(a) Prohibitions
Cited by 3
(1) Federal employees and other persons It shall be unlawful for—
Cited by 1
(A) any officer or employee of the United States, or
(B) any person described in subsection (l)(18) or (n) of section 6103 or an officer or employee of any such person,
Amended 2002
- 2002 Pub. L. 107-210 Pub. L. 107–210 substituted “subsection (l)(18) or (n) of section 6103” for “section 6103(n)”.
willfully to inspect, except as authorized in this title, any return or return information.
(2) State and other employees It shall be unlawful for any person (not described in paragraph (1)) willfully to inspect, except as authorized in this title, any return or return information acquired by such person or another person under a provision of section 6103 referred to in section 7213(a)(2) or under section 6104(c).
Amended 2006
- 2006 Pub. L. 109-280 Pub. L. 109–280, which directed insertion of “or under section 6104(c)” after “7213(a)(2)” in subsec. (a)(2) of section 7213A, without specifying the act to be amended, was executed by making the insertion in subsec. (a)(2) of this section, which is section 7213A of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986, to reflect the probable intent of Congress.
(b) Penalty
(1) In general Any violation of subsection (a) shall be punishable upon conviction by a fine in any amount not exceeding $1,000, or imprisonment of not more than 1 year, or both, together with the costs of prosecution.
(2) Federal officers or employees An officer or employee of the United States who is convicted of any violation of subsection (a) shall, in addition to any other punishment, be dismissed from office or discharged from employment.
(c) Definitions For purposes of this section, the terms “inspect”, “return”, and “return information” have the respective meanings given such terms by section 6103(b).