Nobody's Tax Returns are Confidential Anymore

Tax returns can reveal information which is highly intrusive into the taxpayer's personal affairs.

Effective tax administration accordingly necessitates that information voluntarily disclosed to the tax collector be kept in confidence, and tax returns be disclosed only when the information on them is sought for a compelling purpose and there is no other likely source for such information.

As a board member of a non-public school, I had occasion to review tax returns of parents who requested financial aid for their children's tuition, and in my law practice I successfully resisted an insurance company's boilerplate request for my client's tax returns in a case involving a damaged piece of artwork, in which my client's income was irrelevant.

"[t]o compel the disclosure of tax returns, the movant must show that 'the returns are relevant to the subject matter of the action' and 'there is a compelling need for the tax returns because the information contained therein is not otherwise readily available.

New York County's own courts have declined to compel disclosure of tax returns where the government's assertion of need was "Speculative, conclusory, unconvincing, and insufficient to demonstrate a showing of necessity."

I am not familiar with District Attorney Vance's suspicions that Donald Trump may have committed financial crimes, but if indeed the former President has, then his tax returns would likely contribute some significant evidence to help secure a conviction.

Nobody's tax returns can truly be confidential anymore.

https://www.americanthinker.com/articles/2021/03/nobodys_tax_returns_are_confidential_anymore.html