Confidentiality of Taxpayer Records; Exceptions; Penalties

  1. Law
  2. Georgia Code
  3. Revenue and Taxation
  4. Ad Valorem Taxation of Property
  5. Uniform Property Tax Administration and Equalization
  6. County Boards of Tax Assessors
  7. Confidentiality of Taxpayer Records; Exceptions; Penalties

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    1. All records of the county board of tax assessors which consist of materials other than the return obtained from or furnished by an ad valorem taxpayer shall be confidential and shall not be subject to inspection by any person other than authorized personnel of appropriate tax administrators. As an illustration of the foregoing, materials which are confidential shall include, but shall not be limited to, taxpayers' accounting records, profit and loss statements, income and expense statements, balance sheets, and depreciation schedules. Such information shall remain confidential when it is made part of an appeal file. Nothing in this Code section, however, shall prevent any disclosure necessary or proper to the collection of any tax in any administrative or court proceeding.
    2. Records which consist of materials containing information gathered by personnel of the county board of tax assessors, such as field cards, shall not be confidential and are subject to inspection at all times during office hours. The provisions of this paragraph shall not remove the confidentiality of materials such as are specified in paragraph (1) of this subsection.
    3. Failure of the county board of tax assessors to make available records which are not confidential as provided in paragraph (2) of this subsection shall be a misdemeanor.
  2. Any person who knowingly and willfully furnishes information which is confidential under this Code section to a person who is not authorized by law to receive such information shall upon conviction be subject to a civil penalty not to exceed $1,000.00.

(Code 1981, §48-5-314, enacted by Ga. L. 1986, p. 747, § 2; Ga. L. 1987, p. 558, § 1; Ga. L. 1999, p. 81, § 48.)

Code Commission notes.

- Pursuant to Code Section 28-9-5, in 1987, in the second sentence of paragraph (a)(2), "paragraph" was substituted for "subsection" and "paragraph (1)" was substituted for "subsection (1)".

Editor's notes.

- Ga. L. 1986, p. 747, § 3, not codified by the General Assembly, provided: "This Act shall become effective upon its approval by the Governor [approved April 3, 1986] or upon its becoming law without such approval, except that no prosecution shall be made pursuant to this Act for any act committed before July 1, 1986."

Law reviews.

- For annual survey of state and local taxation, see 38 Mercer L. Rev. 337 (1986).

JUDICIAL DECISIONS

Contract with private firm for audit services proper.

- County board of tax assessors was authorized to contract with a private firm for audit services to aid the board in discovering unreturned and untaxed property. Eckerd Corp. v. Fayette County Bd. of Tax Assessors, 220 Ga. App. 454, 469 S.E.2d 285 (1996); Wal-Mart Stores v. Board of Tax Assessors, 246 Ga. App. 161, 539 S.E.2d 869 (2000).

Private accounting firm bound by confidentiality provision.

- Private accounting firm which has contracted with a county board of assessors to conduct an audit of a taxpayer is bound by the confidentiality provision of the statute. Fulton County Bd. of Assessors v. Saks Fifth Ave., Inc., 248 Ga. App. 836, 547 S.E.2d 620 (2001).

Protective order in connection with audit by private firm.

- Trial court erred in issuing a protective order in connection with a personal property tax audit of the defendant until such time as the private accounting firm hired by the county board to conduct the audit and the defendant entered into a confidentiality agreement; however, the trial court had full authority to determine what restrictions and limitations were appropriate under the circumstances so long as the court's ruling did not conflict with the rights of the parties under applicable law. Fulton County Bd. of Assessors v. Saks Fifth Ave., Inc., 248 Ga. App. 836, 547 S.E.2d 620 (2001).

OPINIONS OF THE ATTORNEY GENERAL

Information obtained from real estate transfer tax forms and included on county tax assessors' property record cards is not confidential. 1990 Op. Att'y Gen. No. U90-25.

RESEARCH REFERENCES

ALR.

- Recovery of damages under § 7431(c)(1)(B) of Internal Revenue Code (26 USCA § 7431(c)(1)(B)) based on improper release of confidential tax return information, 154 A.L.R. Fed. 537.

PART 3 STATE LOANS TO COUNTIES

48-5-330. Financial aid to counties for programs to evaluate and equalize assessments; terms of contract; limitations; procedure when state funds insufficient.

  1. The commissioner may make loans to counties or, if sufficient funds are not available for loans, may contract with counties for the payment specified, as an aid to the counties in financing or defraying the cost of employing persons to assist county boards of tax assessors in carrying out programs reasonably designed to survey and evaluate all, or substantially all, of the property within a county's boundaries and to equalize assessments on the property. The commissioner may promulgate rules, regulations, and instructions as he deems necessary to the purposes and administration of this Code section. The governing authority of each county shall have the exclusive right to determine with whom it shall contract or whom it shall employ to carry out a program receiving aid pursuant to this Code section.
  2. Upon application by a county governing authority for aid under this Code section and upon the submission of a valuation and equalization program, the commissioner shall determine whether the program complies with the rules, regulations, and instructions promulgated pursuant to this Code section. Upon the showing of compliance, the commissioner may contract, to the extent funds are available for loans to counties from funds appropriated for such purpose, with the county governing authority for a loan from the state to pay a part, or all, of the cost of the program and for the repayment of the amount loaned. The contract shall provide for the repayment of the amount loaned without interest in five equal annual installments. The first installment on each loan shall be due on December 31 of the first calendar year for which a property tax digest is prepared following the final payment by the commissioner under the terms of the contract. One of the remaining annual installments shall be due on December 31 in each of the four calendar years following the initial payment. The contract shall also provide that whenever an annual installment is in default, the commissioner shall have an irrevocable power of attorney from the governing authority to direct the Office of the State Treasurer to pay over to him, as commissioner, all funds otherwise due the county or its governing authority under Code Section 48-14-3 or under any other appropriation of the General Assembly for grants to counties for aid in county road construction or county road maintenance until the default has been paid. The Office of the State Treasurer shall comply in each instance with the commissioner's direction. The commissioner shall not make loans in excess of $100,000.00 to any one county.
  3. In the event the commissioner determines that insufficient funds are available under subsection (b) of this Code section to meet the needs of any county in financing a qualified program, subject to the maximum limitation provided in subsection (b) of this Code section, and in the further event that a county governing authority applying and submitting a qualified program demonstrates to the satisfaction of the commissioner that sufficient additional funds can be obtained from other sources to complete satisfactorily the program, the commissioner may contract with the county governing authority for the payment by the state from funds appropriated and available for such purpose of 10 percent of the cost of the qualified program. No amount contracted for pursuant to this subsection shall be repaid. The amount to be paid by the state, however, on behalf of any one county under any contract entered into pursuant to this subsection, shall not exceed $10,000.00. The commissioner may direct that any payment by the state pursuant to this subsection be made in a single installment or two installments 12 months apart.

(Ga. L. 1963, p. 419, §§ 1-4; Ga. L. 1967, p. 467, § 1; Code 1933, § 91A-1460, enacted by Ga. L. 1978, p. 309, § 2; Ga. L. 1982, p. 3, § 48; Ga. L. 1983, p. 3, § 37; Ga. L. 1993, p. 1402, § 18; Ga. L. 2010, p. 863, § 2/SB 296.)

RESEARCH REFERENCES

C.J.S.

- 81A C.J.S., States, § 389 et seq.


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