N.Y. Tax Law § 514 — Secrecy of returns

§ 514. Secrecy of returns. 1. Except in accordance with proper\njudicial order or as in this section or otherwise provided by law, it\nshall be unlawful for the tax commission, any tax commissioner, any\nofficer or employee of the department of taxation and finance, or any\nofficer or person who, pursuant to this section, is permitted to inspect\nany return or report or to whom a copy, an abstract or a portion of any\nreturn or report is furnished, or to whom any information contained in\nany return or report is furnished, 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 or report\nfiled pursuant to this article, to divulge or make known in any manner\nthe contents or any other information relating to the business of a\ncarrier or other person contained in any return or report required under\nthis article. The officers charged with the custody of such returns or\nreports 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, the department of taxation and finance,\nthe department of transportation or the tax commission in an action or\nproceeding under the provisions of this chapter, the vehicle and traffic\nlaw or the transportation law, or on behalf of the state or the tax\ncommission in any other action or proceeding involving the collection of\na tax due under this chapter to which the state or the tax commission is\na party or a claimant or on behalf of any party to any action or\nproceeding under the provisions of this article or the vehicle and\ntraffic law or the transportation law when the returns or the reports or\nthe facts shown thereby are directly involved in such action or\nproceeding, or on behalf of officers to whom information shall have been\nsupplied as provided in subdivision two of this section, in any of which\nevents the court may require the production of, and may admit in\nevidence so much of said returns or reports or of the facts shown\nthereby as are pertinent to the action or proceeding and no more. The\ntax commission may, nevertheless, publish a copy or a summary of any\ndecision rendered after the formal hearing provided for in section five\nhundred ten of this chapter. Nothing herein shall be construed to\nprohibit the tax commission, in its discretion, from allowing the\ninspection or delivery of a certified copy of any return or report filed\nunder this article or of any information contained in any such return or\nreport by or to a duly authorized officer or employee of the department\nof transportation, or by or to the attorney general or other legal\nrepresentatives of the state when an action shall have been recommended\nor commenced pursuant to the provisions of this chapter, the vehicle and\ntraffic law or the transportation law in which such returns or reports\nor the facts shown thereby are directly involved; or the inspection of\nthe returns or reports required under this article by the comptroller or\nduly designated officer or employee of the state department of audit and\ncontrol, for purposes of the audit of a refund of any tax paid by any\nperson under this article; nor to prohibit the delivery to any person,\nor a duly authorized representative of such person of a certified copy\nof any return or report filed by such person pursuant to this article,\nnor to prohibit the publication of statistics so classified as to\nprevent the identification of particular returns or reports and the\nitems thereof; nor to prohibit the publication of delinquent lists\nshowing the names of taxpayers who have failed to pay their taxes at the\ntime and in the manner provided by section five hundred six of this\nchapter, together with any relevant information which in the opinion of\nthe tax commission may assist in the collection of such delinquent\ntaxes. Returns and reports shall be preserved for four years, and\nthereafter until the tax commission orders them to be destroyed.\n 2. The tax commission, in its discretion and pursuant to such rules\nand regulations as it may adopt, may permit the commissioner of internal\nrevenue of the United States, or the appropriate officers of any other\nstate which imposes a similar highway use tax, or the duly authorized\nrepresentatives of such commissioner or of any such officers, to inspect\nreturns or reports made pursuant to this article, or may furnish to such\ncommissioner or other officers, or duly authorized representatives, a\ncopy of any such return or report or an abstract of the information\ntherein contained, or any portion thereof, or may supply such\ncommissioner or any such officers or such representatives with\ninformation relating to the business of any person making returns or\nreports hereunder. The tax commission may refuse to supply information\npursuant to this subdivision to the commissioner of internal revenue of\nthe United States or to the officers of any other state if the statutes\nof the United States, or of the state represented by such officers, do\nnot grant substantially similar privileges to the tax commission of this\nstate, but such refusal shall not be mandatory. Information shall not be\nsupplied to the commissioner of internal revenue of the United States or\nthe appropriate officers of any other state which imposes a similar\nhighway use tax, or the duly authorized representatives of such\ncommissioner or of any of such officers, unless such commissioner,\nofficer or other representatives shall agree not to divulge or make\nknown in any manner the information so supplied, but such officers may\ntransmit such information to their employees or legal representatives\nwhen necessary, who in turn shall be subject to the same restrictions as\nthose hereby imposed upon such commissioner, officer or other\nrepresentatives.