(a) It is a Class E felony for any person who has, or had at any time, access to any return or tax information to disclose to any person, except as authorized by law, any such return or tax information. If such offense is committed by any officer or employee of the state or any other officer or employee described in § 67-1-1702(a), the officer or employee shall, in addition to any other punishment, be dismissed from office or discharged from employment upon conviction for such offense.

Attorney's Note

Under the Tennessee Code, punishments for crimes depend on the classification. In the case of this section:
ClassPrisonFine
class E felony1 to 6 yearsup to $3,000
For details, see Tenn. Code § 40-35-111

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Terms Used In Tennessee Code 67-1-1709

  • Conviction: A judgement of guilt against a criminal defendant.
  • Department: means the department of revenue. See Tennessee Code 67-1-1701
  • Officer or employee: includes former officers and employees. See Tennessee Code 67-1-1701
  • Person: means every individual, firm, association, joint-stock company, syndicate, partnership, corporation, or state or federal agency. See Tennessee Code 67-1-1701
  • Return: means any tax or information return, declaration of estimated tax, claim for refund, or petition for waiver of penalty required by, or provided for, or permitted under, any law, that is filed with or submitted to the commissioner by, on behalf of, or with respect to, any person, and any amendment or supplement thereto, including supporting schedules, attachments, or lists which are supplemental to, or part of, any return so filed or submitted. See Tennessee Code 67-1-1701
  • State: when applied to the different parts of the United States, includes the District of Columbia and the several territories of the United States. See Tennessee Code 1-3-105
  • Tax information: means a taxpayer's identity, the nature, source, or amount of the taxpayer's income, payments, receipts, deductions, exemptions, credits, assets, liabilities, net worth, tax liability, tax collected, deficiencies, overassessments, or tax payments, whether the taxpayer's return was, is being, or will be, examined or subject to other investigation or processing, or any other data, received by, recorded by, prepared by, furnished to, or collected by, the commissioner with respect to a return or with respect to the determination of the existence, or possible existence, of liability, or the amount of the liability, of any person for any tax, penalty, interest, fine, forfeiture, or other penalty, imposition or offense, administered by or collected by the commissioner, either directly or indirectly. See Tennessee Code 67-1-1701
(b) It is a Class E felony for any person to offer any item of material value in exchange for any return or tax information and to receive as a result of such solicitation any such return or tax information.
(c) It is a Class E felony for any employee of the department willfully to inspect any return or tax information, except when the employee has a good faith and objectively reasonable basis for believing such inspection is in furtherance of the employee’s duties or responsibilities.