2023 New York Laws › TAX - Tax › Article 31 - Real Estate Transfer Tax › 1418 - Returns to Be Secret.

§  1418.  Returns  to  be secret. (a) Except in accordance with proper
judicial order or as otherwise provided by law, it shall be unlawful for
the tax appeals tribunal, the commissioner of taxation and finance,  any
officer  or  employee  of  the  department  of taxation and finance, any
person engaged or retained by such department on an independent contract
basis, or any person who, pursuant to  this  section,  is  permitted  to
inspect  any  return  or to whom a copy, an abstract or a portion of any
return is furnished, or to whom any information contained in any  return
is furnished, to divulge or make known in any manner the particulars set
forth  or disclosed in any return required under this article. Provided,
however, that nothing in this section shall prohibit a recording officer
from making a notation, or affixing stamps, on an instrument effecting a
conveyance indicating the amount of tax  paid.  No  recorded  instrument
effecting a conveyance shall be considered a return for purposes of this
section.
(b) The officers charged with the custody of such returns shall not be
required  to  produce  any  of them or evidence of anything contained in
them in any action or proceeding in any court, except on behalf  of  the
commissioner  of  taxation and finance in any action or proceeding under
the provisions of this chapter or in  any  other  action  or  proceeding
involving  the  collection  of a tax due under this chapter to which the
state or the commissioner of taxation  and  finance  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 facts  shown  thereby
are  directly  involved  in  such  action or proceeding, in any of which
events the court may  require  the  production  of,  and  may  admit  in
evidence,  so much of said returns or of the facts shown thereby, as are
pertinent to the action or proceeding and no more.
(c) Notwithstanding the provisions of subdivision (a) of this section,
the commissioner of taxation and finance may permit the secretary of the
treasury of the United States  or  his  delegates,  or  the  proper  tax
officer   of  any  city  imposing  a  similar  tax,  or  the  authorized
representative of either such officer, to inspect any return filed under
this  article,  or  may  furnish  to  such  officer  or  his  authorized
representative  an  abstract  of  any  such  return  or  supply him with
information  concerning  an  item  contained  in  any  such  return,  or
disclosed  by any investigation of tax liability under this article, but
such permission shall be granted or such information furnished  only  if
the laws of the United States or of such city, as the case may be, grant
substantially  similar  privileges  to  the commissioner of taxation and
finance or officer of this state charged with the administration of  the
tax  imposed by this article, and only if such information is to be used
for tax purposes only; and provided further the commissioner of taxation
and finance may furnish to the commissioner of internal revenue  or  his
authorized  representative  such  returns  filed  under this article and
other tax information, as he may  consider  proper,  for  use  in  court
actions or proceedings under the internal revenue code, whether civil or
criminal,  where  a  written  request  therefor  has  been  made  to the
commissioner of taxation and finance by the secretary of the treasury of
the United States or his delegates, provided  the  laws  of  the  United
States  grant  substantially  similar  powers  to  the  secretary of the
treasury of the United States or his delegates. Where  the  commissioner
of  taxation  and finance has so authorized the use of returns and other
information in such actions or proceedings, officers  and  employees  of
the  department  of  taxation and finance may testify in such actions or
proceedings in respect to such returns or other information.
(d) The tax appeals tribunal shall, nevertheless, publish a copy or  a
summary  of any decision rendered after the hearing required pursuant to
this chapter.
(e)  Nothing  herein  shall be construed to prohibit the delivery to a
grantor or grantee of an instrument effecting a conveyance or  the  duly
authorized representative of a grantor or grantee of a certified copy of
any  return  filed in connection with such instrument or to prohibit the
publication of statistics so classified as to prevent the identification
of particular returns and the items thereof, or the  inspection  by  the
attorney  general  or  other  legal  representatives of the state of the
return of any taxpayer who shall bring action to set aside or review the
tax based thereon, or against whom an action or  proceeding  under  this
chapter has been recommended by the commissioner of taxation and finance
or the attorney general or has been instituted, or the inspection of the
returns   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 a
taxpayer under this article.
