Are tax records held by Tennessee cities and counties (like hotel/motel taxes and gross receipts taxes) confidential, or are they open public records?

Subject

Opinion No. 12-20, Confidentiality of Hotel/Motel and Gross Receipts Tax Information, February 22, 2012

Plain-English summary

Comptroller Wilson asked the AG whether two kinds of local tax records were public records or were confidential under the Taxpayer Confidentiality Act, Tenn. Code Ann. §§ 67-1-1701 to -1712. The AG split the answer based on what the private acts authorizing each tax actually said.

Madison County and Rhea County hotel/motel tax records: confidential. The Taxpayer Confidentiality Act by its own terms applies only to taxes administered or collected by the Tennessee Department of Revenue. § 67-1-1701(5), (7), (8); § 67-1-1702(a). But the private acts authorizing these counties' hotel/motel taxes (1980 Tenn. Priv. Acts 324 for Madison; 1992 Tenn. Priv. Acts 148 for Rhea) give the county clerks "those powers and duties with respect to collecting taxes as provided in Title 67 of Tennessee Code Annotated." The AG had previously read that grant to include the Taxpayer Confidentiality Act. Op. Tenn. Atty. Gen. U94-059 (March 24, 1994). So Madison and Rhea County hotel/motel tax records are confidential by virtue of the private acts incorporating Title 67's confidentiality regime.

Pigeon Forge gross receipts tax records: public. Pigeon Forge collects a special gross receipts tax authorized by 1976 Tenn. Pub. Acts 808, a general law of local application targeting cities with city manager-commission charters and a population between 1,350 and 1,375 (Pigeon Forge fit the bracket per the 1973-1974 Tennessee Blue Book). That public act did not grant Title 67 powers and duties to Pigeon Forge officials. Notably, Pigeon Forge's own amusement tax (1979 Tenn. Priv. Acts 98) and hotel/motel tax (1979 Tenn. Priv. Acts 159) did include such a grant, but the 1976 gross receipts act did not. The AG found no other general or local provision that would import confidentiality. Result: the gross receipts tax records are open public records under Tenn. Code Ann. § 10-7-503(a)(2)(A), with the exception of credit card numbers and PINs that are confidential under Tenn. Code Ann. § 10-7-504(a)(19).

The opinion turns on a tight reading of authorizing acts. Tax confidentiality is not a default in Tennessee. It only attaches when a statute or private act says it does.

Currency note

This opinion was issued in 2012. Subsequent statutory amendments, court decisions, or later AG opinions may have changed the analysis. Treat this page as historical context, not current legal advice. Verify current law before relying on any specific rule, deadline, or remedy mentioned here.

Both Tenn. Code Ann. §§ 67-1-1701 to -1712 and the Pigeon Forge enabling acts may have been amended since 2012. The structural rule (confidentiality follows the authorizing statute) is stable, but specific applications can shift.

Background and statutory framework

The Taxpayer Confidentiality Act. Tenn. Code Ann. §§ 67-1-1701 to -1712. By its terms, applies to taxes administered or collected by the Tennessee Department of Revenue. § 67-1-1701(5), (7), (8); § 67-1-1702(a). Local taxes administered by counties or cities are not automatically within the Act's reach.

The incorporation by reference doctrine. When a private act creates a local tax and gives the local administrator the "powers and duties" provided in Title 67, the AG and earlier opinions read that incorporation broadly: the local administrator gets the powers (e.g., audit authority) and the duties (e.g., confidentiality) that Title 67 imposes on state tax officials. Op. Tenn. Atty. Gen. U94-059.

Madison and Rhea County hotel/motel taxes. Each authorized by private act. Each gives the county clerk Title 67 powers and duties.

Pigeon Forge gross receipts tax. Authorized by 1976 Tenn. Pub. Acts 808, a "general law of local application" for cities with a city manager-commission charter and a tight population bracket. The 1976 act does not extend Title 67. Pigeon Forge administers and collects the gross receipts tax itself under Pigeon Forge City Code §§ 5-501 to -508.

Open records default. Tenn. Code Ann. § 10-7-503(a)(2)(A): records of governmental entities are open for inspection unless otherwise provided by state law.

Credit card carve-out. Tenn. Code Ann. § 10-7-504(a)(19): credit card numbers, PINs, and authorization codes are confidential even when the parent record is public.

Common questions

Q: I want hotel/motel tax data for my Tennessee county to investigate tax compliance. Can I get it?
A: Depends on the authorizing private act. If your county's act gives the clerk Title 67 powers and duties, the records are confidential. If not, they may be open under § 10-7-503(a)(2)(A). Check the authorizing act for your specific county.

