Co., 49 Cal.2d 509, 512 [319 P.2d 621], we construed former Revenue and Taxation Code section 19282. This section provided in part that, except in tax enforcement proceedings, ‘ “. .. it is a misdemeanor for the Franchise Tax Board, any deputy, agent, clerk, or other officer or employee, to disclose in any manner information as to the amount of income or any particulars set forth or disclosed in any report or return required under this part.” ’ (Although § 19282 has since been amended, the language of the present statute is substantially the same.) In Webb we noted that the purpose of such provisions as section 7056 is ‘to facilitate tax enforcement by encouraging a taxpayer to make full and truthful declarations in his return, without fear that his statements will be revealed or used against him for other purposes.’ (Id., at p. 513.) In Webb we unanimously held that forcing the taxpayer himself to produce a copy of his state or federal income tax returns, which the opposing party wished to use for impeachment purposes, would effectively defeat this legislative purpose. We continued ‘[t]he effect of the statutory prohibition [of disclosure] is to render the returns privileged, and the privilege should not be nullified by permitting third parties to obtain the information by adopting the indirect procedure of demanding copies of the tax returns.’ (Ibid.) We have subsequently within other contexts reaffirmed the privileged nature of tax returns. (See Aday v. Superior Court, 55 Cal.2d 789, 796 [13 Cal.Rptr. 415, 362 P.2d 47], and Crest Catering Co. v. Superior Court, 62 Cal.2d 274, 277 [42 Cal.Rptr. 110, 398 P.2d 150], wherein we expressly refused to overrule Webb.)
“Finally, in Webb, we made it clear that attempts to avoid the application of the privilege by indirect means could not be tolerated. (49 Cal.2d at p. 513.) Real party in interest’s interrogatory 40 appears to be such an attempt. While not asking either for the return itself or a copy, the question does seek information concerning specific entries in the return. To require petitioner to respond to such an inquiry would render meaningless the privilege recognized in Webb, A day and Crest Catering Co. Assuming Revenue and Taxation Code section 7056 protects the returns themselves, it is reasonable to conclude that it must also protect the information contained in the returns. The writ of prohibition must issue as to interrogatory 40.”
Extending the reasoning of the Sav-On Drugs case to the situation involved here, we must reject real parties’ argument that the W-2 forms are not included within the privilege. The W-2 forms, which are required to be attached to a taxpayer’s state and federal income tax returns, constitute an integral part of the return and qualify as