System (NAICS) and must match the code reported on federal Form 1120, line B. The city uses this code to compare the corporation’s activities against industry-wide nexus patterns.
Janet Kowalski’s manufacturing C-corp enters 333110 for Agricultural Implement Manufacturing. Pull the code directly from the most recent Form 1120 to guarantee consistency, because a mismatch between the federal and city codes is one of the top three audit triggers DOF flags. The most common mistake is using an outdated 2017 NAICS code when the corporation has since updated to the 2022 NAICS edition; the city accepts only current-edition codes. A misconception is that the code is optional for a disclaimer filing; it is not, and a blank code forces the city to assign one based on guesswork, often pulling the corporation into a higher-scrutiny industry pool.
Box: Date Business Began in NYC
Enter the earliest date on which the corporation engaged in any activity in New York City, including a single sales call, a remote employee’s first day working from a New York City apartment, or the first dollar of New York City sales. This date controls the city’s look-back period for any later audit.
Marcus Chen enters 06/15/2023, the date the Delaware C-corp’s first remote engineer moved to a Brooklyn apartment. If the corporation has never had New York City activity before this tax year, enter the date that activity began this year. The most common mistake is entering the date the corporation was incorporated, which has nothing to do with New York City and gives the city a false start date for the statute of limitations. A misconception is that passive activity such as owning a partnership interest does not count; under NYC Admin Code §11-653, even passive income from a New York City partnership starts the clock.
Box: Type of Entity Checkboxes
The form lists checkboxes for C corporation, S corporation, qualified subchapter S subsidiary (QSSS), and other. Check exactly one. The choice drives whether the city expects an NYC-2 or an NYC-2S as the alternative filing if the disclaimer is rejected.
Aisha Patel checks S corporation because Patel Logistics Inc. elected S status with the IRS in 2019 and New York City conforms to the federal election after the 2015 reform. The most common mistake is checking C corporation out of habit when the corporation has elected S status; the mismatch with the federal Form 1120-S triggers an automatic notice. A misconception is that a single-member LLC taxed as a corporation checks other; it actually checks the box matching its federal election (C or S).
Schedule A: Nature of Activities in New York City
Schedule A is the heart of the disclaimer. Describe every activity the corporation conducted in New York City during the tax year, in plain English, in enough detail that a DOF auditor reading the form years later can understand exactly what happened. One sentence per activity is the right level of detail.
Marcus Chen writes: One software engineer worked remotely from a personal Brooklyn apartment from 06/15/2023 through 12/31/2025. The corporation has no New York City office, no New York City customers, and no New York City property. The engineer’s role is product development; no sales solicitation occurs. The most common mistake is writing none in this box when the corporation actually had activity; the city reads none as inconsistent with the very fact of filing NYC-245 and opens an inquiry. A misconception is that the description must mirror the federal Form 1120 description; it should describe only New York City activity, which is usually a small subset of overall operations.
Schedule A: Public Law 86-272 Protection
If the corporation claims protection under Public Law 86-272, say so explicitly in Schedule A and identify the activities that fit within the federal safe harbor. The safe harbor covers solicitation of orders for tangible personal property where the orders are sent outside the state for approval and shipped from outside the state.
Janet Kowalski writes: The corporation’s only New York City activity is solicitation of orders for tangible personal property by two traveling salespeople. Orders are approved and shipped from Pennsylvania. The corporation claims protection under Public Law 86-272. The most common mistake is claiming P.L. 86-272 while also providing in-state services such as installation or training, which destroys the safe harbor. A misconception is that P.L. 86-272 protects sales of services or digital goods; it does not, and the 2021 Multistate Tax Commission guidance further narrows the safe harbor for internet activities.
Box: Officer Signature, Title, Date, and Phone
The form must be signed by an officer of the corporation, not just a preparer. The city defines officer as president, vice president, treasurer, assistant treasurer, chief accounting officer, or any other officer duly authorized to act.
Aisha Patel signs as President, prints AISHA PATEL, dates the form 03/12/2026, and writes her direct line (201) 555-0142. The most common mistake is signing in the preparer block instead of the officer block, which the city treats as an unsigned return and rejects. A misconception is that an electronic or stamped signature is acceptable; on the paper-only NYC-245, the city requires a wet-ink signature.
Box: Preparer Signature Block
If a CPA, enrolled agent, or attorney prepared the form, that person signs the preparer block and enters their PTIN, firm name, firm EIN, and firm address. A current Power of Attorney POA-1 must be on file with DOF before the preparer signs.
