New York State Penalty Abatement

[bananamoonpie1]

Hi!

I have a client who has been assessed a large penalty for a late (individual income tax) filing. Basically, a federal extension was filed, but the New York state extension was not filed. I wanted to essentially ask for a one-time abatement of penalty since it was just an honest mistake and the taxpayer has a clean tax record. I went through the online account process and explained this and added documentation of the federal extension, but it seems that the last step is choosing to either file a formal appeal with the Division of Tax Appeals or the Bureau of Conciliation and Mediation Services. We are out of state (in Georgia) and I'm unfamiliar with these divisions. Since I'm requesting one-time forgiveness, I'm not sure a formal appeal is the correct path. Is there a more informal way to do this?

Thanks in advance!