Secrecy as to returns
N.D. Cent. Code § 57-37.1-22
in effect57-37.1-22. Secrecy as to returns
The secrecy of returns must be guarded except as follows:
1. Except when otherwise directed by judicial order or as provided in section 57-37.1-08
or as is otherwise provided by law, the tax commissioner and the tax commissioner's
deputies, agents, clerks, and other officers and employees may not divulge nor make
known, in any manner, the particulars set forth or disclosed in any return required
under this chapter, including the copy or any portion thereof or information reflected in
the federal estate tax return that is required to be attached to, furnished with, or
included in the state estate tax return. This provision may not be construed 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 state of the return for any estate if an action or proceeding to set
aside or review the tax based thereon is brought by the personal representative of the
estate or any other person or if an action or proceeding is instituted by the tax
commissioner to recover any tax, penalty, or interest imposed by this chapter.
2. The tax commissioner, however, may permit the commissioner of internal revenue of
the United States or the proper officer of any state or of the District of Columbia or of
any territory of the United States imposing a tax similar to that imposed by this chapter,
or the authorized representative of any such officer, to inspect the estate tax return for
any estate, or may furnish to such officer or the officer's authorized representative an
abstract of the return for any estate, or supply the officer with information concerning
any item contained in any return, or disclosed by the report of any investigation of the
estate, but such permission may be granted, or such information furnished, to such
officers or representatives only if the statutes of the United States or of such other
state or of the District of Columbia or of any territory of the United States, as the case
may be, grant substantially similar privileges to the proper officer of this state charged
with the administration of this chapter; provided, that any information furnished or
made available by the tax commissioner to any other person pursuant to this
subsection may be used by such person only for the administration of tax laws
administered by such person; and provided, further, that similar information furnished
or made available to the tax commissioner by a representative or officer of any other
state or of the United States or of the District of Columbia or of a territory of the United
States may be used by the tax commissioner only for the administration of tax laws
administered by such commissioner.
Source: Open US Law by Vaquill AI (CC BY 4.0)URL: https://ndlegis.gov/cencode/t57c37-1.pdf#nameddest=57-37p1-22Fetched: 10/16/2026