Pursuant to section 207.4 of the State Administrative Procedure Act, the Department of Taxation and Finance hereby gives notice of the following:

As part of the Department's 2008 review of rules that were adopted during 1998 and 2003, it has reviewed 20 NYCRR Part 2401 (Taxpayers Affected by Declared Disasters) that was adopted in 1998. Part 2401 was added to implement the provisions of Chapter 8 of the Laws of 1998 that authorized the Commissioner of Taxation and Finance to postpone certain tax deadlines for a period up to 90 days, without imposition of penalty and interest, for taxpayers determined to be affected by a disaster declared by the President or the Governor. The statutory authority for the rule is contained in sections 171, subds. First and Twenty-eighth of the Tax Law. The rule was previously reviewed as part of the Department's 2003 Rule Review published in the State Register on January 8, 2003, and was continued without modification. Notice of the 2003 continuance was published in the Rule Review section of the April 30, 2003, issue of the State Register.

The rule is once again being continued without modification because it provides for a determination of when the Commissioner's authority may be implemented. There have been no statutory amendments or changes in policy to warrant any modification of the regulation.

A summary of the rule was published in the Rule Review section of the January 2, 2008, issue of the State Register. The 2008 Rule Review, including the summary, was also posted to the Department's Web site (http://www.tax.state.ny.us/rulemaker/regulations/fiveyearrev.htm) on December 28, 2007. The Department did not receive any public comments regarding this rule.

For further information contact: John W. Bartlett, Department of Taxation and Finance, Taxpayer Guidance Division, Bldg. 9, W.A. Harriman Campus, Albany, NY 12227, (518) 457-2254