1. Except as otherwise provided in this section, any appeal to the Nevada Tax Commission which is taken by a taxpayer concerning his or her liability for tax must be heard during a session of the Commission which is open to the public. Upon request by the taxpayer, a hearing on such an appeal must be closed to the public to receive proprietary or confidential information.

2. A taxpayer may request a closed hearing pursuant to subsection 1 by submitting the request in writing to the Nevada Tax Commission:

(a) Not later than 14 calendar days before the date of the hearing; or

(b) If authorized by the Executive Director for good cause shown, not later than 5 calendar days before the date of the hearing.

3. Notwithstanding the provisions of NRS 241.020, all information received by the Nevada Tax Commission concerning an appeal taken by a taxpayer pursuant to subsection 1 shall be deemed proprietary and confidential and the Nevada Tax Commission shall not provide a member of the public with any such information until after the date by which the taxpayer may submit a request for a closed hearing pursuant to subsection 2, even if the information is provided to members of the Nevada Tax Commission. Thereafter the information must be provided to a member of the public upon request unless the taxpayer has made a request for a closed hearing.

4. As soon as practicable after closing a hearing pursuant to subsection 1, the Nevada Tax Commission shall determine whether the information to be presented in the closed hearing is proprietary or confidential information. If the Commission, in its discretion, determines that the information is not proprietary or confidential information, the Commission shall immediately open the hearing to the public. If the Commission, in its discretion, determines that the information is proprietary or confidential information:

(a) The hearing must remain closed to the public and the Commission shall receive the information in a manner that ensures that the members of the Commission have a reasonable and adequate opportunity to review the information and make any inquiries that any member believes to be necessary and appropriate.

(b) After the receipt of and opportunity to review the proprietary or confidential information pursuant to paragraph (a), the Commission shall reopen the hearing to the public and proceed to deliberate toward a decision regarding issues in the appeal that are not proprietary or confidential.

(c) After a hearing has been reopened pursuant to paragraph (b), the Commission shall, upon the request of any member of the Commission who believes that he or she cannot conduct meaningful deliberations with the other members of the Commission on the appeal because the appeal concerns proprietary or confidential information, close the hearing for further deliberations. The definitive vote on the appeal must be taken during a hearing of the Commission that is open to the public.

5. The Nevada Tax Commission shall adopt regulations which establish procedures:

(a) By which a taxpayer may request a closed hearing pursuant to this section.

(b) By which the Commission may determine whether information is proprietary or confidential information during a closed hearing.

6. Not later than 45 days after the Nevada Tax Commission deliberates in a closed hearing and makes a definitive decision on an appeal in a hearing that is open to the public pursuant to this section, the Commission shall prepare an abstract that explains the reasons for the decision, which must be made available to the public upon request. Such an abstract:

(a) Must include, without limitation:

(1) The name of the taxpayer;

(2) The amount of the taxpayer’s liability, including interest and penalties;

(3) The type of tax at issue; and

(4) The general nature of the evidence relied upon by the Commission in reaching its decision.

(b) Must not contain any proprietary or confidential information relating to the taxpayer.

7. A member of the Nevada Tax Commission or an officer, agent or employee of the Department is not subject to any criminal penalty or civil liability for the use or publication of proprietary or confidential information received pursuant to the procedure set forth in subsection 4, regardless of whether the information was received during a closed hearing.

8. The Nevada Tax Commission shall take such actions as it deems necessary to protect the confidentiality of information provided by a taxpayer that the Commission has determined to be proprietary or confidential information, including, without limitation:

(a) Issuing such protective orders as it deems necessary;

(b) Restricting access to any hearing closed to the public and to the records and transcripts of any such hearing, without the prior approval of the Commission; and

(c) Prohibiting any intervener allowed to attend such a hearing or allowed access to the records and transcripts of such a hearing from disclosing such information without prior authorization from the Commission.

9. A person who violates a protective order issued by the Nevada Tax Commission pursuant to subsection 8 is guilty of a misdemeanor, unless a more severe penalty is prescribed by law for the act that constitutes the violation of the order.

10. As used in this section:

(a) “Confidential economic information”:

(1) Means any information which is not available to the public generally, which confers an economic benefit on the holder of the information as a result of its unavailability and which is the subject of reasonable efforts by the taxpayer to maintain its secrecy.

(2) Includes, without limitation, information relating to the amount or source of any income, profits, losses or expenditures of the taxpayer, such as data relating to costs, prices or customers.

(b) “Proprietary or confidential information”:

(1) Means:

(I) Any trade secret, confidential economic information or business information that is submitted to the Nevada Tax Commission by the taxpayer and is determined to be proprietary or confidential information by the Commission; or

(II) Any information that a specific statute declares to be confidential or prohibits the Commission from making public.

(2) Does not include any information that has been published for public distribution or is otherwise available to the public generally or in the public domain.

(Added to NRS by 1983, 316; A 2007, 1124; 2011, 730)