Title 26, Internal Revenue CodeRelease 119-110
§5848 Restrictive Use of Information
Title 26 › Subtitle E — Alcohol, Tobacco, and Certain Other Excise Taxes › CHAPTER 53 — MACHINE GUNS, DESTRUCTIVE DEVICES, AND CERTAIN OTHER FIREARMS › Subchapter B — General Provisions and Exemptions › PART I — GENERAL PROVISIONS › § 5848
Summary
Information from an application, registration, or required records cannot be used against a person in a criminal case for a crime that happened before or when they filed. If they gave false information, those records can be used to prosecute them for that falsehood.
Full Legal Text
Title 26, §5848
Internal Revenue Code, Source: USLM XML via OLRC
(a)General rule
No information or evidence obtained from an application, registration, or records required to be submitted or retained by a natural person in order to comply with any provision of this chapter or regulations issued thereunder, shall, except as provided in subsection (b) of this section, be used, directly or indirectly, as evidence against that person in a criminal proceeding with respect to a violation of law occurring prior to or concurrently with the filing of the application or registration, or the compiling of the records containing the information or evidence.
(b)Furnishing false information
Subsection (a) of this section shall not preclude the use of any such information or evidence in a prosecution or other action under any applicable provision of law with respect to the furnishing of false information.
Legislative History
Notes & Related Subsidiaries
Editorial Notes
Prior Provisions
A prior section 5848, act Aug. 16, 1954, ch. 736, 68A Stat. 727, as amended by acts Sept. 2, 1958, Pub. L. 85–859, title II, § 203(f), 72 Stat. 1427; June 1, 1960, Pub. L. 86–478, § 3, 74 Stat. 149, related to definition of a firearm, machine gun, rifle, shotgun, other weapon, importer, manufacturer, dealer, interstate commerce, transfer and person, prior to the general revision of this chapter by Pub. L. 90–618.
Reference
Citations & Metadata
Citation
26 U.S.C. § 5848
Title 26, Internal Revenue Code
Last Updated
Sep 22, 2026
Release point: 119-110