§ 79-3234 — Tax information, report and returns; preservation; limits on dissemination and use; penalty for violations

(a) All reports and returns required by this act shall be preserved for three years and thereafter until the director orders them to be destroyed.
(b) Except in accordance with proper judicial order, or as provided in subsection (c) or K.S.A. 46-1106(e), 46-1114 or 79-32,153a, and amendments thereto, it shall be unlawful for the secretary, the director, any deputy, agent, clerk or other officer, employee or former employee of the department of revenue or any other state officer or employee or former state officer or employee to divulge, or to make known in any way, the amount of income or any particulars set forth or disclosed in any report, return, federal return or federal return information required under this act; and it shall be unlawful for the secretary, the director, any deputy, agent, clerk or other officer or employee engaged in the administration of this act to engage in the business or profession of tax accounting or to accept employment, with or without consideration, from any person, firm or corporation for the purpose, directly or indirectly, of preparing tax returns or reports required by the laws of the state of Kansas, by any other state or by the United States government, or to accept any employment for the purpose of advising, preparing material or data, or the auditing of books or records to be used in an effort to defeat or cancel any tax or part thereof that has been assessed by the state of Kansas, any other state or by the United States government.
(c) The secretary or the secretary's designee may:
(1) Publish statistics, so classified as to prevent the identification of particular reports or returns and the items thereof;
(2) allow the inspection of returns by the attorney general or other legal representatives of the state;
(3) provide the post auditor access to all income tax reports or returns in accordance with and subject to the provisions of K.S.A. 46-1106(e) or 46-1114, and amendments thereto;
(4) disclose taxpayer information from income tax returns to persons or entities contracting with the secretary of revenue where the secretary has determined disclosure of such information is essential for completion of the contract and has taken appropriate steps to preserve confidentiality;
(5) disclose to the secretary of commerce the following: (A) Specific taxpayer information related to financial information previously submitted by the taxpayer to the secretary of commerce concerning or relevant to any income tax credits, for purposes of verification of such information or evaluating the effectiveness of any tax credit or economic incentive program administered by the secretary of commerce; (B) the amount of payroll withholding taxes an employer is retaining pursuant to K.S.A. 74-50,212, and amendments thereto; (C) information received from businesses completing the form required by K.S.A. 74-50,217, and amendments thereto; and (D) findings related to a compliance audit conducted by the department of revenue upon the request of the secretary of commerce pursuant to K.S.A. 74-50,215, and amendments thereto;
(6) disclose income tax returns to the state gaming agency to be used solely for the purpose of determining qualifications of licensees of and applicants for licensure in tribal gaming. Any information received by the state gaming agency shall be confidential and shall not be disclosed except to the executive director, employees of the state gaming agency and members and employees of the tribal gaming commission;
(7) disclose the taxpayer's name, last known address and residency status to the Kansas department of wildlife and parks to be used solely in its license fraud investigations;
(8) disclose the name, residence address, employer or Kansas adjusted gross income of a taxpayer who may have a duty of support in a title IV-D case to the secretary of the Kansas department for children and families for use solely in administrative or judicial proceedings to establish, modify or enforce such support obligation in a title IV-D case. In addition to any other limits on use, such use shall be allowed only where subject to a protective order which prohibits disclosure outside of the title IV-D proceeding. As used in this section, "title IV-D case" means a case being administered pursuant to part D of title IV of the federal social security act, 42 U.S.C. § 651 et seq., and amendments thereto. Any person receiving any information under the provisions of this subsection shall be subject to the confidentiality provisions of subsection (b) and to the penalty provisions of subsection (e);
(9) permit the commissioner of internal revenue of the United States, or the proper official of any state imposing an income tax, or the authorized representative of either, to inspect the income tax returns made under this act and the secretary of revenue may make available or furnish to the taxing officials of any other state or the commissioner of internal revenue of the United States or other taxing officials of the federal government, or their authorized representatives, information contained in income tax reports or returns or any audit thereof or the report of any investigation made with respect thereto, filed pursuant to the income tax laws, as the secretary may consider proper, but such information shall not be used for any other purpose than that of the administration of tax laws of such state, the state of Kansas or of the United States;
(10) communicate to the executive director of the Kansas lottery information as to whether a person, partnership or corporation is current in the filing of all applicable tax returns and in the payment of all taxes, interest and penalties to the state of Kansas, excluding items under formal appeal, for the purpose of determining whether such person, partnership or corporation is eligible to be selected as a lottery retailer;
