Marvin Mandel, Governor                         831

Section 1. Be it enacted by the General Assembly of Maryland,
That new Section 302A be and it is hereby added to Article 81 of the
Annotated Code of Maryland (1969 Replacement Volume and 1971
Supplement), title "Revenue and Taxes," subtitle "Income Tax," to
follow immediately after Section 302 thereof, and to read as follows:

302A.

(a)    It is a misdemeanor, punishable upon conviction by a fine of
not less than one thousand FIVE HUNDRED dollars nor more than
ten thousand dollars, or imprisonment in jail or penitentiary for a
term not exceeding five years, or both fine and imprisonment, for
any person, to disclose any information RELATED TO A SPECIFIC
CLIENT obtained in the business of preparing federal or state
income tax returns or assisting taxpayers in preparing such returns,
unless such disclosure is within any of the following CATEGORIES:

(1)    Consented to WHEN REQUESTED in writing by the tax-
payer in a separate document.

(2)    Expressly WHEN EXPRESSLY authorized by state or fed-
eral law.

(3)    Necessary WHEN NECESSARY to the preparation of the
return.

(4) Pursuant WHEN PURSUANT to court order.

(b)    For the purposes of this section, a person is engaged in the
business of preparing federal or state income tax returns or assisting
taxpayers in preparing such returns if he does either of the following:

(1)    Advertises, or gives publicity to the effect that he prepares
or assists others in the preparation of state or federal income tax
returns.

(2)    Prepares or assists others in the preparation of state or fed-
eral income tax returns for compensation.

(c)    Contacting a taxpayer to obtain his written consent to dis-
closure does not constitute a violation of this section.

Sec. 2. And be it further enacted, That this Act shall take effect
July 1, 1972.

Approved May 5, 1972.

CHAPTER 272
(House Bill 264)

AN ACT to repeal and re-enact, with amendments, Section 19 of
Article 1 of the Annotated Code of Maryland (1968 Replace-
ment Volume), title "Rules of Interpretation," amending the law
concerning the legalizing of certain replacement volumes to the
Annotated Code of Maryland and relating generally to the legal-
izing of these replacement volumes and of pocket or other supple-
ments to volumes of the Annotated Code.