(a) The commissioner shall, subject to such requirements and conditions as may be prescribed by rules, disclose the return of any taxpayer, or tax information with respect to such taxpayer, to such person or persons as the taxpayer may designate in a written request for or consent to such disclosure, or to any other person at the taxpayer’s request to the extent necessary to comply with a request for information or assistance made by the taxpayer to such other person. Tax information shall not, however, be disclosed to such person or persons if the commissioner determines that such disclosure would be seriously burdensome to tax administration.

Terms Used In Tennessee Code 67-1-1703

  • Affidavit: A written statement of facts confirmed by the oath of the party making it, before a notary or officer having authority to administer oaths.
  • Assets: (1) The property comprising the estate of a deceased person, or (2) the property in a trust account.
  • Bankruptcy: Refers to statutes and judicial proceedings involving persons or businesses that cannot pay their debts and seek the assistance of the court in getting a fresh start. Under the protection of the bankruptcy court, debtors may discharge their debts, perhaps by paying a portion of each debt. Bankruptcy judges preside over these proceedings.
  • Beneficiary: A person who is entitled to receive the benefits or proceeds of a will, trust, insurance policy, retirement plan, annuity, or other contract. Source: OCC
  • Commissioner: means the commissioner of revenue. See Tennessee Code 67-1-1701
  • Corporation: A legal entity owned by the holders of shares of stock that have been issued, and that can own, receive, and transfer property, and carry on business in its own name.
  • Decedent: A deceased person.
  • Executor: A male person named in a will to carry out the decedent
  • Executor: includes an administrator, where the subject matter applies to an administrator. See Tennessee Code 1-3-105
  • Fiduciary: A trustee, executor, or administrator.
  • Guardian: A person legally empowered and charged with the duty of taking care of and managing the property of another person who because of age, intellect, or health, is incapable of managing his (her) own affairs.
  • Officer or employee: includes former officers and employees. See Tennessee Code 67-1-1701
  • Partnership: A voluntary contract between two or more persons to pool some or all of their assets into a business, with the agreement that there will be a proportional sharing of profits and losses.
  • Person: means every individual, firm, association, joint-stock company, syndicate, partnership, corporation, or state or federal agency. See Tennessee Code 67-1-1701
  • Personal representative: when applied to those who represent a decedent, includes executors and administrators, unless the context implies heirs and distributees. See Tennessee Code 1-3-105
  • Property: includes both personal and real property. See Tennessee Code 1-3-105
  • Return: means any tax or information return, declaration of estimated tax, claim for refund, or petition for waiver of penalty required by, or provided for, or permitted under, any law, that is filed with or submitted to the commissioner by, on behalf of, or with respect to, any person, and any amendment or supplement thereto, including supporting schedules, attachments, or lists which are supplemental to, or part of, any return so filed or submitted. See Tennessee Code 67-1-1701
  • signed: includes a mark, the name being written near the mark and witnessed, or any other symbol or methodology executed or adopted by a party with intention to authenticate a writing or record, regardless of being witnessed. See Tennessee Code 1-3-105
  • State: when applied to the different parts of the United States, includes the District of Columbia and the several territories of the United States. See Tennessee Code 1-3-105
  • Tax administration: means the administration, management, conduct, direction, and supervision of the execution and application of the state tax laws, rules, or related statutes or rules and reciprocity agreements with the several states or federal government to which the state of Tennessee is a party. See Tennessee Code 67-1-1701
  • Tax information: means a taxpayer's identity, the nature, source, or amount of the taxpayer's income, payments, receipts, deductions, exemptions, credits, assets, liabilities, net worth, tax liability, tax collected, deficiencies, overassessments, or tax payments, whether the taxpayer's return was, is being, or will be, examined or subject to other investigation or processing, or any other data, received by, recorded by, prepared by, furnished to, or collected by, the commissioner with respect to a return or with respect to the determination of the existence, or possible existence, of liability, or the amount of the liability, of any person for any tax, penalty, interest, fine, forfeiture, or other penalty, imposition or offense, administered by or collected by the commissioner, either directly or indirectly. See Tennessee Code 67-1-1701
  • Trustee: A person or institution holding and administering property in trust.
  • written: includes printing, typewriting, engraving, lithography, and any other mode of representing words and letters. See Tennessee Code 1-3-105
(b)

(1) The return of a person shall, upon written request, be open to inspection by or disclosure to:

(A) In the case of the return of an individual, that individual;
(B) In the case of the return of a partnership, any person who was a member of such partnership during any part of the period covered by the return;
(C) In the case of the return of a corporation or a subsidiary of a corporation:

(i) Any person designated by resolution of its board of directors or other similar governing body;
(ii) Any officer or employee of such corporation upon written request signed by any principal officer and attested to by the secretary or other appropriate officer; or
(iii) If the corporation has been dissolved, any person authorized by applicable state law to act for the corporation or any person who the commissioner finds to have a material interest that will be affected by information contained in the return;
(D) In the case of the return of an estate, the administrator, executor, or trustee of such estate; and
(E) In the case of the return of a trust, the trustee or trustees, jointly or separately.
(2) If an individual described in subdivision (b)(1) is legally incompetent, the applicable return shall, upon written request, be open to inspection by or disclosure to the guardian of the individual’s estate.
(3) The return of a decedent shall, upon written request, be open to inspection by or disclosure to an administrator, executor, trustee or beneficiary of the decedent’s estate. However, in order to obtain the return, a beneficiary must submit a sworn affidavit stating that: the affiant was a beneficiary of the estate who received a distribution of assets from the estate in kind; the affiant needs the return to accurately determine the federal income tax basis of such assets; and the affiant has requested the return from the personal representative who could not or would not provide it.
(4) If substantially all of the property of the person with respect to whom the return is filed is in the hands of a trustee in bankruptcy or receiver, such person’s return or returns for prior years, upon written request, shall be open to inspection by or disclosure to such trustee or receiver, but only if the commissioner finds that such trustee or receiver, in the trustee’s or receiver’s fiduciary capacity, has a material interest that will be affected by information contained in the return.
(5) Any return to which this subsection (b) applies shall, upon written request, also be open to inspection by or disclosure to the attorney in fact or at law duly authorized in writing by any of the persons described in subdivisions (b)(1)-(4), who are themselves entitled to the return, to inspect the return or receive the information on their behalf, subject to the conditions provided in subdivisions (b)(1)-(4).
(6) Tax information with respect to any taxpayer that may otherwise be open to inspection by or disclosure to any person authorized by this subsection (b) to inspect any return of such taxpayer shall not be disclosed if the commissioner determines that such disclosure would seriously impair tax administration.
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