Except when required in an investigation or proceeding to ascertain or collect amount of tax, interest, penalty, refund or credit due, or pursuant to an exemption in W. Va. Code § 11-10-5d, it shall be unlawful for any officer, employee or agent of the Municipality to divulge or make known in any manner the tax return, or any part thereof, of any person, or disclose information concerning the personal affairs of any individual or the business of any person, or disclose the amount of income or any particulars set forth or disclosed in any report, declaration or return required to be filed with the Collector or otherwise obtained by the Municipality in an investigation undertaken by the Collector concerning the tax imposed by this article. Any person protected by the provisions of this article may, in writing, waive the confidentiality provisions of this section for such purpose and such period as he shall therein state. This section shall not be construed to prohibit the publication or release of statistics so classified as to prevent the identification of particular reports and the items thereof. Notwithstanding the foregoing, the Collector may permit the proper officer, or his authorized representative or agent, of the United States or the state, or any political subdivision of the state, to inspect return information to or may furnish to such officer or representative a copy of any such return or any other tax return information, provided, that such other jurisdiction grants similar privileges to this Municipality or if the other jurisdiction is a party of an intergovernmental agreement authorizing the exchange of such information.
(Ord. 2019-07. Passed 12-2-19.)