A. (1) All information that the department or the department of administrative hearings receives from returns or reports from any investigation, or from any hearing conducted under this chapter, or under any tax ordinance, shall be confidential and shall be used for official purposes only.
(2) Any person who divulges confidential information in any manner and for any purpose, except in accordance with a proper judicial order, or as otherwise provided by law, shall be subject to a term of incarceration not to exceed six months or a fine not to exceed $500.00 or both.
B. Nothing in this chapter shall prevent the comptroller from publishing or making available to the public the names and addresses of persons filing returns or reports under this chapter, or under any tax ordinance, or from publishing or making available reasonable statistics concerning the operation of a tax by grouping the contents of returns so that the information in any individual return is not disclosed.
C. Nothing in this chapter shall prevent the comptroller from furnishing to the United States government, to the government of any state or to any federal or state officer or agency, for exclusively official purposes, information received by the department in administering this chapter or any tax ordinance; provided, however, that the other government or governmental officer or agency agrees to furnish tax information requested by the department.
D. (1) Furnishing information to a seller or purchaser under Section 3-4-140 of this chapter is an official purpose within the meaning of this section:
(2) Furnishing returns, reports or information to the city's auditor, or his or her authorized agent, or to the city council finance committee, as provided by Section 3-4-350 of this chapter, are official purposes within the meaning of this section.
(Added Coun. J. 11-14-91, p. 7458; Amend Coun. J. 7-10-96, p. 24982; Amend Coun. J. 11-12-97, p. 56813; Amend Coun. J. 11-16-11, p. 13798, Art. I, § 3)