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 FREEDOM OF INFORMATION ACT ANNUAL REPORT 

 INTERNAL REVENUE SERVICE 

 Fiscal Year 2000 

 October 1, 1999 through September 30, 2000 

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 over 1000 days, with an average response time of 40 days. 

The median response time is 20 calendar 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) 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. 

26 U.S.C. 6104, Compensation information of individuals of certain trusts. 

(a)(1)(C) 

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). 

26 U.S.C. 6104, Not decided by the courts. 

(a)(1)(C) 

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 10/01/99 2,362 

2. Requests Received during FY 2000 25,857 

3. Requests Processed during FY 2000 25,486 

4. Requests Pending as of 09/30/00 2,733 

B. Disposition of initial requests: 

1. Total Grants 9,851 

2. Partial Grants 3,852 

3. Total Denials 246 
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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) 345 (b)(7)(E) 2939 

(b)(2) 84 (b)(7)(A)* 337 (b)(7)(F) 92 

(b)(3) 3877 (b)(7)(B) 12 (b)(8) 0 

(b)(4) 19 (b)(7)(C) 632 (b)(9) 0 

(b)(5) 488 (b)(7)(D) 137 

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

Total of Others (as categorized below) 11,533 

 No Records 3,893 

 Referrals 1,544 

 Request Withdrawn 365 

 Not a proper FOIA request for some other reason 4,964 

 Misc. other reasons for not processing a request* 767 

 

* 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 2000 1,055 

2. Processed during FY 2000 1,247 

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

1. Completely upheld 283 

2. Partially reversed 127 

3. Completely reversed 52 

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) 35 (b)(7)(E) 50 

(b)(2) 4 (b)(7)(A) 17 (b)(7)(F) 23 

(b)(3) 142 (b)(7)(B) 0 (b)(8) 0 

(b)(4) 1 (b)(7)(C) 63 (b)(9) 0 

(b)(5) 27 (b)(7)(D) 8 

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

Total of Others (as categorized below) 971 

 No Records 174 

 Withdrawn 312 

 Fee-Related 6 

 

 Treated as a non-appeal 453 

 Not an agency record 4 

 Other (litigation due to failure to respond) 22 
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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 18,968 

b. Median number of days to process 20 

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, 2000): 

 

1. Number of requests pending 2,733 

2. Median age of pending cases 32 

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 17 

2. Personnel with part-time or occasional FOIA 

 duties (composite total, in work years) 62 

3. Total personnel (in composite work years) 79 

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

1. FOIA processing (including appeals) $ 8,017,239 

2. Litigation related activities (estimated) 695,726 

3. Total Costs $ 8,712,965 

X. Fees

A. Total fees collected by the agency during FY 2001 $95,997 

B. Percentage of total costs 1.1%