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 FREEDOM OF INFORMATION ACT ANNUAL REPORT 

 INTERNAL REVENUE SERVICE 

 Fiscal Year 1999 

 October 1, 1998 through September 30, 1999 

I. Basic Information Regarding the Report 

A. Questions concerning this report may be directed to: 

 

 Director, Office of Disclosure 

 Internal Revenue Service 

 1111 Constitution Avenue, N,W. 

 Washington, DC 20224 

B. This report is available on the web at: http://www.irs.gov/foia/index.html 

C. Copies of this report may be requested at the address provided in A. above. 

II. How to Make a FOIA Request 

A. Name and addresses of offices that receive FOIA requests. 

• Please refer to Treasury Department consolidated Annual Report to Congress. 

B. Time Ranges of Responses. 

• Response times are from 1 to 1000 days, with an average response time of 55 

days. The median response time is 22 calendar days. 

C. Description of why some requests are not granted. 

• The majority of denials are either requests for confidential tax information being 

sought by individuals who are not authorized to receive it, or are requests related 

to tax investigations, the disclosure of which might impair federal tax 

administration. 

III. Definitions of Terms and Acronyms Used in Report

A. Agency Specific. None. 

B. Basic Terms. Please see consolidated Treasury Report. 
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IV. Supporting Statutes Used with Exemption (b)(3) 

 

 A.1. Listing and brief description of type of information withheld under each statute: 

26 U.S.C. 6103 Confidentiality of Returns and Return Information: Prohibits the 

disclosure of: 

(1) Tax returns and return information of third party taxpayers except as 

specifically authorized (6103(a)); 

(2) The standards used for selection of returns for examination (Section 

6103(b)(2)); and, 

(3) a requester's own return information if the release would seriously impair 

federal tax administration (section 6103(e)(7)). 

31 U.S.C. 5319 Bank Secrecy Act Records: Prohibits the disclosure of BSA 

records. Generally used to withhold Currency Transaction Reports. 

Rule 6(e) Part of the Federal Rules of Criminal Procedure - Grand Jury 

Secrecy: regulates matters occurring before the Grand Jury. Used 

to withhold records used in Grand Jury proceedings. 

41 U.S.C 253 (b) Protects the solicitations of unsuccessful bidders in a competitive 

proposal. Used to withhold the unsuccessful bidders’ contract 

proposals aw well as information in the winning solicitation that is 

not incorporated into the contract. 

18 U.S.C. 701 Official Badges, identification cards. Prohibits the reproduction of 

official identification media. Used to withhold copies of IRS 

employee identification badges and pocket commissions. 

5 U.S.C. 7114 Delineates the rights and duties of a labor organization which is the 

exclusive representative of the employees in the unit it represents. 

Tax Treaty Clauses Foreign Tax Treaties ratified by the Senate protect tax information 

provided by foreign governments for use in tax administration. 

 
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 A.2. Statement of whether a court has upheld the use of the above cited statutes: 

26 U.S.C. 6103 Church of Scientology v. IRS, 484 U.S. 9 (1987); Aronson v. IRS,

973 F.2d 962 (1st Cir. 1992); Stebbins v. Sullivan, No. 90-5361, 

slip op. at 1 (D.C. Cir. July 22, 1992); Wishart v. Commissioner,

C-97-20614-SW (N.D. Cal., decided August 6, 1998); and others. 

31 U.S.C. 5319 Small v. IRS, 820 F. Supp. 163 (D.N.J. 1992). 

Rule 6(e) Fund for Constitutional Gov’t v. National Archives & Records 

Service, 656 F. 2nd 856, 867 (D.C. Cir. 1981); Walston v. U.S. 

Department of Justice, 799 F. Supp. 193, 195 (D.D.C. 1992). 

41 U.S.C. 253(b) Public Law 104-201; not litigated. 

18 U.S.C. 701 Not litigated. 

5 U.S.C. 7114 Dublin v. Dept. of the Treasury, 555 F. Supp. 408, 412 (N.D. Ga. 

1981), aff’d, 697 F.2d 1093 (unpublished table decision): NTEU v. 

OPM, No. 76-695, slip op at 49 D.D.C. July 9, 1979). 

