Notification of tax return data breach (income tax return preparers)
VA tax preparer breach
Breach notification · Financial
Requires paid tax return preparers to notify the Virginia Department of Taxation without unreasonable delay after unauthorized acquisition of unencrypted taxpayer return information that causes or may cause identity theft or fraud, so the Department can guard against fraudulent refunds.
- Where
- Virginia
- Citation
- Va. Code § 58.1-341.2
- Status
- In force
- In force since
- 2018-07-01
- Enforced by
- Virginia Department of Taxation (receives notices)
- People can sue
- No
- Penalties
- The section sets no specific penalty.
- Applies to
- Signing income tax return preparers who prepare Virginia individual income tax returns, and preparer firms on behalf of their employees (58.1-341.2(B)-(C))
Breach duties
- Notify the Department of Taxation without unreasonable delay after discovering unauthorized access to and acquisition of unencrypted, unredacted return information that causes or is reasonably believed to cause identity theft or fraud.Va. Code § 58.1-341.2(B)(1)
- Provide the name and taxpayer ID of each affected taxpayer, the preparer's name and PTIN, and other information the Department requires.Va. Code § 58.1-341.2(B)(2)
- Preparer firms must file the notice on behalf of employee signing preparers.Va. Code § 58.1-341.2(C)
Sources
Checked against these sources on 2026-09-25 by research agent (Claude), primary sources.
Unverified: Effective date inferred from Virginia's default July 1 effective date for regular-session acts (chapters listed in the Code history note); the enacting bill page was not checked. History: 2018, cc. 283, 360.
Research reference, not legal advice.