A New York State Administrative Law Judge ruled that the retroactive application of amendments to the state’s Empire Zones statute—disqualifying a taxpayer from the tax reduction credits—did not violate the taxpayer’s constitutional due process rights. Acknowledging that the stated public purposes of curtailing perceived abuses and raising revenue were better accomplished in prospective legislation, the Division nevertheless found that the application of statutory amendments to the tax year in which the amendments were enacted was an “extremely short period of retroactivity” that outweighs the lack of a public purpose. (In the Matter of the Petition of NRG Energy, Inc., Dkt. No. 826921 (N.Y. Div. Tax App. 11/08/2018)).
