Following a hearing at the Division of Tax Appeals, any party may appeal all or part of the Determination to the Tax Appeals Tribunal, provided a Notice of Exception is filed within 30 days after service of the Determination on the parties. The Tax Appeals tribunal sits as the final administrative tax tribunal in the state. In the 2009-2010 fiscal year, the Tax Appeals Tribunal sustained the deficiency or other action asserted by the Department of Taxation in 71.7 percent of cases; it cancelled the deficiency or other action asserted in 13.0 percent of the cases; it modified the deficiency or other action asserted in 8.7 percent of the cases, and it remanded the case to the Administrative Law Judge in 6.5 percent of the cases.
A brief may be filed within 30 days after the filing of the Notice of Exception. 30-day extensions for filing a Notice of Exception may be granted “for cause.” In practice, such extensions are granted as a matter of course, provided a letter requesting the extension is received by the Division of Tax Appeals within the 30-day period for filing the Notice of Exception. The Tax Appeals Tribunal, also located in Troy, has three Commissioners who serve nine-year terms and who may be removed only for cause. Tax procedure in the administrative tax tribunals is governed by rules promulgated by the Tax Appeals Tribunal. In many respects, these rules resemble procedural rules found in the CPLR. Oral argument may be requested before the Tax Appeals Tribunal, and is routinely but not automatically granted.
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