N.Y. Tax Law § 1418

§ 1418. Returns to be secret. (a) Except in accordance with proper\njudicial order or as otherwise provided by law, it shall be unlawful for\nthe tax appeals tribunal, the commissioner of taxation and finance, any\nofficer or employee of the department of taxation and finance, any\nperson engaged or retained by such department on an independent contract\nbasis, or any person who, pursuant to this section, is permitted to\ninspect any return or to whom a copy, an abstract or a portion of any\nreturn is furnished, or to whom any information contained in any return\nis furnished, to divulge or make known in any manner the particulars set\nforth or disclosed in any return required under this article. Provided,\nhowever, that nothing in this section shall prohibit a recording officer\nfrom making a notation, or affixing stamps, on an instrument effecting a\nconveyance indicating the amount of tax paid. No recorded instrument\neffecting a conveyance shall be considered a return for purposes of this\nsection.\n (b) The officers charged with the custody of such returns shall not be\nrequired to produce any of them or evidence of anything contained in\nthem in any action or proceeding in any court, except on behalf of the\ncommissioner of taxation and finance in any action or proceeding under\nthe provisions of this chapter or in any other action or proceeding\ninvolving the collection of a tax due under this chapter to which the\nstate or the commissioner of taxation and finance is a party or a\nclaimant, or on behalf of any party to any action or proceeding under\nthe provisions of this article when the returns or facts shown thereby\nare directly involved in such action or proceeding, in any of which\nevents the court may require the production of, and may admit in\nevidence, so much of said returns or of the facts shown thereby, as are\npertinent to the action or proceeding and no more.\n (c) Notwithstanding the provisions of subdivision (a) of this section,\nthe commissioner of taxation and finance may permit the secretary of the\ntreasury of the United States or his delegates, or the proper tax\nofficer of any city imposing a similar tax, or the authorized\nrepresentative of either such officer, to inspect any return filed under\nthis article, or may furnish to such officer or his authorized\nrepresentative an abstract of any such return or supply him with\ninformation concerning an item contained in any such return, or\ndisclosed by any investigation of tax liability under this article, but\nsuch permission shall be granted or such information furnished only if\nthe laws of the United States or of such city, as the case may be, grant\nsubstantially similar privileges to the commissioner of taxation and\nfinance or officer of this state charged with the administration of the\ntax imposed by this article, and only if such information is to be used\nfor tax purposes only; and provided further the commissioner of taxation\nand finance may furnish to the commissioner of internal revenue or his\nauthorized representative such returns filed under this article and\nother tax information, as he may consider proper, for use in court\nactions or proceedings under the internal revenue code, whether civil or\ncriminal, where a written request therefor has been made to the\ncommissioner of taxation and finance by the secretary of the treasury of\nthe United States or his delegates, provided the laws of the United\nStates grant substantially similar powers to the secretary of the\ntreasury of the United States or his delegates. Where the commissioner\nof taxation and finance has so authorized the use of returns and 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 information.\n (d) The tax appeals tribunal shall, nevertheless, publish a copy or a\nsummary of any decision rendered after the hearing required pursuant to\nthis chapter.\n (e) Nothing herein shall be construed to prohibit the delivery to a\ngrantor or grantee of an instrument effecting a conveyance or the duly\nauthorized representative of a grantor or grantee of a certified copy of\nany return filed in connection with such instrument or 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 who shall bring action to set aside or review the\ntax based thereon, or against whom an action or proceeding under this\nchapter has been recommended by the commissioner of taxation and finance\nor the attorney general or has been instituted, or the inspection of the\nreturns required under this article 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 a\ntaxpayer under this article.\n (f) Any officer or employee of the state who willfully violates the\nprovisions of this section shall be dismissed from office and be\nincapable of holding any public office in this state for a period of\nfive years thereafter.\n (g) Cross-reference. For criminal penalties, see article thirty-seven\nof this chapter.\n (h) Notwithstanding the provisions of subdivision (a) of this section,\nthe commissioner may furnish information relating to real property\ntransfers obtained or derived from returns filed pursuant to this\narticle in relation to the real estate transfer tax, to the extent that\nsuch information is also required to be reported to the commissioner by\nsection three hundred thirty-three of the real property law and section\nfive hundred seventy-four of the real property tax law and the rules\nadopted thereunder, provided such information was collected through a\ncombined process established pursuant to an agreement entered into with\nthe commissioner pursuant to paragraph viii of subdivision one-e of\nsection three hundred thirty-three of the real property law. The\ncommissioner may redisclose such information to the extent authorized by\nsection five hundred seventy-four of the real property tax law.\n