**(700)-40 [Confidentiality of Information Received Under the IG
Act]{.underline}**

40.1 [Introduction.]{.underline} Under certain circumstances, § 7(b) of
the Inspector General Act of 1978 may restrict TIGTA's ability to reveal
the identities of individuals who provided information to TIGTA. The
purpose of this subsection is to summarize the scope and extent of those
restrictions.

40.2 [Definitions.]{.underline} For purposes of this subsection, the
following terms shall have the meanings set forth:

-   *IG Act* means the Inspector General Act of 1978, as amended, which
    is codified at 5 U.S.C. app. 3 § 1, *et seq.*

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-   *TIGTA* means the Office of the Treasury Inspector General for Tax
    Administration.

40.3 [Text of Statute.]{.underline} Section 7(b) of the IG Act provides
as follows:

> The Inspector General shall not, after receipt of a complaint or
> information from an employee, disclose the identity of the employee
> without the consent of the employee, unless the Inspector General
> determines such disclosure is unavoidable during the course of the
> investigation.

40.4 [Persons Entitled to Confidentiality.]{.underline} The
non-disclosure provisions of § 7(b) will not protect a person's identity
unless two criteria are satisfied. First, the individual in question
must be an employee of the Treasury Department. Second, the individual
in question must have made a complaint or other unsolicited report of
waste, fraud, abuse, or other misconduct to TIGTA. Persons who provide
information to TIGTA during the course of an investigation, but who did
not approach TIGTA with a complaint or unsolicited report of wrongdoing,
are not entitled to the assurances of confidentiality guaranteed by
§ 7(b).

40.5 [Exceptions to the Rule of Non-disclosure.]{.underline}

40.5.1 [Consent.]{.underline} Information protected by § 7(b) of the IG
Act may be disclosed to a person not employed by TIGTA if the employee
in question has consented to the disclosure.

40.5.2 [Disclosure during the course of an investigation.]{.underline}
Information protected by § 7(b) of the IG Act may be disclosed to a
person not employed by TIGTA if the Inspector General or another person
authorized under [TIGTA Delegation Order
26](../../../tigta-delegation-orders/igdo26.doc) has determined that
disclosure of the employee's identity is unavoidable during the course
of an investigation.

-   Because the prosecution or discipline of wrongdoers is one of the
    fundamental reasons for conducting an investigation, an
    investigation should not be considered closed for purposes of this
    exception, until all related administrative and judicial proceedings
    have been concluded.

-   In determining whether disclosure is unavoidable, deciding officials
    should keep in mind the Senate Committee on Governmental Affairs'
    assertion that "\[i\]t is expected the disclosure of a complainant's
    identity will be necessary only in the rarest of circumstances."

40.6 [Types of Information to be Withheld.]{.underline} By its terms,
§ 7(b) of the IG Act prohibits Inspectors General from disclosing the
"identit\[ies\]" of employees who have made a complaint or provided
information to the Inspector General. TIGTA interprets this provision to
prohibit both direct and indirect disclosures of a complaining
employee's identity. Section 7(b) thus stands as a bar to the disclosure
of not only names, addresses, position titles, and similar
distinguishing information, but also any other information that would
directly or indirectly identify a complaining employee to management,
co-workers, or other witnesses.