§ 12-06 Registration.
RCNY § 12-06
(a)Every operator is required to file a certificate of registration in a form prescribed by the Commissioner of Finance. In the case of operators commencing business or opening new hotels the certificate is required to be filed with the Commissioner of Finance within three days after such commencement or opening. An operator of a hotel having 10 or more rooms or 10 or more apartments or living units offered for lodging of guests is deemed to have commenced business or opened a new hotel when such rooms are first offered to the public. In the case of a building or portion of a building having fewer than 10 rooms or fewer than 10 apartments or living units offered for lodging of guests, the operator will be considered to have commenced business or to have opened a hotel as of the first date that the rental of such rooms or living units exceeds either of the de minimis thresholds described in subsection a of 19 RCNY § 12-01 (i.e., such rooms or units are rented on three or more occasions or for more than 14 days in the aggregate) during any four consecutive quarterly tax periods, or, beginning on and after March 1, 2005, during any twelve-month tax period. Within five days after such registration, the Commissioner of Finance shall issue, without charge, to each operator, a certificate of authority empowering such operator to collect the tax from the occupant, and, in addition, a certificate of authority for each additional hotel of such operator. Each certificate shall state the hotel to which it is applicable. Such certificate of authority must be prominently displayed by the operator in such manner that it may be seen and come to the notice of all occupants and persons seeking occupancy. Such certificates are not assignable or transferable and must be surrendered immediately to the Commissioner of Finance upon the cessation of business at the hotel named therein, or upon its sale or transfer, together with an affidavit setting forth the pertinent details of such cessation. An operator of fewer than 10 rooms or 10 apartments or living units, after having registered, is not deemed to have ceased business merely because the rental of rooms or living units falls below the de minimis thresholds set forth in the last paragraph of the definition of "hotel" contained in 19 RCNY § 12-01 during a subsequent quarterly or annual period unless the operator has filed annual reports for each of the immediately preceding three annual periods showing no rooms available for rental to transients (i.e., guests other than permanent residents). If the business is continued at the same place, but there is a change in the form of the organization, such as from a single proprietorship to a partnership or corporation, the operator is required to return his certificate for cancellation, and the successor is required to file a new application for a certificate of authority.
(b)Registration hereunder is separate and apart from registration under the Sales Tax, and the operator who is registered under the Sales Tax must also register under the Tax on Occupancy of Hotel Rooms.
