§ 1518 — Secrecy required of officials; penalty for violation

§ 1518. Secrecy required of officials; penalty for violation. (a)\nExcept in accordance with the proper judicial order or as otherwise\nprovided by law, it shall be unlawful for the commissioner of taxation\nand finance, the superintendent of financial services, any officer or\nemployee of the department of taxation and finance, or the department of\nfinancial services or any person who, pursuant to this section, is\npermitted to inspect any return, or any person engaged or retained by\nsuch department on an independent contract basis, or any person who in\nany manner may acquire knowledge of the contents of a return filed\npursuant to this article, to divulge or make known in any manner the\namount of income or any particulars set forth or disclosed in any return\nrequired under this article. The officers charged with the custody of\nsuch 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 state or the commissioner of taxation and\nfinance in any action or proceeding under the provisions of this chapter\nor in any other action or proceeding involving the collection of a tax\ndue under this chapter to which the state or the commissioner of\ntaxation and finance is a party or a claimant or on behalf of any party\nin an action or proceeding under the provisions of this article when the\nreturns or 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 returns or the fact shown\nthereby as are pertinent to the action or proceeding and no more. The\ncommissioner of taxation and finance may, nevertheless, publish a copy\nor a summary of any determination or decision rendered after the hearing\nprovided for in section one thousand eighty-nine of this chapter.\nNotwithstanding any provisions of this section, the commissioner of\ntaxation and finance may permit the superintendent of financial services\nor his authorized representative to inspect the returns filed with the\ncommissioner of taxation and finance under this article, or may furnish\nto such superintendent or his authorized representative an abstract of\nany return or supply him with information concerning an item contained\nin any return, or disclosed by an investigation of tax liability under\nthis article. Nothing herein shall be construed to prohibit the delivery\nto a taxpayer or its duly authorized representative of a certified copy\nof any return filed in connection with its tax nor to prohibit the\npublication of statistics so classified as to prevent the identification\nof particular returns and the items thereof, or the inspection by the\nattorney-general or other legal representatives of the state of the\nreturn of any taxpayer which shall bring action to set aside or review\nthe tax based thereon, or against which an action or proceeding under\nthis chapter has been recommended by the commissioner of taxation and\nfinance or the attorney-general or has been instituted; or the\ninspection of the returns of any taxpayer by the comptroller or duly\ndesignated officer or employee of the state department of audit and\ncontrol for purposes of the audit of a refund of any tax paid by such\ntaxpayer under this article, or the disclosing to a state agency,\npursuant to section one hundred seventy-one-f of this chapter, of the\namount of an overpayment and interest thereon certified to the\ncomptroller to be credited against a past-due legally enforceable debt\nowed to such agency and of the name and identification number of the\ntaxpayer who made such overpayment, or the disclosing to the\ncommissioner of finance of the city of New York, pursuant to section one\nhundred seventy-one-1 of this chapter, of the amount of an overpayment\nand interest thereon certified to the comptroller to be credited against\na city of New York tax warrant judgment debt and of the name and\nidentification number of the taxpayer who made such overpayment. The\nprovisions of this section shall not be construed to prohibit or limit\nthe superintendent of financial services from divulging or making known\nany information pursuant to the authority of the insurance law. Returns\nshall be preserved for three years and thereafter until the commissioner\nof taxation and finance orders them to be destroyed.\n (b) (1) Any officer or employee of the state who willfully violates\nthe provisions of subdivision (a) of this section shall be dismissed\nfrom office and be incapable of holding any public office in this state\nfor a period of five years thereafter.\n (2) Cross reference: For criminal penalties, see article thirty-seven\nof this chapter.\n (c) Notwithstanding any provisions of this section, the tax commission\nmay permit the secretary of the treasury of the United States or his\ndelegates, or the proper officer of any other state charged with tax\nadministration, or the authorized representative of either of such\nofficers, to inspect the returns filed under this article, or may\nfurnish to such officer or his authorized representative an abstract of\nany return or supply him with information concerning an item contained\nin any return, or disclosed by an investigation of tax liability under\nthis article 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 other state, as the case may be, grant\nsubstantially similar privileges to the commission or officer of this\nstate charged with the administration of the tax imposed by this article\nand such information is to be used for tax purposes only; and provided\nfurther the commissioner of taxation and finance may furnish to the\nsecretary of the treasury of the United States or his delegates such\nreturns filed under this article and other tax information, as he may\nconsider proper, for use in court actions or proceedings under the\ninternal revenue code, whether civil or criminal, where a written\nrequest therefor has been made to the commissioner of taxation and\nfinance by the secretary of the treasury or his delegates provided the\nlaws of the United States grant substantially similar powers to the\nsecretary of the treasury or his delegates. Where the commissioner of\ntaxation and finance has so authorized use of returns or other\ninformation in such actions or proceedings, officers and employees of\nthe department of taxation and finance may testify in such actions or\nproceedings in respect to such returns or other tax information.