(f) Any officer or employee of the state who  willfully  violates  the
provisions  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.
(g)  Cross-reference. For criminal penalties, see article thirty-seven
of this chapter.
(h) Notwithstanding the provisions of subdivision (a) of this section,
the commissioner may  furnish  information  relating  to  real  property
transfers  obtained  or  derived  from  returns  filed  pursuant to this
article in relation to the real estate transfer tax, to the extent  that
such  information is also required to be reported to the commissioner by
section three hundred thirty-three of the real property law and  section
five  hundred  seventy-four  of  the real property tax law and the rules
adopted thereunder, provided such information was  collected  through  a
combined  process established pursuant to an agreement entered into with
the commissioner pursuant to paragraph  viii  of  subdivision  one-e  of
section  three  hundred  thirty-three  of  the  real  property  law. The
commissioner may redisclose such information to the extent authorized by
section five hundred seventy-four of the  real  property  tax  law.  The
commissioner  may  also  disclose  any  information reported pursuant to
paragraph two of subdivision (a) of section  fourteen  hundred  nine  of
this article.
(i)  (1)  Notwithstanding  the  provisions  of subdivision (a) of this
section, upon written request from the chairperson of the  committee  on
ways  and  means  of  the  United  States  House of Representatives, the
chairperson of the committee on finance of the United States Senate,  or
the  chairperson of the joint committee on taxation of the United States
Congress, the commissioner shall furnish such committee with any current
or prior year returns filed specified in such request  that  were  under
this  article  by  the president of the United States, vice-president of
the United States, member of the United States Congress representing New
York state, or any person who served in or was employed by the executive
branch of the government of the United States on the executive staff  of
the president, in the executive office of the president, or in an acting
or  confirmed  capacity  in  a  position  subject to confirmation by the
United States senate;  or,  in  New  York  state:  a  statewide  elected
official,  as  defined  in  paragraph  (a) of subdivision one of section
seventy-three-a of the public officers law; a state officer or employee,
as defined in subparagraph (i) of paragraph (c) of  subdivision  one  of
such  section seventy-three-a; a political party chairperson, as defined

in paragraph (h) of subdivision one of such section  seventy-three-a;  a
local  elected  official,  as  defined  in  subdivisions  one and two of
section eight hundred  ten  of  the  general  municipal  law;  a  person
appointed,  pursuant to law, to serve due to vacancy or otherwise in the
position of a local elected official, as defined in subdivisions one and
two of section eight hundred ten of the general municipal law; a  member
of  the  state  legislature;  or a judge or justice of the unified court
system; or filed  by  a  partnership,  firm,  association,  corporation,
joint-stock  company,  trust  or  similar  entity directly or indirectly
controlled by any  individual  listed  in  this  paragraph,  whether  by
contract,  through  ownership  or control of a majority interest in such
entity, or otherwise, or filed  by  a  partnership,  firm,  association,
corporation,  joint-stock  company, trust or similar entity of which any
individual listed in this paragraph holds ten percent  or  more  of  the
voting  securities  of  such  entity;  provided  however  that, prior to
furnishing any return, the commissioner  shall  redact  any  copy  of  a
federal return (or portion thereof) attached to, or any information on a
federal  return  that  is  reflected  on,  such  return,  and any social
security numbers, account numbers and residential address information.
(2) No returns shall be furnished pursuant to this subdivision  unless
the  chairperson  of  the requesting committee certifies in writing that
such returns have been requested related to, and in  furtherance  of,  a
legitimate  task of the Congress, that the requesting committee has made
a written request to the United States secretary  of  the  treasury  for
related  federal  returns  or  return information, pursuant to 26 U.S.C.
Section 6103(f), and that if such requested  returns  are  inspected  by
and/or  submitted  to  another  committee, to the United States House of
Representatives, or to the United States Senate,  then  such  inspection
and/or submission shall occur in a manner consistent with federal law as
informed  by  the  requirements  and procedures established in 26 U.S.C.
Section 6103(f).