Mich. Admin. Code R 205.1003 — Confidentiality of information

Rule 3. (1) Except as otherwise provided by law, the treasurer, any employee or
authorized representative or former employee or former authorized representative, or
anyone connected with the department shall not disclose to any person, except the
taxpayer or his or her or its authorized representative, any facts or information obtained
in connection with the a dministration of a tax or information or parameters that would
enable a person to ascertain the audit selection or processing criteria for a tax
administered by the department or collection or assessment parameters or collection
information.
(2) Access t o confidential information shall be restricted to department employees
who have a need to access the information to perform their duties. A department
employee shall not disclose confidential information to another department employee,
except as needed to perform duties. For example, if an employee reviews a taxpayer's
individual return and discovers a letter
concerning the taxpayer's business tax liability, the employee shall refer the
correspondence to the business tax division for further action and shall identify the source
of the correspondence.
(3) A department employee shall not disclose confidential information to confirm
information made public by another party or source or which is part of any public record.
For example, if an unauthorized thi rd party wants to know if a tax lien has been filed
against a certain business, a department employee shall not release that information. A
tax lien becomes part of the public record upon filing, but still retains its identity as tax
return information and may not be released to unauthorized parties.
(4) An employee or authorized representative of another agency of the federal, state,
or local government who handles confidential information pursuant to an agreement or

subpoena is subject to the same rest rictions as department employees or authorized
representatives and shall not disclose the confidential information.
(5) A department employee shall not disclose confidential information obtained
about a taxpayer without proper authorization.
(6) The department shall keep records of persons who are not department employees
or authorized representatives of the department and are granted access to, or given copies
of, returns or return information. The records must contain all of the following
information:
(a) The name and address of the person who has been granted access to, or given
copies of, returns.
(b) The representative capacity of the person specified in subdivision (a) of this
subrule if not the taxpayer.
(c) The date of disclosure.
(d) The name of the taxpayer or taxpayers.
(e) The type of returns.
(f) The taxable periods involved.