§ 1-22 Requirements for Amnesty.
RCNY § 1-22
(Administrative Code § 11-127(b) and (c)) (a) General. Within the three-month amnesty period, a taxpayer must: (1) file an application specifying both the tax and tax period(s) for which amnesty is sought on the form designated for that purpose by the Department of Finance; (2) submit previously unfiled or amended returns, including unfiled reports of federal or state changes or, if the taxpayer is requesting amnesty on an outstanding assessment, copies of the assessment documents. For purposes of this section, an assessment document is any document that finally fixes the amount of tax due or would so fix the amount of tax after the passage of a stated period of time, e.g., a notice of determination, notice of tax due, or a warrant; (3) pay the tax and required interest prior to the end of the amnesty period or the date specified on the tax amnesty bill mailed to the taxpayer, if the taxpayer calculated the interest due incorrectly or otherwise erroneously determined the amount due; and (4) withdraw from any pending administrative proceeding or litigation, with prejudice, or stipulate to discontinue or withdraw from such administrative proceeding or litigation, with prejudice, upon the granting of amnesty, if the matter is the subject of an administrative proceeding or civil litigation commenced in the Department's Conciliation Bureau, the New York City Tax Appeals Tribunal or any court of this state to which such taxpayer is a party and that is pending on the date of the taxpayer's amnesty application. See 19 RCNY § 1-21(a)(6), infra. The taxpayer must submit with the amnesty application proof of discontinuance of, or withdrawal from, the entire proceeding or litigation, with prejudice, or a stipulation agreeing to discontinue or withdraw from the entire proceeding or litigation with prejudice contingent upon the granting of amnesty. See 19 RCNY § 1-21(a)(6), supra and 19 RCNY § 1-24(a)(4) infra. Taxpayers requesting amnesty with respect to a designated tax that is the subject of a pending administrative proceeding or litigation cannot withdraw or discontinue the proceeding or litigation in part so as to be eligible for amnesty with respect to a portion of the subject matter of the proceeding or litigation while retaining the option of continuing the proceeding or litigation as to the remainder. A taxpayer also cannot request that a proceeding be bifurcated to achieve the same result.
(b)1) Amnesty applications must be sent to the address designated on the application form developed for that purpose by the Department of Finance or, in the discretion of the Commissioner of Finance, may be submitted electronically under procedures established by the Commissioner of Finance for that purpose.
(2)An amnesty application must be postmarked by the United States postal service or received by the Department of Finance by the last day of the amnesty period. For purposes of this paragraph, all references to postmarks shall include the recordings or markings by a designated delivery service treated as postmarks under the taxes specified in subdivision (b) of 19 RCNY § 1-19 for which amnesty is being requested. An amnesty application submitted by electronic means must be received by midnight, i.e., 12:00 a.m., of the day following the last day of the amnesty period.
(c)Payment.
(1)The taxpayer must pay the tax due and required interest prior to the end of the amnesty period, or by the date stated on any tax amnesty bill sent to the taxpayer.
(i)Except as provided in the following sentence, "tax due" means, for purposes of this subchapter, the amount of tax shown to be due in the assessment document, or, in the absence of an assessment document, the amount the taxpayer shows to be due on returns filed with the application. If the taxpayer files with the amnesty application a previously unfiled return for a designated tax that also is the subject of an assessment document issued by the Department, the "tax due" shall mean the amount shown as due on the return filed by the taxpayer. The amount of tax that a return filed under amnesty shows to be due, or the amount of tax that a return would have shown to be due but for a mathematical error, shall be deemed to be assessed on the date of filing the return. If a taxpayer withdraws from, or discontinues, an administrative proceeding or litigation to obtain amnesty for a designated tax, or stipulates that it will withdraw from or discontinue a proceeding or litigation upon the granting of amnesty, the tax due shall mean the amount shown to be due in the assessment document that is the subject of the administrative proceeding.
(ii)"Required Interest" for purposes of this subchapter, the required interest payment for each designated tax means the excess of: (A) interest calculated as provided by the Administrative Code to the date of payment, over (B) interest, if any, calculated as provided by the applicable provisions of the Administrative Code for the designated tax to the date three years prior to the first day of the amnesty program established by the Commissioner of Finance under subdivision (a) of § 11-127 of the Administrative Code. Example 1: The amnesty program begins on November 1, 2003. A taxpayer applies for amnesty with respect to general corporation tax for the tax years ending on December 31, 1999 and 2000 and files returns showing a liability for each year of the minimum tax. On December 15, 2003, the taxpayer pays the tax. The required interest with respect to the 1999 tax year would be calculated by determining the interest accrued from the day the tax was due, March 15, 2000, to the date the tax is paid, December 15, 2003, and subtracting the amount of interest for the period beginning March 15, 2000 through November 1, 2000, the date three years prior to the amnesty start date. With respect to the 2000 calendar tax year, the interest would be calculated by determining the interest accrued from March 15, 2001 to December 15, 2003, the date the tax is paid. No reduction in interest is available for this taxable year under the amnesty program. Example 2: A taxpayer was issued a notice of determination with respect to the general corporation tax for the calendar year 1995 for $2,000, plus interest and penalty, on June 21, 1998. If the taxpayer did not timely file a petition with the New York City Tax Appeals Tribunal or request a conference with the Conciliations Bureau, the amount of general corporation tax became finally assessed on September 20, 1998. If the taxpayer timely filed a petition for a hearing or timely filed a request for a Conciliation conference and is awaiting a hearing or conference, the taxpayer must withdraw from the administrative proceeding to obtain amnesty. In either event, a proper payment under amnesty is the $2,000 shown to be due on the notice of determination, plus the required interest as calculated in subparagraph (ii) of paragraph (1) of subdivision (c) of this section.
(3)If a taxpayer does not calculate interest, or otherwise underpays the amount of tax due and required interest, the Commissioner of Finance will bill the taxpayer for the amount due under amnesty.
(4)Payment of the full amount of tax due and required interest as defined in paragraph (1) of this subdivision (c) is a condition of amnesty. Failure to pay the amount of tax due and required interest by the date specified in paragraph (1) of this subdivision (c) will result in a denial of amnesty.
(5)A taxpayer may not request amnesty with respect to any designated tax that is the subject of an offer in compromise accepted by the Department of Finance. A taxpayer that has made an offer in compromise that is pending with the Department may withdraw the offer and apply for amnesty. If a taxpayer requests amnesty with respect to a designated tax that is the subject of an offer in compromise pending with the Department of Finance, the taxpayer must withdraw the offer, or the offer will be deemed to have been withdrawn, and payment of the full amount of tax due and required interest as described in paragraph (1) of this subdivision will be required as a condition of amnesty.
