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 weights and measures services division of the Arizona department of agriculture to determine compliance with title 3, chapter 19, 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.