Mississippi Code 1972 (2023) › Title 27 - TAXATION AND FINANCE (§§ 27-1-1 — 27-117-15) › Chapter 3 - DEPARTMENT OF REVENUE (§§ 27-3-1 — 27-3-87) › Section 27-3-73 - Secrecy of tax returns; release of certain information about individuals who are delinquent in payment of child support or under investigation for fraud or abuse of state or federal program

(1)
Except in accordance with proper judicial order or as otherwise provided in this section or as authorized in Section
27-4-3
, it shall be unlawful for the Commissioner of Revenue, or any deputy, agent, clerk or other officer or employee of the Department of Revenue, to divulge or make known in any manner the amount of income or any particulars set forth or disclosed in any report or return required on any taxes collected by reports received by the Department of Revenue. This provision relates to all taxes collected by the Department of Revenue and not referred to in Sections
27-7-83
,
27-13-57
and
27-65-81
, requiring confidentiality of income tax, franchise tax and sales tax returns. All system edits, thresholds, and any other automated system calculations used by the Department of Revenue in the processing of returns or statistics or used to determine the correct tax due for all taxes administered by the department shall be considered confidential information and may not be divulged or made known. Nothing 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 inspection by the Attorney General, or any other attorney representing the state, of the report or return of any taxpayer who shall bring action to set aside the tax thereon, or against whom an action or proceeding has been instituted to recover any tax or penalty imposed. Additionally, nothing in this section shall prohibit the Commissioner of Revenue from making available information necessary to recover taxes owing the state pursuant to the authority granted in Section
27-75-16
.
The term "proper judicial order" as used in this section shall not include subpoenas or subpoenas duces tecum but shall include only those orders entered by a court of record in this state after furnishing notice and a hearing to the taxpayer and the Department of Revenue. The court shall not authorize the furnishing of such information unless it is satisfied that the information is needed to pursue pending litigation wherein the return itself is in issue, or the judge is satisfied that the need for furnishing the information outweighs the rights of the taxpayer to have such information secreted.
However, information relating to possible tax liability to other states or the federal government may be furnished to the revenue departments of those states or the federal government when the states or federal government grant a like comity to Mississippi.
(2)
The State Auditor and the employees of his office shall have the right to examine only such tax returns as are necessary for auditing the Department of Revenue, and the same prohibitions against disclosure which apply to the Department of Revenue shall apply to the State Auditor and his office.
(3)
Officers and employees of the Mississippi Development Authority who execute a confidentiality agreement with the Department of Revenue shall be authorized to discuss and examine information to which this section applies at the offices of the Mississippi Department of Revenue. This disclosure is limited to information necessary to properly administer the programs under the jurisdiction of the Mississippi Development Authority. The Department of Revenue is authorized to disclose to officers and employees of the Mississippi Development Authority who execute a confidentiality agreement the information necessary under the circumstances. The same prohibitions against disclosure which apply to the Department of Revenue shall apply to the officers or employees of the Mississippi Development Authority.
(4)
Information required by the University Research Center to prepare the analyses required by Sections
57-13-101
through
57-13-109
shall be furnished to the University Research Center upon request. It shall be unlawful for any officer or employee of the University Research Center to divulge or make known in any manner the amount of income or any particulars set forth or disclosed in any information received by the center from the Department of Revenue other than as may be required by Sections
57-13-101
through
57-13-109
in an analysis prepared pursuant to Sections
57-13-101
through
57-13-109
.
(5)
Information required by the Mississippi Development Authority to prepare the reports required by Section
57-1-12.2
shall be furnished to the Mississippi Development Authority upon request. It shall be unlawful for any officer or employee of the Mississippi Development Authority to divulge or make known in any manner the amount of income or any particulars set forth or disclosed in any information received by the Mississippi Development Authority from the Department of Revenue other than as may be required by Section
57-1-12.2
in a report prepared pursuant to Section
57-1-12.2
.
(6)
Information necessary to comply with Chapter 13, Title 85, may be furnished to financial institutions. It shall be unlawful for any officer or employee of the financial institution to divulge or make known in any manner the amount of income or any particulars set forth or disclosed in any information received by the financial institution from the Department of Revenue other than as may be authorized by Chapter 13, Title 85.
(7)
The Commissioner of Revenue and the Department of Revenue are authorized to discuss with and provide the Attorney General or his designated representative with information related to an offer to compromise and settle any doubtful claim regarding a finally determined tax liability as authorized by Section
31-19-30
. It shall be unlawful for the Attorney General or any officer or employee of the Attorney General to divulge or make known in any manner the amount of income or any particulars set forth or disclosed in any information received by the Attorney General's office from the Commissioner of Revenue or Department of Revenue other than as may be required by Section
31-19-30
.
(8)
Any person who violates the provisions of this section shall be guilty of a misdemeanor and, on conviction thereof, shall be fined not more than One Thousand Dollars ($1,000.00) or imprisoned not more than six (6) months in the county jail, or both.
(9)
The Commissioner of Revenue and the Department of Revenue are authorized to disclose to the Child Support Unit and to the Fraud Investigation Unit of the Department of Human Services without the need for a subpoena or proper judicial order the name, address, social security number, amount of income, amount of sales tax, source of income, assets and other relevant information, records and tax forms for individuals who are delinquent in the payment of any child support as defined in Section
93-11-101
or who are under investigation for fraud or abuse of any state or federal program or statute as provided in Section
43-1-23
.
Laws, 1975, ch. 516, § 1; Laws, 1986, ch. 389; Laws, 1988, ch. 349, § 2; Laws, 2009, ch. 492, § 36; Laws, 2010, ch. 323, § 1; Laws, 2010, ch. 385, § 1; Laws, 2010, ch. 388, § 2; Laws, 2010, ch. 481, § 1, eff. 7/1/2010.
Amended by Laws, 2021, ch. 461, HB 1095,§ 4, eff. 7/1/2021.
Amended by Laws, 2017, ch. 407, SB 2445, 5, eff. 7/1/2017.
Amended by Laws, 2014, ch. 517, HB 1365, 8, eff. 7/1/2014.