Tax Treaties Treaties were ratified by the U.S. Senate; not decided by the courts. 

 

V. Initial FOIA/PA Access Requests 

A. Number of initial requests: 

1. Requests Pending as of 10/01/98 4,518 

2. Requests Received during FY 1999 28,014 

3. Requests Processed during FY 1999 30,225 

4. Requests Pending as of 09/30/99 2,307 

B. Disposition of initial requests: 

1. Total Grants 13,271 

2. Partial Grants 3,589 

3. Total Denials 326 
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B. 3. A. Number of times each FOIA exemption was used (counting each exemption 

 once per case): 

Exemption Use Exemptio

n 

 Use Exemption Use 

(b)(1) 0 (b)(6) 411 (b)(7)(E) 

(b)(2) 125 (b)(7)(A)* 2910 (b)(7)(F) 

(b)(3) 3400 (b)(7)(B) (b)(8) 0 

(b)(4) 52 (b)(7)(C) (b)(9) 0 

(b)(5) 699 (b)(7)(D) 

* The FY 1999 inventory system did not differentiate between the various 

(b)(7) exemptions. Program changes have been implemented to allow 

capture of such data in FY 2000. Amount shown in chart above under 

(b)(7)(A) is the total for all (b)(7) exemptions for FY 1999. 

B. 4. Other reasons for non-disclosure of requested information: 

Total of Others (as categorized below) 13,029 

 No Records 4331 

 Referrals 1,695 

 Request Withdrawn 592 

 Not a proper FOIA request for some other reason 5,592 

 Misc. other reasons for not processing a request* 829 

 

* Closed without determination because an appeal was filed or the records 

had previously been provided to the requester, or the requester had not 

paid the fee from a previous request, etc. 
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VI. Appeal of Initial Denials of FOIA/PA Requests

A. Number of appeals: 

 

1. Received during FY 1999 1,526 

2. Processed during FY 1999 1,685 

B. Disposition of appeals. Number of appeals where the initial determination was: 

1. Completely upheld 196 

2. Partially reversed 176 

3. Completely reversed 54 

B. 3. a. Number of times each FOIA exemption was used in a completely or partially 

 upheld appeal case (counting each exemption once per case): 

Exemption Use Exemption Use Exemption Use 

(b)(1) 0 (b)(6) 24 (b)(7)(E) 45 

(b)(2) 1 (b)(7)(A) 8 (b)(7)(F) 5 

(b)(3) 96 (b)(7)(B) 0 (b)(8) 0 

(b)(4) 2 (b)(7)(C) 30 (b)(9) 0 

(b)(5) 12 (b)(7)(D) 9 

B.4. Other reasons for non-disclosure during appeal process: 

Total of Others (as categorized below) 1,259 

 No Records 15 

 Withdrawn 769 

 Fee-Related 11 

 

 Treated as a non-appeal 428 

 Not an agency record 1 

 Other (litigation due to failure to respond) 35 
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VII. Compliance with Time Limits/Status of Pending Requests

A. Median time for processing requests: 

 

1. Simple Requests 

a. Number of requests processed 0 

b. Median number of days to process N/A 

2. Complex Requests 

a. Number of requests processed 22,937 

b. Median number of days to process 22 

3. Expedited Requests 

a. Number of requests processed 0 

b. Median number of days to process N/A 

B. Status of pending requests (as of September 30, 1999): 

 

1. Number of requests pending 2,307 

2. Median age of pending cases 35 

VIII. Comparison with Previous Year (Optional)

Comparison not made. 
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IX. Costs/FOIA Staffing

A. Staffing levels, given in number of positions in agency: 

1. Full-time FOIA personnel 9 

2. Personnel with part-time or occasional FOIA 

 duties (composite total, in work years) 59 

3. Total personnel (in composite work years) 68 

B. Total costs (including all staff and resources): 

1. FOIA processing (including appeals) $ 6,806,542 

2. Litigation related activities (estimated) 935,322 

3. Total Costs $ 7,741,864 

X. Fees

A. Total fees collected by the agency during FY 2001 $134,208 

B. Percentage of total costs 1.7%