Ohio Code 5715.49 – Prohibition against former or present official divulging information
(A) Except as provided in division (B) or (C) of this section, no former or present county auditor or member of a county board of revision shall divulge, except in the performance of official duties or upon the order of the department of taxation, or when called upon to testify in any court or proceeding, any information acquired in the exercise of the powers vested by the laws relating to taxation, or while claiming to exercise any such powers, as to the transactions, property, or business of any person, company, firm, corporation, association, or partnership. Whoever violates this section shall thereafter be disqualified from acting in any official capacity in connection with the assessment or collection of taxes or recoupment charges.
Terms Used In Ohio Code 5715.49
- Corporation: A legal entity owned by the holders of shares of stock that have been issued, and that can own, receive, and transfer property, and carry on business in its own name.
- Partnership: A voluntary contract between two or more persons to pool some or all of their assets into a business, with the agreement that there will be a proportional sharing of profits and losses.
- Person: includes an individual, corporation, business trust, estate, trust, partnership, and association. See Ohio Code 1.59
- Property: means real and personal property. See Ohio Code 1.59
- Testify: Answer questions in court.
- Whoever: includes all persons, natural and artificial; partners; principals, agents, and employees; and all officials, public or private. See Ohio Code 1.02
(B) Division (A) of this section does not prohibit a county auditor from divulging the name and business address of a vendor, a vendor’s license number, or information regarding the active or inactive status of a vendor’s license issued by the county auditor pursuant to section 5739.17 of the Revised Code.
(C) Division (A) of this section does not prohibit a county auditor from divulging to the executive director of a convention and visitors’ bureau operating in the county the tax return information of a hotel subject to a lodging tax levied by the county pursuant to section 5739.09 of the Revised Code.