David Ruiz, CPA, signs for Patel Logistics Inc., enters PTIN P01234567, and lists his firm RUIZ & ASSOCIATES CPAS PC. The most common mistake is leaving the PTIN blank; under IRC §6109 every paid preparer must include a PTIN, and DOF rejects unsigned-PTIN forms. A misconception is that a CPA license number can substitute for the PTIN; only the federal PTIN is accepted.
Three Filled-Out Examples Using Real Scenarios
The three scenarios below walk through the most common NYC-245 fact patterns. Each scenario follows one named filer through the entire form so you can see exactly what gets entered in each major section.
Scenario 1: Marcus Chen — Delaware C-Corp With One Remote Brooklyn Engineer
| Form Section | What Marcus Enters |
|---|---|
| Tax Year Beginning / Ending | 01/01/2025 and 12/31/2025 |
| Name of Corporation | NORTHSTAR ANALYTICS INC. |
| Address | 200 DELAWARE AVENUE, SUITE 900 |
| City, State, ZIP | WILMINGTON, DE 19801-1234 |
| EIN | 51-2345678 |
| Business Activity Code (NAICS) | 541511 (Custom Computer Programming Services) |
| Date Business Began in NYC | 06/15/2023 |
| Type of Entity | C corporation |
| Schedule A — Nature of NYC Activities | One software engineer works remotely from a personal Brooklyn apartment. No NYC office, no NYC customers, no NYC property. Role is product development; no sales activity. |
| Officer Signature | Marcus Chen, Controller, 03/10/2026, (302) 555-0188 |
Scenario 2: Aisha Patel — New Jersey S-Corp Making Occasional NYC Sales Calls
| Form Section | What Aisha Enters |
|---|---|
| Tax Year Beginning / Ending | 01/01/2025 and 12/31/2025 |
| Name of Corporation | PATEL LOGISTICS INC. |
| Address | 85 ROUTE 17 NORTH |
| City, State, ZIP | PARAMUS, NJ 07652-3301 |
| EIN | 22-3456789 |
| Business Activity Code (NAICS) | 484110 (General Freight Trucking, Local) |
| Date Business Began in NYC | 02/01/2020 |
| Type of Entity | S corporation |
| Schedule A — Nature of NYC Activities | Two salespeople solicit orders in NYC for trucking services. All contracts approved at NJ headquarters. No NYC office, no NYC employees, no NYC property. Corporation claims protection under P.L. 86-272 to the extent applicable. |
| Officer Signature | Aisha Patel, President, 03/12/2026, (201) 555-0142 |
Scenario 3: Janet Kowalski — PA Manufacturer Owning Passive Interest in NYC Partnership
| Form Section | What Janet Enters |
|---|---|
| Tax Year Beginning / Ending | 01/01/2025 and 12/31/2025 |
| Name of Corporation | KOWALSKI IMPLEMENTS INC. |
| Address | 1450 INDUSTRIAL PARK DRIVE |
| City, State, ZIP | LANCASTER, PA 17601-4422 |
| EIN | 23-4567890 |
| Business Activity Code (NAICS) | 333110 (Agricultural Implement Manufacturing) |
| Date Business Began in NYC | 09/01/2024 |
| Type of Entity | C corporation |
| Schedule A — Nature of NYC Activities | Corporation owns a 4% limited-partner interest in 245 W 38th Realty LP, an NYC real estate partnership. No active management. No NYC employees, no NYC office, no NYC sales. Income is passive K-1 distributions only. |
| Officer Signature | Janet Kowalski, President, 04/02/2026, (717) 555-0166 |
A fourth named filer worth noting is Reza Hosseini, a tax director at a foreign LLC taxed as a C-corp that received an NYC-2 notice in error and files NYC-245 to clear the record. A fifth is Linda Park, a CPA who files NYC-245 on behalf of a small Vermont S-corp whose only NYC activity is a single contractor relationship.
How to File the Completed Form
NYC-245 is a paper-only filing. The NYC Department of Finance accepts the form by U.S. Mail, certified mail, or private delivery service, but not by e-file, fax, or in-person drop-off as of the 2024 revision.
For standard U.S. Mail, send the signed original to NYC Department of Finance, P.O. Box 5564, Binghamton, NY 13902-5564. There is no filing fee. Processing time is 8–12 weeks. Keep the certified mail receipt as proof of timely filing because the postmark controls under the NYC mailbox rule.
For certified mail with return receipt requested, use the same Binghamton P.O. Box and pay the U.S. Postal Service certified-mail fee (currently around $4.85 plus return-receipt postage). The green return-receipt card is the single best proof of filing the city accepts in a later audit.