\n (d) Notwithstanding the provisions of subdivision (a) of this section,\nthe tax commission may permit the officer charged with the\nadministration of a tax on or measured by income imposed by any city of\nthe state of New York, or the authorized representative of such officer,\nto inspect the returns filed under this article, or may furnish to such\nofficer or his authorized representative an abstract of any such return\nor supply information concerning an item contained in any such return,\nor disclosed by an investigation of tax liability under this article,\nbut such permission shall be granted or such information furnished to\nsuch officer or his representative only if the local laws of such city\ngrant substantially similar privileges to the commission or officer of\nthis state charged with the administration of the tax imposed by this\narticle and such information is to be used for tax purposes only; and\nprovided further the commissioner of taxation and finance may furnish to\nsuch city officer or his delegates and the legal representative of such\ncity such returns filed under this article and other tax information, as\nhe may consider proper, for use in court actions or proceedings under\nsuch local law, whether civil or criminal, where a written request\ntherefor has been made to the commissioner of taxation and finance by\nsuch city officer or his delegates or by such legal representative of\nsuch city, provided the local law of such city grants substantially\nsimilar powers to the city officer charged with the administration of\nthe city income tax or his delegates. Where the commissioner of taxation\nand finance has so authorized use of returns or other tax information in\nsuch actions or proceedings, officers and employees of the department of\ntaxation and finance may testify in such actions or proceedings in\nrespect to such returns or other tax information.\n (e) Notwithstanding the provisions of subdivision (a) of this section,\nthe tax commission, in its discretion, may require or permit any or all\npersons liable for any tax imposed by this article, to make payments on\naccount of estimated tax and payment of any tax, penalty or interest\nimposed by this article to banks, banking houses or trust companies\ndesignated by the tax commission and to file declarations of estimated\ntax, applications for automatic extensions of time to file returns, and\nreturns with such banks, banking houses or trust companies as agents of\nthe tax commission, in lieu of making any such payment directly to the\ntax commission. However, the tax commission shall designate only such\nbanks, banking houses or trust companies as are or shall be designated\nby the comptroller as depositories pursuant to section fifteen hundred\nseventeen.\n (f) Notwithstanding the provisions of subdivision (a) of this section,\nin the case where a taxpayer which is an attorney-in-fact has claimed a\ndeduction pursuant to subparagraph fifteen of paragraph (a) of\nsubdivision nine of section two hundred eight of this chapter, the\ncommissioner shall have the authority to release to such\nattorney-in-fact any information with respect to the entire net income\nor income allocation percentage of the interinsurer or reciprocal\ninsurer, or any member of a combined group that includes the\ninterinsurer or reciprocal insurer, which is the basis for the denial in\nwhole or in part of the deduction claimed by such attorney-in-fact.\n (g) Notwithstanding the provisions of subdivision (a) of this section,\nthe commissioner may disclose to a taxpayer or a taxpayer's related\nmember, as defined in paragraph fourteen of subdivision (b) of section\nfifteen hundred three of this article, information relating to any\nroyalty paid, incurred or received by such taxpayer or related member to\nor from the other, including the treatment of such payments by the\ntaxpayer or the related member in any report or return transmitted to\nthe commissioner under this chapter.\n (h) (1) Notwithstanding the provisions of subdivision (a) of this\nsection, upon written request from the chairperson of the committee on\nways and means of the United States House of Representatives, the\nchairperson of the committee on finance of the United States Senate, or\nthe chairperson of the joint committee on taxation of the United States\nCongress, the commissioner shall furnish such committee with any current\nor prior year returns filed specified in such request that were under\nthis article by the president of the United States, vice-president of\nthe United States, member of the United States Congress representing New\nYork state, or any person who served in or was employed by the executive\nbranch of the government of the United States on the executive staff of\nthe president, in the executive office of the president, or in an acting\nor confirmed capacity in a position subject to confirmation by the\nUnited States senate; or, in New York state: a statewide elected\nofficial, as defined in paragraph (a) of subdivision one of section\nseventy-three-a of the public officers law; a state officer or employee,\nas defined in subparagraph (i) of paragraph (c) of subdivision one of\nsuch section seventy-three-a; a political party chairperson, as defined\nin paragraph (h) of subdivision one of such section seventy-three-a; a\nlocal elected official, as defined in subdivisions one and two of\nsection eight hundred ten of the general municipal law; a person\nappointed, pursuant to law, to serve due to vacancy or otherwise in the\nposition of a local elected official, as defined in subdivisions one and\ntwo of section eight hundred ten of the general municipal law; a member\nof the state legislature; or a judge or justice of the unified court\nsystem, or filed by a partnership, firm, association, corporation,\njoint-stock company, trust or similar entity directly or indirectly\ncontrolled by any individual listed in this paragraph, whether by\ncontract, through ownership or control of a majority interest in such\nentity, or otherwise, or filed by a partnership, firm, association,\ncorporation, joint-stock company, trust or similar entity of which any\nindividual listed in this paragraph holds ten percent or more of the\nvoting securities of such entity; provided however that, prior to\nfurnishing any return, the commissioner shall redact any copy of a\nfederal return (or portion thereof) attached to, or any information on a\nfederal return that is reflected on, such return, and any social\nsecurity numbers, account numbers and residential address information.\n (2) No returns shall be furnished pursuant to this subdivision unless\nthe chairperson of the requesting committee certifies in writing that\nsuch returns have been requested related to, and in furtherance of, a\nlegitimate task of the Congress, that the requesting committee has made\na written request to the United States secretary of the treasury for\nrelated federal returns or return information, pursuant to 26 U.S.C.\nSection 6103(f), and that if such requested returns are inspected by\nand/or submitted to another committee, to the United States House of\nRepresentatives, or to the United States Senate, then such inspection\nand/or submission shall occur in a manner consistent with federal law as\ninformed by the requirements and procedures established in 26 U.S.C.\nSection 6103(f).\n