§ 34-02 General Authority.
RCNY § 34-02
(a)The Commissioner of Finance is authorized to compromise any civil liability for income or non-property excise taxes or annual vault charges or any warrant or judgment for income or non-property excise taxes or annual vault charges administered by the Department of Finance, and the civil penalties, interest and additions to tax or charge in connection therewith. Fixed and final matters may be compromised only on the basis of doubt as to collectibility. Non-final matters may be compromised only on one or both of the following grounds: (1) doubt as to collectibility; (2) doubt as to liability.
(b)In non-final matters, the Corporation Counsel may similarly compromise any such civil liability after reference of a case to the New York City Law Department for prosecution or defense, but prior to the time the tax or charge becomes a fixed and final matter.
(c)Where the offer-in-compromise is based in whole or in part on doubt as to collectibility, the compromise amount cannot be less than the amount the Department could collect through legal proceedings. Therefore, when determining doubt as to collectibility, the Department will consider the legal collection proceedings available to it. Hardship or any other issue that does not have a direct bearing on the Department's legal ability to collect from the taxpayer cannot be considered in assessing doubt as to collectibility. Where two or more taxpayers are or may be responsible for the liability, the Department will consider doubt as to collectibility independently for each taxpayer.
