28-5936

28-5936. Confidential information; disclosure
allowed

A. A person may disclose confidential information as follows:

1. Confidential information relating to:

(a) A taxpayer may be disclosed to the taxpayer, the taxpayer's successor in
interest or a designee of the taxpayer who is authorized in writing by the taxpayer.

(b) A corporate taxpayer may be disclosed to a principal officer of the
corporation.

(c) A partnership may be disclosed to a partner of the partnership, excluding
disclosure of confidential information of a particular partner unless otherwise
authorized.

(d) An estate may be disclosed to the personal representative of the estate and to
an heir, next of kin or beneficiary under the will of the decedent if the director finds
that the heir, next of kin or beneficiary has a material interest that will be affected
by the confidential information.

(e) A trust may be disclosed to the trustee or trustees, jointly or separately, and
to the grantor or any beneficiary of the trust if the director finds that the grantor or
beneficiary has a material interest that will be affected by the confidential
information.

(f) A taxpayer may be disclosed if the taxpayer has waived any rights to
confidentiality either in writing or on the record in any administrative or judicial
proceeding.

2. Confidential information may be disclosed to:

(a) An employee of the department whose official duties involve tax administration.

(b) The office of the attorney general or the office of a county attorney
authorized in writing by the attorney general solely for its use in preparation for, or
an investigation that may result in, a proceeding involving tax administration before the
director, department or other agency or board of this state or before a grand jury or a
state or federal court.

(c) Other state tax officials of this state whose official duties require the
disclosure for proper tax administration purposes if the information is sought in
connection with any investigation or other proceeding conducted by the tax official,
except that a disclosure is limited to information of a taxpayer who is being
investigated or who is a party to a proceeding conducted by the tax official.

(d) The United States internal revenue service or state tax officials of other
states pursuant to statute and a written agreement between the director and the internal
revenue service or other state, if the internal revenue service or the other state grants
substantially similar privileges to the director for the type of information being
sought.

(e) The auditor general if in connection with an audit of the department subject to
the restrictions in section 28-5935, subsection B.

(f) Any person to the extent necessary for effective tax administration in
connection with the processing, storage, transmission and reproduction of the information
and the programming, maintenance, repair, testing and procurement of equipment for
purposes of tax administration.

3. Confidential information may be disclosed in a state or federal judicial or
administrative proceeding pertaining to tax administration if:

(a) The taxpayer is a party to the proceeding.

(b) The treatment of an item reflected in the information is directly related to
the resolution of an issue in the proceeding.

(c) The information directly relates to a transactional relationship between a
person who is a party to the proceeding and the taxpayer that directly affects the
resolution of an issue in the proceeding.

4. Identity information may be disclosed for purposes of notifying persons entitled
to tax refunds if the director is unable to locate the persons after reasonable effort.

5. If necessary to effect collection of a delinquent tax, penalties or interest,
the outstanding obligation and information obtained in the collection investigation may
be disclosed.

6. The director may disclose statistical information gathered from confidential
information if the disclosure does not include confidential information attributable to
any one taxpayer.

7. Confidential information may be disclosed to law enforcement agencies for law
enforcement purposes.

B. Except as provided in section 28-5935, subsection B, a court may order the
director to disclose confidential information pertaining to a party to an action. The
court shall make an order only on a showing of good cause and that the party seeking the
information has made demand on the taxpayer for the information.

C. Except as prescribed in subsection D of this section or except if required to do
so by a court, it is unlawful for a person to disclose information acquired by the
director or an agent under section 28-5620. This subsection does not mean that the
information or evidence is privileged if it is used by this state or an officer of this
state in an action for collection of the tax or a prosecution for a violation of article
1 of this chapter.

D. The department of transportation shall provide information to the department of
weights and measures to determine compliance with title 41, chapter 15, article 7. A
gasoline dispensing site shall provide the department of transportation with information
the director of the department of transportation requests and in the form that the
director of the department of transportation determines is necessary for the purposes of
this subsection.

E. This article does not prevent the director from disclosing to a person any
aggregate statistical information gathered from confidential information regarding the
distribution of gasoline sales by a distributor in each of the several counties of this
state. The director shall provide this gasoline sales distribution information to a
person pursuant to section 39-121.