§ 145 — General powers of director of finance

New York § 145

• Jurisdiction: New York
• Law GCM: General City Model 772/66

Text

§ 145. General powers of director of finance. (a) General.--The\ndirector of finance shall administer and enforce the tax imposed by this\ntitle and he is authorized to make such rules and regulations, and to\nrequire such facts and information to be reported, as he may deem\nnecessary to enforce the provisions of this title; and he may delegate\nhis powers and functions under all parts of this title to one of his\ndeputies or to any employee or employees of his department.\n (b) Examination of books and witnesses.--The director of finance for\nthe purpose of ascertaining the correctness of any return, or for the\npurpose of making an estimate of taxable income of any person, shall\nhave power to examine or to cause to have examined, by any agent or\nrepresentative designated by him for that purpose, any books, papers,\nrecords or memoranda bearing upon the matters required to be included in\nthe return, and may require the attendance of the person rendering the\nreturn or any officer or employee of such person, or the attendance of\nany other person having knowledge in the premises, and may take\ntestimony and require proof material for his information, with power to\nadminister oaths to such person or persons.\n (c) Abatement authority.--The director of finance, of his own motion,\nmay abate any small unpaid balance of an assessment of tax under this\npart, or any liability in respect thereof, if the director of finance\ndetermines under uniform rules prescribed by him that the administration\nand collection costs involved would not warrant collection of the amount\ndue. He may also abate, of his own motion, the unpaid portion of the\nassessment of any tax or any liability in respect thereof, which is\nexcessive in amount, or is assessed after the expiration of the period\nof limitation properly applicable thereto, or is erroneously or\nillegally assessed. No claim for abatement under this subdivision shall\nbe filed by a taxpayer.\n (d) Special refund authority.--Where no questions of fact or law are\ninvolved and it appears from the records of the director of finance that\nany moneys have been erroneously or illegally collected from any\ntaxpayer or other person, or paid by such taxpayer or other person under\na mistake of facts, pursuant to the provisions of this title, the\ndirector of finance at any time, without regard to any period of\nlimitations, shall have the power, upon making a record of his reasons\ntherefor in writing, to cause such moneys so paid and being erroneously\nand illegally held to be refunded.\n (e) Cooperation with the United States, this state and other\nstates.--Notwithstanding the provisions of section one hundred\nforty-six, the director of finance may permit the secretary of the\ntreasury of the United States or his delegates, or the proper officer of\nthis or any other state imposing an income tax upon the incomes of\nindividuals, or the authorized representative of any such officer, to\ninspect any return filed under this title or may furnish to such officer\nor his authorized representative an abstract of any such return or\nsupply him with information concerning an item contained in any such\nreturn, or disclosed by any investigation of tax liability under this\ntitle, but such permission shall be granted or such information\nfurnished to such officer or his representative only if the laws of the\nUnited States or of such state, as the case may be, grant substantially\nsimilar privileges to the director of finance and such information is to\nbe used for tax purposes only; and provided further the director of\nfinance may furnish to the secretary of the treasury of the United\nStates or his delegates or to the tax commission of the state of New\nYork or its delegates such returns filed under this title and other tax\ninformation, as he may consider proper, for use in court actions or\nproceedings under the internal revenue code or the tax law of the state\nof New York, whether civil or criminal, where a written request therefor\nhas been made to the director of finance by the secretary of the\ntreasury or by such tax commission or by their delegates, provided the\nlaws of the United States or the laws of the state of New York grant\nsubstantially similar powers to the secretary of the treasury or his\ndelegates or to such tax commission or its delegates. Where the director\nof finance has so authorized use of returns or other information in such\nactions or proceedings, officers and employees of the department of\nfinance may testify in such actions or proceedings in respect to such\nreturns or other information.\n (f) Authority to set interest rates.--The commissioner of finance, by\nregulation, may set the rate of interest to be paid pursuant to sections\none hundred thirty-two, one hundred thirty-three and one hundred\nthirty-six. Such rate shall be the same for each such section and shall\nbe not less than six percent per annum nor more than the rate of\ninterest prescribed by the banking board pursuant to section fourteen-a\nof the banking law, but if the commissioner of finance has not set such\nrate, interest at six percent per annum shall apply. Any rate set by\nthe commissioner of finance shall go into effect not less than sixty\ndays after the regulation is promulgated, and shall apply only to taxes\ndue or paid for taxable years commencing after the effective date of\nsuch regulation.\n (g) In computing the amount of any interest required to be paid under\nthis title by the commissioner of finance or by the taxpayer, or any\nother amount determined by reference to such amount of interest, such\ninterest and such amount shall be compounded daily. The preceding\nsentence shall not apply for purposes of computing the amount of any\naddition to tax for failure to pay estimated tax under subdivision (c)\nof section one hundred thirty-three.\n (h) Fractional parts of a dollar. -- The commissioner of finance may\nprovide by regulation (1) that in any determination, assessment,\ncollection, refund or credit under this title, a fractional part of a\ndollar may be disregarded unless it amounts to fifty cents or more, in\nwhich case it shall be increased to one dollar, and (2) that any person\nmaking a return, report or other statement required to be filed under\nthis title, may elect with respect to any amount required to be shown\nthereon, if such amount is other than a whole dollar amount, either to\ndisregard the fractional part of a dollar or to disregard the fractional\npart of a dollar unless it amounts to fifty cents or more, in which case\nthe amount (determined without regard to the fractional part of a\ndollar) shall be increased by one dollar; provided, however, that such\nelection shall not be applicable to items which must be taken into\naccount in making the computations necessary to determine the amount\nrequired to be shown on any such return, report or other statement but\nshall be applicable only to the final amount required to be shown\nthereon.\n