We established a routine use in many of our systems of records that allows disclosure
to DOJ. The routine use reads as follows:
To DOJ, a court or other tribunal, or another party before such court or tribunal
when:
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SSA, or any component thereof; or
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any SSA employee in his/her official capacity; or
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any SSA employee in his/her individual capacity where DOJ (or SSA where it is authorized
to do so) has agreed to represent the employee; or
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the United States or any agency thereof where SSA determines the litigation is likely
to affect SSA or any of its components, is a party to the litigation or has an interest
in such litigation,
and SSA determines that the use of such records by DOJ, a court or other tribunal,
or another party before the tribunal is relevant and necessary to the litigation,
provided, however, that in each case, the agency determines that disclosure of the
records to DOJ, court or other tribunal, or another party is a use of the information
contained in the records that is compatible with the purpose for which the records
were collected.
This routine use permits us to disclose non-tax return information in our records.
We may only disclose tax return information in DOJ litigation matters if expressly
permitted by the Internal Revenue Code.
NOTE: For restitution cases, the DOJ routine use permits disclosure through the restitution
period, as the DOJ Financial Litigation Unit is empowered to enforce the restitution
which arose from the criminal proceedings.