§ 512. Penalties and interest. 1. (a) Any person failing to file a
return or to pay any tax within the time required by or pursuant to this
article (determined with regard to any extension of time for filing or
paying) shall be subject to a penalty of ten per centum of the amount of
tax determined to be due as provided in this article plus one per centum
of such amount for each month or fraction thereof during which such
failure continues after the expiration of the first month after such
return was required to be filed or such tax became due, not exceeding
thirty per centum in the aggregate. Provided, however, that any person
who fails to file any return required by this article within sixty days
of the date prescribed for filing of such return (determined with regard
to any extension of time for filing) shall be subject to a penalty which
shall not be less than the lesser of one hundred dollars or one hundred
per centum of the amount required to be shown as tax on such return. For
the purpose of the preceding sentence, the amount of tax required to be
shown on the return shall be reduced by the amount of any part of the
tax which is paid on or before the date prescribed for payment of the
tax and by the amount of any credit against the tax which may be claimed
upon the return.

(b) If any amount of tax is not paid on or before the last date
prescribed in this article for payment, interest on such amount at the
underpayment rate set by the commissioner of taxation and finance
pursuant to subdivision twenty-sixth of section one hundred seventy-one
of this chapter shall be paid for the period from such last date to the
date paid, whether or not any extension of time for payment was granted.
Interest under this paragraph shall not be paid if the amount thereof is
less than one dollar.

(c) If the tax commission determines that such failure or delay was
due to reasonable cause and not due to willful neglect, it shall remit
all or part of such penalty. The tax commission shall promulgate rules
and regulations as to what constitutes reasonable cause.

(d) If the failure to pay any tax within the time required by or
pursuant to this article is due to fraud, in lieu of the penalties and
interest provided for in paragraphs (a) and (b) of this subdivision,
there shall be added to the tax (i) a penalty of two times the amount of
tax due, plus (ii) interest on such unpaid tax at the underpayment rate
set by the commissioner of taxation and finance pursuant to subdivision
twenty-sixth of section one hundred seventy-one of this chapter for the
period beginning on the last day prescribed by this article for the
payment of such tax (determined without regard to any extension of time
for paying) and ending on the day on which such tax is paid.

(e) In addition to any other penalty imposed by this chapter, any
person who fails to obtain a certificate of registration or decal as
required under this article shall, after due notice and an opportunity
for a hearing, for a first violation be liable for a civil fine not less
than five hundred dollars but not to exceed two thousand dollars and for
a second or subsequent violation within three years following a prior
finding of violation be liable for a civil fine not less than one
thousand dollars but not to exceed three thousand five hundred dollars.

(f) The penalties and interest imposed by this subdivision shall be
assessed, collected and paid in the same manner as the taxes imposed by
this article. Interest under this subdivision shall be compounded daily.

2. For purposes of this chapter the failure to do any act required by
or under the provisions of this article shall be deemed an act committed
in part at the office of the department of taxation and finance in
Albany. For purposes of this chapter, the certificate of the tax
commission to the effect that a tax has not been paid, that a return has
not been filed, or that information has not been supplied, as required
by or under the provisions of this article, or that a claim for refund
has been filed, shall be prima facie evidence that such tax has not been
paid, that such return has not been filed, that such information has not
been supplied, or that such claim has been filed.

3. Violations of this article may be prosecuted by the attorney
general in the name of the people of the state, in which case the
attorney general shall exercise all the powers and perform all the
duties which the district attorney would otherwise be authorized to
exercise or to perform therein.

4. Cross-reference: For criminal penalties and other offenses, see
article thirty-seven of this chapter.