Congressional Committee Authority to Obtain Tax Returns
In 1976, Congress amended Section 6103 of the IRC to establish that federal tax return information is confidential by default unless a statute expressly authorizes disclosure. Congress made these changes in part to curtail the President’s authority to acquire tax return information in response to revelations that President Nixon sought to use tax return information for improper purposes. Specifically, Section 6103(a) states that individual and business tax returns, and the information in tax returns, are confidential, and officers or employees of the federal government, among others, may not disseminate those returns or the information therein for unauthorized purposes without the taxpayer’s consent. Section 6103(b)(2)(A) defines “return information” to include, among other things, “a taxpayer’s identity, the nature, source, or amount of his income, payments, receipts, deductions, exemptions, credits, assets, liabilities, net worth, . . . or tax payment.” This policy is bolstered by a series of statutes providing for criminal penalties and authorizing the taxpayer to bring a civil action for damages for unauthorized disclosures of return information. However, Congress has established a number of exceptions to this general proscription against disclosing taxpayer information, including certain disclosures for use in legitimate tax administration, criminal proceedings, audits conducted by the Government Accountability Office, and child support enforcement activities.
One such exception is the statute’s authorization of certain congressional committees with jurisdiction over federal taxes to acquire tax return information. Congress originally provided this authority in 1924 in part to address perceived difficulties in acquiring tax information during congressional investigations into the Harding Administration’s Teapot Dome scandal. Specifically, Section 6103(f)(1) of the IRC provides that, upon written request of the Chair of the House Ways and Means Committee, Joint Committee on Taxation (JCT), or Senate Finance Committee (hereinafter referred to as the “tax committees”), the Treasury Secretary “shall furnish” the requested tax returns or return information to the relevant committee. Under 6103(f)(2), the Treasury Secretary also “shall furnish” requested tax return information to the JCT’s chief of staff, who may share the return information to any of the tax committees. Absent the relevant taxpayer’s consent, any personally identifiable tax return information received by a tax committee under 6103(f)(1) or (f)(2) may only be provided when the requesting committee is “in closed executive session.” Section 6103(f)(5) also authorizes a whistleblower who has access to tax return information to disclose it to the tax committees “if such person believes such return or return information may relate to possible misconduct, maladministration, or taxpayer abuse.”
Section 6103(f)(3) also directs the Treasury Secretary to provide return information to any other non-tax committee in response to a written request, but only if the House or Senate passes a resolution specifically authorizing such committees to inspect return information.
Possible Legal Limitations to Congressional
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