Title 26 — Internal Revenue CodeRelease 119-73
§7461 Publicity of proceedings
Title 26 › Subtitle Subtitle F— - Procedure and Administration › Chapter CHAPTER 76— - JUDICIAL PROCEEDINGS › Subchapter Subchapter C— - The Tax Court › Part PART II— - PROCEDURE › § 7461
Summary
Tax Court reports, transcripts, and evidence are usually open for the public to see. The court can keep trade secrets or other confidential information sealed. After a decision is final, a party may retrieve original exhibits or the court can decide what to do with them.
Full Legal Text
Title 26, §7461
Internal Revenue Code — Source: USLM XML via OLRC
(a)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.
(b)(1)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)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.
Legislative History
Notes & Related Subsidiaries
Editorial Notes
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”.
Statutory Notes and Related Subsidiaries
Effective Date
of 1984 Amendment Pub. L. 98–369, div. A, title IV, § 465(b),
July 18, 1984, 98 Stat. 825, 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].”
Reference
Citations & Metadata
Citation
26 U.S.C. § 7461
Title 26 — Internal Revenue Code
Last Updated
Apr 6, 2026
Release point: 119-73