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Chief FOIA Officer Report 2011

Department of the Treasury 
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Chief FOIA Officer Report

TABLE OF CONTENTS

Table of Contents

Message from the Chief FOIA Officer................................................................................................................................................7

DEPARTMENT OF THE TREASURY: LEGEND OF ABBREVIATIONS...................................................................................................8

Section I: Steps Taken to Apply the Presumption of Openness.....................................................................................................9

1. Did your agency hold an agency FOIA conference or conduct training........................................................................... 9

2. Did your FOIA professionals attend any FOIA training, such as provided by the Department of 

Jusstice?...........................................................................................................................................................................10

3. Did your agency make any discretionary releases?.............................................................................................. 10

4. What exemptions would have covered the information?.... .............................................................................. .......12

5. Describe your agency's process to review records to determine whether discretionary releases are 

possible?......................................................................................................................................................................... 12

6. Describe any other initiatives undertaken by your agency to ensure that the presumption of openness is being applied?

................................................................................................................................................................................... .........12

7. Did your agency have an increase in the number of responses where records were released in 

full?................................................................................................................................................................................ 13

8. Did your agency have an increase in the number of responses where records were released in 

part?.................................................................................................................................................................................13

Section II: Steps Taken to Ensure that Your Agency has an Effective System for Responding to Requests............................14

1. Do FOIA professionals in your agency have sufficient IT support........................... ....................................................14

 2. Is there regular interaction between agency FOIA professionals and the Chief FOIA Officer? ...................................17

 3. Do your FOIA professionals work with your agency's Open Government Team?...................................................... 17

 4. Describe the steps your agency has taken to assess whether adequate staffing is being devoted to responding to

FOIA administration............................................................................................................................................................................17

 5. Describe any other steps your agency has undertaken to ensure that your FOIA system operates efficiently and 

effectively............................................................................................................................................................................................. 18

Section III: Steps Taken to Increase Proactive Disclosure...............................................................................................................19

1. Has your agency added new material to you website since last year? ......................................................................19

 2. Provide examples of the records, datasets, videos, etc., that have been posted this last year.................................. 19

 3. Describe the system your agency uses to routinely identify records that are appropriate for posting................... 20

4. Beyond posting new material, is your agency taking steps to make information more useful.................................. 21

 5. Descrie any other steps taken to increase proactive disclosures................................................................................ 22

Section IV: Steps Take to Greater Utilize Technology.....................................................................................................................25

1. Electronic receipt of FOIA requests:............................................................................................................................ 25
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2. Do all components within your agency which receive FOIA requests have the capability to receive such requests 

electronically?..........................................................................................................................................................................25

 Online tracking of FOIA requests............................................................................................................................................26

3. Can a requester track such requests electronically?..........................................................................................................26

4. To what extentis your agency taking steps to establish this capability?............................................................................26

Use of technology to facilitate processing of FOIA requests...........................................................................................26

5. Beyond using technology to redact documents, is your agency taking steps to utilize more advanced technology to facilitate 

overall FOIA efficiency, such as improving record search capabilities, utilizing document sharingplatforms for consultations and 

referrals, or employing software that can sort and duplicate documents?.............................................................................26

6. If, so describe the technological improvements?................................................................................................................27

Section V: Steps Taken to Reduce Backlogs and Improve Timeliness in Responding to Requests...............................................29

1 . Section VII A of your agency annual report: Response time for all processed requests.........................................................29

a. Does your agency utilze a separate track for simple requests? ................................................................................29

b. If so, for your agency overall, for fiscal year 2011, was the average number of days< 20 days?.........................29 

c. Was the average number of days to process non-expedited requests < 20 working 

days?.........................................................................................................................................................................29

2. Section XII D (2) and XII E (2) Comparison of Numbers of Requests/Appeals from Previous and Current Annual ReportBacklogged Requests/Appeals..........................................................................................................................................................29

a. If a backlog at close of FY 11, did it decrease compared to FY10?..................................................................30

b. If a backlog of appeals in FY11, did it decrease compared to FY10?................................................................30

c. Did your agency close the 10 oldest requests pending as of end of FY10?......................................................30

d. Did your agency close the 10 oldest administrative appeals pending as of end of FY10?...............................30

3. Describe the steps your agency is taking to reduce any backlogs and to improve timeliness in responding to requests and 

administrative appeals........................................................................................................................................................................31

a. Request backlog..............................................................................................................................................................31

 b. Administrative Appeal backlog................................................................................................................................. ...31

Does your agency strive for improvements for timelinessand and reducing backlogs in request and appeals

......................................................................................................................................................................................................................31

Does your agency set goals every fiscal year and monitor the progress of caseload? ...................................................................32

2. Has your agency increased its FOIA staffing?.........................................................................................................................32

3. Has your agency made IT improvements to increase timeliness?.........................................................................................32

4. Has your agency taken steps to improve the efficiency of handling consultations?.............................................................32

Use of Law Enforcement Exclusions ......................................................................................................................................................33

Spotlight on Success...................................................................................................................................................................................33
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Message from the Chief FOIA Officer

