Section 1518. 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, the superintendent of insurance, any officer or employee of
  the department of taxation and finance, or the insurance  department  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 proceeding in any court, except on behalf of the
  state or the commissioner of taxation  and  finance  in  any  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 fact 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.  Notwithstanding  any
  provisions of this section, the commissioner of taxation and finance may
  permit  the superintendent of insurance or his authorized representative
  to inspect the returns filed  with  the  commissioner  of  taxation  and
  finance under this article, or may furnish to such superintendent 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. 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-1 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. The provisions of this section shall  not  be

  construed  to  prohibit  or  limit  the superintendent of insurance from
  divulging or making known any information pursuant to the  authority  of
  the  insurance  law.  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 subdivision (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 of such
  officers, 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 subdivision (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 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 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 subdivision (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  fifteen  hundred
  seventeen.
    (f) Notwithstanding the provisions of subdivision (a) of this section,
  in  the case where a taxpayer which is an attorney-in-fact has claimed a
  deduction  pursuant  to  subparagraph  fifteen  of  paragraph   (a)   of
  subdivision  nine  of  section  two  hundred  eight of this chapter, the
  commissioner   shall   have   the   authority   to   release   to   such
  attorney-in-fact  any  information with respect to the entire net income
  or income  allocation  percentage  of  the  interinsurer  or  reciprocal
  insurer,   or   any  member  of  a  combined  group  that  includes  the
  interinsurer or reciprocal insurer, which is the basis for the denial in
  whole or in part of the deduction claimed by such attorney-in-fact.
    * (g) Notwithstanding  the  provisions  of  subdivision  (a)  of  this
  section,  the  commissioner  may  disclose to a taxpayer or a taxpayer's
  related member, as defined in paragraph fourteen of subdivision  (b)  of
  section  fifteen  hundred three of this article, 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