Office of Information Practices

U Memo 18-7
May 16, 2018
Taxpayer’s Audit File

The Department of Taxation (DOTAX) properly withheld the records in a taxpayer’s audit file from the taxpayer under the exemption to personal record disclosure for records that are part of an open investigative file.   See HRS § 92F-22(4) (2012); OIP Op. Ltr. No. 90-03.  However, DOTAX’s description of the withheld records as simply “[o]ther documents in the audit file” was inadequate; while it was not required to list and describe each individual record being withheld, it should at least have listed types or categories of records that were in the file and were being withheld.  See HAR § 2-71-14(b)(1) (1998).