For private delivery service such as FedEx or UPS, you must use the street address rather than the P.O. Box: NYC Department of Finance, 59 Maiden Lane, 19th Floor, New York, NY 10038. Only IRS-designated private delivery services qualify for the timely-filing safe harbor; using a non-designated courier voids the postmark protection.
A CPA or attorney filing on behalf of a corporation must attach a current Power of Attorney Form POA-1 signed by a corporate officer. Without the POA-1, the city rejects the preparer’s signature and treats the form as unsigned. Keep a stamped copy of the POA-1 for your own records.
What Happens After You File
After NYC-245 reaches DOF, the form goes through three stages. First, an imaging clerk scans it into the city’s system within 2–4 weeks. Second, a corporate-tax examiner reviews the disclaimer for completeness and matches the EIN against the IRS database within 6–8 weeks of imaging. Third, the form either clears (no further action) or generates a follow-up letter requesting documentation.
A clean disclaimer ends the matter for that tax year. The corporation receives no acknowledgment letter; silence is acceptance. Keep the certified-mail return receipt and a copy of the signed form for at least six years because the city’s general statute of limitations under NYC Admin Code §11-674 is six years for non-filers.
A follow-up letter typically requests a copy of the federal Form 1120, a list of New York City customers, payroll records for any New York City employees, and copies of any partnership K-1s. Respond within the 30-day window stated on the letter; missing the deadline converts the disclaimer into a deemed-filed NYC-2 with city-estimated income.
Mistakes to Avoid When Filling Out the Form
The ten mistakes below come from DOF examiner feedback and CPA practitioner notes. Each one is specific to NYC-245 and each one carries a direct consequence.
- Using a prior-year revision of the form. The DOF scanner rejects stale revisions and treats the filing as never made.
- Leaving the Date Business Began in NYC box blank. The city defaults to the date of incorporation, lengthening the statute of limitations.
- Transposing two digits in the EIN. The IRS database match fails and the form sits in manual-review limbo for 60–90 days.
- Checking C corporation when the corporation has elected S status. The mismatch with federal Form 1120-S triggers an automatic deficiency notice.
- Writing none in Schedule A while NYC activity exists. The city reads this as a contradiction and opens a nexus inquiry.
- Claiming P.L. 86-272 while also performing in-state services. The safe harbor is destroyed and the corporation owes Business Corporation Tax.
- Signing only in the preparer block. The city treats the form as unsigned and rejects it.
- Forgetting the POA-1 when a CPA signs. The city rejects the preparer’s signature and assesses a late-filing penalty.
- Mailing to the street address using regular U.S. Mail. The Binghamton P.O. Box is for U.S. Mail; the Maiden Lane address is only for IRS-designated private couriers.
- Failing to keep the certified-mail return receipt. Without the receipt, the corporation cannot prove timely filing in a later audit.
Do’s and Don’ts
The list below distills the operational rules into quick-reference form. Each item carries a brief why so you can train staff or clients on the rules without re-reading the instructions.
- Do download a fresh PDF every January, because the form revises annually and the scanner rejects stale revisions.
- Do match every entry to the federal Form 1120, because mismatches drive 60% of DOF follow-up letters.
- Do keep the certified-mail return receipt for six years, because that is the city’s full statute of limitations for non-filers.
- Do attach a copy of any DOF nexus letter that prompted the filing, so the city links the disclaimer to the correct file.
- Do write Schedule A in plain English, because a future auditor must understand the activity from the page alone.
- Do use a wet-ink signature, because electronic signatures are not accepted on this paper form.
- Don’t use the registered-agent address, because notices land where nobody reads them.
- Don’t e-file, fax, or hand-deliver the form, because the city accepts only mail or private delivery service.
- Don’t paraphrase the field labels in your records, because exact box names matter when the city audits.
- Don’t write not applicable in any box, because the scanner treats every blank as a no answer, not as N/A.
- Don’t sign as preparer when you are also the officer; sign in both blocks if both roles apply.
- Don’t assume passive partnership income is too small to count, because even one dollar of NYC partnership income triggers the filing requirement.
Pros and Cons of Filing on Your Own vs. With Help
The choice between pro-se filing and engaging a CPA depends on the corporation’s risk profile, the complexity of its NYC activity, and the cost of professional help. The lists below frame both sides.
- Pro: Pro-se filing costs nothing beyond postage, which is meaningful for a small corporation with one remote employee.
- Pro: The form itself is short, only two pages plus Schedule A, so a careful officer can complete it in 60–90 minutes.
- Pro: Filing pro se forces the officer to understand the corporation’s NYC footprint, which is useful in any later audit.
