Browse Arkansas Code titles and sections
26 U.S.C. § 7217 — Prohibition on executive branch influence over taxpayer audits and other investigations
Federal law — U.S. Code and appendices · legal_authorities
**(a) Prohibition** It shall be unlawful for any applicable person to request, directly or indirectly, any officer or employee of the Internal Revenue Service to conduct or terminate an audit or other investigation of any particular taxpayer with respect to the tax liability of such taxpayer.
**(b) Reporting requirement** Any officer or employee of the Internal Revenue Service receiving any request prohibited by subsection (a) shall report the receipt of such request to the Treasury Inspector General for Tax Administration.
**(c) Exceptions** Subsection (a) shall not apply to any written request made—
(1) to an applicable person by or on behalf of the taxpayer and forwarded by such applicable person to the Internal Revenue Service;
(2) by an applicable person for disclosure of return or return information under section 6103 if such request is made in accordance with the requirements of such section; or
(3) by the Secretary of the Treasury as a consequence of the implementation of a change in tax policy.
**(d) Penalty** Any person who willfully violates subsection (a) or fails to report under subsection (b) shall be punished upon conviction by a fine in any amount not exceeding $5,000, or imprisonment of not more than 5 years, or both, together with the costs of prosecution.
**(e) Applicable person** For purposes of this section, the term “applicable person” means—
(1) the President, the Vice President, any employee of the executive office of the President, and any employee of the executive office of the Vice President; and
(2) any individual (other than the Attorney General of the United States) serving in a position specified in [section 5312 of title 5](https://uscode.house.gov/view.xhtml?req=granuleid:USC-prelim-title5-section5312&num=0&edition=prelim), Unit
Source: Supplied U.S. Code snapshot — release unconfirmed · 26 U.S.C. § 7217
Stored review status: release_metadata_unconfirmed. A text match is a research starting point; applicability is not established.
Original supplied file — preserved unchanged
Download original Markdown file
File SHA-256: cd313aba6fecf7d45f4e5a7a78fb77acc8c967411362134d6ba5276e5f4fba41. The original may include catalog metadata, neighboring provisions, or embedded records outside this collection's scope. Search shows only the selected federal record. Historical editions and unverified snapshots are not a statement of current law.
Authority boundary: historical or unconfirmed source not current law verified.
Open the recorded source website ↗
Record provenance
Stable record: federal_law:legal_authorities:record_usc_79a25eb6dfeca3824b73e41a
Source file: Laws/federal/codes/united-states-code/title-26/section-7217-prohibition-on-executive-branch-influence-over-taxpayer-audits-and-other--462edfe7d2.md
Pages: Not recorded – Not recorded
Passage SHA-256: 7e5c634e5c9967a8db24aebe2dbf1f8ba5d3babff741bfb9befd04e0cc6c9594
Source location: Title 26, Chapter 75, § 7217; chapter-075-crimes-other-offenses-and-forfeitures.md
Stored source content
**(a) Prohibition** It shall be unlawful for any applicable person to request, directly or indirectly, any officer or employee of the Internal Revenue Service to conduct or terminate an audit or other investigation of any particular taxpayer with respect to the tax liability of such taxpayer.
**(b) Reporting requirement** Any officer or employee of the Internal Revenue Service receiving any request prohibited by subsection (a) shall report the receipt of such request to the Treasury Inspector General for Tax Administration.
**(c) Exceptions** Subsection (a) shall not apply to any written request made—
(1) to an applicable person by or on behalf of the taxpayer and forwarded by such applicable person to the Internal Revenue Service;
(2) by an applicable person for disclosure of return or return information under section 6103 if such request is made in accordance with the requirements of such section; or
(3) by the Secretary of the Treasury as a consequence of the implementation of a change in tax policy.
**(d) Penalty** Any person who willfully violates subsection (a) or fails to report under subsection (b) shall be punished upon conviction by a fine in any amount not exceeding $5,000, or imprisonment of not more than 5 years, or both, together with the costs of prosecution.
**(e) Applicable person** For purposes of this section, the term “applicable person” means—
(1) the President, the Vice President, any employee of the executive office of the President, and any employee of the executive office of the Vice President; and
(2) any individual (other than the Attorney General of the United States) serving in a position specified in [section 5312 of title 5](https://uscode.house.gov/view.xhtml?req=granuleid:USC-prelim-title5-section5312&num=0&edition=prelim), United States Code.
Cross-references
Connections may be documented source relationships, shared citations or nearby passages. Each explains its basis; a connection alone does not establish applicability to your situation.
Federal law — U.S. Code and appendices · legal_authorities
Level I of the Executive Schedule applies to the following positions for which the annual rate of basic pay shall be the rate determined with respect to such level under chapter 11 of title 2, as adjusted by [section 5318 of this title](https://uscode.house.gov/view.xhtml?req=granuleid:USC-prelim-title5-section5318&num=0&edition=prelim):
Source: Supplied U.S. Code snapshot — release unconfirmed · 5 U.S.C. § 5312
Stored review status: release_metadata_unconfirmed. Explicit cross-reference supplied in source Markdown; currentness and applicability require review.
