Section 11-688. Secrecy required of official; penalty for violation

1.
  Except in accordance with proper judicial order or as otherwise provided
  by law, it shall be  unlawful  for  the  commissioner  of  finance,  the
  department  of  finance  of  the  city,  any  officer or employee of the
  department of finance  of  the  city,  the  tax  appeals  tribunal,  any
  commissioner  or  employee of such tribunal, any person who, pursuant to
  this section, is permitted to inspect any report or return, or  to  whom
  any  information  contained  in  any  report or return is furnished, any
  person engaged or retained by such department on an independent contract
  basis, or any person who in any manner  may  acquire  knowledge  of  the
  contents  of a report filed pursuant to this chapter, to divulge or make
  known in any manner the amount of income or any particulars set forth or
  disclosed in any report or return,  under  this  chapter.  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
  city in an action or proceeding involving the collection of  a  tax  due
  under  this  chapter  to  which the city is a party or a claimant, or on
  behalf of any party to any action or proceeding under the provisions  of
  this  chapter  when  the  reports,  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 reports or  returns  or  of  facts  shown  thereby  as  are
  pertinent to the action or proceeding, and no more. Nothing herein shall
  be  construed  to  prohibit  the  delivery  to  a  taxpayer  or its duly
  authorized representative of a copy of any report filed by  it,  nor  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  corporation  counsel  or  other  legal
  representatives of the city of the report  or  return  of  any  taxpayer
  which  shall  bring action to set aside or review the tax based thereon,
  or against which an action or proceeding under this chapter or under any
  local law of the city imposed as authorized by the act  authorizing  the
  adoption  of  this  chapter  has been recommended by the commissioner of
  finance or the corporation  counsel  or  has  been  instituted,  or  the
  inspection  of  the  reports  or  returns  of  any  taxpayer by the duly
  designated officers or employees of the city for purposes  of  an  audit
  under  this  chapter  or  an audit authorized by the act authorizing the
  adoption of this chapter; and nothing  in  this  subchapter  or  chapter
  eleven  of  this title shall be construed to prohibit the publication of
  the issuer's allocation percentage, as defined in  subparagraph  one  of
  paragraph (b) of subdivision three of section 11-604 of this chapter, of
  any  corporation  which  may be required to be allocated within the city
  for purposes of the tax imposed by  any  of  the  named  subchapters  or
  chapter eleven of this title.
    2.  (a)  Any  officer  or  employee of the state or city who willfully
  violates the provisions of subdivision one  of  this  section  shall  be
  dismissed  from  office and be incapable of holding any public office in
  the city or this state for a period of five years thereafter.
    (b) Cross-reference: For criminal penalties, see chapter forty of this
  title.
    3. Notwithstanding any provisions of this section, the commissioner of
  finance may permit the secretary of the treasury of the United States or
  his or her delegates, or the proper officer of this or any  other  state
  charged  with  tax  administration,  or the authorized representative of
  either such officer, to inspect the returns or reports filed  under  any
  of  the  named subchapters, or may furnish to such officer or his or her
  authorized representative an abstract of any such return  or  report  or

  supply  information  concerning  an item contained in any such return or
  report, or supply  him  or  her  with  information  concerning  an  item
  contained in any such return or report, or disclosed by an investigation
  of tax liability under any of the named subchapters, but such permission
  shall be granted or such information furnished to such officer or his or
  her  representative  only  if  the  laws of the United States or of such
  state, as the case may be, grant substantially similar privileges to the
  commissioner of finance and such information  is  to  be  used  for  tax
  purposes  only;  and  provided  further  the commissioner of finance may
  furnish to the secretary of the treasury of the United States or his  or
  her  delegates  or to the tax commission of the state of New York or its
  delegates  such  returns  or  reports  filed  under  any  of  the  named
  subchapters and other tax information, as he or she may consider proper,
  for  use in court actions or proceedings under the internal revenue code
  or the tax law of the state of New  York,  whether  civil  or  criminal,
  where  a  written  request therefor has been made to the commissioner of
  finance by the secretary of the treasury or by such tax commission or by
  their delegates, provided the laws of the United States or the  laws  of
  the  state  of  New  York  grant  substantially  similar  powers  to the
  secretary of the treasury or  his  or  her  delegates  or  to  such  tax
  commission  or  its  delegates. Where the commissioner of finance has so
  authorized use of returns, reports or other information in such  actions
  or  proceedings, officers and employees of the department of finance may
  testify in such actions or  proceedings  in  respect  to  such  returns,
  reports of other information.
    4.  Notwithstanding the provisions of subdivision one of this section,
  the commissioner of finance, in his or her discretion,  may  require  or
  permit  any or all persons liable for any tax imposed by this chapter to
  make payments on account of  estimated  tax  and  payment  of  any  tax,
  penalty  or interest imposed by this chapter to banks, banking houses or
  trust companies designated by the commissioner of finance  and  to  file
  declarations  of estimated tax, applications for automatic extensions of
  time to file reports, and reports with such  banks,  banking  houses  or
  trust  companies  as  agents  of the commissioner of finance, in lieu of
  making any  such  payment  directly  to  the  commissioner  of  finance.
  However,  the  commissioner  of finance shall designate only such banks,
  banking houses or trust  companies  as  are  depositories  or  financial
  agents of the city.
    5.  This  section  shall  be  deemed  a  state statute for purposes of
  paragraph (a) of subdivision two of section eighty-seven of  the  public
  officers law.
    6.  Notwithstanding anything in subdivision one of this section to the
  contrary, if a taxpayer has petitioned  the  tax  appeals  tribunal  for
  administrative  review as provided in section one hundred seventy of the
  charter, the commissioner of finance shall be authorized to  present  to
  the  tribunal  any report or return of such taxpayer, or any information
  contained therein or relating thereto, which may be material or relevant
  to the proceeding before the tribunal. The tax appeals tribunal shall be
  authorized to publish a copy or  a  summary  of  any  decision  rendered
  pursuant to section one hundred seventy-one of the charter.
    7.  Notwithstanding  anything  in subdivision one of this section, the
  commissioner of finance may disclose  to  a  taxpayer  or  a  taxpayer's
  related  member,  as  defined  in  paragraph (n) of subdivision eight of
  section 11-602 or paragraph one of subdivision (q) of section 11-641  of
  this  chapter,  information  relating  to  any royalty paid, incurred or
  received by such taxpayer or  related  member  to  or  from  the  other,
  including  the treatment of such payments by the taxpayer or the related

  member in any report  or  return  transmitted  to  the  commissioner  of
  finance under this title.