N.Y. TAX Law § 491 — New York Code / Act TAX / Article 20-B / Section 491
Returns to be secret
Status: in_force

* § 491. Returns to be secret. 1. Except in accordance with proper\njudicial order or as in this section or otherwise provided by law, it\nshall be unlawful for the commissioner, any officer or employee of the\ndepartment, or any officer or person who, pursuant to this section, is\npermitted to inspect any return or report or to whom a copy, an abstract\nor a portion of any return or report is furnished, or to whom any\ninformation contained in any return or report is furnished, or any\nperson engaged or retained by such department on an independent contract\nbasis or any person who in any manner may acquire knowledge of the\ncontents of a return or report filed pursuant to this article to divulge\nor make known in any manner the contents or any other information\nrelating to the business of a distributor, owner or other person\ncontained in any return or report required under this article. The\nofficers charged with the custody of such returns or reports shall not\nbe required 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\nstate, office of cannabis management, or the commissioner in an action\nor proceeding under the provisions of this chapter or on behalf of the\nstate or the commissioner in any other action or proceeding involving\nthe collection of a tax due under this chapter to which the state or the\ncommissioner is a party or a claimant or on behalf of any party to any\naction or proceeding under the provisions of this article, when the\nreturns or the reports or the facts shown thereby are directly involved\nin such action or proceeding, or in an action or proceeding relating to\nthe regulation or taxation of medical cannabis on behalf of officers to\nwhom information shall have been supplied as provided in subdivision two\nof this section, in any of which events the court may require the\nproduction of, and may admit in evidence so much of said returns or\nreports or of the facts shown thereby as are pertinent to the action or\nproceeding and no more. Nothing herein shall be construed to prohibit\nthe commissioner, in his or her discretion, from allowing the inspection\nor delivery of a certified copy of any return or report filed under this\narticle or of any information contained in any such return or report by\nor to a duly authorized officer or employee of the office of cannabis\nmanagement; 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 this chapter 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 a\nregistered organization or other person under this article; nor to\nprohibit the delivery to a registered organization, or a duly authorized\nrepresentative of such registered organization, a certified copy of any\nreturn or report filed by such registered organization pursuant to this\narticle, nor to prohibit the publication of statistics so classified as\nto prevent the identification of particular returns or reports and the\nitems thereof. This section shall also not be construed to prohibit the\ndisclosure, for tax administration purposes, to the division of the\nbudget and the office of the state comptroller, of information\naggregated from the returns filed by all the registered organizations\nmaking sales of, or manufacturing, medical cannabis in a specified\ncounty, whether the number of such registered organizations is one or\nmore. Provided further that, notwithstanding the provisions of this\nsubdivision, the commissioner may, in his or her discretion, permit the\nproper officer of any county entitled to receive an allocation,\nfollowing appropriation by the legislature, pursuant to this article and\nsection eighty-nine-h of the state finance law, or the authorized\nrepresentative of such officer, to inspect any return filed under this\narticle, or may furnish to such officer or the officer's authorized\nrepresentative an abstract of any such return or supply such officer or\nsuch representative with information concerning an item contained in any\nsuch return, or disclosed by any investigation of tax liability under\nthis article.\n  2. The commissioner, in his or her discretion and pursuant to such\nrules and regulations as he or she may adopt, may permit the appropriate\nofficers of any other state which regulates or taxes medical cannabis,\nor the duly authorized representatives of such officers, to inspect\nreturns or reports made pursuant to this article, or may furnish to such\nother officers, or duly authorized representatives, a copy of any such\nreturn or report or an abstract of the information therein contained, or\nany portion thereof, or may supply any such officers or such\nrepresentatives with information relating to the business of a\nregistered organization making returns or reports hereunder. The\ncommissioner may refuse to supply information pursuant to this\nsubdivision to the officers of any other state if the statutes of the\nstate represented by such officers, do not grant substantially similar\nprivileges to the commissioner, but such refusal shall not be mandatory.\nInformation shall not be supplied to the appropriate officers of any\nother state which regulates or taxes medical cannabis, or the duly\nauthorized representatives of any of such officers, unless such officer\nor other representatives shall agree not to divulge or make known in any\nmanner the information so supplied, but such officers may transmit such\ninformation to their employees or legal representatives when necessary,\nwho in turn shall be subject to the same restrictions as those hereby\nimposed upon such officer or other representatives.\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 incapable of 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  * NB Repealed July 5, 2028\n