26 U.S.C. § 7461
Section 7461 · Publicity of proceedings
Amended 3 times on record
Applied in 3 court decisions — leading case Estate of Kanter v. Commissioner (2003)
Most recently applied in Estate of Burton W. Kanter, Deceased, Joshua S. Kanter, and Naomi Kanter v. Commissioner of Internal Revenue (July 2003)
How often courts cite this section
Court decisions citing this, by year.Markers show enactment, consequential amendments, and circuit splits over this section — watch for a citation surge after a change or a disagreement. The dip in the last several years is a data-coverage gap, not a real trend — our corpus holds fewer opinions from the most recent years, so recent citations are undercounted.
Except as provided in subsection (b), all reports of the Tax Court and all evidence received by the Tax Court and its divisions, including a transcript of the stenographic report of the hearings, shall be public records open to the inspection of the public.
(1) Trade secrets or other confidential information
The Tax Court may make any provision which is necessary to prevent the disclosure of trade secrets or other confidential information, including a provision that any document or information be placed under seal to be opened only as directed by the court.
(2) Evidence, etc.
After the decision of the Tax Court in any proceeding has become final, the Tax Court may, upon motion of the taxpayer or the Secretary, permit the withdrawal by the party entitled thereto of originals of books, documents, and records, and of models, diagrams, and other exhibits, introduced in evidence before the Tax Court or any division; or the Tax Court may, on its own motion, make such other disposition thereof as it deems advisable.
Editorial notes U.S. Code · Office of the Law Revision Counsel
Amendments
1984—Pub. L. 98–369, in amending section generally, designated existing provisions as subsecs. (a) and (b)(2), added subsec. (b)(1), and in subsec. (b)(2), as so designated, struck out reference to the Secretary's delegate.
1976—Pub. L. 94–455 struck out “or his delegate” after “Secretary”.
Effective Date of 1984 Amendment
Section 465(b) of Pub. L. 98–369 provided that: “The amendment made by subsection (a) [amending this section] shall take effect on the date of the enactment of this Act [July 18, 1984].”
Cross References
Management and disposition of records, see sections 2901 et seq., 3101 et seq., and 3301 et seq. of Title 44, Public Printing and Documents.