The Vermont Statutes Online
The Vermont Statutes Online have been updated to include the actions of the 2023 session of the General Assembly.
NOTE: The Vermont Statutes Online is an unofficial copy of the Vermont Statutes Annotated that is provided as a convenience.
Title 26 : Professions and Occupations
Chapter 001 : Accountants
Subchapter 005 : Property; Testimonial Privilege
(Cite as: 26 V.S.A. § 81)-
§ 81. Ownership of accountant’s working papers
(a) All statements, records, schedules, working papers, and memoranda made by a public accountant incident to or in the course of professional services to clients, except reports submitted by a public accountant to a client, are the property of the accountant. However, an express agreement between the accountant and the client to the contrary shall take precedence over this subsection.
(b) No statement, record, schedule, working paper, or memorandum shall be sold, transferred, or bequeathed, without the consent of the client or his or her personal representative or assignee, to anyone other than one or more surviving partners or new partners of the accountant or to his or her corporation or any combined or merged partnership or successor in interest to the partnership.
(c) Original copies of client documents in the possession of the licensee are the property of the client, and must be returned to the client upon request.
(d) An accountant or accountancy firm shall have in place a plan for responsible disposition of client records in case of unexpected incapacity or firm dissolution. (Added 1981, No. 161 (Adj. Sess.), § 2; amended 1991, No. 167 (Adj. Sess.), § 15; 2001, No. 129 (Adj. Sess.), § 18, eff. June 13, 2002; 2019, No. 30, § 9.)
