N.Y. Tax Law § 202 — Secrecy required of officials; penalty for violation

§ 202. Secrecy required of officials; penalty for violation. 1. Except\nin accordance with proper judicial order or as otherwise provided by\nlaw, it shall be unlawful for any tax commissioner, any officer or\nemployee of the department of taxation and finance, or any person who,\npursuant to this section, is permitted to inspect any report, or to whom\nany information contained in any report is furnished, or any person\nengaged or retained by such department on an independent contract basis,\nor any person who in any manner may acquire knowledge of the contents of\na report filed pursuant to this article, to divulge or make known in any\nmanner the amount of income or any particulars set forth or disclosed in\nany report under this article. The officers charged with the custody of\nsuch reports 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 an 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\nto any action or proceeding under the provisions of this article when\nthe reports or facts shown thereby are directly involved in such action\nor proceeding, in any of which events the court may require the\nproduction of, and may admit in evidence, so much of said reports or of\nthe facts shown thereby, as are pertinent to the action or proceeding\nand no more. The commissioner of taxation and finance may, nevertheless,\npublish a copy or a summary of any determination or decision rendered\nafter the formal hearing provided for in section one thousand\neighty-nine of this chapter. Nothing herein shall be construed to\nprohibit the delivery to a corporation or its duly authorized\nrepresentative of a copy of any report filed by it, nor to prohibit the\npublication of statistics so classified as to prevent the identification\nof particular reports and the items thereof, or the publication of\ndelinquent lists showing the names of taxpayers who have failed to pay\ntheir taxes at the time and in the manner provided by section one\nhundred ninety-seven together with any relevant information which in the\nopinion of the commissioner of taxation and finance may assist in the\ncollection of such delinquent taxes; or the inspection by the\nattorney-general or other legal representatives of the state of the\nreport of any corporation which shall bring action to set aside or\nreview the tax based thereon, or against whom an action or proceeding\nunder this chapter has been recommended by the commissioner of taxation\nand finance or the attorney-general or has been instituted; or the\ninspection of the reports of any corporation 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\ncorporation under this article; or the disclosing to a state agency,\npursuant to section one hundred seventy-one-f of this chapter, of the\nname and taxpayer identification number of any taxpayer whose\noverpayment is certified to the comptroller to be credited against a\npast-due legally enforceable debt owed to such state agency and the\namount of the overpayment and interest thereon certified to the\ncomptroller to be credited against a past-due legally enforceable debt;\nor the disclosing to the commissioner of finance of the city of New\nYork, pursuant to section one hundred seventy-one-l of this chapter, of\nthe name and taxpayer identification number of any taxpayer whose\noverpayment is certified to the comptroller to be credited against a\ncity of New York tax warrant judgment debt. Provided, further, nothing\nherein shall be construed to prohibit the disclosure of the names of\ncorporations subject to tax under section one hundred eighty-two or one\nhundred eighty-two-a of this article, or to any two or all of such\ntaxes, for purposes of assisting corporations subject to such tax or\ntaxes in determining whether a gross receipt or a gross receipt from\nsales of petroleum is an excludible gross receipt or excludible gross\nreceipt from sales of petroleum because it is derived from a sale for\nresale.\n 2. (a) Any officer or employee of the state who willfully violates the\nprovisions of subdivision one of this section shall be dismissed from\noffice and be incapable of holding any public office in this state for a\nperiod of five years thereafter.\n (b) Cross-reference: For criminal penalties, see article thirty-seven\nof this chapter.\n 3. 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 such officer,\nto inspect the reports filed under this article, or may furnish to such\nofficer or his authorized representative an abstract of any such report\nor supply information concerning an item contained in any such report,\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 laws of the United States\nor of such other state, as the case may be, grant substantially similar\nprivileges to the commission or officer of this state charged with the\nadministration of the tax imposed by this article and such information\nis to be used for tax purposes only; and provided further the\ncommissioner of taxation and finance may furnish to the secretary of the\ntreasury of the United States or his delegates such reports filed under\nthis article and other tax information, as he may consider proper, for\nuse in court actions or proceedings under the internal revenue code,\nwhether civil or criminal, where a written request therefor has been\nmade to the commissioner of taxation and finance by the secretary of the\ntreasury or his delegates provided the laws of the United States grant\nsubstantially similar powers to the secretary of the treasury or his\ndelegates. Where the commissioner of taxation and finance has so\nauthorized use of reports or other tax information in such actions or\nproceedings, officers and employees of the department of taxation and\nfinance may testify in such actions or proceedings in respect to such\nreports or other tax information.\n 4. Notwithstanding any provisions of this section, the tax commission\nmay furnish any municipality with such information contained in the\nfranchise tax reports filed under this article as it may consider proper\nfor use in any certiorari or condemnation proceedings, and may furnish\nany authorized officer or employee of the department of financial\nservices of the state of New York with any information contained in the\nfranchise tax reports of corporations liable to pay a tax under section\none hundred eighty-seven of this chapter, provided such information is\nto be used for tax purposes only.\n 5. Notwithstanding the provisions of subdivision one of this section,\nthe tax commission, in its discretion, may require or permit any or all\npersons liable for any fee or tax imposed by this article, to make\npayment of any fee, tax, penalty or interest imposed by this article to\nbanks, banking houses or trust companies designated by the tax\ncommission and to file reports with such banks, banking houses or trust\ncompanies as agents of the tax commission, in lieu of making any such\npayment directly to the tax commission. However, the tax commission\nshall designate only such banks, banking houses or trust companies as\nare or shall be designated by the comptroller as depositories pursuant\nto section two hundred six.\n 6. (a) Notwithstanding the provisions of subdivision one 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 reports specified in such request that were filed 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 report, 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 report, and any social\nsecurity numbers, account numbers and residential address information.\n (b) No reports shall be furnished pursuant to this subdivision unless\nthe chairperson of the requesting committee certifies in writing that\nsuch reports 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 reports or report information, pursuant to 26 U.S.C.\nSection 6103(f), and that if such requested reports 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 the federal\nlaw as informed by requirements and procedures established in 26 U.S.C.\nSection 6103(f).\n