§ 917 — Confidentiality and information sharing

(a) Confidentiality. Except as provided in this Section, all information received by the Department from returns filed under this Act, or from any investigation conducted under the provisions of this Act, shall be confidential, except for official purposes within the Department or pursuant to official procedures for collection of any State tax or pursuant to an investigation or audit by the Illinois State Scholarship Commission of a delinquent student loan or monetary award or enforcement of any civil or criminal penalty or sanction imposed by this Act or by another statute imposing a State tax, and any person who divulges any such information in any manner, except for such purposes and pursuant to order of the Director or in accordance with a proper judicial order, shall be guilty of a Class A misdemeanor. However, the provisions of this paragraph are not applicable to information furnished to (i) the Department of Healthcare and Family Services (formerly Department of Public Aid), State's Attorneys, and the Attorney General for child support enforcement purposes and (ii) a licensed attorney representing the taxpayer where an appeal or a protest has been filed on behalf of the taxpayer. If it is necessary to file information obtained pursuant to this Act in a child support enforcement proceeding, the information shall be filed under seal. The furnishing upon request of the Auditor General, or his or her authorized agents, for official use of returns filed and information related thereto under this Act is deemed to be an official purpose within the Department within the meaning of this Section. (b) Public information. Nothing contained in this Act shall prevent the Director from publishing or making available to the public the names and addresses of persons filing returns under this Act, or from publishing or making available reasonable statistics concerning the operation of the tax wherein the contents of returns are grouped into aggregates in such a way that the information contained in any individual return shall not be disclosed. (c) Governmental agencies. The Director may make available to the Secretary of the Treasury of the United States or his delegate, or the proper officer or his delegate of any other state imposing a tax upon or measured by income, for exclusively official purposes, information received by the Department in the administration of this Act, but such permission shall be granted only if the United States or such other state, as the case may be, grants the Department substantially similar privileges. The Director may exchange information with the Department of Healthcare and Family Services and the Department of Human Services (acting as successor to the Department of Public Aid under the Department of Human Services Act) for the purpose of verifying sources and amounts of income and for other purposes directly connected with the administration of this Act, the Illinois Public Aid Code, and any other health benefit program administered by the State. The Director may exchange information with the Director of the Department of Employment Security for the purpose of verifying sources and amounts of income and for other purposes directly connected with the administration of this Act and Acts administered by the Department of Employment Security. The Director may make available to the Illinois Workers' Compensation Commission information regarding employers for the purpose of verifying the insurance coverage required under the Workers' Compensation Act and Workers' Occupational Diseases Act. The Director may exchange information with the Illinois Department on Aging for the purpose of verifying sources and amounts of income for purposes directly related to confirming eligibility for participation in the programs of benefits authorized by the Senior Citizens and Persons with Disabilities Property Tax Relief and Pharmaceutical Assistance Act. The Director may exchange information with the State Treasurer's Office and the Department of Employment Security for the purpose of implementing, administering, and enforcing the Illinois Secure Choice Savings Program Act. The Director may exchange information with the State Treasurer's Office for the purpose of administering the Revised Uniform Unclaimed Property Act or successor Acts. The Director may make information available to the Secretary of State for the purpose of administering Section 5-901 of the Illinois Vehicle Code. The Director may exchange information with the State Treasurer's Office for the purpose of administering the Illinois Higher Education Savings Program established under Section 16.8 of the State Treasurer Act. The Director may make individual income tax information available to the State health benefits exchange, as defined in Section 513, if the disclosure is authorized by the taxpayer pursuant to Section 513. The Director may make available to any State agency, including the Illinois Supreme Court, which 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. The Director may make available to any State agency, including the Illinois Supreme Court, information regarding whether a bidder, contractor, or an affiliate of a bidder or contractor 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, for the limited purpose of enforcing bidder and contractor certifications. For purposes of this Section, the term "affiliate" means any entity that (1) directly, indirectly, or constructively controls another entity, (2) is directly, indirectly, or constructively controlled by another entity, or (3) is subject to the control of a common entity. For purposes of this subsection (a), an entity controls another entity if it owns, directly or individually, more than 10% of the voting securities of that entity. As used in this subsection (a), the term "voting security" means a security that (1) confers upon the holder the right to vote for the election of members of the board of directors or similar governing body of the business or (2) is convertible into, or entitles the holder to receive upon its exercise, a security that confers such a right to vote. A general partnership interest is a voting security. The Director may make available to any State agency, including the Illinois Supreme Court, units of local government, and school districts, information regarding whether a bidder or contractor is an affiliate of a person who is not collecting and remitting Illinois Use taxes, for the limited purpose of enforcing bidder and contractor certifications. The Director may also make available to the Secretary of State information that a corporation which has been issued a certificate of incorporation by the Secretary of State 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. 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. For taxable years ending on or after December 31, 1987, the Director may make available to the Director or principal officer of any Department of the State of Illinois, information that a person employed by such Department has failed to file returns under this Act or pay the tax, penalty and interest shown therein. For purposes of this paragraph, the word "Department" shall have the same meaning as provided in Section 3 of the State Employees Group Insurance Act of 1971. (d) 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, 1995. These decisions are to be made available in a manner so that the following taxpayer information is not disclosed: (1) The names, addresses, and identification numbers of the taxpayer, related entities, and employees. (2) At the sole discretion of the Director, trade secrets or other confidential information identified as such by the taxpayer, 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 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 an 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 Article III of the Code of Civil Procedure. Costs collected under this Section shall be paid into the Tax Compliance and Administration Fund. (e) 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, by an authorized representative of the taxpayer, or, in the case of information related to a joint return, by the spouse filing the joint return with the taxpayer.

Legislative History

(Source: P.A. 102-61, eff. 7-9-21; 102-129, eff. 7-23-21; 102-799, eff. 5-13-22; 102-813, eff. 5-13-22; 102-941, eff. 7-1-22; 103-154, eff. 6-30-23.)