Tax Law Prohibits Disclosure of Documents That Reveal Contents of Tax Returns
The New York Appellate Division Third Department determined Supreme Court properly withheld from disclosure both tax returns and documents which reflect information included in tax returns: ” ‘The policy behind the [tax] secrecy provisions is twofold: to protect personal privacy interests in the information on a return, which may reveal information concerning a person’s activities, associations and beliefs, and to encourage voluntary compliance with the tax laws by preventing use of return information to harm the reporting taxpayer”’… . The statute prohibits the disclosure of ‘any particulars’ by any person who ‘is permitted to inspect’ a return, receives ‘any information contained in any [return]’ or who ‘in any manner may acquire knowledge of the contents of a [return]’ (Tax Law § 211 [8] [a]). By its terms, the confidentially required by the statute necessarily extends to any document that reflects information included in a return. If we were to construe the statute to only protect the secrecy of the return, the purpose of the statute would not be served . . . , and we find, in particular, that Tax Law § 211 (8) (a) prohibits the Department from releasing an agreement made with another taxpayer (see Tax Law §§ 171 [18]; 210-A [11]). … Contrary to petitioner’s arguments, where, as here, a document is exempt from disclosure pursuant to state statute, it may not be subjected to redaction …’.