Q: Can I get individual hotel-by-hotel revenue figures for Pigeon Forge?
A: For the special gross receipts tax (1976 Tenn. Pub. Acts 808), yes, subject to redaction of credit card numbers and PINs. For Pigeon Forge's amusement tax (1979 Priv. Acts 98) or hotel/motel tax (1979 Priv. Acts 159), no, because those acts pull in Title 67 confidentiality.

Q: Why are some local taxes confidential and others not?
A: Tennessee has no statewide rule of local-tax confidentiality. Whether the records are confidential depends on what the authorizing private act says. The Taxpayer Confidentiality Act covers Department of Revenue collections directly, and local taxes only through specific incorporation.

Q: Can a county or city pass an ordinance making its local tax records confidential?
A: The opinion did not address that question. Tennessee's confidentiality exceptions to the open-records law typically must come from "state law," not local ordinance. Consult current statutes and counsel.

Q: Does this opinion affect the state's own hotel/motel-related collections?
A: No. State tax collections by the Department of Revenue are covered directly by the Taxpayer Confidentiality Act regardless of these private acts.

Citations and references

Statutes and private acts:

• Tenn. Code Ann. §§ 67-1-1701 to -1712
• Tenn. Code Ann. § 10-7-503(a)(2)(A)
• Tenn. Code Ann. § 10-7-504(a)(19)
• 1980 Tenn. Priv. Acts 324 (Madison County)
• 1992 Tenn. Priv. Acts 148 (Rhea County)
• 1976 Tenn. Pub. Acts 808 (Pigeon Forge gross receipts)
• 1979 Tenn. Priv. Acts 98 (Pigeon Forge amusement)
• 1979 Tenn. Priv. Acts 159 (Pigeon Forge hotel/motel)

Prior AG opinion cited:

• Op. Tenn. Atty. Gen. No. U94-059 (March 24, 1994)

Source

• Landing page: https://www.tn.gov/attorneygeneral/opinions.html
• Original PDF: https://www.tn.gov/content/dam/tn/attorneygeneral/documents/ops/2012/op12-020.pdf

Original opinion text

February 22, 2012
Opinion No. 12-20
Confidentiality of Hotel/Motel and Gross Receipts Tax Information
QUESTIONS
Lbl1. Is hotel/motel tax information collected by Madison County and Rhea County
confidential pursuant to the provisions of Tenn. Code Ann. §§ 67-1-1701 to -1712?
Lbl2. Is gross receipts tax information collected by the City of Pigeon Forge in
administering that tax under a general law of local application confidential pursuant to the
provisions of Tenn. Code Ann. §§ 67-1-1701 to -1712?
OPINIONS
Lbl1. Yes. In authorizing Madison County and Rhea County to levy the hotel/motel
tax, the General Assembly granted their county clerks "those powers and duties with respect to
collecting taxes as provided in Title 67 of Tennessee Code Annotated," which include the
confidentiality provisions of Tenn. Code Ann. §§ 67-1-1701 to -1712.
Lbl2. No. The confidentiality provisions of Tenn. Code Ann. §§ 67-1-1701 to -1712
apply only to taxes administered or collected by the Tennessee Department of Revenue, absent
incorporation through some other provision of general or local law. The City of Pigeon Forge,
not the Department, administers and collects its special gross receipts tax under Chapter 808 of
the 1976 Public Acts, and no applicable law appears to apply Title 67 to that tax.
ANALYSIS