The Department of the Treasury has made significant progress in fulfilling the President’s commitment 

to open and transparent government, providing access to as much information as possible while 

ensuring the protection of personal privacy, confidential, privileged, or proprietary information. With 

the Department’s activities in support of the economic recovery efforts, we have increased the 

proactive disclosure of information of wide interest, including, for example, the calendars of key officials 

and information on meetings related to the financial reform efforts. Leveraging technologies across 

bureaus and exploring efficiencies in cloud solution are two ways in which Treasury seeks to take FOIA 

technology to a new level. In 2011, we have implemented a Citizen Web portal and made our cloud 

tracking solution scaleable across bureaus to improve our reporting and transparency. We assisted the

new Consumer Financial Protection Bureau with standing up its FOIA process. In 2012, we are 

implementing a shared document technology, as well as offering a cloud solution as a federal shared 

service solution for other agencies in support of the federal CIO’s federal shared services, federal first 

inititiative. 

We continue to work to reduce our agency backlog, which has decreased 82% since 2006.

. 

I look forward to continuing to work with the Treasury bureaus and offices to improve processes, to 

enhance the citizen FOIA experience, and to further advance the principles of open and transparent 

government in the Treasury Department. 

Dan Tangherlini

Assistant Secretary for Management,

Chief Financial Officer

and Chief Performance Officer

2006

2007

2008

2009 2010 2011

0

1,000

2,000

3,000

fiscal year

Treasury FOIA Backlog Trend Department Wide

FOIA 

backlog

requests
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DEPARTMENT OF THE TREASURY: LEGEND OF ABBREVIATIONS

The Departmental Offices (DO)

Alcohol and Tobacco Tax and Trade Bureau (TTB)

Office of the Comptroller of the Currency (OCC)

Bureau of Engraving and Printing (BEP)

Financial Management Service (FMS)

Internal Revenue Service (IRS)

United States Mint (MINT)

Bureau of the Public Debt (BPD)

Office of Thrift Supervision (OTS)

Treasury Inspector General for Tax Administration (TIGTA)

Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (FinCEN)
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Section I: Steps Taken to Apply the Presumption of Openness

The Department of the Treasury has taken steps, and continues to look for opportunities, to enhance 

the quality and amount of information provided to the public. The Department creates a vast amount of 

information in the course of performing mission critical duties, and has focused this past year on 

providing the most relevant information to the public on activities supporting the nation’s economy, 

through practices including proactive disclosure of information on FinancialStability.gov and via 

Treasury.gov for Wall Street reform activities.

1. Did your agency hold an agency FOIA conference, or otherwise conduct training during this reporting 

period? 

In FY11, the Department conducted a number of training sessions on the new FOIA guidelines as well as 

transparency and open government principles. During the Department’s activities for Records and 

Information Management Month (RIMM), which occurs every April, the Office of Privacy, Transparency, 

and Records (OPTR) hosted multiple training sessions and panel discussions highlighting the many 

aspects, challenges, and impact of transparency and open government principles on FOIA, records, and 

information management activities across the Department. The training sessions throughout the month 

were available to other government agencies for purposes of sharing of best practices. Treasury hosted 

an Enterprise Content Management (ECM) panel discussion on leveraging technologies across agency 

departments. Treasury also hosted a series of ‘hands-on” online activities for the goFOIA technology- a 

shared system of data storage and retrieval designed to further increase collaboration, transparency, 

and processing developed for use at Treasury on our Electronic Content Management ( ECM) platform.

Treasury employees are encouraged to register for two online training tools that include information on 

the President’s Memorandum and the Attorney General’s Guidelines, FOIA, privacy, records principles 

and practices, and how these principles interrelate and support transparency and open government. 

These courses are conveniently available to all Treasury employees on Treasury’s online learning 

management system.

The IRS Disclosure Office conducted several virtual training sessions for Disclosure employees entitled 

“Disclosure Technical Updates” covering a variety of FOIA topics. In addition, the Disclosure Office holds 

periodic “Techno Talks” that provide Disclosure employees with training on specific topics related to 

FOIA. In addition, 20+ employees attended the Phase II Disclosure Specialist class to complete their basic 

FOIA training.

IRS held a nationwide Webinar for tax practitioners to educate them about alternatives to FOIA for 

obtaining information from the IRS. This was a measure for proactive disclosures from Revenue Agents 

in addition to ‘routine agency procedures’ to obtain transcripts and returns.
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TIGTA staff attended the American Society Of Access Professionals (ASAP) Annual FOIA Symposium and 

completed FOIA Essentials, a Treasury online training course.

2. Did your FOIA professionals attend any FOIA training, such as that provided by the Department of 

Justice?

Many of Treasury’s FOIA professionals opt for online FOIA training on the online learning management 

system. However, the Department of Justice training is regularly advertised in FOIA Council Meetings as

a free, valuable adjunct to Treasury for training those that are new to the FOIA process. Others elect to 

attend symposiums offered by organizations which offer a mix of public and private sector speakers and 

presentations. In addition, Treasury employees attended Department of Justice hosted roundtable 

discussions and working groups.

