Legislative Agenda

Proposed 2026 Legislative & Regulatory Agenda

Overview: This legislative and regulatory agenda was developed with input from the NYCPA Legislative Task Force and will serve as the action plan for staff and volunteer activities this session.

False Claims Act – S.556

False Claims Act

BACKGROUND: The federal False Claims Act (FCA) allows the government to recover funds obtained through fraud but excludes tax-related fraud through a “tax bar.” New York has removed this bar, making its FCA broader than federal law. Under current New York law, liability applies only when false claims are made knowingly—meaning intentional fraud, deliberate ignorance, or reckless disregard—not simple mistakes.

Tax-related FCA claims in New York are already limited to cases where the taxpayer has $1M+ in income or sales in a contested year and owes at least $350K. The Attorney General must consult the Tax Commissioner before intervening.

The recent bills S.556 and S.944, proposed by Senator Brad Hoylman-Sigel (D-Manhattan), would remove the “knowingly” requirement for certain unpaid tax obligations, allowing claims even without proof of intent—plus retroactive application. NYSSCPA opposed the bill, warning it could:

· Drag well-intentioned taxpayers into costly litigation.

· Overlap with existing tax penalties for non-willful errors.

· Chill the CPA profession, especially in gray areas of tax law, potentially driving talent out of New York.

UPDATE: Thanks in part to NYCPA’s strategic advocacy, S.556 and other likeminded bills have either stalled in the legislature or have been vetoed by the Governor. NYCPA supports using the FCA to combat fraud but opposes expansions that penalize taxpayers for non-willful mistakes or create undue burdens for CPAs.

Power of Attorney E-Signature Expansion 

BACKGROUND: Although New York state passed its historic e-signature bill during the height of COVID, the NYCPA is looking for an expansion that would allow documents to be signed electronically by someone holding Power of Attorney.

UPDATE: The expansion bill was first introduced by Senator John Liu (D-Queens) in the Senate and Assemblymember Bill Magnarelli (D-Syracuse) in 2022. The legislation A.249/S.52 was reintroduced

in the 2023, 2024, and 2025 legislative sessions. Their NYCPA-backed bill authorizes the use of an electronic signature by a person granted power of attorney with respect to tax documents submitted. The bill passed unanimously in the Assembly in June 2025 and with one negative vote in the Senate in February of 2025. The legislation is currently awaiting to be delivered to the Governor for her signature or veto. NYCPA’s Government Relations Team believes the Governor will sign the legislation into law.

Pass Through Entity Tax (PTET)

BACKGROUND: The Pass-Through Entity Tax (PTET) has been one of our biggest legislative wins over the past five years. It has saved New York taxpayers large amounts of federal tax, at no cost to the state.

As good as it has been, the Society believes that it still needs adjustment to resolve some of the issues that have arisen on a consistent basis. Most of the problems revolve around the fixed election date of March 15 of the taxable year in which the election would be effective. For example, if a partnership is formed on March 1, 2023, it can elect to pay PTET for the 2023 tax year. If it is formed on March 31, 2023, the first year in which it could elect PTET is 2024. Another example would be if there is a windfall gain in an entity after the March 15 election date, an entity cannot then elect in.

Since the imposition of the tax is fiscally neutral to the state, there is no reason to have the fixed date within the first 2½ months of a tax year. We are urging the legislature to adopt a post year-end election date, while imposing an estimated tax requirement with penalties for underpayment of estimates for any year, regardless of the election date.

UPDATE: The Governor added PTET to her Executive Budget for FY2026, but the Legislature’s two-house budget took it out. During the negotiation process, PTET was on and off the table. At the conclusion of negotiations, PTET was not added to the recently passed budget bills. Although we are disappointed by this news, we will continue to advocate for this vital legislation. Conversation surrounding adding PTET to the Governor’s FY2027 budget have already begun.

E-Signature for POA-1

BACKGROUND: To obtain a Power of Attorney in New York State, one must fill out a POA-1 form. The process to fill out this out is rather extensive with having to download the form, print it out, sign it with a wet signature, scan and email/traditional mail back to the agency. NYCPA firmly believes this process could be simplified and digitized to allow taxpayers a more accessible process.

New York's Transparency Act

BACKGROUND: New York has enacted a beneficial ownership transparency law applying to limited liability companies (LLCs). Recent federal developments have narrowed enforcement of the original Corporate Transparency Act (CTA) to foreign entities only. Because many of New York’s definitions were anchored to federal language, New York’s statute should be clarified, and operationalized. In addition, the New York LLC Transparency Act is to be administered by the New York Department of State. NYCPA welcomes the opportunity to work closely with the New York State Department in developing an administrative regime for implementing this Act that provides useful information but is not unduly burdensome.