§ 1-70 — Confidentiality; official purposes

All information received by the Department from returns or reports filed under this Act, or from any investigation conducted under this Act, shall be confidential, except for official purposes, and any person who divulges any such information in any manner, except in accordance with a proper judicial order or as otherwise provided by law, shall be guilty of a Class A misdemeanor. Nothing in this Act prevents the Director of Revenue from publishing or making available to the public the names and addresses of persons filing returns or reports under this Act, or reasonable statistics concerning the operation of the tax by grouping the contents of returns or reports so that the information in any individual return or report is not disclosed. Nothing in this Act prevents the Director of Revenue from divulging to the United States government or the government of any other state, or any officer or agency thereof, for exclusively official purposes, information received by the Department in administering this Act, provided that such other governmental agency agrees to divulge requested tax information to the Department. The furnishing upon request of the Auditor General, or his authorized agents, for official use, of returns or reports filed and information related thereto under this Act is deemed to be an official purpose within the meaning of this Section. The furnishing of financial information to a home rule unit with a population in excess of 2,000,000 that has imposed a tax similar to that imposed by this Act under its home rule powers, upon request of the Chief Executive of the home rule unit, is an official purpose within the meaning of this Section, provided the home rule unit agrees in writing to the requirements of this Section. Information so provided is subject to all confidentiality provisions of this Section. The written agreement shall provide for reciprocity, limitations on access, disclosure, and procedures for requesting information. The Director may make available to any State agency, including the Illinois Supreme Court, that licenses persons to engage in any occupation, information that a person licensed by such agency has failed to file returns under this Act or pay the tax, penalty, and interest shown therein, or has failed to pay any final assessment of tax, penalty, or interest due under this Act or has failed to file reports under this Act. An assessment is final when all proceedings in court for review of such assessment have terminated or the time for the taking thereof has expired without such proceedings being instituted. The Director shall make available for public inspection in the Department's principal office and for publication, at cost, administrative decisions issued on or after January 1, 2013. These decisions are to be made available in a manner so that the following taxpayer or licensee information is not disclosed: (1) The names, addresses, and identification numbers of the taxpayer or licensee, related entities, and employees. (2) At the sole discretion of the Director, trade secrets or other confidential information identified as such by the taxpayer or licensee no later than 30 days after receipt of an administrative decision, by such means as the Department shall provide by rule. The Director shall determine the appropriate extent of the deletions allowed in paragraph (2). In the event the taxpayer or licensee does not submit deletions, the Director shall make only the deletions specified in paragraph (1). The Director shall make available for public inspection and publication each administrative decision within 180 days after the issuance of the administrative decision. The term "administrative decision" has the same meaning as defined in Section 3-101 of the Code of Civil Procedure. Costs collected under this Section shall be paid into the Tax Compliance and Administration Fund. Nothing contained in this Act shall prevent the Director from divulging information to any person pursuant to a request or authorization made by the taxpayer or licensee or by an authorized representative of the taxpayer or licensee.

Legislative History

(Source: P.A. 97-688, eff. 6-14-12.)