IRS and TIGTA sent employees to the (ASAP) Annual Symposium in December 2011; two employees 

attended the Annual FOIA Report and Annual Chief FOIA Officer Report Refresher training offered by 

Department of Justice; and one employee attended FOIA Dispute Resolution Skills Training offered by 

the Office of Government Information Services (OGIS).

3. Did your agency make any discretionary releases of otherwise exempt information?

Yes. Treasury regularly makes discretionary releases of internal, deliberative information that would 

otherwise be exempt from release under FOIA exemption (b)(5), as well as information that would be 

exempt from release under exemption (b)(2). In some cases, Treasury has made discretionary releases 

of information that would otherwise be exemp from release under exemption (b)(7).

Discretionary releases have not been specifically tracked but are considered in the analysis across 

Treasury operating bureaus. An example of the Department’s discretionary release activities was the 

release of the contingency plans for agency operations, thus waiving the internal deliberations 

exemption. Another example is IRS document 6209, "IRS Processing Codes and Information,” which 

underwent an extensive review to eliminate unnecessary redactions prior to its release. Notably, the 

OCC had only 300 cases of over 2000 requests in which exemptions were applied, which exemplifies 

transparency and openness. 

IRS has tightened review standards for its procedural guidelines (the Internal Revenue Manual), to 

ensure that information that should be released to the public is available on the IRS website.

4. What exemptions would have covered the information that was released as a matter of discretion?

Exemptions (b)(2), (b)(5), and (b)(7).
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5. Describe your agency’s process to review records to determine whether discretionary releases are 

possible.

Treasury applies the foreseeable harm standard across the Department as FOIA requests are 

processed and exemptions considered. 

Some components use a systemic approach such as:

• IRS management reviews and monitors requests in the IRS Disclosure Quality 

Management System (DQMS). DQMS is an independent process that reviews a sample 

of cases each month and validates them against standards for procedural and technical 

accuracy, monitors trends, and identifies policy and procedural discrepancies for 

remediation. 

• OCC analyzes each response on a case-by-case basis to determine if anything can be 

produced as a discretionary release. If so, the program office is engaged in a 

negotiation process to achieve discretionary release.

6. Describe any other initiatives undertaken by your agency to ensure that the presumption of 

openness is being applied.

The Department of the Treasury strongly supports increased transparency in government and has made 

significant strides in advancing transparency and open government principles. Examples include the 

proactive publication of senior officials’ calendars, and activities of Consumer Financial Protection 

Bureau (CFPB.)

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In particular, Treasury is committed to implementing the historic Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and 

Consumer Protection Act in an open and transparent manner. Treasury proactively discloses meetings 

with private sector individuals or entities and nongovernmental organizations, with the exception of 

members of the media, that are held for the purpose of discussing policy implementations of the DoddFrank Act. This disclosure policy applies to in-person meetings participated in by Treasury 

Departmental Offices employees who are at the rank of Deputy Assistant Secretary or higher, including 

Counselors to the Secretary and Special Advisors to the Secretary. Meeting disclosures are posted in the 

Department’s FOIA library and include information such as: the date of the meeting, names of all 

covered Treasury participants, names and affiliations of all non-Treasury participants, and a list of the 

primary topics of conversation related to Dodd-Frank implementation. 

 

1

 Treasury was charged with assisting the establishment of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau by the 

Dodd- Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act. [P.L. 111-203, July 21, 2010]
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In the interest of furthering these efforts, the Department is working on amending its FOIA regulations 

to include provisions of the OPEN Government Act and policy memoranda; incorporating systemic 

process reviews of the business submitter process before the FOIA request arrive; and ensuring that all 

new employees working on FOIA take online training to fully understand their vital roles and 

responsibilities for FOIA processing.

In Section V.B.(1) of your agency’s Annual FOIA Report, entitled “Disposition of FOIA Requests – All 

Processed Requests” the first two columns list the “Number of Full Grants” and the “Number of Partial 

Grants/Partial Denials.” Compare your agency’s 2011 Annual FOIA Report with last year’s Annual FOIA 

Report, and answer the following questions:

7. Did your agency have an increase in the number of responses where records were released in full?

Department-Wide Comparison of Releases (as a percentage)

Fiscal Year Full Grants Partial Grants Full Denials

FY 11 36% 18% 3%

FY 10 35% 16% 3%

Department-wide full grants increased by 1% from the previous fiscal year.

8. Did your agency have an increase in the number of responses where records were released in part? 

Department-wide partial grants increased by 2% from previous fiscal year.
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SECTION II: Steps Taken to Ensure that Your Agency has an Effective System for 

Responding to Requests

As the Attorney General emphasized in his FOIA Guidelines, "[a]pplication of the proper disclosure 

standard is only one part of ensuring transparency. Open government requires not just a presumption 

of disclosure, but also an effective system for responding to FOIA requests." 

This section should include a discussion of how your agency has addressed the key roles played by the 

broad spectrum of agency personnel who work with FOIA professionals in responding to requests, 

including, in particular, steps taken to ensure that FOIA professionals have sufficient IT support. 

