City of Cincinnati v. Bawtenheimer

At the threshold of our discussion, we note for purposes of clarity that this case does not present the question of whether state and local officials may, upon following applicable procedures, obtain from the Internal Revenue Service copies of federal individual tax returns in the furtherance of state and local tax investigations. It is clear that under federal law state and local governmental tax agencies do have the ability to obtain such records. As a general rule, federal income tax returns and return information are confidential. Section 6103, Title 26, U.S.Code provides in pertinent…