Title 44
Taxation

Chapter 1
State Tax Officials

§ 44-1-14. Disclosure of information to tax officials of federal government or other states, or to other persons.

Notwithstanding any other provision of law:

(1) The tax administrator may make available: (i) To the taxing officials of any other states or of the federal government for tax purposes only, any information that the administrator may consider proper contained in tax reports or returns or any audit or the report of any investigation made with respect to them, filed pursuant to the tax laws of this state; provided, that other states or the federal government grant like privileges to the taxing officials of this state; and/or (ii) To an officer or employee of the office of internal audit of the Rhode Island department of administration, any information that the administrator may consider proper contained in tax reports or returns or any audit or the report of any investigation made with respect to them, filed pursuant to the tax laws of this state, to whom disclosure is necessary for the purposes of fraud detection and prevention in any state or federal program.

(2) The tax administrator shall not permit any federal return or federal return information to be inspected by, or disclosed to, an individual who is the chief executive officer of the state or any person other than:

(i) To another employee of the tax division for the purpose of, and only to the extent necessary in, the administration of the state tax laws for which the tax division is responsible;

(ii) To another officer or employee of the state to whom the disclosure is necessary in connection with processing, storage, and transmission of those returns and return information and solely for purposes of state tax administration;

(iii) To another person for the purpose of, but only to the extent necessary in, the programming, maintenance, repair, testing, and procurement of equipment used in processing or transmission of those returns and return information; or

(iv) To a legal representative of the tax division, personally and directly engaged in, and solely for use in, preparation for a civil or criminal proceeding (or investigation which may result in a proceeding) before a state administrative body, grand jury, or court in a matter involving state tax administration, but only if:

(A) The taxpayer is or may be a party to the proceeding;

(B) The treatment of an item reflected on the return is or may be related to the resolution of an issue in the proceeding or investigation; or

(C) The return or return information relates, or may relate, to a transactional relationship between a person who is or may be a party to the proceeding and the taxpayer that affects or may affect the resolution of an issue in a proceeding or investigation.