Describe here the steps your agency has taken to ensure that its system for responding to requests is 

effective and efficient. To do so, answer the questions below and then include any additional 

information that you would like to describe how your agency ensures that your FOIA system is efficient 

and effective.

1. Do FOIA professionals within your agency have sufficient IT support?

The ability to have IT support for electronic searches to assist with gathering and collecting 

information is provided in DO through our CIO with additional contract support assistance. The 

Treasury Web team also assists with providing information access through the Treasury Web 

site by organizing the site, and making it user-friendly. All of the Treasury components have 

claimed sufficient IT support with downloading to the Web and obtaining assistance to conduct

electronic searches.

Treasury has made significant progress on improving our FOIA processing systems, as discussed 

in the Department’s 2010 Chief FOIA Officer Report. DO completed its Lean Six Sigma (LSS)

process review and has implemented many of the findings from that review. IRS, which receives 

about 85% of Treasury’s incoming requests, has also begun a LSS process on its FOIA 

administration. In conjunction with the Department’s Enterprise Content Management (ECM) 

effort, the assignment and tracking system has been replaced with a new cloud-based solution 

that can be easily shared by other offices so that request lifecycles and reporting can be 

dispersed in a decentralized system. TTB and the MINT have already started using this tracking 

system. The solution includes the ability for the public to submit FOIA requests on-line and 

check the status of those requests. The requester imperfection rate is compared for various 

intake methods comparing the online Citizen Web portal below.
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The tracking and assignment solution is the first step in this major redesign effort. The ECM 

initiative is being leveraged to develop and implement an electronic collaborative processing 

workflow based on streamlined process re-engineering. These workflow findings integrate with 

the tracking system to facilitate more timely processing and reporting. Additional monitoring of 

the intake of online submissions produces added benefits of reduced paper, decreased mail 

processing, and a streamlined FOIA intake. Leveraging this tool across components would also 

provide larger scale cost savings.

35%

10%

55%

FOIA INTAKE Comparison May-October 

2011 in Departmental Offices

WEB FAX LTR

22%

69%

0.00%

10.00%

20.00%

30.00%

40.00%

50.00%

60.00%

70.00%

80.00%

FOIA Imperfections May-October 2011 

in Departmental Offices 

FAX

WEB

LTR
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Web ; 55% Ltr ; 38%

Fax/Email; 7%

October 2011 to February 2012 Intake Departmental Offices

Incoming Requests: Letter (Ltr)/ Fax-Email/Web 

Web, 20%

Letter, 70%

Fax/Email, 

10%

FOIA Imperfections

 October 2011 to February 2012

 Departmental Offices
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2. Is there regular interaction between agency FOIA professionals and the Chief FOIA Officer?

Interaction with the Chief FOIA Officer at Treasury takes place through weekly and monthly

reporting. Bureau heads meetings are held regularly, where FOIA and other topics are 

addressed.

The opportunities for other communication are usually distributed through the FOIA Council, 

where goals and strategies are passed down the chain of command to the points of contact who

actually process FOIA requests, and to various council members.

3. Do your FOIA professionals work with your agency’s Open Government Team?

The Deputy Assistant Secretary for Privacy, Transparency, and Records presides over the OPEN 

Government team and also coordinates the FOIA operations at Treasury for the Chief FOIA 

Officer. This facilitates embedding transparency and openness principles into the disclosure 

process.

4. Describe the steps your agency has taken to assess whether adequate staffing is being devoted 

to FOIA administration.

Frequently, performing FOIA responsibilities in the Departmental Offices is an additional duty

added to a core of other employee responsibilities. Educating the new personnel in these duties 

as added roles is frequently challenging, necessitating periodic training. Contract support is 

chosen by offices which opt to select personnel with experience in FOIA matters as an option to 

supplement their FOIA administration obligations. DO conducted a Lean Six Sigma review of its 

FOIA administration process throughout the phases of the workflow including receipt, scope, 

search, review, and reply. The elimination of redundancies and shared technology solutions for 

tracking (licensed to the points of contact) help streamline the response process, which 

decreases the hours needed, based upon the number of cases received. In this way cycle time 

of the process will increase response time within the statutory requirements. If the number of 

cases received increases, a correlating increase in staffing would be necessary to meet that 

demand. 

Some components have a more centralized FOIA process; although the volume of requests may 

not be as large. The regional approach to FOIA processing with the IRS has led to developments 

in their technologies to broadcast tracking solutions so that efficiencies may be gained 

regionally.
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5. Describe any other steps your agency has undertaken to ensure that your FOIA system operates 

efficiently and effectively.

A forensic software tool is being piloted through our Enterprise Content Management 

Committee and leveraged with the IRS to provide tools which may also be used to conduct 

searches for the FOIA process. Researching the appropriate tool on an enterprise basis will 

provide not only discovery possibilities, but new FOIA search possibilities—all of which has been 

an ongoing effort.

