NY Tax L § 496-A (2021)
2021 New York Laws TAX - Tax Article 20-C - Tax on Adult-Use Cannabis Products 496-A - Returns to Be Secret.

* §  496-a. Returns to be secret. (a) Except in accordance with proper judicial order or as in this section or otherwise provided  by  law,  it shall  be  unlawful for the commissioner, any officer or employee of the department, or any officer or person who, pursuant to this  section,  is permitted to inspect any return or report or to whom a copy, an abstract or  a  portion  of  any  return  or  report is furnished, or to whom any information contained in any return  or  report  is  furnished,  or  any person  who  in  any  manner  may acquire knowledge of the contents of a return or report filed pursuant to this article to divulge or make known in any manner the content or any  other  information  contained  in  any return  or report required under this article. The officers charged with the custody of such returns or reports shall not be required to  produce any  of  them or evidence of anything contained in them in any action or preceding in any court, except on behalf of the  state,  the  office  of cannabis  management,  or  the  commissioner  in an action or proceeding involving the collection of tax due under  this  chapter  to  which  the state  or  the commissioner is a party or a claimant or on behalf of any party to any action or proceeding under the provisions of this  article, when  the returns or the reports or the facts shown thereby are directly involved in such action or proceeding, or in  an  action  or  proceeding related  to the regulation or taxation of adult-use cannabis products on behalf of officers to whom  information  shall  have  been  supplied  as provided  in  this section, in any of which events the court may require the production of, and may admit in evidence so much of said returns  or reports  or of the facts shown thereby as are pertinent to the action or proceeding and no more. Nothing herein shall be  construed  to  prohibit the commissioner, in his or her discretion, from allowing the inspection or delivery of a certified copy of any return or report filed under this article  or of any information contained in any such return or report by or to a duly authorized officer or employee of the  office  of  cannabis management;   or   by   or  to  the  attorney  general  or  other  legal representatives of the state when an action shall have been  recommended or  commenced  pursuant to this chapter in which such returns or reports or the facts shown thereby are directly involved; or the  inspection  of the returns or reports required under this article by the comptroller or duly designated officer or employee of the state department of audit and control,  for  purposes  of the audit of a refund of any tax paid by any person under this article; nor to prohibit the delivery to  such  person or  a duly authorized representative of such person, a certified copy of any return or report filed by such person pursuant to this article,  nor to  prohibit  the  publication of statistics so classified as to prevent the identification of  particular  returns  or  reports  and  the  items thereof.  This  section  shall  also  not  be  construed to prohibit the disclosure, for tax administration purposes,  to  the  division  of  the budget   and  the  office  of  the  state  comptroller,  of  information aggregated from the returns filed by all persons subject  to  the  taxes imposed  by  the  article,  whether the number of such persons is one or more. Provided further that,  notwithstanding  the  provisions  of  this subdivision,  the commissioner may, in his or her discretion, permit the proper officer of any county entitled to receive any distribution of the monies received on account of the tax  imposed  by  subdivision  (c)  of section  four  hundred  ninety-three  of this article, or the authorized representative of such officer, to inspect any return filed  under  this article,  or  may  furnish  to  such officer or the officer's authorized representative an abstract of any such return or supply such officer  or representative with information concerning an item contained in any such return,  or  disclosed  by any investigation of tax liability under this article.  (b) The commissioner,  in  his  or  her  discretion,  may  permit  the appropriate officers of any other state that regulates or taxes cannabis or  the duly authorized representatives of any such officers, to inspect returns or reports made pursuant to this article, or may furnish to such other  officers, or their duly authorized representatives, a copy of any such return  or  report  or  an  abstract  of  the  information  therein contained,  or  any  portion thereof, or may supply any such officers or such representatives with information relating  to  the  business  of  a person  making  returns  or reports hereunder solely for purposes of tax administration.  The  commissioner  may  refuse  to  supply  information pursuant  to  this subdivision to the officers of any other state if the statutes of  the  state  represented  by  such  officers  do  not  grant substantially  similar  privileges to the commissioner, but such refusal shall not be  mandatory.  Information  shall  not  be  supplied  to  the officers  of  any  state that regulates or taxes cannabis, or their duly authorized representatives of any such officers, unless such officer  or other  representatives  shall  agree not to divulge or make known in any manner the information so supplied, but such officers may transmit  such information  to their employees or legal representatives when necessary, who in turn shall be subject to the same restrictions  as  those  hereby imposed upon such officer or other representatives.  (c)(1) Any officer or employee of the state who willfully violates the provisions  of subdivision (a) or (b) of this section shall be dismissed from office and be incapable of holding any public office in this  state for a period of five years thereafter.  (2) For criminal penalties, see article thirty-seven of this chapter.   * NB Effective April 1, 2022