§ 499-H — Confidentiality

§ 499-h. Confidentiality. 1. Except in accordance with a proper\njudicial order or as otherwise provided by law, it shall be unlawful for\nthe commissioner of finance, any officer or employee of the department\nof finance, the president or a commissioner or employee of the tax\ncommission, any person engaged or retained by such department or such\ncommission on an independent contract basis, or any person who, pursuant\nto this title, is permitted to inspect any information submitted by an\napplicant to the department of finance pursuant to this title or to whom\na copy, an abstract or a portion of any such information is furnished,\nto divulge or make known in any manner any such information to any\nperson not authorized pursuant to this title to inspect such\ninformation. The officers charged with custody of such information shall\nnot be required to produce any of it or evidence of anything contained\nin it in any action or proceeding in any court except on behalf of the\ncommissioner of finance in an action or proceeding under the provisions\nof this title, or on behalf of any party to any action or proceeding\nunder the provisions of this title when such information or facts shown\nthereby are directly involved in such action or proceeding, in either of\nwhich events the court may require the production of, and may admit in\nevidence so much of such information or of the facts shown thereby, as\nare pertinent to the action or proceeding and no more. Nothing herein\nshall be construed to prohibit the inspection by the legal\nrepresentatives of the department of finance or the tax commission of\nsuch information submitted by any applicant who shall bring an action to\ncorrect an assessment. Nothing herein shall be construed to prohibit the\ndelivery to an applicant or the applicant's duly authorized\nrepresentative of a certified copy of any information submitted by an\napplicant to the department of finance pursuant to this title; or to any\nagency or any department of any city having a population of one million\nor more provided the same is requested for official business; nor to\nprohibit the inspection for official business of such information by the\ncorporation counsel or other legal representatives of a city having a\npopulation of one million or more or by the district attorney of any\ncounty within such city; nor to prohibit the publication of statistics\nso classified as to prevent the identification of such information or\nparticular items thereof. Information submitted by an applicant to the\ndepartment of finance pursuant to this title shall not be subject to\ndisclosure pursuant to article six of the public officers law.\n 2. Any violation of the provisions of subdivision one of this section\nshall be punished by a fine not exceeding one thousand dollars or by\nimprisonment not exceeding one year, or both, at the discretion of the\ncourt, and if the offender be an officer or employee of the department\nof finance or of the tax commission, the offender shall be dismissed\nfrom office.\n