§ 33-01 — General Provisions

§ 33-01 General Provisions.

(a) Purpose. (1) Title 11, Chapter 2, § 11-208.1 of the Administrative Code of the City of New York requires owners of designated income-producing properties to file annual income and expense statements with the Department of Finance. The income and expense statement must be filed by electronic means in accordance with the provisions of subdivision (b) of 19 RCNY § 33-02. The annual filing of income and expense statements is necessary to improve the accuracy of assessments of income-producing properties, reduce the number of administrative and judicial review proceedings challenging tentative assessed valuations, ensure the equitable distribution of the intra-class tax burden, substantially reduce tax refunds to be paid by the City of New York, and ultimately to achieve fairness in the assessment process. (2) These regulations govern the administration of the filing of income and expense statements as authorized by Title 11, Chapter 2, § 11-208.1 of the Administrative Code of the City of New York. (3) Income and expense statements filed by property owners shall be governed by the substantive law and regulations in effect as of the date on which such statements are filed with the Department. (4) The Commissioner of Finance may delegate any of the duties of the Commissioner under these regulations to any employee of the Department of Finance whom the Commissioner designates as the Commissioner's representative. All references contained in these regulations relating to the Commissioner of Finance shall mean the Commissioner and/or the Commissioner's representative. (b) Income-producing property. (1) The term "income-producing property" as used in these regulations shall mean property owned for the purpose of securing an income from the property itself for which an income and expense statement is required pursuant to § 11-208.1 of the Administrative Code. Income-producing property shall include but shall not be limited to the following type of property: (i) apartment houses; (ii) commercial and professional condominiums; (iii) department stores; notwithstanding the provisions of subparagraph (iv) of paragraph (2) of this section, any owner-occupied department store occupying 10,000 or more square feet in a building is income-producing property for purposes of these rules; (iv) factories and industrial buildings; (v) garages and parking lots, regardless of whether they are owner-occupied; (vi) hospitals; (vii) hotels or motels, regardless of whether they are owner-occupied in part or in their entirety; (viii) lofts; (ix) mixed-use buildings of all types (e.g., buildings which contain both commercial and residential space, office and garage space, hotel and restaurant space); (x) nursing homes and health-related facilities; (xi) office buildings; (xii) partially tax-exempt properties; (xiii) places of public assembly; (xiv) privately owned educational structures; (xv) rented commercial and/or professional space in residential condominium buildings, or cooperative buildings with more than 2,500 square feet of commercial space, not including any garage; (xvi) restaurants; (xvii) retail stores; (xviii) theaters (movie or stage), regardless of whether they are owner-occupied; (xix) transportation facilities; (xx) vacant land (when income is derived from the land, e.g., unimproved land used as a parking lot); (xxi) warehouses; (xxii) self-storage warehouses, regardless of whether they are owner-occupied; (xxiii) gasoline stations, regardless of whether they are owner-occupied; (xxiv) car washes, regardless of whether they are owner-occupied; and (xxv) power plants, generators, telecommunication lines, railroads and other equipment defined as real property in paragraphs (c), (d), (e), (f) and (i) of subdivision 12 of § 102 of the Real Property Tax Law, regardless of whether it is owner-occupied, other than special franchise property that is assessed pursuant to article 6 of the Real Property Tax Law. (2) The following properties are not considered income-producing property for the purpose of these regulations and owners of such properties may, but are not required to, file income and expense statements pursuant to § 11-208.1 of the Administrative Code: (i) property with a tentative actual assessed valuation of $40,000 or less on the tentative assessment roll promulgated in the year that the income and expense statement would otherwise be required to be filed pursuant to subdivision (a) of 19 RCNY § 33-02; notwithstanding the preceding sentence, owners are not required to file income and expense statements if the actual assessed valuation for such tax year is subsequently reduced to $40,000 or less; (ii) residential property containing ten or fewer dwelling units; (iii) property classified in tax class one or tax class two as defined in § 1802 of the Real Property Tax Law containing six or fewer dwelling units and one retail store; (iv) except as otherwise provided in paragraph (1) of this subdivision, residential or commercial properties which are completely owner-occupied; for purposes of these rules, the meaning of "owner-occupied" shall include property that is leased to (A) individuals that are the spouse, parents, children or siblings of the property owner; (B) individuals that are the mother-in-law, father-in-law, son-in-law, daughter-in-law, brother-in-law or sister-in-law of the property owner; (C) businesses that are in common control with the property owner; and (D) beneficiaries of a property owner that is a fiduciary for such beneficiaries; (v) property which is fully exempt from real property taxation; (vi) exclusively residential property held in condominium form of ownership, or cooperative property with no more than 2,500 square feet of commercial space; and (vii) special franchise property that is assessed pursuant to article 6 of the