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 FREEDOM OF INFORMATION ACT ANNUAL REPORT 

 INTERNAL REVENUE SERVICE 

 Fiscal Year 2001 

 October 1, 2000 through September 30, 2001 

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 41 

days. 

C. Description of why some requests are not granted. 

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

by individuals who are not authorized to receive it or 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) F.R.C. 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. 

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) F.R.C. 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). 

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 Treaty Clauses 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 10/01/00 2,733 

2. Requests Received during FY 2001 36,802 

3. Requests Processed during FY 2001 34,930 

4. Requests Pending as of 09/30/01 4,605 

B. Disposition of initial requests: 

1. Total Grants 13,674 

2. Partial Grants 2,555 

3. Total Denials 237 
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B. 3. A. Number of times each FOIA exemption was used (counting each exemption 

 once per case): 

Exemption Use Exemption Use Exemption Use 

(b)(1) 0 (b)(6) 394 (b)(7)(E) 1445 

(b)(2) 61 (b)(7)(A) 207 (b)(7)(F) 14 

(b)(3) 2348 (b)(7)(B) 2 (b)(8) 0 

(b)(4) 39 (b)(7)(C) 578 (b)(9) 0 

(b)(5) 368 (b)(7)(D) 149 

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

Total of Others (as categorized below) 18,464 

 No Records 7,434 

 Referrals 1,774 

 Request Withdrawn 214 

 Fee-related reason 0 

 Not a proper FOIA request for some other reason 7,388 

 Other reasons for not processing a request* 1,654 

*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 2001 825 

2. Processed during FY 2001 1,588 

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

1. Completely upheld 354 

2. Partially reversed 126 

3. Completely reversed 41 

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) 40 (b)(7)(E) 45 

(b)(2) 9 (b)(7)(A) 15 (b)(7)(F) 5 

(b)(3) 377 (b)(7)(B) 0 (b)(8) 0 

(b)(4) 2 (b)(7)(C) 84 (b)(9) 0 

(b)(5) 25 (b)(7)(D) 16
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B.4. Other reasons for non-disclosure during appeal process: 

Total of Others (as categorized below) 1067 

 No Records1 227 

 Referrals 0 

 Withdrawn 137 

 Fee-Related 2 

 

 Records not reasonably described 3 

 Treated as a non-appeal2 687 

 Not an agency record 2 

 Duplicate request 1 

 Other (litigation due to failure to respond) 8 

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 34,930 

b. Median number of days to process 23 

3. Expedited Requests 

a. Number of requests processed 0 

b. Median number of days to process N/A 

 

1 A "no records" disposition includes an appeal in which a search uncovered no records and that search was 

"completely upheld" at the FOIA appeals stage. 

2 Please note that fee-related, records not reasonably described, and duplicate requests may be other bases for 

treatment as a "non appeal." 
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B. Status of pending requests (as of September 30, 2001): 

 

1. Number of requests pending 4,605 

2. Median age of pending cases 41 

VIII. Comparison with Previous Year (Optional)

Comparison not made. 

IX. Costs/FOIA Staffing

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

1. Full-time FOIA personnel 11 

2. Personnel with part-time or occasional FOIA 

 duties (composite total, in work years) 44 

3. Total personnel (in composite work years) 55 

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

1. FOIA processing (including appeals) $ 6,678,739 

2. Litigation related activities (estimated) 849,522 

3. Total Costs $ 7,528,261 

X. Fees

A. Total fees collected by the agency during FY 2001 $151,998 

B. Percentage of total costs 2.0%