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1997 SESSION
Be it enacted by the General Assembly of Virginia:
1. That § 58.1-3 of the Code of Virginia is amended and reenacted as follows:
§ 58.1-3. Secrecy of information; penalties.
A. Except in accordance with proper judicial order or as otherwise provided by law, the Tax Commissioner or agent, clerk, commissioner of the revenue, treasurer, or any other state or local tax or revenue officer or employee, or any former officer or employee of any of the aforementioned offices shall not divulge any information acquired by him in the performance of his duties with respect to the transactions, property, including personal property, income or business of any person, firm or corporation. Such prohibition specifically includes any copy of a federal return or federal return information required by Virginia law to be attached to or included in the Virginia return. Any person violating the provisions of this section shall be guilty of a Class 2 misdemeanor. The provisions of this subsection shall not be applicable, however, to:
1. Matters required by law to be entered on any public assessment roll or book;
2. Acts performed or words spoken or published in the line of duty under the law;
3. Inquiries and investigations to obtain information as to the process of real estate assessments by a duly constituted committee of the General Assembly, or when such inquiry or investigation is relevant to its study, provided that any such information obtained shall be privileged;
4. The sales price, date of construction, physical dimensions or
characteristics of real property, or to any information required for
building permits;
5. Copies of or information contained in an estate's probate tax return, filed with the clerk of court pursuant to § 58.1-1714, when requested by a beneficiary of the estate or an heir at law of the decedent.
B. Nothing contained in this section shall be construed to prohibit the publication of statistics so classified as to prevent the identification of particular reports or returns and the items thereof or the publication of delinquent lists showing the names of taxpayers who are currently delinquent, together with any relevant information which in the opinion of the Department may assist in the collection of such delinquent taxes. This section shall not be construed to prohibit a local tax official from disclosing whether a person, firm or corporation is licensed to do business in that locality and divulging, upon written request, the name and address of any person, firm or corporation transacting business under a fictitious name. Additionally, notwithstanding any other provision of law, the commissioner of revenue is authorized to provide, upon written request stating the reason for such request, the Tax Commissioner with information obtained from local tax returns and other information pertaining to the income, sales and property of any person, firm or corporation licensed to do business in that locality.
C. Notwithstanding the provisions of subsection A or B or any other provision
of this title, the Tax Commissioner is authorized to: (i) divulge tax
information to any commissioner of the revenue, director of finance or other
similar collector of county, city or town taxes who, for the performance of his
official duties, requests the same in writing setting forth the reasons for
such request; (ii) provide to the Commissioner of the Department of Social
Services, upon written request, information on the amount of income reported by
persons on their state income tax returns who have applied for public
assistance benefits as defined in § 63.1-87; (iii) provide to the
Executive Director of the State Education Assistance Authority
chief executive officer of the designated student loan guarantor for the
Commonwealth of Virginia, upon written request, the names and home
addresses of those persons identified by the Authority
designated guarantor as having defaulted on
delinquent loans guaranteed by the Authority
designated guarantor; (iv) provide current address information upon
request to state agencies and institutions for their confidential use in
facilitating the collection of accounts receivable, and to the clerk of a
circuit or district court for their confidential use in facilitating the
collection of fines, penalties and costs imposed in a proceeding in that court;
(v) provide to the Commissioner of the Virginia Employment Commission, after
entering into a written agreement, such tax information as may be necessary to
facilitate the collection of unemployment taxes and overpaid benefits; (vi)
provide to the Alcoholic Beverage Control Board, upon entering into a written
agreement, such tax information as may be necessary to facilitate the
collection of state and local taxes and the administration of the alcoholic
beverage control laws; (vii) provide to the Director of the State Lottery
Department such tax information as may be necessary to identify those lottery
ticket retailers who owe delinquent taxes; (viii) provide to the Department of
the Treasury for its confidential use such tax information as may be necessary
to facilitate the location of owners of unclaimed property; (ix) provide to the
State Corporation Commission, upon entering into a written agreement, such tax
information as may be necessary to facilitate the collection of taxes and fees
administered by the Commission; (x) provide to the Executive Director of the
Potomac and Rappahannock Transportation Commission for its confidential use
such tax information as may be necessary to facilitate the collection of the
motor vehicle fuel sales tax; and (xi) provide to the Executive Secretary of
the Charitable Gaming Commission such tax information as may be necessary to
identify those applicants for registration as a supplier of charitable gaming
supplies who have not filed required returns or who owe delinquent taxes. The
Tax Commissioner is further authorized to enter into written agreements with
duly constituted tax officials of other states and of the United States for the
inspection of tax returns, the making of audits, and the exchange of
information relating to any tax administered by the Department of Taxation. Any
person to whom tax information is divulged pursuant to this section shall be
subject to the prohibitions and penalties prescribed herein as though he were a
tax official.
D. Notwithstanding the provisions of subsection A or B or any other provision of this title, the commissioner of revenue is authorized to provide, upon written request stating the reason for such request, the chief executive officer of any county or city with information furnished to the commissioner of revenue by the Tax Commissioner relating to the name and address of any dealer located within the county or city who paid sales and use tax, for the purpose of verifying the local sales and use tax revenues payable to the county or city. The commissioner of revenue is authorized to provide to the Department of Professional and Occupational Regulation for its confidential use the name, address, and amount of gross receipts of any person, firm or entity subject to a criminal investigation of an unlawful practice of a profession or occupation administered by the Department of Professional and Occupational Regulation, only after the Department of Professional and Occupational Regulation exhausts all other means of obtaining such information. Any person to whom tax information is divulged pursuant to this section shall be subject to the prohibitions and penalties prescribed herein as though he were a tax official.
This section shall not be construed to prohibit a local tax official from imprinting or displaying on a motor vehicle local license decal the year, make, and model and any other legal identification information about the particular motor vehicle for which that local license decal is assigned.
E. Notwithstanding any other provisions of law, state agencies and any other administrative or regulatory unit of state government shall divulge to the Tax Commissioner or his authorized agent, upon written request, the name, address, and social security number of a taxpayer, necessary for the performance of the Commissioner's official duties regarding the administration and enforcement of laws within the jurisdiction of the Department of Taxation. The receipt of information by the Tax Commissioner or his agent which may be deemed taxpayer information shall not relieve the Commissioner of the obligations under this section.
F. Additionally, it shall be unlawful for any person to disseminate, publish, or cause to be published any confidential tax document which he knows or has reason to know is a confidential tax document. A confidential tax document is any correspondence, document, or tax return that is prohibited from being divulged by subsection A, B, C, or D of this section. This prohibition shall not apply if such confidential tax document has been divulged or disseminated pursuant to a provision of law authorizing disclosure. Any person violating the provisions of this subsection shall be guilty of a Class 2 misdemeanor.
2. That an emergency exists and this act is in force from its passage.