Section 15619 Of Chapter 1. General From California Government Code >> Division 3. >> Title 2. >> Part 9. >> Chapter 1.
15619
. Any member or ex-member of the State Board of Equalization,
or any agent employed by it, or the Controller, or ex-Controller, or
any person employed by him or her, or any person who has at any time
obtained such knowledge from any of the foregoing officers or persons
shall not divulge or make known in any manner not provided by law,
any of the following items of information concerning the business
affairs of companies reporting to the board:
(a) Any information concerning the business affairs of any company
that is gained during an examination of its books and accounts or in
any other manner, and is not required by law to be reported to the
State Board of Equalization.
(b) Any information, other than the assessment and the amount of
taxes levied, obtained by the State Board of Equalization in
accordance with law from any company other than one concerning which
that information is required by law to be made public.
(c) Any particular item of information relating to the disposition
of its earnings contained in the report of a quasi-public
corporation that the corporation, by written communication specifying
the items and presented at the time when it files its report,
requests shall be treated as confidential.
Nothing in this section shall be construed as preventing
examination of these records and reports by law enforcement agencies,
grand juries, boards of supervisors, or their duly authorized
agents, employees or representatives conducting an investigation of
an assessor's office pursuant to Section 25303, and other duly
authorized legislative or administrative bodies of the state pursuant
to their authorization to examine these records.
Successors, receivers, trustees, executors, administrators,
assignees, and guarantors, if directly interested, may be given
information as to the items included in the measure and amounts of
any unpaid tax or amounts of tax required to be collected, interest,
and penalties.
The Governor may authorize examination of these reports by other
state officers. In that event the information obtained by these
persons shall not be made public. The Governor, however, may direct
that any of the information referred to in this section shall be made
public.
Any violation of this section is a misdemeanor and punishable by a
fine not to exceed one thousand dollars ($1,000), or by imprisonment
not to exceed six months, or both, at the discretion of the court.