\n 3. (a) Any officer or employee of the state who willfully violates the\nprovisions of subdivision one or two of this section shall be dismissed\nfrom office and be barred from holding any public office in this state\nfor a period of five years thereafter.\n (b) Cross-reference: For criminal penalties, see article thirty-seven\nof this chapter.\n 4. Notwithstanding the provisions of subdivision one of this section,\nthe tax commission, in its discretion, may require or permit any or all\npersons or carriers liable for any tax or fee imposed by this article,\nto make payment of any tax, fee, penalty or interest to banks, banking\nhouses or trust companies designated by the tax commission and to file\nreturns and reports with such banks, banking houses or trust companies\nas agents of the tax commission, in lieu of making any such payment\ndirectly to the tax commission. However, the tax commission shall\ndesignate only such banks, banking houses or trust companies as are or\nshall be designated by the comptroller as depositories pursuant to\nsection five hundred fifteen.\n 5. Notwithstanding any other provision of this section: (a) Upon\nagreement with the heads of the department of motor vehicles, the\ndepartment of transportation, the department of environmental\nconservation, the division of state police, the thruway authority, the\nUnited States department of transportation, and the United States\ndepartment of homeland security (or any other federal agency which may\nassume the duties of either or both of such federal agencies), the\ncommissioner may disclose to such agencies the name, address, employer\nidentification number, vehicle identification number, application status\ninformation, and other appropriate identifying and application\ninformation, of persons holding a certification of registration or\nlicense under this article, persons whose certificate of registration or\nlicense under this article has been revoked, suspended or surrendered,\nand persons whose application for a certificate of registration or\nlicense under this article has been denied, for the purposes of\nimproving the safety and security oversight of the motor carrier\nindustry and coordinating and streamlining the credentialing process for\nsuch industry administered by such agencies.\n (b) Any information disclosed by the commissioner pursuant to\nparagraph (a) of this subdivision may, pursuant to such agreement, be\nre-disclosed by and among the heads of such agencies and may also be\nre-disclosed to the heads of comparable agencies of any other state, the\nDistrict of Columbia or any province or territory of Canada in\nfurtherance of the purposes specified in this subdivision.\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 returns or reports specified in such request that were\nfiled under this article by the president of the United States,\nvice-president of the United States, member of the United States\nCongress representing New York state, or any person who served in or was\nemployed by the executive branch of the government of the United States\non the executive staff of the president, in the executive office of the\npresident, or in an acting or confirmed capacity in a position subject\nto confirmation by the United States senate; or, in New York state: a\nstatewide elected official, as defined in paragraph (a) of subdivision\none of section seventy-three-a of the public officers law; a state\nofficer or employee, as defined in subparagraph (i) of paragraph (c) of\nsubdivision one of such section seventy-three-a; a political party\nchairperson, as defined in paragraph (h) of subdivision one of such\nsection seventy-three-a; a local elected official, as defined in\nsubdivisions one and two of section eight hundred ten of the general\nmunicipal law; a person appointed, pursuant to law, to serve due to\nvacancy or otherwise in the position of a local elected official, as\ndefined in subdivisions one and two of section eight hundred ten of the\ngeneral municipal law; a member of the state legislature; or a judge or\njustice of the unified court system; or filed by a partnership, firm,\nassociation, corporation, joint-stock company, trust or similar entity\ndirectly or indirectly controlled by any individual listed in this\nparagraph, whether by contract, through ownership or control of a\nmajority interest in such entity, or otherwise, or filed by a\npartnership, firm, association, corporation, joint-stock company, trust\nor similar entity of which any individual listed in this paragraph holds\nten percent or more of the voting securities of such entity; provided\nhowever that, prior to furnishing any return or report, the commissioner\nshall redact any copy of a federal return (or portion thereof) attached\nto, or any information on a federal return that is reflected on, such\nreturn or report, and any social security numbers, account numbers and\nresidential address information.\n (b) No returns or reports shall be furnished pursuant to this\nsubdivision unless the chairperson of the requesting committee certifies\nin writing that such returns or reports have been requested related to,\nand in furtherance of, a legitimate task of the Congress, that the\nrequesting committee has made a written request to the United States\nsecretary of the treasury for related federal returns or reports or\nreturn or report information, pursuant to 26 U.S.C. Section 6103(f), and\nthat if such requested returns or reports are inspected by and/or\nsubmitted 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