2012 New York Consolidated Laws
TAX - Tax
Article 26 - ESTATE TAX
Part 4 - (990 - 999) PROCEDURE AND ADMINISTRATION
994 - Secrecy requirement and penalties for violation.

 
    §  994.  Secrecy  requirement and penalties for violation. (a) Secrecy
  requirements. (1) Except in accordance with proper judicial order or  as
  otherwise  provided by law, it shall be unlawful for 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 report or return or to whom a copy,
  an  abstract  or  a  portion of any report or return is furnished, or to
  whom any information contained in any report or return is furnished,  to
  divulge  or  make  known  in  any  manner the value of the estate or any
  particulars set forth or disclosed in  any  report  or  return  required
  under this article.
    (2)  The officers charged with the custody of such reports and 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  an  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 claimant, or on behalf of any party to any action or proceeding
  under the provisions of this article when the reports, returns or  facts
  shown  thereby  are directly involved in such action or proceeding or in
  any proceeding under the surrogate's court procedure act to  assist  the
  surrogate  to  carry  out his powers or duties under such act including,
  but not limited to  the  determination  of  the  amount  of  court  fees
  required  to  be  paid  under article twenty-four of such act, in any of
  which events the court may require the production of, and may  admit  in
  evidence,  so  much  of  said  reports,  returns  or  of the facts shown
  thereby, as are pertinent to the action or proceeding and no more.
    (3) Nothing herein shall be construed to prohibit the  delivery  to  a
  surrogate  or to any person liable for the payment of the tax imposed by
  this article or such liable person's duly authorized representative of a
  certified copy of any return, correspondence  or  other  data  filed  in
  connection with the tax for which such person is liable or a copy of any
  workpaper,   document  or  other  data  prepared  or  developed  by  the
  department during the processing, audit or investigation of that  return
  or  the  collection  of the tax derived therefrom or the delivery of any
  such copy to any person interested in the estate, any heir at law,  next
  of  kin,  or beneficiary under the will, of such decedent, or a donee of
  property, but only if the commissioner or the surrogate, as the case may
  be, finds that such person, heir at law, next of  kin,  beneficiary,  or
  donee  has  a  material  interest  which will be affected by information
  contained  therein.  Further,  nothing  herein  shall  be  construed  to
  prohibit  the  publication of statistics so classified as to prevent the
  identification of particular reports or returns and the  items  thereof,
  or the inspection by the attorney general or other legal representatives
  of  the state of the return of any person (or any report related to such
  return or any copy mentioned in the preceding sentence) 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  or  the  attorney  general  or has been instituted, or the
  inspection of the reports or 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.  Further, nothing
  contained herein shall be construed to prevent  an  examination  of  any
  documents  concerning  an  estate  that  are  under  the  control of the
  surrogate by a title abstractor, attorney at law or title examiner or to

  prevent a title abstractor, attorney  at  law  or  title  examiner  from
  applying  for  and  obtaining  a  discharge  of  lien in accordance with
  subsection (c) of section nine hundred eighty-two  of  this  article  or
  from receiving information needed in order to obtain such discharge, for
  the  sole  purpose  of insuring title to real property or a chattel real
  and/or preparing a title abstract, title  search,  or  title  report  in
  connection  with  real property or chattel real. The commissioner or the
  surrogate, as the case  may  be,  may  require  such  title  abstractor,
  attorney  at  law  or title examiner to certify that the sole purpose of
  such examination is for insuring title to real  property  or  a  chattel
  real  and/or  preparing  a title abstract, title search or title report.
  Furthermore, nothing herein shall be construed to prohibit the  delivery
  to  a  person entitled thereto under the provisions of this article of a
  receipt or certificate that the tax imposed under this article has  been
  paid, in whole or in part.
    (4)(A) Any officer or employee of the state who willfully violates the
  provisions  of  this  subsection  shall  be dismissed from office and be
  incapable of holding any public office in this state  for  a  period  of
  five years thereafter.
    (B)  Cross-reference: For criminal penalties, see article thirty-seven
  of this chapter.
    (b)  Cooperation  with   the   United   States   and   other   states.
  Notwithstanding  the  provisions  of subsection (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 state imposing an estate, inheritance or death tax on the
  transfer of the estate of a deceased individual or on  the  transfer  by
  will or the intestate laws of such state from any person dying seized or
  possessed of property in such state, 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 an investigation of tax
  liability under this article, but such permission shall  be  granted  or
  such information furnished to such officer or his representative only if
  the  laws  of  the United States or of such other state, as the case may
  be, grant  substantially  similar  privileges  to  the  commissioner  of
  taxation  and  finance  or such other officer of this state charged with
  the  administration  of  the  tax  imposed  by  this  article  and  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 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.  Nothing
  herein  shall be construed to prohibit the delivery of any return or the
  furnishing of information thereon by the commissioner  of  taxation  and
  finance  to  the  taxing authorities of another state for the purpose of
  complying with the provisions of section nine hundred  seventy-one-a  of

  this   article   relating   to  additional  proceedings  in  estates  of
  nondomiciliary decedents.
    (c)  Procedure and preservation of returns. (1) Reports and returns or
  in lieu thereof, copies or reproductions of such  reports  and  returns,
  shall   be  preserved  for  eighteen  years  and  thereafter  until  the
  commissioner of taxation and finance orders them to be destroyed.
    (2) Requests for the inspection or disclosure of a  report  or  return
  and  such  inspection  or disclosure shall be made in such manner and at
  such time and place as  shall  be  prescribed  by  the  commissioner  of
  taxation and finance.
    (3)  (A)  A  reproduction  of  a  report or return shall, upon written
  request, be furnished to any person to whom disclosure or inspection  of
  such report or return is authorized under this section. A reasonable fee
  may be prescribed for furnishing each page of such reproduction.
    (B)  Any reproduction of any report, return, document, or other matter
  made in accordance with this subsection shall have the same legal status
  as the original, and  any  such  reproduction  shall  be  admissible  in
  evidence  in any judicial or administrative proceeding as if it were the
  original, whether or not the original is in existence.
    (d)  Filing  returns  and  making   payment   to   depository   banks.
  Notwithstanding  the  provisions  of subsection (a) of this section, the
  commissioner of taxation and finance, in his discretion, may require  or
  permit  any  or  all  of the estates, executors, beneficiaries and other
  persons liable for any tax imposed by this article to make  payments  on
  account  of  any  tax,  penalty  or  interest imposed by this article to
  banks, banking houses or trust companies designated by the  commissioner
  of  taxation  and  finance  and to file returns with such banks, banking
  houses or trust companies as agents of the commissioner of taxation  and
  finance,  in lieu of making such payment to, or filing such returns with
  the commissioner of taxation and finance. However, the  commissioner  of
  taxation  and finance shall designate only such banks, banking houses or
  trust companies as are or shall be  designated  by  the  comptroller  as
  depositories pursuant to this article.