§ 1409. Returns. (a) (1) A joint return shall be filed by both the
grantor and the grantee for each conveyance whether or not a tax is due
thereon other than a conveyance of an easement or license to a public
utility as defined in subdivision two of section one hundred
eighty-six-a of this chapter or to a public utility which is a provider
of telecommunication services as defined in subdivision one of section
one hundred eighty-six-e of this chapter, where the consideration is two
dollars or less and is clearly stated as actual consideration in the
instrument of conveyance.

(2) When the grantor or grantee of a deed for a building used as
residential real property containing up to four family dwelling units is
a limited liability company, the joint return shall not be accepted for
filing unless it is accompanied by a document which identifies the names
and business addresses of all members, managers, and any other
authorized persons, if any, of such limited liability company and the
names and business addresses or, if none, the business addresses of all
shareholders, directors, officers, members, managers and partners of any
limited liability company or other business entity that are to be the
members, managers or authorized persons, if any, of such limited
liability company. The identification of such names and addresses shall
not be deemed an unwarranted invasion of personal privacy pursuant to
article six of the public officers law. If any such member, manager or
authorized person of the limited liability company is itself a limited
liability company or other business entity other than a publicly traded
entity, a REIT, a UPREIT, or a mutual fund, the names and addresses of
the shareholders, directors, officers, members, managers and partners of
the limited liability company or other business entity shall also be
disclosed until full disclosure of ultimate ownership by natural persons
is achieved. For purposes of this subdivision, the terms "members",
"managers", "authorized person", "limited liability company" and "other
business entity" shall have the same meaning as those terms are defined
in section one hundred two of the limited liability company law.

(3) The return shall be filed with the recording officer before the
instrument effecting the conveyance may be recorded. However, if the tax
is paid to the commissioner pursuant to section fourteen hundred ten of
this article, the return shall be filed with such commissioner at the
time the tax is paid. In that instance, a receipt evidencing the filing
of the return and the payment of tax shall be filed with the recording
officer before the instrument effecting the conveyance may be recorded.
The recording officer shall handle such receipt in the same manner as a
return filed with the recording officer.

(b) Subject to the provisions of section fourteen hundred twenty-three
of this article, the return shall be signed by both the grantor and the
grantee. Where a conveyance has more than one grantor or more than one
grantee, the return shall be signed by all of such grantors and
grantees. Where any or all of the grantors or any or all of the grantees
have failed to sign a return, it shall be accepted as a return if signed
by any one of the grantors or by any one of the grantees. Provided,
however, those not signing the return shall not be relieved of any
liability for the tax imposed by this article and the period of
limitations for assessment of tax or of additional tax shall not apply
to any such party.

(c) Returns shall be preserved for three years and thereafter until
the commissioner of taxation and finance permits them to be destroyed.

(d) The commissioner shall prescribe the form of the return, the
information which it shall contain and the documentation that shall
accompany the return. The commissioner shall prescribe that, for
recorded conveyances, such return shall be included on the form required
to be filed with a conveyance of real property by section two hundred
fifty-three-b of this chapter and the regulations promulgated
thereunder, except that such commissioner may prescribe a supplemental
form for purposes of the tax imposed by this article when the conveyance
is pursuant to or in lieu of foreclosure or the conveyance consists in
part of a mere change of identity or form of ownership or organization
or the conveyance is one for which a credit for tax previously paid will
be claimed. In addition, the commissioner, in the commissioner's
discretion, may enter into an agreement with the chief fiscal officer of
the cities of New York, Yonkers or Mount Vernon to provide that a single
return may be filed with a recording officer for purposes of the tax
imposed under this article and the tax imposed by such city.

(e) Certifications. The making or filing of any return or other
document or copy thereof, required to be made or filed pursuant to this
article, shall constitute a certification by the person making or filing
such return or other document or copy thereof that the statements
contained therein are true and that any copy filed is a true copy.