In This Issue:

- Court Orders Department of Finance to Release Corporate Tax Return Records to City Comptroller

- ALJ Upholds State Tax Department Policy on Personal Liability of LLC Members for Sales Tax

- Taxpayer Requests for Special Refund Authority Relief from Statute of Limitations Denied in Two Separate Cases

- State Tax Department Adds New Corporate Tax Reform FAQs

- Finance Department Issues Guidance on Treatment of Film in the Property Factor

- Insights in Brief

- Excerpt from Court Orders Department of Finance to Release Corporate Tax Return Records to City Comptroller:

In an interesting case involving the New York City Comptroller’s authority to subpoena general corporation tax records from the New York City Department of Finance, a New York State Supreme Court judge has issued an order holding that the Department of Finance must turn over tax records — including City corporate tax return data — to the Comptroller, pursuant to the Comptroller’s audit authority over City agencies. In ordering disclosure, the judge rejected the Department of Finance’s claim that the general corporation tax (“GCT”) secrecy provisions prohibited it from disclosing the records to the Comptroller. Comptroller of the City of N.Y. v. Dep’t of Fin., No. 160842/2013, 2014 N.Y. Slip Op. 24309 (N.Y. Sup. Ct., N.Y. Cnty. Sept. 29, 2014), released for publication Oct. 7, 2014.

Facts. The Department of Finance (“Department”) is a New York City Mayoral agency vested with authority over the administration and collection of most New York City taxes, including the GCT. City Charter § 1504. City Charter § 93(c) gives the City Comptroller (an elected official separate from the Mayor and Mayoral agencies) the “power to audit all [City] agencies.” Another section of the Charter gives the Comptroller the “power to audit and investigate all matters relating to or affecting the finances of the city, including without limitation the . . . receipt and expenditure of city funds . . . .” City Charter § 93(b).