1. By private acts, the General Assembly authorized Madison County and Rhea
   County "to levy a privilege tax upon the privilege of occupancy in any hotel." 1980 Tenn. Priv.
   Acts 324, § 2 (Madison County); 1992 Tenn. Priv. Acts, 148, § 2 (Rhea County). Each county
   administers and collects its respective hotel/motel tax. 1980 Tenn. Priv. Acts 324 (Madison
   County); 1992 Tenn. Priv. Acts 148 (Rhea County). Generally, the confidentiality provisions of
   Tenn. Code Ann. §§ 67-1-1701 to -1712 (the "Taxpayer Confidentiality Act") apply only to
   taxes administered or collected by the Tennessee Department of Revenue. Tenn. Code Ann. §§
   67-1-1701(5), (7), and (8) and -1702(a). However, in authorizing the hotel/motel taxes for
   Madison County and Rhea County, the General Assembly granted their county clerks "those
   powers and duties with respect to collecting taxes as provided in Title 67 of Tennessee Code
   Annotated or otherwise provided by law." As stated in a previous opinion issued by this Office,
   Page 2
   the “powers and duties . . . provided in Title 67” include the provisions of the Taxpayer
   Confidentiality Act. See Op. Tenn. Atty. Gen. No. U94-059 (March. 24, 1994). Accordingly,
   the hotel/motel tax information collected by Madison County and Rhea County is confidential
   pursuant to the Taxpayer Confidentiality Act, as incorporated into the private acts under which
   these taxes are imposed in those counties.
2. By a general law of local application, the General Assembly has authorized cities
   operating under a city manager-commission charter and having a population of between 1,350
   and 1,375 according to the 1970 census or a subsequent census to levy a gross receipts tax “upon
   all persons, firms, and corporations doing business within” the city. 1976 Tenn. Pub. Acts 808, §
3. Pigeon Forge comes within this classification, 1973-1974 Tennessee Blue Book 290, and has
   imposed the special gross receipts tax that the law authorizes. Pigeon Forge City Code §§ 5-501
   to -508. Pigeon Forge itself administers and collects the gross receipts tax. 1976 Tenn. Pub.
   Acts 808, § 1; Pigeon Forge City Code §§ 5-504, -505, -506, and -508. Unlike the hotel/motel
   taxes discussed above, and Pigeon Forge’s own amusement tax and hotel/motel tax, 1979 Tenn.
   Priv. Acts 98, § 9, and 159, § 8; Pigeon Forge City Code §§ 5-608 and 5-709, the General
   Assembly did not grant Title 67 powers and duties to any Pigeon Forge city officials. 1976
   Tenn. Pub. Acts 808. Moreover, this Office is unaware of any more general provision of
   municipal law or tax law that would subject this information to confidential treatment.
   Accordingly, the confidentiality provisions of the Taxpayer Confidentiality Act do not apply to
   gross receipts tax information collected by the City of Pigeon Forge. As a result, such
   information is a public record in accordance with Tenn. Code Ann. § 10-7-503(a)(2)(A), except
   that any credit card numbers or personal identification numbers or authorization codes contained
   in such records are confidential under Tenn. Code Ann. § 10-7-504(a)(19).
   ROBERT E. COOPER, JR.
   Attorney General and Reporter
   WILLIAM E. YOUNG
   Solicitor General
   NICHOLAS G. BARCA
   Assistant Attorney General
   the "powers and duties provided in Title 67" include the provisions of the Taxpayer
   Confidentiality Act. See Op. Tenn. Atty. Gen. No. U94-059 (March. 24, 1994). Accordingly,
   the hotel/motel tax information collected by Madison County and Rhea County is confidential
   pursuant to the Taxpayer Confidentiality Act, as incorporated into the private acts under which
4. By a general law of local application, the General Assembly has authorized cities
   operating under a city manager-commission charter and having a population of between 1,350
   and 1,375 according to the 1970 census or a subsequent census to levy a gross receipts tax "upon
   all persons, firms, and corporations doing business within" the city. 1976 Tenn. Pub. Acts 808, §
5. Pigeon Forge comes within this classification, 1973-1974 Tennessee Blue Book 290, and has
   imposed the special gross receipts tax that the law authorizes. Pigeon Forge City Code §§ 5-501
   to -508. Pigeon Forge itself administers and collects the gross receipts tax. 1976 Tenn. Pub.
   Acts 808, § 1; Pigeon Forge City Code §§ 5-504, -505, -506, and -508. Unlike the hotel/motel
   taxes discussed above, and Pigeon Forge's own amusement tax and hotel/motel tax, 1979 Tenn.
   Priv. Acts 98, § 9, and 159, § 8; Pigeon Forge City Code §§ 5-608 and 5-709, the General
   Assembly did not grant Title 67 powers and duties to any Pigeon Forge city officials. 1976
   Tenn. Pub. Acts 808. Moreover, this Office is unaware of any more general provision of
   municipal law or tax law that would subject this information to confidential treatment.
   Accordingly, the confidentiality provisions of the Taxpayer Confidentiality Act do not apply to
   gross receipts tax information collected by the City of Pigeon Forge. As a result, such
   information is a public record in accordance with Tenn. Code Ann. § 10-7-503(a)(2)(A), except
   that any credit card numbers or personal identification numbers or authorization codes contained
   WILLIAM E. YOUNG
   Page 3
   Requested by:
   The Honorable Justin P. Wilson
   Comptroller of the Treasury
   State Capitol
   Nashville, Tennessee 37243-9034
   The Honorable Justin P. Wilson