Current through Pa Acts 2024-53, 2024-56 through 2024-111
(a) Any person who wilfully attempts in any manner to evade or defeat any tax imposed by this article or the payment thereof shall, in addition to other penalties provided by law, be guilty of a misdemeanor and shall, upon conviction, be sentenced to pay a fine not exceeding twenty-five thousand dollars ($25,000), or to undergo imprisonment not exceeding two years, or both.(b) Any person required under this article to collect, account for and pay over any tax imposed by this article who wilfully fails to collect or truthfully account for and pay over such tax, shall, in addition to other penalties provided by law, be guilty of a misdemeanor, and shall, upon conviction, be sentenced to pay a fine not exceeding twenty-five thousand dollars ($25,000) or to undergo imprisonment not exceeding two years, or both.(c) Any person required under this article to pay any tax or to make a return, keep any records or supply any information, who wilfully fails to pay such tax or make such return, keep such records or supply such information at the time or times required by law or regulations, shall, in addition to other penalties provided by law, be guilty of a misdemeanor and shall, upon conviction, be sentenced to pay a fine not exceeding five thousand dollars ($5,000), or to undergo imprisonment not exceeding two years, or both.(d) Any person who wilfully makes and subscribes any return, statement or other document which contains or is verified by a written declaration that it is made under the penalties of perjury and which he does not believe to be true and correct as to every material matter, or wilfully aids or assists in, or procures, counsels or advises the preparation or presentation, in connection with any matter arising under this article, of a return, affidavit, claim or other document which is fraudulent or is false as to any material matter, whether or not such falsity or fraud is with the knowledge or consent of the person authorized or required to present such return, affidavit, claim or document, shall be guilty of a misdemeanor and shall, upon conviction, be sentenced to pay a fine not exceeding five thousand dollars ($5,000) or to undergo imprisonment not exceeding two years, or both.(e) Any person who wilfully delivers or discloses to the department any list, return, account, statement or other document known by him to be fraudulent or to be false as to any material matter shall be guilty of a misdemeanor and shall, upon conviction, be sentenced to pay a fine not exceeding five thousand dollars ($5,000) or to undergo imprisonment not exceeding two years, or both.(f) It shall be unlawful for any officer, agent or employe of the Commonwealth to divulge or to make known in any manner whatever, not provided by law, except for official purposes, to any person, the amount or source of income, profits, losses, expenditures or any particular thereof set forth or disclosed in any return, or to permit any return or copy thereof or any book containing any abstract or particulars thereof, to be seen or examined by any person except as provided by law and it shall be unlawful for any person to print or publish in any manner whatsoever not provided by law, any return or any part thereof or source of income, profits, losses or expenditures appearing in any return, and any person committing an offense against the foregoing provisions shall be guilty of a misdemeanor and, upon conviction thereof, shall be fined not more than one thousand dollars ($1,000), or imprisoned for not more than one year, or both, together with the costs of prosecution; and, if the offender be an officer or employe of the Commonwealth, he shall be dismissed from office or discharged from employment.(g) Notwithstanding subsection (f), it shall be lawful for any officer or employe of the Commonwealth having custody of returns to produce them or evidence of anything contained in them in any action or proceeding in any court on behalf of the department under the provisions of this article to which it is a party, or on behalf of any party to any action or proceeding under the provisions of this article, when the returns or facts shown thereby are directly involved in such action or proceeding, in either of which events the court may require the production of and may admit in evidence so much of said returns or the facts shown thereby as are pertinent to the action or proceeding and no more. Nothing herein shall be construed to prohibit the delivery to a taxpayer or his duly authorized representative of a certified copy of any return filed in connection with his tax, nor to prohibit the publication of statistics so classified as to prevent the identification of particular returns and the items thereof or the inspection by the Attorney General or other legal representatives of the Commonwealth of the return of any taxpayer who shall bring action to review the tax based thereon or against whom an action or proceeding has been instituted for the collection or recovery of the tax imposed by this article; nothing herein shall be construed to prohibit the delivery to the Pennsylvania Higher Education Assistance Agency of a certified copy or extract of any State income tax return requested by the agency for use in determining the eligibility of applicants for State grants, when the Executive Director of the agency certifies that the agency has in its possession a statement signed by the applicant and his parent, parents, guardian or guardians, as the case may be, authorizing the agency to obtain a certified copy or extract of any State income tax return from the Director of the Pennsylvania State Income Tax Bureau.1971, March 4, P.L. 6, No. 2, art. III, § 353, added 1971, Aug. 31, P.L. 362, No. 93, § 4. Amended 1974, Feb. 1, P.L. 32, No. 14, § 1, imd. effective.