New York Codes, Rules and Regulations › Title 20 - DEPARTMENT OF TAXATION AND FINANCE › Chapter IX - Procedural Regulations › Part 2600 - Tax Return Preparer Requirements › Subpart 2600-5 - Incompetence And Disreputable Conduct › Section 2600-5.1 - Sanctionable conduct

Current through Register Vol. 46, No. 28, July 10, 2024
Incompetence and disreputable conduct for which a tax
					 return preparer may be sanctioned includes, but is not limited to:
(a) Criminal convictions. Conviction of any
				  Federal or State criminal offense when there is a direct relationship between
				  the criminal offense or offenses for which the applicant was convicted, or the
				  conduct underlying those offenses, and tax return preparation or tax practice;
				  or when issuance or continuation of the tax return preparer's registration, or
				  continuing to permit the preparer to appear before the department, would
				  involve an unreasonable risk to property, safety or welfare of specific
				  individuals or the general public and the commissioner has given due
				  consideration to the factors set forth in Correction Law, section
				  753.
(b) Adverse disciplinary actions. Being the
				  subject of any adverse finding, settlement imposing compliance terms, or
				  sanction by any Federal, State or local agency or other disciplinary or
				  licensing organization or board in any administrative action in connection with
				  conduct relating to tax return preparation or tax practice or involving
				  dishonesty or fraud, a violation of trust or of fiduciary obligations, or
				  misuse of confidential information, or the tax return preparer has failed to
				  comply with his or her child support obligations as provided in section 458-b 
				  of the Family Court Act, section 244-c  of the Domestic Relations Law, or
				  section 3-503  of the General Obligations
				  Law.
(c) False or misleading
				  information or submissions. Giving false or misleading information, or
				  participating in any way in the giving of false or misleading information to
				  the department or any officer or employee thereof, or to any tribunal
				  authorized to pass upon New York State tax matters, in connection with any
				  matter pending or likely to be pending before them, knowing the information to
				  be false or misleading. Facts or other matters contained in testimony, Federal,
				  State or local tax returns, financial statements, applications, registrations,
				  affidavits, declarations, and any other document or statement, written or oral,
				  are included in the term "information."
(d) Willful noncompliance with tax
				  obligations. Willfully failing to comply fully with his or her own Federal,
				  State or local tax obligations in timely fashion, including but not limited to
				  failing to file any required tax return or report, or failing to pay, or make
				  acceptable arrangements to pay, any tax due and owing under the Tax Law or
				  applicable regulations, or willfully and illegally evading, attempting to
				  illegally evade, or participating in any way in illegally evading or attempting
				  to illegally evade any assessment or payment of any Federal, State, or local
				  tax obligation.
(e) Assisting
				  noncompliance or tax evasion. Willfully assisting, counseling, encouraging a
				  client or prospective client in violating, or suggesting to a client or
				  prospective client to violate, any Federal, State, or local tax law, or
				  knowingly counseling or suggesting to a client or prospective client an illegal
				  plan to evade Federal, State, or local taxes or payment thereof.
(f) Misappropriating client funds.
				  Misappropriation of, or failure properly or promptly to remit, funds received
				  from a client for the purpose of payment of taxes or other obligations due the
				  Federal or any state or local government.
(g) Improperly influencing official actions.
				  Directly or indirectly attempting to influence, or offering or agreeing to
				  attempt to influence, the official action of any officer or employee of the
				  department by the use of threats, false accusations, duress or coercion, by the
				  offer of any special inducement or promise of an advantage or by the bestowing
				  of any gift, favor or thing of value.
(h) Aiding practice by non-registered
				  preparers. Hiring, employing or otherwise aiding and abetting another person to
				  engage in the practice of tax return preparation, when the preparer knew, or
				  should have known, that such other person was not registered as a tax return
				  preparer in a jurisdiction in which such person was legally required to be
				  registered or when that person's registration as a tax return preparer has been
				  suspended or cancelled.
(i)
				  Contemptuous conduct. Engaging in contemptuous conduct in connection with a
				  return prepared by the preparer or in practice before the department regarding
				  that return, including the use of abusive language, making false accusations or
				  statements to the department, knowing them to be false, or circulating or
				  publishing malicious or libelous matter.
(j) False and misleading opinions. Giving a
				  false opinion, knowingly, recklessly, or through gross incompetence, including
				  an opinion which is intentionally or recklessly misleading, or engaging in a
				  pattern of providing incompetent opinions on questions arising under Federal,
				  State, or local tax laws. False opinions described in this subdivision include
				  those which reflect or result from a knowing misstatement of fact or law, from
				  an assertion of a position known to be unwarranted under existing law, from
				  counseling or assisting in conduct known to be illegal or fraudulent, from
				  concealing matters required by law to be revealed, or from consciously
				  disregarding information indicating that material facts expressed in the
				  opinion or offering material are false or misleading.
(k) Willful failure to sign a return.
				  Willfully failing to sign a tax return prepared by the preparer when the
				  preparer's signature is required by Federal, State or local tax laws unless the
				  failure is due to reasonable cause and not due to willful neglect.
(l) Disclosure of confidential information.
				  Willfully or recklessly disclosing or otherwise using a tax return or tax
				  return information in a manner not authorized by Federal or State law or
				  otherwise disclosing confidential information obtained in the course of a
				  professional engagement unless such disclosure was with the consent of the
				  client, in the course of dealing with tax authority, as required by law, or
				  otherwise permitted under relevant professional standards.
(m) Willful violation of the law. Willfully
				  violating, or conspiring with or aiding or counseling another to violate any
				  provision of the Tax Law or any regulation promulgated by the commissioner or
				  any other applicable law or regulation governing the conduct of tax return
				  preparers in New York, including, as applicable, the provisions of section 372  of the General Business Law regarding
				  the Consumer Bill of Rights Regarding Tax Preparers.
(n) Failure to register, pay required fee, or
				  complete educational requirements. If required by law, failing to register
				  timely as a tax preparer, pay the tax preparer registration fee, or complete
				  any educational requirements imposed on such individuals in New York.
(o) False or misleading representations.
				  Willfully using false or misleading representations to procure employment or
				  intimating that the preparer is able to improperly obtain special consideration
				  or action from the department or any officer or employee thereof.