- Pro: There is no fee, no e-file mandate, and no software requirement for pro-se filers.
- Pro: A pro-se filer controls the wording of Schedule A, which is the single most important field on the form.
- Con: A misstep on Schedule A can convert a non-taxable corporation into a taxable one; the cost of the mistake far exceeds CPA fees.
- Con: P.L. 86-272 analysis is genuinely hard, especially after the 2021 MTC guidance on internet activities, and most non-tax officers get it wrong.
- Con: A CPA’s signature with a current POA-1 gives the city a single point of contact, which speeds up any follow-up.
- Con: A CPA spots related filing requirements (NY State CT-245, NJ CBT-100, etc.) that a pro-se filer often misses.
- Con: Without a CPA, the corporation has no professional advocate if DOF later challenges the disclaimer.
NYC-245 vs. NYC-2: How the Forms Differ
The table below contrasts NYC-245 with Form NYC-2, the regular Business Corporation Tax return, so filers understand exactly which form fits which fact pattern.
| Feature | NYC-245 vs. NYC-2 |
|---|---|
| Purpose | NYC-245 disclaims tax liability; NYC-2 reports and pays Business Corporation Tax |
| Filing trigger | Activity in NYC without taxable nexus; NYC-2 is filed when nexus exists |
| Filing fee | None for NYC-245; NYC-2 carries the actual tax due |
| Filing channel | Paper only for NYC-245; NYC-2 is e-filed through MeF |
| Tax computed | None on NYC-245; full Business Corporation Tax on NYC-2 |
| Schedules | Short Schedule A only; NYC-2 includes apportionment, credits, and combined-group schedules |
| Statute of limitations | Six years for non-filers if NYC-245 is missed; three years from NYC-2 filing |
| Attachments | None required unless responding to a notice; NYC-2 requires federal 1120 and apportionment data |
FAQs
Can I file NYC-245 electronically?
No. NYC-245 is paper-only as of the 2024 revision. The city accepts the form by U.S. Mail, certified mail, or IRS-designated private delivery service, but not by e-file, fax, or in-person drop-off.
Is there a fee to file NYC-245?
No. The form carries no filing fee. Postage and certified-mail fees are the only out-of-pocket costs for a pro-se filer.
Do I need a Power of Attorney if my CPA signs?
Yes. A current Form POA-1 must be on file with NYC DOF before any preparer signs. Without it, the city rejects the preparer’s signature and treats the form as unsigned.
Does P.L. 86-272 protect a corporation that sells services in NYC?
No. Public Law 86-272 protects only the solicitation of orders for tangible personal property. Service providers, digital-goods sellers, and SaaS companies cannot rely on the safe harbor.
Do I write my trade name or my legal name in the Name of Corporation box?
No to the trade name. The legal name on the articles of incorporation is the only acceptable entry; the trade name belongs in Schedule A if it appears at all.
Can I write N/A in a box that does not apply to my corporation?
No. The DOF scanner reads N/A the same as a blank, which it treats as a no answer. Write a substantive entry such as NONE with a brief Schedule A explanation.
Do I use my federal EIN or my New York State tax ID?
Yes to the federal EIN. NYC-245 is matched on the EIN issued by the IRS; the New York State tax ID is not accepted on this form.
Should I enter the date of incorporation in the Date Business Began in NYC box?
No. That box asks for the earliest date of NYC activity, which is usually long after incorporation. Entering the incorporation date lengthens the city’s audit window.
Can I sign the form with a digital or stamped signature?
No. NYC-245 requires a wet-ink signature on the paper original. Digital and stamped signatures are not accepted on this revision.
Do I attach a copy of my federal Form 1120?
No by default. Attach the 1120 only if the form is filed in response to a DOF notice that specifically requests it.
Does owning a passive interest in an NYC partnership require NYC-245?
Yes. Passive partnership income from a New York City partnership is enough to trigger the filing requirement, even with no active management.
Will I receive an acknowledgment letter from DOF?
No. Silence is acceptance. The city sends a follow-up letter only if it needs more information; otherwise the disclaimer simply clears.
Do I file a separate NYC-245 for each tax year I have NYC activity?
Yes. A new NYC-245 is required for every tax year in which the corporation has NYC activity but disclaims tax liability.
Can I file NYC-245 late without penalty?
No. A late NYC-245 exposes the corporation to non-filer treatment under NYC-2 rules, which carries penalties of up to 25% of any tax the city later assesses.
Do I check C corporation if my single-member LLC is taxed as a corporation?
Yes if the LLC has elected C-corp treatment on Form 8832; check S corporation if the LLC has further elected S status. Do not check other.
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