2020 New York Laws
TAX - Tax
Article 21 - Highway Use Tax
512 - Penalties and Interest.

§  512.  Penalties  and  interest. 1. (a) Any person failing to file a
return or to pay any tax within the time required by or pursuant to this
article (determined with regard to any extension of time for  filing  or
paying) shall be subject to a penalty of ten per centum of the amount of
tax determined to be due as provided in this article plus one per centum
of  such  amount  for  each  month or fraction thereof during which such
failure continues after the expiration of the  first  month  after  such
return  was  required  to be filed or such tax became due, not exceeding
thirty per centum in the aggregate. Provided, however, that  any  person
who  fails to file any return required by this article within sixty days
of the date prescribed for filing of such return (determined with regard
to any extension of time for filing) shall be subject to a penalty which
shall not be less than the lesser of one hundred dollars or one  hundred
per centum of the amount required to be shown as tax on such return. For
the  purpose of the preceding sentence, the amount of tax required to be
shown on the return shall be reduced by the amount of any  part  of  the
tax  which  is  paid on or before the date prescribed for payment of the
tax and by the amount of any credit against the tax which may be claimed
upon the return.
  (b) If any amount of tax is not  paid  on  or  before  the  last  date
prescribed  in  this article for payment, interest on such amount at the
underpayment rate set  by  the  commissioner  of  taxation  and  finance
pursuant  to subdivision twenty-sixth of section one hundred seventy-one
of this chapter shall be paid for the period from such last date to  the
date paid, whether or not any extension of time for payment was granted.
Interest under this paragraph shall not be paid if the amount thereof is
less than one dollar.
  (c)  If  the  tax commission determines that such failure or delay was
due to reasonable cause and not due to willful neglect, it  shall  remit
all  or  part of such penalty. The tax commission shall promulgate rules
and regulations as to what constitutes reasonable cause.
  (d) If the failure to pay any tax  within  the  time  required  by  or
pursuant  to  this article is due to fraud, in lieu of the penalties and
interest provided for in paragraphs (a) and  (b)  of  this  subdivision,
there shall be added to the tax (i) a penalty of two times the amount of
tax  due, plus (ii) interest on such unpaid tax at the underpayment rate
set by the commissioner of taxation and finance pursuant to  subdivision
twenty-sixth  of section one hundred seventy-one of this chapter for the
period beginning on the last day prescribed  by  this  article  for  the
payment  of such tax (determined without regard to any extension of time
for paying) and ending on the day on which such tax is paid.
  (e) In addition to any other penalty  imposed  by  this  chapter,  any
person  who  fails  to  obtain a certificate of registration or decal as
required under this article shall, after due notice and  an  opportunity
for a hearing, for a first violation be liable for a civil fine not less
than five hundred dollars but not to exceed two thousand dollars and for
a  second  or  subsequent violation within three years following a prior
finding of violation be liable for  a  civil  fine  not  less  than  one
thousand dollars but not to exceed three thousand five hundred dollars.
  (f)  The  penalties  and interest imposed by this subdivision shall be
assessed, collected and paid in the same manner as the taxes imposed  by
this article. Interest under this subdivision shall be compounded daily.
  2.  For purposes of this chapter the failure to do any act required by
or under the provisions of this article shall be deemed an act committed
in part at the office of the  department  of  taxation  and  finance  in
Albany.    For  purposes  of  this  chapter,  the certificate of the tax
commission to the effect that a tax has not been paid, that a return has
not been filed, or that information has not been supplied,  as  required

by  or  under the provisions of this article, or that a claim for refund
has been filed, shall be prima facie evidence that such tax has not been
paid, that such return has not been filed, that such information has not
been supplied, or that such claim has been filed.
  3.  Violations  of  this  article  may  be  prosecuted by the attorney
general in the name of the people  of  the  state,  in  which  case  the
attorney  general  shall  exercise  all  the  powers and perform all the
duties which the district attorney  would  otherwise  be  authorized  to
exercise or to perform therein.
  4.  Cross-reference:  For  criminal  penalties and other offenses, see
article thirty-seven of this chapter.