New language addresses Vt. tax privacy concern

MONTPELIER, Vt. (AP) -- Vermont lawmakers have changed language in a bill that talked about the Tax Department sharing data with legislative fiscal analysts after concerns were raised about taxpayer privacy.

Tax Commissioner Mary Peterson says new language in a proposal clarifies that the Legislature's Joint Fiscal Office won't get data that could be used to identify individual or business taxpayers.

Language drafted last week by the Senate Finance Committee called for the Tax Department to share information from individual and corporate tax returns with the Joint Fiscal Office.

Tax Department employees are governed by strict confidentiality rules, but those rules don't apply to employees of the Joint Fiscal Office.