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Volume III | Chapter 1

1053 MISSISSIPPI

PENALTIES FOR IMPROPER DISCLOSURE – SSA INFORMATION Federal law restricts the use of SSA information obtained through computer access or other means to purposes directly connected to the administration of the TANF program. Any agency employee that publishes, discloses, or makes known in any manner confidential SSA information

[GENERAL: CONFIDENTIALITY] Revised 02-01-17

is subject to a civil money penalty of $10,000 for each such unauthorized publication or disclosure, or a criminal penalty of a fine of not more than $10,000 or imprisonment of not more than 1 year, or both, for each such unauthorized publication or disclosure. SAFEGUARDING OF NATIONAL DIRECTORY OF NEW HIRES (NDNH) DATA Any use of National Directory of New Hires (NDNH) data except in the administration of TANF and/or any unauthorized disclosure of such data must be reported immediately to the Director of State Operations, who will in turn notify Management Information Systems (MIS) within one hour of discovery. FEDERAL TAX INFORMATION (FTI) CONFIDENTIALITY, REPORTING REQUIREMENTS, AND PENALTIES The Internal Revenue Service (IRS) guidelines restrict the use and access of Federal Tax Information (FTI) to agency employees with a need-to-know. Agency employees with a need-toknow must maintain the confidentially of, or safeguard, FTI to ensure that improper inspection and/or disclosure of FTI does not occur. Any such improper inspections and/or disclosure of FTI must be reported to the appropriate Treasury Inspector General Tax Administration (TIGTA) office and the Office of Safeguards within 24 hours of discovery. Penalties for improper inspections and/or disclosure may be found in the Internal Revenue Code (IRC) Sections 7431, 7213, and 7213A. All agency employees must receive training upon employment with the agency prior to receiving access to FTI and annually thereafter. The training must include a review of the importance of safeguarding FTI, including the fact that FTI must be safeguarded after employment with the agency has ended; instructions for reporting improper inspections and/or disclosure; and the penalties associated with failing to safeguard FTI. All staff must sign the MDHS-FO-106, Awareness/Security