N.Y. TAX Law § 3034
This is the official text of N.Y. TAX Law § 3034, part of New York’s TAX Law — part of the compiled statutory law of New York, published by the state as "TAX Law." Browse the sections below, each linked to its official government source.
Not legal advice. This page reproduces the official text of a government statute for reference only. Laws change, and how a statute applies depends on your specific facts. For advice about your situation, consult a licensed attorney in your state.
Civil damages for certain unauthorized collection actions
Official statutory text
§ 3034. Civil damages for certain unauthorized collection actions.\n(a) General. If, in connection with any collection of any tax with\nrespect to a taxpayer, any officer or employee of the department\nrecklessly or intentionally disregards any provision of any tax, or any\nregulation promulgated under any of such taxes, such taxpayer may bring\na civil action in the court of claims for damages against the state.\nExcept as provided in section three thousand thirty-two of this article\nrelating to civil damages for failure to release a lien, such civil\naction shall be the exclusive remedy for recovering damages resulting\nfrom such actions.\n (b) Damages. In any action brought under subdivision (a) of this\nsection, upon a finding of liability on the part of the defendant, the\ndefendant shall be liable to the plaintiff in an amount equal to the\nlesser of one hundred thousand dollars or the sum of (1) the actual,\ndirect economic damages sustained by the plaintiff as a proximate result\nof the reckless or intentional actions of the officer or employee, and\n(2) the costs of the action.\n (c) Limitations. (1) Exhaustion of administrative remedies. The\namount of damages awarded under subdivision (b) of this section may be\nreduced if the court determines that the plaintiff has not exhausted the\nadministrative remedies available to such plaintiff within the\ndepartment which have been established pursuant to the commissioner's\nauthority to compromise civil liability provided in subdivision\neighteenth-a of section one hundred seventy-one of this chapter. In\nestablishing administrative review procedures regarding claims for\ndamages under this section, the commissioner is authorized to enter into\ncontracts with private dispute resolution entities for the purpose of\nproviding review of such claims and suggested compromises by independent\nthird parties.\n (2) Mitigation of damages. The amount of damages awarded under\nparagraph one of subdivision (b) of this section shall be reduced by the\namount of such damages which could have reasonably been mitigated by the\nplaintiff.\n
Status: in_force · Read it on the official government site
Need a lawyer in New York?
Find a New York lawyer
About this page: Statute text is reproduced from official government publishers via the
Open US Law dataset
(Vaquill AI, snapshot v2026.08, CC BY 4.0). Primary legislative text like this is public domain under the government-edicts doctrine
(Georgia v. Public.Resource.Org, 2020). We link every section back to its official source so you can verify it independently.