(a) General. – Notwithstanding any provision of this code to the contrary, the Tax Commissioner may enter into written agreements with other agencies of this state, as provided in this section, to share certain tax information, as defined in this section.

(b) Contracts with the state. – Notwithstanding any provision of this article to the contrary, the Tax Commissioner may enter into a written agreement with the chief executive officer of an agency with authority to award public contracts for the purchase or lease of goods or services, or with the chief executive officer of the Enterprise Resource Planning Board to facilitate purchasing or leasing of goods and service, to disclose whether a vendor, or prospective vendor, is in good standing before a public contract is awarded or renewed.

(c) State Auditor. – The State Auditor is authorized to request from the Tax Commissioner, and the Tax Commissioner shall provide to the State Auditor, confirmation whether a vendor is in good standing with the Tax Commissioner. When the State Auditor provides the Tax Commissioner an electronic file, the Tax Commissioner will determine in a timely manner whether the vendor is in good standing and, if the vendor is not in good standing, electronically advise the State Auditor of the amount of taxes, interest and additions to tax that are then due and owing by that vendor to the Tax Commissioner that should be offset, if any, or that the vendor needs to contact the Tax Commissioner’s office to resolve the issue that prevents the vendor from being in good standing, before the vendor will be paid by the state.

(d) As used in §11-10-5dd of this code, the term “good standing” means that the person has a current business registration certificate under §11-12-1 et seq. of this code, has filed all required returns for taxes administered under §11-10-1 et seq. and has paid all taxes shown to be due on those returns. A person is in “good standing” even though the person may be paying taxes under a payment plan provided the person is in compliance with the terms of the written payment plan agreement; or is contesting an assessment for one or more taxes administered under §11-10-1 et seq. before the Office of Tax Appeals or in a court of this state.

(e) Exchanges of information under §11-10-5dd of this code shall occur pursuant to memorandums of understanding executed by the Tax Commissioner and the chief executive officer of any agency to award public contracts for the purchase or lease of goods or services; the chief executive officer of the Enterprise Resource Planning Board; or the State Auditor, as the case may be. These memorandums may be amended from time to time.