40.02 (48) (c) In s. 40.65, “protective occupation participant” means a participating employee who is a police officer, fire fighter, an individual determined by a participating employer under par. (a) or (bm) to be a protective occupation participant, county undersheriff, deputy sheriff, county jailer who is certified as a protective occupation participant, state probation and parole officer, county traffic police officer, conservation warden, state forest ranger, field conservation employee of the department of natural resources who is subject to call for forest fire control or warden duty, member of the state traffic patrol, state motor vehicle inspector, University of Wisconsin System full-time police officer, guard or any other employee whose principal duties are supervision and discipline of inmates at a state penal institution, excise tax investigator special agent employed by the department of revenue who is authorized to act under s. 73.031, person employed under s. 60.553 (1), 61.66 (1), or 62.13 (2e) (a), or special criminal investigation agent employed by the department of justice.

73,3 Section 3. 71.78 (1) of the statutes is amended to read:

71.78 (1) Divulging information. Except as provided in subs. (1g), (4), (4m), (10), and (11), no person may divulge or circulate or offer to obtain, divulge, or circulate any information derived from an income, franchise, withholding, fiduciary, partnership, or limited liability company tax return or tax credit claim, including information which may be furnished by the department as provided in this section. This subsection does not prohibit publication by any newspaper of information lawfully derived from such returns or claims for purposes of argument or prohibit any public speaker from referring to such information in any address. This subsection does not prohibit the department from publishing statistics classified so as not to disclose the identity of particular returns, or claims or reports and the items thereof. This subsection does not prohibit employees or agents of the department of revenue from offering or submitting any return, including joint returns of a spouse or former spouse, separate returns of a spouse, individual returns of a spouse or former spouse, and combined individual income tax returns, or from offering or submitting any claim, schedule, exhibit, writing, or audit report or a copy of, and any information derived from, any of those documents as evidence into the record of any contested matter involving the department in proceedings or litigation on state tax matters if, in the department’s judgment, that evidence has reasonable probative value.

73,4 Section 4. 71.78 (1g) of the statutes is created to read:

71.78 (1g) Permissible disclosure by department employees. An employee of the department may, in connection with the employee’s official duties, disclose information derived from a return or claim specified in sub. (1) to the extent that the disclosure is necessary to obtain information for the enforcement of the tax laws of this state. The information that may be disclosed under this subsection shall be strictly limited to, and used solely for the purposes of, obtaining information necessary for an audit, collection, inspection, or investigation by the employee.

73,5 Section 5. 71.78 (4) (b) of the statutes is amended to read:

71.78 (4) (b) The attorney general and department of justice employees. A department of justice employee may, in connection with the employee’s official duties, disclose information, other than copies of information, examined under this paragraph to a law enforcement investigator participating in a department of justice investigation of suspected criminal conduct. The information that may be disclosed under this paragraph shall be strictly limited to, and used solely for the purposes of, obtaining information necessary for a department of justice investigation.

73,6 Section 6. 71.78 (4) (v) of the statutes is created to read:

71.78 (4) (v) A federal grand jury or grand jury of this state, upon receipt by the department of a grand jury subpoena.

73,7 Section 7. 71.78 (5) of the statutes, as affected by 2023 Wisconsin Act 19, is amended to read:

71.78 (5) Agreement with department. Copies of returns and claims specified in sub. (1) and related schedules, exhibits, writings or audit reports shall not be furnished to the persons listed under sub. (4), except persons under sub. (4) (e), (k), (m), (n), (o) and, (q), and (v) or under an agreement between the department of revenue and another agency of government.

73,8 Section 8. 71.78 (6) of the statutes is amended to read:

71.78 (6) Restriction on use of information. The use of information obtained under sub. (4) or (5) is restricted to the discharge of duties imposed upon the persons by law or by the duties of their office or by order of a court as provided under sub. (4) (f) or (v).

73,9 Section 9. 71.83 (6) of the statutes is created to read:

71.83 (6) Automated sales suppression devices and phantomware. (a) Definitions. In this subsection:

1. “Automated sales suppression device” means a software program, including programs accessed through the Internet or by any other means, that falsifies the electronic records, including transaction data and transaction reports, of electronic cash registers and other point-of-sale systems.

2. “Electronic cash register” means a device that keeps a register or supporting documents by means of an electronic device or computer system designed to record transaction data for the purpose of computing, compiling, or processing retail sales transaction data or transaction reports.

3. “Phantomware” means a programming option embedded in the operating system of an electronic cash register, or hardwired into an electronic cash register, that can be used to create a virtual 2nd electronic cash register or eliminate or manipulate transaction records that may or may not be preserved in digital formats to represent the true or manipulated record of transactions in the electronic cash register.

4. “Transaction data” includes items purchased by a customer, the price for each item, a taxability determination for each item, a segregated tax amount for each of the taxed items, the amount of cash or credit tendered, the net amount returned to the customer in change, the date and time of the purchase, the name, address, and identification number of the vendor, and the receipt or invoice number of the transaction.

5. “Transaction report” means a report that includes the sales, taxes collected, media totals, and discount voids at an electronic cash register that is printed on cash register tape at the end of a day or shift or a report documenting every action at an electronic cash register that is stored electronically.

(b) Automated sales suppression devices and phantomware. Any person who creates, designs, manufactures, sells, purchases, leases, installs, updates, repairs, services, transfers, uses, or possesses in this state or accesses from this state phantomware or an automated sales suppression device, unless for a legitimate purpose, is guilty of a Class D felony.

73,10 Section 10. 72.06 of the statutes is amended to read:

72.06 Confidentiality of tax returns. Sections 71.78 (1), (1g), (1m), and (4) to (9) and 71.83 (2) (a) 3. and 3m. apply to any information obtained from any person by the department on a death tax return, report, schedule, exhibit or other document or from an audit report pertaining to the tax return.

73,11 Section 11. 73.03 (51b) of the statutes is created to read:

73.03 (51b) To revoke all permits, licenses, and certificates that the department has issued to a person for up to 10 years for violating s. 71.83 (6) (b).

73,12 Section 12. 73.031 of the statutes is amended to read:

73.031 Arrest powers; authority. A special agent of the department of revenue who has been certified as a law enforcement officer by the law enforcement standards board and who is on duty may arrest a person if the special agent believes, on reasonable grounds, that a warrant for the person’s arrest has been issued in this state, that a felony warrant has been issued in another state, that the person is violating or has violated under the conditions set forth in s. 968.07. Pursuant to s. 175.38, special agents may investigate violations of s. 945.03 (2m) or, 945.04 (2m), or that the person is violating or has violated s. 945.05 (1m) in a case in which the department determines that the video gambling machine involved is likely to be used in connection with a violation of s. 945.03 (2m) or 945.04 (2m) or if a crime has been committed in the presence of the special agent. The special agent shall cause the person arrested and the documents and reports pertaining to the arrest to be delivered to the chief of police or sheriff in the jurisdiction where the arrest is made. The special agent shall be available as a witness for the state. A special agent acting under this section is an employee of the department and is subject to its direction, benefits and legal protection.

73,13 Section 13. 77.61 (5) (am) of the statutes is created to read:

77.61 (5) (am) Notwithstanding par. (a), an employee of the department may, in connection with the employee’s official duties, disclose information derived from a return specified in par. (a) to the extent that the disclosure is necessary for the enforcement of the tax laws of this state. The disclosure shall be limited to the information relevant to a particular matter in connection with an audit, collection, inspection, or investigation.