said principal office or place of business and when and where incorporated. Said certificate shall be executed and duly acknowledged by the person or persons so conducting or intending to conduct said business or by the president or secretary of the corporation as the case may be. In the event of a change in the persons composing such firm, company or association or of the address of any such person, firm, company, association or corporation, or termination of such business or relationship, a like certificate setting forth the facts with respect to such change or termination shall within ten days thereafter be filed in the office of the tax commission. Any such person, firm, company, association or corporation who shall fail to comply with the provisions of this section shall be guilty of a misdemeanor, and upon conviction thereof shall pay a fine of not less than one hundred dollars nor more than five hundred dollars or be imprisoned for not more than six months' or by both such fine and imprisonment, in the discretion of the court. (Added by L. 1913, chap. 779; thus am'd by L. 1914, chap. 206; L. 1921, chap. 443, in effect July 1, 1921.) § 276. Power of tax commission. Every person, firm, company, association or corporation, engaged in whole or in part in the making or negotiating of sales, agreements to sell, deliveries or transfers of shares or certificates of stock, or conducting or transacting a brokerage business, shall keep or cause to be kept at some accessible place within the state of New York, a just and true book of account, in such form as may be prescribed by the tax commission, wherein shall be plainly and legibly recorded in separate columns, the date of making every sale, agreement to sell, delivery or transfer of shares or certificates of stock, the name of the stock and the number of shares thereof, the face value of the stock, the name of the seller or transferrer, the name of the purchaser or transferee and the number and face value of the adhesive stamps affixed and the identifying number of the bill or memorandum of sale used as provided for by section two hundred and seventy of this chapter. Every association, company or corporation shall keep or cause to be kept at some accessible place within the state of New York, a stock certificate book and a just and true book of account, transfer ledger or register, in such form as may be prescribed by the tax commission, wherein shall be plainly and legibly recorded in separate columns the date of making every transfer of stock, the name of the stock and the number of shares thereof, the serial number of each surrendered certificate, the name of the parties surrendering such certificate, the serial number of the certificate issued in exchange therefor, the number of shares covered by said certificate, the name of the party to whom said certificate was issued and evidence of the payment of the tax provided for by section two hundred and seventy of this chapter, which evidence, however, shall be provided in one of the following manners and not otherwise, to wit: (a) By attaching to the stock certificate surrendered for transfer, the stamps required for such transfer, or (b) If the stamps are not attached to the certificate, but are attached to the bill or memorandum of sale effecting or evidencing the transfer of such certificate, by attaching to said certificate the said bill or memorandum of sale with stamps attached, or (c) If the stamps covering the transfer are attached to a bill or memorandum effecting a transfer of one or more certificates or to one or more certificates included in said transfer, a notation must be made upon such certificates, bill or memorandum, as the case may be, clearly specifying and identifying the certificate or certificates of stock to the sale or transfer of which the said stamps apply, or (a) If the bill or memorandum bearing such stamps is not attached to the surrendered certificate or certificates to which it applies, a notation must be made upon such bill or memorandum stating the serial number or numbers of the certificates to which said bill or memorandum applies, as provided by section two hundred and seventy of this chapter. It shall also retain and keep all surrendered or canceled shares or certificates of its stock and all memoranda relating to the sale or transfer of any thereof. All such books of account, transfer ledgers, registers and stock certificate books, shall be retained and kept as aforesaid for a period of at least two years subsequent to the date of the last entry made therein as herein required; and all such surrendered or canceled shares or certificates of stock and memoranda relating to the sale or transfer of stock, shall be retained and kept for a period of at least two years from the date of the delivery thereof. For the purpose of ascertaining whether the tax imposed by this article has been paid, all such books of account, transfer ledgers, registers, stock certificate books, surrendered or canceled shares or certificates of stock and memoranda relating to the sale or transfer thereof, shall at all times between the hours of ten o'clock in the forenoon and three o'clock in the afternoon, except Saturdays, Sundays and legal holidays, be open to examination by the tax commission or its duly authorized representative. The tax commission may enforce its right to examine such books of account and bills or memoranda of sale or transfer; and such transfer ledger, register and stock certificate books and surrendered or canceled shares or certificates of stock by mandamus. If the tax commission ascertains that the tax provided for in this article has not been paid, it shall bring an action in its name as such tax commission, in any court of competent jurisdiction for the recovery of such tax and for any penalty incurred by any person under the provisions of this article. Every person, firm, company, association or corporation who shall fail to keep such book of account or bills or memoranda of sale or transfer, or transfer ledger, register or stock certificate book or surrendered or canceled shares or certificates of stock as herein required, or who alters, cancels, obliterates or destroys any part of said records, or makes any false entry therein, or who shall refuse to permit the tax commission or any of its authorized representatives freely to examine any of said books, records or papers at any of the times herein provided, or who shall in any other respect violate any of the provisions of this section shall be deemed guilty of a misdemeanor and on conviction thereof shall for each and every such offense pay a fine