N.Y. Tax Law § 487: Secrecy requirement

§ 487. Secrecy requirement. (a) Except in accordance with proper

judicial order or as otherwise provided by law, it shall be unlawful for

the tax commission, any tax commissioner, any officer or employee of the

department of taxation and finance, any person engaged or retained by

such department on an independent contract basis, or any person, who,

pursuant to this section, is permitted to inspect any costs or to whom a

copy, an abstract or a portion thereof is furnished, or to whom any such

information is furnished or any person who in any manner may acquire

knowledge of such costs, to divulge or make known in any manner any of

the costs of doing business of a retail dealer, or of an agent or

wholesale dealer which have been filed with the tax commission pursuant

to paragraph one, two or three of subdivision (b) of section four

hundred eighty-three of this article, or to divulge the name of any

person who has provided information to the tax commission concerning any

alleged violation of this article.

(b) The officers and employees charged with the custody of such

information shall not be required to divulge any of such information in

any action or proceeding in any court, except on behalf of the tax

commission 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 tax commission is

a party or a claimant, or on behalf of any party to any action or

proceeding under the provisions of this article when such information is

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 such information as is pertinent to the action or proceeding,

and no more.

(c) This provision shall not be construed to prohibit the disclosure

of such information to a retail dealer or to an agent or wholesale

dealer, or to its duly authorized representative, in connection with its

establishment of a cost of doing business, or to prohibit the

publication of statistics so classified as to prevent the identification

of particular information concerning the cost of doing business of any

retail dealer, agent or wholesale dealer, or the disclosure of the

identity of persons licensed as agents or wholesale dealers or

registered as chain stores, franchisees, cooperative members or large

volume outlets, or the disclosure to the attorney general or other legal

representatives of the state in connection with any action or proceeding

under this article brought by or against the retail dealer, agent or

wholesale dealer, or against whom an action or proceeding under this

chapter has been recommended by the commissioner of taxation and finance

or by the attorney general.

(d) Any officer or employee of the state who willfully violates the

provisions 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.

(e) Cross-reference: For criminal penalties, see article thirty-seven

of this chapter.