IRS completed implementation of the new AFOIA inventory management systerm in 2011. This 

includes centralized electronic case log-in and assignment, electronic maintenance of records, 

and electronic archiving of case records and histories. IRS continues to build on its extensive 

electronic library of FOIA pattern response letters and specific paragraphs used for unique FOIA 

requests. This enables IRS to easily edit letters and update text when required by legal or 

procedural changes. IRS actively manages an inventory balancing program nationwide which 

evaluates caseload and balances work among Disclosure offices. IRS has received a favorable 

report for the past three years from the Treasury Inspector General for Tax Administration, 

which conducts a statutorily-mandated annual review of the IRS FOIA program. As a result of 

these actions, IRS has responded to 86% of its annual average of 12,000 FOIA requests within 

the statutory period, and has a backlog (as of the end of FY2011) of less than 1% of total 

receipts.
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Section III: Steps Taken to Increase Proactive Disclosure

Both the President and Attorney General focused on the need for agencies to work proactively to post 

information online without waiting for individual requests to be received. 

Describe here the steps your agency has taken both to increase the amount of material that is available 

on your agency website, and the usability of such information, including providing examples of proactive 

disclosures that have been made during this past reporting period (i.e., from March 2011 to March 

2012). In doing so, answer the questions listed below and describe any additional steps taken by your 

agency to make and improve proactive disclosures of information. 

1. Has your agency added new material to your website since last year?

DO: Calendars of senior officials have been posted. Contract information has been posted, 

particularly from the Office of Financial Stability. The Web site for Treasury (DO) has been 

redesigned in an effort to make the site more user-friendly. Public meetings held under the 

Dodd-Frank Act and the Register of the Dodd-Frank Act are new also. Most of the components 

have added new information--the most common being contracts awarded.

IRS: The new information on the Web site is calendar information which has been previously 

disclosed. However, an additional IRS official has been added this year. IRS procurement 

solicitations, including Requests for Proposal (RFPs), Requests for Information (RFIs) and 

Requests for Agreement (RFAs), and procurement contracts have also been added. Links to hot 

news and information that partners need is available at the Partner and Volunteer Resource 

Center on IRS.gov.

2. Provide examples of the records, datasets, videos, etc., that have been posted this past year.

DO: The above calendar information is being made available proactively. The Senior Advisor for 

the CFPB also made calendar and meeting information available through the FOIA Web page.

IRS: IRS features information on YouTube and Twitter on its primary programs. On YouTube, the 

Tax Tips videos are posted in English, Spanish and American Sign Language. Various audio 

podcasts are posted on both IRS.gov and on iTunes. A listing of media contacts is also posted.

IRS also provides information such as news and events for the tax professional community and 

information on new initiatives. The IRS maintains an updated Commissioner's section, mission, 

history, organizational structure of IRS, and strategic plan section.

The Tax Exempt and Government Entities (TE/GE) Division is scheduled to launch a new on-line 

tool in January 2012 that will help the public, media, and regulators verify the status of exempt 

organizations. The application will allow users to determine whether an organization is eligible 
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to receive tax-deductible charitable contributions (Publication 78), has filed an e-Postcard, or 

had its exempt status automatically revoked. TE/GE will work to provide a central resource page 

for exempt organizations on IRS.gov. IRS also posted content that will help organizations 

understand what they can expect during a compliance check or an examination by clarifying the 

various steps in the process and providing direct links to related resources that are available 

elsewhere on the website.

The National Public Liaison Division manages the "TaxPros" site on IRS.gov and posts 

information pertaining to: 

o Internal Revenue Service Advisory Committee and Information Reporting Advisory 

Committee advisory groups

o Information from monthly liaison meetings with tax professionals

o Marketing materials for the Nationwide Tax Forums

o Foreign Account Tax Compliance Act (FATCA)

o Third Party Reporting legislation

IRS.gov enables the Office of Procurement to transmit procurement-related information such as 

Requests for Proposal (RFP), Requests for Information (RFI) and Requests for Agreement (RFA) 

to the public and current or prospective contractors.

Small Business Program Office information stored on the website includes: At-A-Glance Listings 

of 8(a); HUBZone and Service Disabled Veteran Owned concerns; Purchase Card Newsletters; 

information about upcoming outreach events sponsored or attended by the IRS Small Business 

Specialist; Bidders List information and How-To- Do Business with the IRS presentations.

In addition, selected contracts are posted to the website to provide easy access to interested 

parties, thus eliminating the need for requests under the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA).

3. Describe the system your agency uses to routinely identify records that are appropriate for 

posting.

The IRS has built a culture that encourages routine posting of information on IRS.gov as part of 

every day work. The IRS mission focuses on service to taxpayers, and IRS believes that the more 

information it can provide to taxpayers about IRS operations and tools, the easier it will be for

taxpayers to navigate the U.S tax system. The IRS also take great care to vet information, to 

ensure no tax information is improperly disclosed. Examples are:

o All Communications and Liaison items posted to IRS.gov are vetted though the Division 

Director and/or senior manager in charge of the program before posting. Translated 

materials contain previously approved language and final approval of these translations are

made by the Spanish Media Relations office before posting. The "Around the Nation 

Updates" are handled by a limited group of Field Media Relations Specialists and are 
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primarily in response to the granting of disaster relief, generally by the President, and as 

requested by the coordinator in National Media Relations.

o The process to determine what information is appropriate to post on the TE/GE pages of 

IRS.gov is a collaborative effort. Generally, the Customer Education & Outreach (CE&O) 

offices work with the program managers and technical staff to develop the messages and 

materials. It is then reviewed/approved by Rulings and Agreements or Examination and, if 

appropriate Counsel, for technical and legal accuracy and consistency with program 

objectives. Before posting, all materials are reviewed by the appropriate manager.

