Opinion
190-24W
09-16-2024
JOHN NEUMANN, Petitioner v. COMMISSIONER OF INTERNAL REVENUE, Respondent
ORDER
L. Paige Marvel Judge
On September 13, 2024, the parties filed a joint Motion for Protective Order Pursuant to Rule 103 (motion). In that motion, the parties agree that to the extent authorized by Internal Revenue Code (I.R.C.) § 6103(h)(4) respondent may disclose return, return information, and taxpayer return information, as defined by I.R.C. § 6103(b)(1), (2) & (3), of the third-party taxpayer(s) identified in petitioner's whistleblower claim (§ 6103 information) to petitioner or petitioner's counsel. Therefore, the parties request that the Court impose certain restrictions on petitioner or petitioner's counsel concerning the disclosure of any § 6103 information.
This Order pertains to all disclosures and use of § 6103 information that respondent has provided or will provide to petitioner or petitioner's counsel or files or lodges with the Court in this proceeding. This Order will not apply to documents and other information that have become part of the public domain or have been legitimately obtained by petitioner from sources other than respondent. The Court might determine that further protections with respect to any such § 6103 information may be appropriate where such information will be disclosed at a trial or a hearing in this case.
After due consideration and for cause, it is ORDERED that the parties' joint motion is granted to the extent provided herein. It is further
ORDERED that respondent shall designate and mark as "CONFIDENTIAL--§ 6103 Information Subject to Protective Order" any document(s) containing § 6103 information that respondent provides to petitioner or petitioner's counsel or files or lodges with the Court in this proceeding. It is further
ORDERED that any document(s) containing § 6103 information that respondent has designated and marked as ordered in the second ordered paragraph and provided to petitioner or petitioner's counsel or filed or lodged with the Court in this proceeding, as well as any information obtained from those documents, shall not be provided directly or indirectly by petitioner or petitioner's counsel to any person except for the sole bona fide purpose of trial or hearing preparation and in accordance with the provisions of this Order. It is further
ORDERED that, whenever petitioner or petitioner's counsel intends to provide to any person(s) any document(s) containing § 6103 information that respondent has designated and marked as ordered in the second ordered paragraph, as well as any information obtained from those documents, petitioner or petitioner's counsel must first provide a copy of this Order to any such person(s), inform such person(s) that he or she must comply with the terms of this Order, and obtain on a copy of this Order the name, the business or home address of such person(s) at which service of process can generally be made during business hours, and the signature(s) of such person(s). Petitioner or petitioner's counsel shall retain the signed copy of this Order until one year after the decision in this case becomes final within the meaning of § 7481(a). After petitioner or petitioner's counsel has complied with the first sentence of this ordered paragraph, petitioner or petitioner's counsel may provide to any person(s) described in the first sentence any document(s) containing § 6103 information that respondent has designated and marked as ordered in the second ordered paragraph, as well as any information obtained from those documents. It is further
ORDERED that, no later than 14 days after the decision in this case becomes final within the meaning of § 7481(a), petitioner, petitioner's counsel, and any person(s) who receives any document(s) containing § 6103 information subject to this Order shall certify in writing to respondent that (1) any such document(s) and any such copies of any such document(s) have been returned to respondent or destroyed and (2) any electronic files have been permanently deleted.