Section 148 - Disclosure of information by a public servant

Confidentiality of tax records limits compelled testimony and criminalises unauthorized disclosures, with specific statutory exceptions.

All particulars in statements, returns, accounts, documents, or records of evidence under the Act are confidential and GST officers cannot be compelled by courts to produce or testify about them. Unauthorized disclosure by an officer is punishable, subject to prior government sanction for prosecution. Enumerated exceptions permit disclosure for prosecutions, government verification and administration, service of process or recovery, civil suits involving the Government, audits, disciplinary inquiries, necessary intergovernmental tax purposes, contractual automated-system operations under confidentiality obligations, and publication of aggregated class-level taxpayer or transaction data when in the public interest.