Federal law — U.S. Code and appendices · legal_authorities
**(a) General rule** Returns and return information shall be confidential, and except as authorized by this title—
(1) no officer or employee of the United States,
(2) no officer or employee of any State, any local law enforcement agency receiving information under subsection (i)(1)(C) or (7)(A), any tribal or local child support enforcement agency, or any local agency administering a program listed in subsection (l)(7)(D) who has or had access to returns or return information under this section or section 6104(c), and
(3) no other person (or officer or employee thereof) who has or had access to returns or return information under subsection (c), subsection (e)(1)(D)(iii), paragraph (10), (13), (14), or (15) of subsection (k), paragraph (6), (8), (10), (12), (13) (other than subparagraphs (D)(v) and (D)(vi) thereof), (16), (19), (20), or (21) of subsection (l), paragraph (2) or (4)(B) of subsection (m), or subsection (n),
shall disclose any return or return information obtained by him in any manner in connection with his service as such an officer or an employee or otherwise or under the provisions of this section. For purposes of this subsection, the term “officer or employee” includes a former officer or employee.
**(b) Definitions** For purposes of this section—
(1) **Return** — The term “return” means any tax or information return, declaration of estimated tax, or claim for refund required by, or provided for or permitted under, the provisions of this title which is filed with the Secretary 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, the return so filed.
(2) **Return information** — The term “return information” means—
(
Source: Supplied U.S. Code snapshot — release unconfirmed · 26 U.S.C. § 6103
Stored review status: release_metadata_unconfirmed. Incoming connection: Explicit cross-reference supplied in source Markdown; currentness and applicability require review.
Federal law — U.S. Code and appendices · legal_authorities
**(a) In general**
(1) **Inspection or disclosure by employee of United States** — If any officer or employee of the United States knowingly, or by reason of negligence, inspects or discloses any return or return information with respect to a taxpayer in violation of any provision of section 6103, such taxpayer may bring a civil action for damages against the United States in a district court of the United States.
(2) **Inspection or disclosure by a person who is not an employee of United States** — If any person who is not an officer or employee of the United States knowingly, or by reason of negligence, inspects or discloses any return or return information with respect to a taxpayer in violation of any provision of section 6103 or in violation of section 6104(c), such taxpayer may bring a civil action for damages against such person in a district court of the United States.
**(b) Exceptions** No liability shall arise under this section with respect to any inspection or disclosure—
(1) which results from a good faith, but erroneous, interpretation of section 6103, or
(2) which is requested by the taxpayer.
**(c) Damages** In any action brought under subsection (a), upon a finding of liability on the part of the defendant, the defendant shall be liable to the plaintiff in an amount equal to the sum of—
(1) the greater of—
(A) $1,000 for each act of unauthorized inspection or disclosure of a return or return information with respect to which such defendant is found liable, or
(B) the sum of—
(i) the actual damages sustained by the plaintiff as a result of such unauthorized inspection or disclosure, plus
(ii) in the case of a willful inspection or disclosure or an inspection or disclosure which is the result of gross negligence, punitive damages, p
Source: Supplied U.S. Code snapshot — release unconfirmed · 26 U.S.C. § 7431
Stored review status: release_metadata_unconfirmed. Incoming connection: Explicit cross-reference supplied in source Markdown; currentness and applicability require review.
Federal law — U.S. Code and appendices · legal_authorities
Page 3860
TITLE 26—INTERNAL REVENUE CODE
§ 7217
tions of estimated tax under section 6015,’’ after ‘‘chap-
ter 1,’’ and struck out ‘‘or declaration’’ after ‘‘such re-
turn’’ in three places.
1976—Subsec. (b)(3). Pub. L. 94–455 struck out ‘‘or his
delegate’’ after ‘‘Secretary’’.
Statutory Notes and Related Subsidiaries
EFFECTIVE DATE OF 1989 AMENDMENT
Pub. L. 101–239, title VII, § 7739(b), Dec. 19, 1989, 103
Stat. 2404, provided that: ‘‘The amendment made by
subsection (a) [amending this section] shall take effect
on the date of the enactment of this Act [Dec. 19,
1989].’’
EFFECTIVE DATE OF 1988 AMENDMENT
Amendment by Pub. L. 100–647 applicable to disclo-
sures or uses after Dec. 31, 1988, see section 6242(d) of
Pub. L. 100–647, set out as an Effective Date note under
section 6712 of this title.
EFFECTIVE DATE OF 1984 AMENDMENT
Amendment by Pub. L. 98–369 applicable with respect
to taxable years beginning after Dec. 31, 1984, see sec-
tion 414(a)(1) of Pub. L. 98–369, set out as a note under
section 6654 of this title.
EFFECTIVE DATE
Pub. L. 92–178, title III, § 316(c), Dec. 10, 1971, 85 Stat.
530, provided that: ‘‘The amendments made by this sec-
tion [enacting this section] shall take effect on the
first day of the first month which begins after the date
of the enactment of this Act [Dec. 10, 1971].’’
§ 7217. Prohibition on executive branch influence
over taxpayer audits and other investiga-
tions
(a) Prohibition
It shall be unlawful for any applicable person
to request, directly or indirectly, any officer or
employee of the Internal Revenue Service to
conduct or terminate an audit or other inves-
tigation of any particular taxpayer with respect
to the tax liability of such taxpayer.
(b) Reporting requirement
Any officer or employee of the
Source: Supplied 2024 U.S. Code historical extraction · 26 U.S.C. § 7217
Stored review status: historical_2024_not_currentness_verified. Same stored citation; legal effect and authority still require review.