§ 7217. Prohibition on executive branch influence over taxpayer audits and other investigations
(a)
Prohibition
It shall be unlawful for any applicable person to request, directly or indirectly, any officer or employee of the Internal Revenue Service to conduct or terminate an audit or other investigation of any particular taxpayer with respect to the tax liability of such taxpayer.
(b)
Reporting requirement
Any officer or employee of the Internal Revenue Service receiving any request prohibited by subsection (a) shall report the receipt of such request to the Treasury Inspector General for Tax Administration.
(c)
Exceptions
Subsection (a) shall not apply to any written request made—
(1)
to an applicable person by or on behalf of the taxpayer and forwarded by such applicable person to the Internal Revenue Service;
(2)
by an applicable person for disclosure of return or return information under section
6103 if such request is made in accordance with the requirements of such section; or
(d)
Penalty
Any person who willfully violates subsection (a) or fails to report under subsection (b) shall be punished upon conviction by a fine in any amount not exceeding $5,000, or imprisonment of not more than 5 years, or both, together with the costs of prosecution.
(e)
Applicable person
For purposes of this section, the term “applicable person” means—