§ 23-12 Returns To Be Secret.
RCNY § 23-12
Except in accordance with proper judicial order, or as otherwise provided by law, it is unlawful for the Commissioner of Finance or Register or any officer or employee of the Department of Finance or Register to divulge or make known in any manner any information contained in or relating to any return or affidavit provided for by law. The officers charged with the custody of such returns or affidavits 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 Commissioner of Finance in an action or proceeding under the provisions of the law, or on behalf of any party to an action or proceeding, in either of which events the court may require the production of, and may admit in evidence, so much of said returns or affidavits or of the facts shown thereby, as are pertinent to the action or proceeding and no more. A certified copy of any return or affidavit or of any information contained in or relating thereto may be furnished to the United States of America or any department thereof, the State of New York or any department thereof, the City of New York or any department thereof provided the same is requested for official business. Returns or affidavits may be inspected for official business by the Register, the Corporation Counsel or other legal representative of the City or by the district attorney of any county within the City. A grantor or grantee of a deed or any subsequent owner of the real property conveyed by such deed, and the grantor or grantee of an economic interest in real property, or the duly authorized representative of any of them, may obtain a certified copy of any return or affidavit filed in connection with the tax on such conveyance or transfer, upon application in writing therefor to the Commissioner of Finance. Where a representative applies for a certified copy of such returns or affidavits, he must file a power of attorney with the application. Nothing herein shall be construed to prohibit the publication of statistics so classified as to prevent the identification of particular returns or items thereof.
