Which of the following situations describes a disclosure of tax information by an income tax preparer that would subject the preparer to a penalty?
A. Les, a return preparer, obtained information from Tom while selling Tom life insurance. The information was identical to tax return information that had been furnished to him previously. Les discussed this information with Mary, his wife, who was not an employee of any of his businesses.
B. In the course of preparing a return for Duck Company, Jan obtained information indicating the existence of illegal kickbacks. Jan gave the information to Bill, an auditor in her firm, who was performing a financial audit of the company. Bill confirmed illegal kickbacks were occurring and brought the information to the attention of Duck Company officers.
C. Ron died after furnishing tax return information to his tax return preparer. Ron's tax return preparer disclosed the information to Jerry, Ron's nephew, who is not the fiduciary of Ron's estate.
D. Glade informed the proper federal officials of actions he mistakenly believed to be illegal.
Answer: C