All Taxpayer Advocate Service (TAS) content on IRS.gov is vetted through both the TAS Office of 

Technical Analysis and Guidance and the content owners prior to posting. The information is 

then provided in a content request and submitted to Communications and Liaison Division for 

consideration, content clarification and plain language review, and finally, posting.

4. Beyond posting new material, is your agency taking steps to make the information more useful 

to the public, especially to the community of individuals who regularly access your agency’s 

website, such as soliciting feedback on the content and presentation of the posted material, 

improving search capabilities, providing explanatory material, etc.?

o The IRS Communications and Liaison office is promoting IRS2Go. IRS2Go is a smartphone 

application that lets people interact with the IRS using their mobile devices. This mobile 

application gives users a convenient way of checking their federal refund status and getting 

easy-to-understand tax tips. IRS2Go reflects IRS' commitment to help taxpayers get the 

information they need —whenever they need it, wherever they may be. 

o The IRS Tax Exempt and Government Entities (TE/GE) Division took several steps to make 

information provided on IRS.gov easier to find and more useful to the public. In FY11, TE/GE 

conducted a research project on the information and education needs of small tax-exempt 

organizations and also conducted surveys and interviews at National Tax Forums to learn what 

people want to see on the IRS.gov web pages. In response to feedback, IRS created resource 

pages on the Form 990- Return of Organization Exempt from income Tax for different 

audiences including organizations, tax professionals, general public, and researchers. IRS also 

started a project to reorganize FAQs by subject area.

o To help meet information needs, TE/GE delivered content in multiple formats including a news 

widget, email, PDF, web pages, Twitter, e-newsletters, webinars, phone forums, and videos. 

Information is now being provided with a news widget allowing top headlines and links to 

IRS.gov to be delivered through non-government websites. Short messages are sent via 

Twitter, standardized news articles developed for distribution through media outlets, and 

webinars were produced as an alternative to print media. PDF documents were converted to 
19

html format for viewing on alternate browsing devices. IRS also used GovDelivery.com to 

send individual announcements and updates for the specialized communities with links to 

their Web pages on IRS.gov to request comments on proposed IRS guidance, announcements, 

and procedures, and to solicit participation in webinars and telephone forums. 

o IRS continually revised Web pages to reduce the use of technical language and reformatted 

them to include more headers, tables, and bulleted lists to help people quickly scan them. 

Many Web page layouts are now sorted by topic with appropriate links and topics that are 

specific to the individual customer segments, and some are available in multiple languages. 

IRS also revised Web pages including FAQs, using plain language guidelines to improve clarity 

and reduce burden and tagged new published guidance with subject matter descriptions.

o The IRS National Public Liaison office updated web content in the Basic Tools for TaxPros 

section, based on feedback from stakeholder organizations. The IRS Director of Online 

Services spoke at a Liaison meeting to discuss the use of the website with the tax professional 

community and obtain suggestions from the community on future use and expectations. 

National Public Liaison receives periodic comments and feedback from the public that are 

submitted through IRS.gov. The TaxPros content manager monitors this information to 

improve the site.

o The Taxpayer Advocate Service has taken steps to actually decrease the amount of web 

content and make it more focused and easier to locate. A significant amountof content has 

become outdated, and has been removed after vetting with the content owner. The Taxpayer 

Advocate Service received feedback regarding IRS.gov during its outreach and focus groups at 

the National Tax Forums, and made adjustments to the website based on that feedback. All 

.pdf content uploaded by TAS has valid metadata and keywords associated with the content to 

enhance search capabilities. It is also 508 compliant.

o TIGTA has added audit reports, press releases, semi-annual reports, and congressional 

testimony.

o DO developed an exterior facing portal for updating the Public FOIA library features to include 

a search tool on a cloud to allow citizens to search for available records by keyword rather 

than having to search to find where the records are located on the Treasury Web site. This 

will provide more functionality and search capability to the FOIA library.

