May 31, 2012

Mr. Ricardo Morado

Counsel for the City of San Benito

Roerig, Oliveira & Fisher, L.L.P.

855 West Price Road, Suite 9

Brownsville, Texas 78520-8786

OR2012-08354

Dear Mr. Morado:

You ask whether certain information is subject to required public disclosure under the Public Information Act (the "Act"), chapter 552 of the Government Code. Your request was assigned ID# 455274.

The City of San Benito (the "city"), which you represent, received a request for income reporting documents issued by the city for legal services provided to the city from a specified time period. You claim that the submitted information is excepted from disclosure under section 552.101 of the Government Code. We have considered the exception you claim and reviewed the submitted information.

Section 552.101 of the Government Code excepts from disclosure "information considered to be confidential by law, either constitutional, statutory, or by judicial decision." Gov't Code § 552.101. This section encompasses information protected by other statutes, such as section 6103(a) of title 26 of the United States Code. Prior decisions of this office have held section 6103(a) renders tax return information confidential. See, e.g., Attorney General Opinion H-1274 (1978) (tax returns). Section 6103(b) of title 26 of the United States Code defines the term "return information" as "a taxpayer's identity, the nature, source, or amount of . . . income, payments, . . . tax withheld, deficiencies, overassessments, or tax payments . . . or any other data, received by, recorded by, prepared by, furnished to, or collected by the Secretary [of the Internal Revenue Service] with respect to a return or . . . the determination of the existence, or possible existence, of liability . . . for any tax, penalty, . . . or offense[.]" See 26 U.S.C. § 6103(b)(2)(A). Federal courts have construed the term "return information" expansively to include any information gathered by the Internal Revenue Service regarding a taxpayer's liability under title 26 of the United States Code. See Mallas v. Kolak, 721 F. Supp 748, 754 (M.D.N.C. 1989), aff'd in part, 993 F.2d 1111 (4th Cir. 1993). The submitted information consists of 1099-MISC forms, which constitute tax return information. Therefore, the city must withhold the submitted information under section 552.101 of the Government Code in conjunction with section 6103(a) of title 26 of the United States Code.

This letter ruling is limited to the particular information at issue in this request and limited to the facts as presented to us; therefore, this ruling must not be relied upon as a previous determination regarding any other information or any other circumstances.

This ruling triggers important deadlines regarding the rights and responsibilities of the governmental body and of the requestor. For more information concerning those rights and responsibilities, please visit our website at http://www.oag.state.tx.us/open/index_orl.php, or call the Office of the Attorney General's Open Government Hotline, toll free, at (877) 673-6839. Questions concerning the allowable charges for providing public information under the Act must be directed to the Cost Rules Administrator of the Office of the Attorney General, toll free, at (888) 672-6787.

Sincerely,

Sarah Casterline

Assistant Attorney General

Open Records Division

SEC/som

Ref: ID# 455274

Enc. Submitted documents

c: Requestor

(w/o enclosures)

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