39-17-302. Administration; confidentiality.

(a) The administration of this article is vested in the department which shall prescribe the reporting format and forms for the making of returns, and assessment and collection of license taxes and fees hereby imposed. The department shall promulgate rules and regulations consistent with the provisions hereof as provided by the Wyoming Administrative Procedure Act necessary to the enforcement of the provisions of this article. All tax returns and records are open to examination by the director of the state department of audit or his deputies.

(b) No state employee who by virtue of his employment has knowledge of the business affairs of any person filing or required to file any tax returns under this article shall make known its contents in any manner or permit any person to have access to any returns or information contained therein except as provided by law or in the following cases:

(i) The delivery to the taxpayer or his legal representatives upon written request of a copy of any return or report in connection with his tax;

(ii) The publication of statistics so classified to prevent the identification of particular returns or reports;

(iii) The inspection by the attorney general of the report or return of any person who brings an action against the state, or against whom an action is contemplated or has been instituted;

(iv) The introduction into evidence of any report or return or information there from in any administrative or court proceeding to which the person making the report or return is a party;

(v) The furnishing of any information to the United States government and its territories, the District of Columbia, any state allowing similar privileges to the department or to the multistate tax commission for relay to tax officials of cooperating states. Information furnished shall be only for tax purposes;

(vi) The inspection of tax returns and records by the department of audit.

(c) Any person who violates subsection (b) of this section is guilty of a misdemeanor and upon conviction shall be fined not more than one thousand dollars ($1,000.00), imprisoned for not more than one (1) year, or both.

(d) The department may enter into cooperative agreements with other jurisdictions, for the exchange of information and auditing of users of alternative fuels used in fleets of motor vehicles operated or intended to operate interstate. An agreement or declaration of amendment is not effective until stated in writing and filed with the department.

(e) An agreement may provide for determining the base jurisdiction for users, users records requirements, audit procedures, exchange of information, persons eligible for tax licensing, defining qualified motor vehicles, determining if bonding is required, specifying reporting requirements and periods including defining uniform penalty and interest rates for late reporting, determining methods for collecting and forwarding of alternative fuel taxes and penalties to another member jurisdiction, paying interest on certain refund requests and other provisions as will facilitate the administration of the agreement.

(f) The department may, as required by the terms of an agreement, forward to officers or agents of another jurisdiction any information in the department's possession relative to the manufacture, receipts, sale, use, transportation or shipment of alternative fuels by any person. The department may disclose to officers or agents of another member jurisdiction the location of officers, motor vehicles and other real and personal property of users of alternative fuels.

(g) An agreement may provide for each member jurisdiction to audit the records of persons based in the jurisdiction to determine if the alternative fuel taxes due each jurisdiction are properly reported and paid. Each state shall forward the findings of the audits performed on persons based in the jurisdiction to each jurisdiction in which the person has taxable use of alternative fuels. For persons not based in this state and who have taxable use of alternative fuels in this state, the department may serve the audit findings received from another jurisdiction, in the form of an assessment, on the person as though an audit was conducted by the department.

(h) Any agreement entered into pursuant to this section does not preclude the department from auditing the records of any licensee under this chapter.

(j) If the department enters into any agreement under the authority of this section and the provisions set forth in the agreement are in conflict with any rules or regulations promulgated by the department, the agreement provisions prevail.