5. Describe any other steps taken to increase proactive disclosures at your agency.

o The IRS Media Relations office has increased the amount of material available for the 

Spanish speaking community. In addition, IRS worked to add new materials including tax tips 
20

and some news releases in Chinese, Korean, Russian, and Vietnamese though the multilingual gateway on IRS.gov.

o The IRS Tax Exempt and Government Entities Division (TE/GE) created resource pages to 

support related provisions in recent legislation and continually posts new articles, published 

guidance, forms, publications, and plain language explanations.

o TE/GE focused on the need to work proactively to post information online without waiting 

for individual requests to be received. IRS actively promoted links to hot topics on IRS.gov 

via social media using the IRS’s Facebook and Twitter accounts. IRS also linked to a 

YouTube video to increase disclosures of information on the reinstatement process to its 

respective page on IRS.gov. All information on IRS Web pages is prepared and posted for 

the public as soon as it is available.

o During 2011, TE/GE’s three major business units, Exempt Organizations (EO), Employee 

Plans (EP), and Government Entities (GE) posted new information and updates to policy and 

compliance-related items, articles and other documents related to recent legislation, and 

work plans. Of note, EP posted a Form 8955-SSA Resources page that included FAQs, 

guidance, a software vendor list, forms and instructions concurrent with the rollout of the

new form. GE continuously posted new or updated guidance or links to other parts of 

IRS.gov on current or proposed legislation such as the Affordable Care Act (ACA) or health 

care benefits for Indian Tribal Governments (ITG).

o The Taxpayer Advocate Service (TAS) posts all instruction to staff and Interim Guidance 

Memos on IRS.gov. In addition, TAS posts Service Level Agreements (SLAs) and 

Memorandums Of Understanding (MOUs) for the public. They can all be found at: 

http://www.irs.gov/advocate/article/0,,id=171162,00.html

o TAS has posted items including a memorandum from the National Taxpayer Advocate 

outlining temporary changes in TAS case acceptance criteria, as well as another National 

Taxpayer Advocate memo describing significant changes in TAS Systemic Advocacy. TAS also 

posted an outreach document on the IRS.gov/taxtoolkit. 

o The IRS Office of Procurement continually reviews IRS.gov to ensure that the information is 

current, accurate and complete. Information is updated as needed and new information is 

added when the Office of Management and Budget’s Office of Procurement Policy issues 

changes, directives, and statutes. Recent changes to the website include: the Small 

Business Program now posts all small business outreach events to the FedBizOpps website. 

When notices are posted, the Small Business Program internet site at IRS.gov is also updated 

to include the notification about the posting. Vendor presentations that are presented at 

Small Business Showcases are made available on the internet site as well.
21

o Additionally, the Small Business Program Office maintains and updates several At-A-Glance 

Listings of 8(a), HUBZone and Service Disabled small businesses that have either done business 

with the IRS or actively marketed themselves to the IRS, as a source for future 

award/subcontracting opportunities.

o The TIGTA Office of Communications posts information when it involves historical significance, 

public interest, public involvement, or current TIGTA activity.
22

Section IV: Steps Take to Greater Utilize Technology

A key component of the President's FOIA Memorandum was the direction to "use modern technology to 

inform citizens about what is known and done by their Government." In addition to using the internet 

to make proactive disclosures, agencies should also be exploring ways to utilize technology in 

responding to requests. In 2010 and 2011, agencies reported widespread use of technology in handling 

FOIA requests. For 2012, the questions have been further refined and now also address different, more 

innovative aspects of technology use. 

Electronic receipt of FOIA requests:

 1. Can FOIA requests be made electronically to your agency?

The Office of the Comptroller of the Currency was the first to pioneer online FOIA submissions 

at Treasury. From the web page, requesters have the ability to submit FOIA requests and check 

the status of a request and receive online help through FAQ’s designed to make the requester 

system self-reliant. DO has created a FOIA Citizen Web portal similar to that of OCC except that 

it is a cloud hosted solution. The advantage of the hosted solution, from an ECM standpoint, is 

to leverage the host through licensing so that components may opt into the host solution. The 

Department is still looking at the most effective solutions for enabling the remaining bureaus to 

also receive on-line submissions, if possible, including TTB, BPD, BEP, MINT, TIGTA, IRS, and 

FinCEN where requests can currently only be received by mail, fax, or as a scanned document 

with signature via email. At the close of FY11, the vendor testing the selection capability of the 

requester to indicate which bureau should receive the request; the default indicator would be to 

direct the request to DO. In early FY12, this capability was placed on-line.

2. If your agency processes requests on a decentralized basis, do all components of your agency 

receive requests electronically? 

The features of the the Citizen Web portal woud allow those bureaus participating on the cloud 

database to have the submission request populated to the database within their designate

inventory. DO has a cloud solution from a FOIA specific cloud-Citizen Web portal. The 

advantages of a cloud hosted solution allows license access to meet DO’s decentralized needs,

Web access, less server space on Treasury sites, and robust reporting features. 

Bureau-specific tracking solutions include:

i. DO- cloud solution 

ii. TTB- cloud solution 

iii. BPD- non-FOIA Specific

iv. FMS- non-FOIA specific/began cloud solution in May 2011

v. MINT- cloud solution
23

vi. IRS- AFOIA (Automated Freedom of Information Act): currently in implementation

vii. OCC-FOIA specific tracking software

viii. BEP- non-FOIA specific

ix. OTS- non-FOIA specific

x. TIGTA: FOIA specific tracking software

xi. FinCEN- Data Map for Electronically Stored Information (ESI) to assist in maintaining and 

locating electronic records and contacting employees responsible for databases.

Online tracking of FOIA requests:

3. Can a FOIA requester track the status of his/her request electronically?

DO has created a cloud solution on the Citizen Web portal which provides an opportunity for the 

requester to register, create a PIN, and electronically enter in the database the status of his or 

her case using a PIN and case number access restrictions.

