Starting March 1, all retailers and entities that collect sales tax will be prohibited from distributing plastic carryout bags to customers, with limited exceptions. The New York State Bag Waste Reduction Act authorizes counties and cities to impose a five-cent paper carryout bag reduction fee on paper carryout bags that sales tax vendors provide to customers.

Sales tax vendors that sell tangible personal property in a locality where the fee is imposed must collect the fee when they provide a paper carryout bag to a customer.

Localities that are imposing the fee beginning March 1, 2020, are:

  • Suffolk County
  • Tompkins County
  • New York City

Any vendor who charges a customer for a paper carryout bag in a jurisdiction that does not impose a fee (or charges in excess of a locally imposed fee) is selling tangible personal property subject to sales tax.

Visit Paper carryout bag reduction fee periodically for new information.

For more information, visit the Department of Environmental Conservation website at Bag Waste Reduction Law: Information for Manufacturers and Retailers.