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ESA SNAP Policy Manual 14 1.6.9 Nonreproduction Requirements Staff are not to print information from DCAS screens with strictly confidential information under any circumstance. These screens have the statement “Do not print.” 1.6.10 Handling of Federal Tax Information Department staff must not include or cause to be copied, transmit via means such as email and fax (see Section 1.6.10.3, Prohibition of Transmitting FTI by Email or Fax) or transcribe any federal tax information (FTI) received from the IRS into the customer’s file or the case narrative. ESA can only use information that is independently verified to take a case action. Additionally, ESA must not identify FTI, Beneficiary Earnings Exchange Records (BEERS) or National Directory of New Hires (NDNH) as data sources when requesting additional information from the customer or a third party to verify the information. 1.6.10.1 Need-to-Know Disclosure FTI, SSA, PII, HIPAA or NDNH information is permissible to disclose to other staff when collaborating on a case and the information is needed to perform official job duties. Only disclose privileged information with other staff on a need-to-know basis. 1.6.10.2 Penalties for Noncompliance Unauthorized disclosure means to make tax return, SSA or NDNH information known to anyone in any unauthorized manner. Department staff, current or former, will be penalized for disclosure of information related to confidential tax information or SSA, PII, HIPAA or NDNH information to anyone who is not entitled or authorized to access the information. Pursuant to local and federal law, penalties for unauthorized disclosure of tax return or tax return information may include monetary fines up to $5,000.00 and five years’ imprisonment. Additionally, the penalty for each unauthorized disclosure of HIPAA information is from $100.00 to $50,000.00. Under Internal Revenue Code Section 7431, a taxpayer can sue an individual in a civil action case, and they can be held personally liable for unauthorized use and disclosure of a customer’s information or inappropriate disclosure of the information. 1.6.10.3 Prohibition of Transmitting FTI by Email or Fax FTI, BEERS or NDNH data are received or held in paper form or in an electronic format. Staff are prohibited from transmitting FTI or causing it to be transmitted, including FTI related to hearings and appeals, for any reason via any means, including email or fax. Regardless of the format of the document received, anything from IRS, NDNH and BEERS must be treated as confidential.

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