Parris v. New York City Housing Authority

Background

The parties submitted a joint letter concerning the defendants’ motion to compel Nathaniel Parris to produce his 2019 Form 1040 tax return. The court agreed with Parris that he had not previously agreed to produce that return. His earlier agreement covered tax returns from 2017 to “present,” but the 2019 tax year had not ended when he made that statement.

Legal standard and analysis

The court explained that tax returns are not automatically protected from disclosure, but courts are generally reluctant to require their production because they contain sensitive private information and because disclosure could discourage complete and accurate tax filings. The court applied a two-part test: the requested tax information must be relevant to the case, and there must be a compelling need because the information is not readily available from another source.

The court found the 2019 return relevant because it could provide evidence about Parris’s reduction in income and mitigation of damages. Parris offered to provide W-2 and 1099 forms and argued that those forms contained all needed income information. The court rejected that argument, explaining that income may exist without a W-2 or 1099 form and that a tax return can contain more income information than those forms. The court therefore found both parts of the test satisfied.

Ruling

Judge Gabriel W. Gorenstein ordered Parris to produce a redacted 2019 tax return within seven days, unless the parties agreed to a different deadline. Parris may redact his filing status, any listing of dependents, entries concerning unearned income, such as Form 1040 Schedule B, and itemized deductions unrelated to earned income. Any other proposed redactions were to be discussed with the defendants first; unresolved disputes could be brought to the court.