Real Property Tax Law; and (viii) property that is uninhabitable where such property is in a state of substantial disrepair rendering such property unsafe or unfit for occupancy or use. (3) Notwithstanding any other provision of this subdivision, an income and expense statement must be filed for the commercial portion of a property owned by a not-for-profit organization or government entity if the property is leased to a commercial tenant, and in such cases, the commercial tenant may file the income and expense statement. Notwithstanding the preceding sentence, no income and expense statement is required if the use of the property by the commercial tenant is an exempt use under the provisions of the Real Property Tax Law and if real property owned by such tenant, if it owned any, is or would be exempt from taxation under the Real Property Tax Law, and if the rent paid by such tenant does not exceed the amount of the carrying, maintenance and depreciation charges of the portion of the property occupied by such tenant. (4) Notwithstanding any other provision of this subdivision, the owner of a ground floor or second floor commercial premises, as such terms are defined in subdivision a of § 11-3001 of the Administrative Code of the City of New York, as added by local law number 157 for the year 2019, must file a registration statement and, if applicable, a supplemental registration statement pursuant to section Chapter 30 of Title 11 of the Administrative Code of the City of New York, as added by local law number 157 for the year 2019, in conjunction with the income and expense statement. (c) Income and expense items. (1) Income items shall include but shall not be limited to the following: (i) rental income from tenants – actual rent paid or accrued for space occupied by tenants; (ii) rental value of owner-occupied space – the total rental value attributable to space occupied by the owner; (iii) operating escalation income actual amounts paid or accrued pursuant to lease escalation clauses in addition to a tenant's base rent resulting from increases in operating expenses; (iv) water, sewer and real estate tax escalation income – actual amounts paid or accrued pursuant to lease escalation clauses in addition to a tenant's base rent resulting from increases in water and sewer charges and real estate taxes; (v) sales of utilities and services – actually gross income from the sale of utilities and services such as electricity, air conditioning and cooking fuel; (vi) common area charges – amounts paid by or accrued from tenants for the maintenance and repair of interior and exterior common areas; (vii) services (e.g., laundry, valet, vending machines) – actual gross income from such services; (viii) senior citizen rent increase exemption (SCRIE) tax abatement – the sum of all real estate taxes abated by the City of New York plus any amounts above the current tax liability which are refunded or credited as a result of the exemption of individual senior citizens from rental increases pursuant to § 467-b of the Real Property Tax Law; (ix) rent subsidies paid by or accrued from a governmental body; (x) the value of improvements provided by the tenant in lieu of rent; and (xi) other income – any other income derived from the property, excluding interest on bank accounts and tenants' deposits. (2) Expense items shall include but shall not be limited to the following: (i) fuel – amounts paid or accrued for any fuel for heating or supplying hot water for the premises (including the cost of any cooking fuel provided to any of the tenants); (ii) light and power – amounts paid or accrued for these utilities; (iii) cleaning – amounts paid or accrued for cleaning contracts; (iv) wages – salaries and commissions paid or accrued for services relating to the operation and maintenance of the property (excluding salaries or commissions paid to directors, officers or management); (v) repairs and maintenance – amounts paid or accrued for the general maintenance and repair of the property, excluding the amount attributable to capital improvements. Reserve accounts for appropriate replacement costs (e.g., roofing, boilers), when prorated on a yearly basis over an acceptable period, will be treated as an acceptable expense, whether or not actually expended; (vi) common area maintenance – amounts paid or accrued for the maintenance of interior and exterior common areas; (vii) management and administration – expenses for management, legal and accounting services attributable to the property; (viii) insurance – annual charges for all insurance premiums relating to the property (multi-year policy premiums are to be prorated on a yearly basis); (ix) water and sewer – actual expenses incurred for water and sewer usage; (x) advertising and promotion – fees paid or accrued for advertising rental space in the property; (xi) decorating – the cost of all contracted labor and decorating materials; (xii) leasing expenses – prorated yearly costs of broker commissions and consultant fees which relate to renting space in the property; (xiii) real estate taxes – total annual real property taxes paid or accrued or in the case of a senior citizen rent increase exemption, the total tax levied; and (xiv) miscellaneous expenses – other expenses not mentioned above relating to the operation and maintenance of the property, excluding depreciation expenses, mortgage payments or interest expenses of any type. (d) The term “person” as used in these regulations means a natural person, co-partnership, firm, company, association, joint stock association, corporation or other like organization. (Amended City Record 3/31/2020, eff. 4/30/2020; amended City Record 7/22/2026, eff. 8/21/2026*) * Editor's note: Section 9 of the rule set forth in City Record 7/22/2026 provides that the rule applies to filings made pursuant to 19 RCNY Chapter 33 after January 1, 2027.