689. Petition to tax commission.--(a) General.--The form of a petition to the tax commission, and further proceedings before the tax commission in any case initiated by the filing of a petition, shall be governed by such rules as the tax commission shall prescribe. No petition shall be denied in whole or in part without opportunity for a hearing on reasonable prior notice. Such hearing shall be conducted by one or more members of the tax commission, or by a hearing officer designated by the tax commission to take evidence and report to the tax commission. The tax commissioners shall, acting as a body, jointly decide the case as quickly as practicable. Notice of the decision shall be mailed promptly to the taxpayer by certified or registered mail at his last known address, and such notice shall set forth the tax commission's findings of fact and a brief statement of the grounds of decision in each case decided in whole or in part adversely to the taxpayer.
(b) Petition for redetermination of a deficiency.--Within ninety days, or one hundred fifty days if the notice is addressed to a person outside of the United States, after the mailing of the notice of deficiency authorized by section six hundred eighty-one, the taxpayer may file a petition with the tax commission for a redetermination of the deficiency. Such petition may also assert a claim for refund for the same taxable year or years, subject to the limitations of subsection (g) of section six hundred eighty-seven.
(c) Petition for refund.--A taxpayer may file a petition with the tax commission for the amounts asserted in a claim for refund if--
(1) the taxpayer has filed a timely claim for refund with the tax commission,
(2) the taxpayer has not previously filed with the tax commission a timely petition under subsection (b) for the same taxable year unless the petition under this subsection relates to a separate claim for credit or refund properly filed under subsection (f) of section six hundred eighty-seven, and
(3) either (A) six months have expired since the claim was filed, or (B) the tax commission has mailed to the taxpayer, by registered or certified mail, a notice of disallowance of such claim in whole or in part.
(4) Notwithstanding paragraph three of this subsection, no petition may be filed by a taxpayer claiming a refund of one or more empire zone tax credits for a taxable year beginning on or after January first, two thousand eight and before January first, two thousand nine, until six months have expired after the date on which an empire zone retention certificate was issued pursuant to subdivision (w) of section nine hundred fifty-nine of the general municipal law to the empire zone enterprise which is the basis for the tax credit or credits claimed on the return or report. No petition under this subsection shall be filed more than two years after the date of mailing of a notice of disallowance, unless prior to the expiration of such two year period it has been extended by written agreement between the taxpayer and the tax commission. If a taxpayer files a written waiver of the requirement that he be mailed a notice of disallowance, the two year period prescribed by this subsection for filing a petition for refund shall begin on the date such waiver is filed.
(d) Assertion of deficiency after filing petition.--
(1) Petition for redetermination of deficiency.--If a taxpayer files with the tax commission a petition for redetermination of a deficiency, the tax commission shall have power to determine a greater deficiency than asserted in the notice of deficiency and to determine if there should be assessed any addition to tax or penalty provided in section six hundred eighty-five, if claim therefor is asserted at or before the hearing under rules of the tax commission.
(2) Petition for refund.-- If the taxpayer files with the tax commission a petition for credit or refund for a taxable year, the tax commission may
(A) determine a deficiency for such year as to any amount of deficiency asserted at or before the hearing under rules of the tax commission, and within the period in which an assessment would be timely under section six hundred eighty-three, or
(B) deny so much of the amount for which credit or refund is sought in the petition, as is offset by other issues pertaining to the same taxable year which are asserted at or before the hearing under rules of the tax commission.
(3) Opportunity to respond.-- A taxpayer shall be given a reasonable opportunity to respond to any matters asserted by the tax commission under this subsection.
(4) Restriction on further notices of deficiency. -- If the taxpayer files a petition with the tax commission under this section, no notice of deficiency under section six hundred eighty-one may thereafter be issued by the tax commission for the same taxable year, except in case of fraud or with respect to a change or correction required to be reported under section six hundred fifty-nine.
(e) Burden of proof. In any case before the tax commission under this article, the burden of proof shall be upon the petitioner except for the following issues, as to which the burden of proof shall be upon the tax commission:
(1) whether the petitioner has been guilty of fraud with intent to evade tax;
(2) whether the petitioner is liable as the transferee of property of a taxpayer, but not to show that the taxpayer was liable for the tax;
(3) whether the petitioner is liable for any increase in a deficiency where such increase is asserted initially after a notice of deficiency was mailed and a petition under this section filed, unless such increase in deficiency is the result of a change or correction required to be reported under section six hundred fifty-nine, and of which change or correction the tax commission had no notice at the time it mailed the notice of deficiency; and
(4) whether any person is liable for a penalty under subsection (q) or (r) of section six hundred eighty-five of this article.
(f) Evidence of related federal determination.-- Evidence of a federal determination relating to issues raised in a case before the tax commission under this section shall be admissible, under rules established by the tax commission.
(g) Jurisdiction over other years.-- The tax commission shall consider such facts with relation to the taxes for other years as may be necessary correctly to determine the tax for the taxable year, but in so doing shall have no jurisdiction to determine whether or not the tax for any other year has been overpaid or underpaid.
Last modified: February 3, 2019