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B. Unlawful Audit
Petitioner relies on sections 6103 and 7213 for his claim
that the audit and examination of his 1999 Federal income tax
return was improper. Section 6103 protects the privacy of
taxpayers and restricts Government officers and employees from
disclosing confidential return information. In support of the
restrictions imposed by section 6103, sections 7213 and 7213A
make unlawful the unauthorized disclosure of return information
and the unauthorized inspection of returns or return information,
respectively.
Section 7213 makes it unlawful for any officer or employee
of the United States, or any person described in section 6103(n)
(or an officer or employee of any such person), or any former
officer or employee, to willfully disclose, except as otherwise
authorized by law, any tax return or return information as
defined in section 6103(b). The penalty for this felony is a
fine of not more than $5,000 or imprisonment for not more than 5
years, or both. Additionally, section 7431 imposes civil damages
for the unauthorized inspection or disclosure of returns and
return information.11
11A taxpayer may bring a civil action for damages in a U.S.
District Court. Sec. 7431(a)(1). The damages are the greater of
(1) $1,000 for each unauthorized inspection or disclosure of a
return or return information, or (2) the sum of the actual
damages sustained by the taxpayer as a result of such
unauthorized inspection or disclosure, plus, in the case of a
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