Section 1467. Secrecy required of officials; penalty for violation

(a)
  Except in accordance with the 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,  or  any  person who, pursuant to this section, is permitted to
  inspect any return, or 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 return filed pursuant to this
  article, to divulge or make known in any manner the amount of income  or
  any particulars set forth or disclosed in any return required under this
  article. The officers charged with the custody of such returns shall not
  be  required to produce any of them or evidence of anything contained in
  them in any action or proceedings in any court, except on behalf of  the
  state  or  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 a claimant or on behalf of any party in an action or proceeding
  under  the  provisions  of  this article when the 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 returns or  the  facts  shown  thereby  as  are
  pertinent  to  the action or proceeding and no more. The commissioner of
  taxation and finance may, nevertheless, publish a copy or a  summary  of
  any determination or decision rendered after the hearing provided for in
  section  one  thousand eighty-nine of this chapter. Nothing herein shall
  be construed to  prohibit  the  delivery  to  a  taxpayer  or  its  duly
  authorized  representative  of  a  certified copy of any return filed in
  connection with its tax nor to prohibit the publication of statistics so
  classified as to prevent the identification of  particular  returns  and
  the  items  thereof,  or the inspection by the attorney-general or other
  legal representatives of the state of the 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  has  been
  recommended   by  the  commissioner  of  taxation  and  finance  or  the
  attorney-general or has  been  instituted;  or  the  inspection  of  the
  returns of any taxpayer 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  such  taxpayer  under  this
  article,  or  the  disclosing to a state agency, pursuant to section one
  hundred seventy-one-f of this chapter, of the amount of  an  overpayment
  and interest thereon certified to the comptroller to be credited against
  a  past-due legally enforceable debt owed to such agency and of the name
  and identification number of the taxpayer who made such overpayment,  or
  the  disclosing  to the commissioner of finance of the city of New York,
  pursuant to section one hundred seventy-one-l of this  chapter,  of  the
  amount   of  an  overpayment  and  interest  thereon  certified  to  the
  comptroller to be credited against  a  city  of  New  York  tax  warrant
  judgment  debt and of the name and identification number of the taxpayer
  who made such overpayment. Returns shall be preserved  for  three  years
  and  thereafter  until  the  commissioner of taxation and finance orders
  them to be destroyed.
    (b) (1) Any officer or employee of the state  who  willfully  violates
  the provisions of subsection (a) of this section shall be dismissed from
  office and be incapable of holding any public office in this state for a
  period of five years thereafter.
    (2)  Cross-reference: For criminal penalties, see article thirty-seven
  of this chapter.

    (c) Notwithstanding any provisions of this section, the tax commission
  may permit the secretary of the treasury of the  United  States  or  his
  delegates,  or  the  proper  officer of any other state charged with tax
  administration, or the authorized representative of either such officer,
  to  inspect the returns filed under this article, or may furnish to such
  officer or his authorized representative an abstract of  any  return  or
  supply  him with information concerning an item contained in any 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 commission or 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 secretary of the
  treasury of the United States or his delegates 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 or his delegates provided the laws of the United  States  grant
  substantially  similar  powers  to  the secretary of the treasury or his
  delegates. Where  the  commissioner  of  taxation  and  finance  has  so
  authorized  use  of  returns  or  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 tax information.
    (d) Notwithstanding the provisions of subsection (a) of this  section,
  the   tax   commission   may   permit   the  officer  charged  with  the
  administration of a tax on or measured by income imposed by any city  of
  the state of New York, or the authorized representative of such officer,
  to  inspect the returns filed under this article, or may furnish to such
  officer or his authorized representative an abstract of any such  return
  or  supply  information concerning an item contained in any such return,
  or disclosed by any 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 local laws of  such  city
  grant  substantially  similar privileges to the commission or 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
  such city officer or his delegates and the legal representative of  such
  city such returns filed under this article and other tax information, as
  he  may  consider  proper, for use in court actions or proceedings under
  such local law, whether civil  or  criminal,  where  a  written  request
  therefor  has  been  made to the commissioner of taxation and finance by
  such city officer or his delegates or by such  legal  representative  of
  such  city,  provided  the  local  law of such city grants substantially
  similar powers to the city officer charged with  the  administration  of
  the city income tax or his delegates. Where the commissioner of taxation
  and finance has so authorized use of returns or other tax 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 tax information.
    (e) Notwithstanding the provisions of subsection (a) of this  section,
  the  tax commission, in its discretion, may require or permit any or all
  persons liable for any tax imposed by this article, to make payments  on
  account  of  estimated  tax  and payment of any tax, penalty or interest

  imposed by this article to banks,  banking  houses  or  trust  companies
  designated  by  the tax commission and to file declarations of estimated
  tax, applications for automatic extensions of time to file returns,  and
  returns  with such banks, banking houses or trust companies as agents of
  the tax commission, in lieu of making any such payment directly  to  the
  tax  commission.  However,  the tax commission shall designate only such
  banks, banking houses or trust companies as are or shall  be  designated
  by  the comptroller as depositories pursuant to section fourteen hundred
  sixty-six.
    * (f)  Notwithstanding  the  provisions  of  subsection  (a)  of  this
  section,  the  commissioner  may  disclose to a taxpayer or a taxpayer's
  related member, as defined in subsection (r) of section fourteen hundred
  fifty-three of this article, as added by section  3  of  part  U3  of  a
  chapter  of  the laws of 2003, 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
  under this chapter.
    * NB Applicable to taxable years beginning on or after January 1, 2003