§ 146 — Secrecy requirement and penalties for violation

§ 146. Secrecy requirement and penalties for violation. Except in\naccordance with proper judicial order or as otherwise provided by law,\nit shall be unlawful for the director of finance, the department of\nfinance of the city, any officer or employee of the department of\nfinance of the city, any person engaged or retained by such department\non an independent contract basis, or any person who, pursuant to this\nsection, is permitted to inspect any report or return or to whom a copy,\nan abstract or a portion of any report or return is furnished, or to\nwhom any information contained in any report or return is furnished, to\ndivulge or make known in any manner the amount of income or any\nparticulars set forth or disclosed in any report or return required\nunder this title. The officers charged with the custody of such reports\nand returns shall not be required to produce any of them or evidence of\nanything contained in them in any action or proceeding in any court,\nexcept on behalf of the city in an action or proceeding under the\nprovisions of this title or in any other action or proceeding involving\nthe collection of a tax due under this title to which the city is a\nparty or a claimant, or on behalf of any party to any action or\nproceeding under the provisions of this title when the reports, returns\nor facts shown thereby are directly involved in such action or\nproceeding, in any of which events the court may require the production\nof, and may admit in evidence, so much of said reports, returns or of\nthe facts shown thereby, as are pertinent to the action or proceeding\nand no more. The director of finance may, nevertheless, publish a copy\nor a summary of any determination or decision rendered after the hearing\nrequired under section one hundred thirty-seven of this title. Nothing\nherein shall be construed to prohibit the delivery to a taxpayer or his\nduly authorized representative of a certified copy of any return or\nreport filed in connection with his tax or to prohibit the publication\nof statistics so classified as to prevent the identification of\nparticular reports or returns and the items thereof, or the inspection\nby the corporation counsel or other legal representatives of the city of\nthe report or return of any taxpayer who shall bring action to set aside\nor review the tax based thereon, or against whom an action or proceeding\nunder this title has been recommended by the director of finance or the\ncorporation counsel or has been instituted, or the inspection of the\nreports or returns required under this title by the duly designated\nofficers or employees of the city for purposes of an audit under this\ntitle or an audit authorized by the act enacting this title. Reports and\nreturns shall be preserved for three years and thereafter until the\ndirector of finance orders them to be destroyed. Any violation of the\nprovisions of this subdivision shall be punished by a fine not exceeding\none thousand dollars or by imprisonment not exceeding one year, or both,\nat the discretion of the court, and if the offender be an officer or\nemployee of the city or the state, he shall be dismissed from office and\nbe incapable of holding any public office in the city or the state for a\nperiod of five years thereafter.\n