§ 67-1-1703 — Disclosure to taxpayer or fiduciary

(a) The commissioner shall, subject to such requirements and conditions as may be prescribed by rules, disclose the return of any taxpayer, or tax information with respect to such taxpayer, to such person or persons as the taxpayer may designate in a written request for or consent to such disclosure, or to any other person at the taxpayer's request to the extent necessary to comply with a request for information or assistance made by the taxpayer to such other person. Tax information shall not, however, be disclosed to such person or persons if the commissioner determines that such disclosure would be seriously burdensome to tax administration. (b) (1) The return of a person shall, upon written request, be open to inspection by or disclosure to: (A) In the case of the return of an individual, that individual; (B) In the case of the return of a partnership, any person who was a member of such partnership during any part of the period covered by the return; (C) In the case of the return of a corporation or a subsidiary of a corporation: (i) Any person designated by resolution of its board of directors or other similar governing body; (ii) Any officer or employee of such corporation upon written request signed by any principal officer and attested to by the secretary or other appropriate officer; or (iii) If the corporation has been dissolved, any person authorized by applicable state law to act for the corporation or any person who the commissioner finds to have a material interest that will be affected by information contained in the return; (D) In the case of the return of an estate, the administrator, executor, or trustee of such estate; and (E) In the case of the return of a trust, the trustee or trustees, jointly or separately. (2) If an individual described in subdivision (b)(1) is legally incompetent, the applicable return shall, upon written request, be open to inspection by or disclosure to the guardian of the individual's estate. (3) The return of a decedent shall, upon written request, be open to inspection by or disclosure to an administrator, executor, trustee or beneficiary of the decedent's estate. However, in order to obtain the return, a beneficiary must submit a sworn affidavit stating that: the affiant was a beneficiary of the estate who received a distribution of assets from the estate in kind; the affiant needs the return to accurately determine the federal income tax basis of such assets; and the affiant has requested the return from the personal representative who could not or would not provide it. (4) If substantially all of the property of the person with respect to whom the return is filed is in the hands of a trustee in bankruptcy or receiver, such person's return or returns for prior years, upon written request, shall be open to inspection by or disclosure to such trustee or receiver, but only if the commissioner finds that such trustee or receiver, in the trustee's or receiver's fiduciary capacity, has a material interest that will be affected by information contained in the return. (5) Any return to which this subsection (b) applies shall, upon written request, also be open to inspection by or disclosure to the attorney in fact or at law duly authorized in writing by any of the persons described in subdivisions (b)(1)-(4), who are themselves entitled to the return, to inspect the return or receive the information on their behalf, subject to the conditions provided in subdivisions (b)(1)-(4). (6) Tax information with respect to any taxpayer that may otherwise be open to inspection by or disclosure to any person authorized by this subsection (b) to inspect any return of such taxpayer shall not be disclosed if the commissioner determines that such disclosure would seriously impair tax administration.

Legislative History

Acts 1977, ch. 152, § 1; T.C.A., § 67-133; Acts 1997, ch. 269, § 1.