(11) communicate to the executive director of the Kansas racing commission as to whether a person, partnership or corporation has failed to meet any tax obligation to the state of Kansas for the purpose of determining whether such person, partnership or corporation is eligible for a facility owner license or facility manager license pursuant to the Kansas parimutuel racing act;
(12) provide such information to the executive director of the Kansas public employees retirement system for the purpose of determining that certain individuals' reported compensation is in compliance with the Kansas public employees retirement act, K.S.A. 74-4901 et seq., and amendments thereto;
(13) (A) provide taxpayer information of persons suspected of violating K.S.A. 44-766, and amendments thereto, to the secretary of labor or such secretary's designee for the purpose of determining compliance by any person with the provisions of K.S.A. 44-703(i)(3)(D) and 44-766, and amendments thereto. The information to be provided shall include all relevant information in the possession of the department of revenue necessary for the secretary of labor to make a proper determination of compliance with the provisions of K.S.A. 44-703(i)(3)(D) and 44-766, and amendments thereto, and to calculate any unemployment contribution taxes due. Such information to be provided by the department of revenue shall include, but not be limited to, withholding tax and payroll information, the identity of any person that has been or is currently being audited or investigated in connection with the administration and enforcement of the withholding and declaration of estimated tax act, K.S.A. 79-3294 et seq., and amendments thereto, and the results or status of such audit or investigation;
(B) any person receiving tax information under the provisions of this paragraph shall be subject to the same duty of confidentiality imposed by law upon the personnel of the department of revenue and shall be subject to any civil or criminal penalties imposed by law for violations of such duty of confidentiality; and
(C) each of the secretary of labor and the secretary of revenue may adopt rules and regulations necessary to effect the provisions of this paragraph;
(14) provide such information to the state treasurer for the sole purpose of carrying out the provisions of K.S.A. 58-3934, and amendments thereto. Such information shall be limited to current and prior addresses of taxpayers or associated persons who may have knowledge as to the location of an owner of unclaimed property. For the purposes of this paragraph, "associated persons" includes spouses or dependents listed on income tax returns;
(15) after receipt of information pursuant to subsection (f), forward such information and provide the following reported Kansas individual income tax information for each listed defendant, if available, to the state board of indigents' defense services in an electronic format and in the manner determined by the secretary: (A) The defendant's name; (B) social security number; (C) Kansas adjusted gross income; (D) number of exemptions claimed; and (E) the relevant tax year of such records. Any social security number provided to the secretary and the state board of indigents' defense services pursuant to this section shall remain confidential; and
(16) disclose taxpayer information that is received from income tax returns to the department of commerce that may be disclosed pursuant to the provisions of K.S.A. 2024 Supp. 74-50,227, and amendments thereto, for the purpose of including such information in the database required by K.S.A. 2024 Supp. 74-50,227, and amendments thereto.
(d) Any person receiving information under the provisions of subsection (c) shall be subject to the confidentiality provisions of subsection (b) and to the penalty provisions of subsection (e).
(e) Any violation of subsection (b) or (c) is a class A nonperson misdemeanor and, if the offender is an officer or employee of the state, such officer or employee shall be dismissed from office.
(f) For the purpose of determining whether a defendant is financially able to employ legal counsel under the provisions of K.S.A. 22-4504, and amendments thereto, in all felony cases with appointed counsel where the defendant's social security number is accessible from the records of the district court, the court shall electronically provide the defendant's name, social security number, district court case number and county to the secretary of revenue in the manner and format agreed to by the office of judicial administration and the secretary.
(g) Nothing in this section shall be construed to allow disclosure of the amount of income or any particulars set forth or disclosed in any report, return, federal return or federal return information, where such disclosure is prohibited by the federal internal revenue code as in effect on September 1, 1996, and amendments thereto, related federal internal revenue rules or regulations, or other federal law.
Section was also amended by L. 2023, ch. 7, § 141, but that version was repealed by L. 2023, ch. 91, § 9.

Legislative History

L. 1933, ch. 320, § 34; L. 1935, ch. 312, § 13; L. 1943, ch. 307, § 2; L. 1972, ch. 342, § 97; L. 1977, ch. 186, § 9; L. 1978, ch. 406, § 1; L. 1979, ch. 319, § 1; L. 1983, ch. 289, § 13; L. 1984, ch. 192, § 3; L. 1987, ch. 292, § 30; L. 1987, ch. 112, § 40; L. 1989, ch. 297, § 3; L. 1992, ch. 202, § 14; L. 1993, ch. 192, § 2; L. 1994, ch. 188, § 3; L. 1997, ch. 126, § 46; L. 1998, ch. 188, § 6; L. 2000, ch. 184, § 27; L. 2005, ch. 110, § 4; L. 2006, ch. 118, § 3; L. 2009, ch. 104, § 8; L. 2010, ch. 144, § 8; L. 2011, ch. 81, § 5; L. 2012, ch. 146, § 1; L. 2013, ch. 133, § 34; L. 2014, ch. 115, § 433; L. 2019, ch. 60, § 6; L. 2021, ch. 113, § 8; L. 2023, ch. 66, § 72; L. 2023, ch. 91, § 8; July 1.