of not less than five hundred dollars nor more than five thousand dollars, or be imprisoned not less than three months nor more than two years, or both in the discretion of the court. (Thus am'd by L. 1910, chap. 453; L. 1911, chap. 352; L. 1912, chap. 292; L. 1913, chap. 779; L. 1921, chap. 443, in effect July 1, 1921.) § 277. Civil penalties; how recovered. Any person, firm, company, association or corporation who shall violate any of the provisions of section two hundred and seventy or section two hundred and seventy-two of this chapter shall in addition to the penalties herein provided forfeit to the people of the state a civil penalty of ten dollars for each and every share of stock so sold or transferred, or transferred or entered upon the books of the corporation, as the case may be, without the payment of the tax by this article imposed thereon. Any person who shall violate any of the other provisions of this article shall in addition to the penalties hereinbefore provided forfeit to the people of the state a civil penalty of five hundred dollars for each and every such violation. The tax commission shall bring an action in its name as such tax commission in any court of competent jurisdiction for the recovery of any civil penalty; and all moneys collected by it shall be paid into the state treasury. In an action against a corporation or its transfer agent to recover a penalty because of its transfer of stock upon the books or records of the corporation without requiring the payment of the tax by this article imposed, the failure of the corporation or its transfer agent, on the demand of the tax commission or its duly authorized representative, to produce the surrendered certificate or memoranda of sale with the required stamps attached, shall constitute prima facie proof of the nonpayment of the tax imposed by section two hundred and seventy of this chapter. (Thus am'd by L. 1912, chap. 292; L. 1921, chap. 443, in effect July 1, 1921.) § 278. Effect of failure to pay tax. No transfer of stock made after June first, nineteen hundred and five, on which a tax is imposed by this article, and which tax is not paid at the time of such transfer, shall be made the basis of any action or legal proceedings, nor shall proof thereof be offered or received in evidence in any court in this state. § 279. Application of taxes. The taxes imposed under this article and the revenues thereof shall be paid by the tax commission into the state treasury and be applicable to the general fund, and to the payment of all claims and demands which are a lawful charge thereon. (Thus am'd by L. 1921, chap. 443, effect July 1, 1921.) in § 280. Refund of tax erroneously paid. 'If any stamp or stamps shall have been erroneously affixed to any book, certificate of stock, or bill or memorandum of sale, the tax commission may, upon presentation of a claim for the amount of such stamp or stamps and upon the production of evidence satisfactory to it that such stamp or stamps was or were so erroneously affixed so as to cause loss to the person or persons making such claim, pay such amount or such part thereof as it may allow, to such claimant out of any moneys appropriated for that purpose. Such claim shall be presented to the tax commission in writing, duly verified, and shall state the full name and address of the claimant, the date of such erroneous affixing, the face value of such stamp or stamps and shall describe the instrument to which the stamp or stamps were affixed and contain such evidence as may be available upon which the demand for such refund is based. Such claims shall be presented within ninety days after such erroneous affixing unless such affixing shall have taken place prior to the date on which this act shall take effect, in which case such shall be presented within ninety days after the date on which this act shall take effect. If the tax commission rejects a claim or any part thereof, the claimant may file a claim for the recovery of such sum as the tax commission shall have refused to allow, with the court of claims, which shall constitute a private claim against the state and shall be subject to all the provisions of law governing such claims, except that all claims so presented shall be filed with the court of claims within ninety days from the date on which such claim shall be rejected by the tax commission. For the purposes of this section, the tax commission's decision shall be deemed to have been made at the time of the depositing of a copy of such decision in the postoffice inclosed in a duly post-paid wrapper and directed to the person making such claim at the address contained in the verified claim presented to the tax commission as hereinbefore provided. (Added by L. 1910, chap. 186; thus am'd by L. 1921, chap. 443, in effect July 1, 1921.) 15 ARTICLE 13 Procedure Section 290. Contents of petition. 291. Allowance of writ of certiorari. 292. Return to writ. 293. Proceedings upon return. 293a. Special proceedings concerning special franchise tax assessments. 294. Costs. 295. Appeals. 296. Refund of tax paid upon illegal, erroneous or unequal assessment 297. When county court may apportion tax. 298. Application to county court where taxpayer has removed from the county. 299. Supplementary proceedings to collect tax. 300. No fine or imprisonment for nonpayment of tax. 301. Dismissal of suits or proceedings. 302. Cancellation of personal tax where it is void for want of juri diction. 303. Power of county court when collector fails to pay over. 304. Payment of moneys collected. 305. Collection of deficiency from collector's bondsmen. 290. Contents of petition. Any person assessed upon any assessment-roll, claiming to be aggrieved by any assessment for property therein, may present to the supreme court a petition duly verified setting forth that the assessment is illegal, specifying the grounds of the alleged illegality, or if erroneous by reason of overvaluation, stating the extent of such overvaluation, or if unequal in that the assessment has been made at a higher pro portionate valuation than the assessment of other property on the same roll by the same officers, specifying the instances in which such inequality exists, and the extent thereof, and stating that he is or will be injured thereby. Such petition must show that the application has been made in due time to the proper officers to correct such assessment. Two or more persons assessed upon the same roll who are affected in the same manner by the alleged illegality, error or inequality, may unite in the same petition. (Thus am'd by L. 1916, chap. 323, in effect Apr. 26, 1916.) |