Section 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.