4. If not, is your agency taking steps to establish this capability?

This feature is being made available to components wishing to join in the cloud tracking system. 

(See paragraph 2 of this section)

Use of technology to facilitate processing of requests:

5. Beyond using technology to redact documents, is your agency taking steps to utilize more advanced 

technology to facilitate overall FOIA efficiency, such as improving record search capabilities, utilizing 

document sharing platforms for consultations and referrals, or employing software that can sort and deduplicate documents?

The Treasury components each have a method of electronic tracking of the requests. Electronic 

solutions vary--from non-FOIA designed tracking software solutions--to tailored FOIA specific 

solutions-- to commercial off -the-shelf solutions--to a cloud FOIA specific Web–hosted solution.

The Department of the Treasury replaced its previous proprietary, internally-hosted system for 

assigning, tracking, and reporting Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) requests for the 

Departmental Offices (DO) with a cloud-based tracking solution. The vendor created a private 

cloud to host Treasury’s data. This solution offers many advantages, compared to the previous 

system. The previous system was accessible only by the headquarters (DO) disclosure services 

staff,which resulted in time lags for program offices to receive status reports of their caseloads,

return paper copies of updated tracking sheets for data entry, and required a number of 

employees that had to do all of the data entry. This approach provides the following advantages 

for the Department:
24

Accessibility. This solution can be accessed by any computer through Internet web browser 

including through remote access. Users need a license to log in but no software installation or 

special hardware is required. All users have access to real time data and are able to directly 

input the case information, status changes, backup documentation and statistics for individual 

cases, run reports, and data queries at any time.

Scalability. This solution can service a variety of office sizes. It is functional within a program 

office, an individual component/bureau, or an entire agency. Time to live deployment is very 

fast. The original deployment for headquarters (DO) was only 60 days from date of contract 

award to live system. Adding individual users is very fast as it only requires procuring additional 

user licenses.

Automation. This solution can automatically run customized reports (weekly, monthly, annually. 

These reports can be run by any user at any time. It also decreases the paper circulation 

method of the former siloed system.

Flexibility. This solution has the ability to query any data field that is collected through a robust 

advanced find function. This allows users to create and save their own customized reports. 

These reports can be run by any user at any time. 

Usability. This solution is built on a platform and is compatible with a suite of other office 

products commonly available to make integration seamless.

The IRS Disclosure Office has begun a partnership with the IRS E-Discovery Program 

Management Office to use technological means to identify, preserve and produce Electronically 

Stored Information (ESI) responsive to FOIA requests. Disclosure has used E-Discovery Program 

Management Office software solutions in working several FOIA requests, thereby improving 

search accuracy and comprehensiveness. In addition to search efficiency improvements, IRS is 

also investigating software approaches for sorting documents, identifying and removing 

duplications, and locating keywords within documents that might warrant redaction, to speed 

and improve the accuracy of the redaction process.

6. If so, describe the technological improvements being made.

Treasury’s first phase of the cloud solution improvement involves tracking the requests and 

facilitating communication through the shared cloud database so that the administrative record 

of each case can be shared among various offices responding to the same request. This 

decreases mail room time and decreases email traffic through the use of shared data spaces.
25

On line submission tools empower requesters to send requests online which decrease data 

entry, mail services, and duplication of effort of the same data. The Ability of requesters to fill in 

require fields educates the requester on what elements are necessary to fill a valid (perfected) 

request and gives them control on where it is to be sent. The agency meanwhile is monitoring 

the imperfection rate of online submission vis-à-vis U.S. Mail and fax.

The IRS Disclosure Office plans to continue its partnership with the E-Discovery Program 

Management Office (PMO). Once a request for Electronically Stored Information is received, IRS 

Modernization & Information Technology (MITS) employees at the direction of the E-Discovery 

PMO throw out a “big net” to capture any data that might be relevant. This data might be the 

entire electronic mailbox, a user work station, network shares on the home directory, a shared 

server, or external hard drives. MITS retrieves a copy of that data, stores the data in a secure 

folder, and prompts MITS Cybersecurity to initiate a search function for relevant data.

o The MITS Cybersecurityteam filters the data using the search criteria provided by the request 

and Disclosure Office personnel. After the large data set is pared down to a smaller subset, 

those search results are turned over to Disclosure personnel for further filtering and review to 

determine what is relevant and responsive.

o IRS is in the beginning stages of investigating software solutions for sorting documents, 

identifying and removing duplications, and improving redaction accuracy and efficiency and has 

scheduled meetings to review some of the options.
26

Section V: Steps Taken to Improve Timeliness in

Responding to Requests and Reduce Backlogs

The President and the Attorney General have emphasized the importance of improving timeliness in 

responding to requests. This section addresses both time limits and backlog reduction. Backlog 

reduction is measured both in terms of numbers of backlogged requests orappeals and by looking at 

whether agencies closed their ten oldest requests and appeals. For the figures required in this Section, 

please use those contained in the specified sections of your agency’s 2011 Annual FOIA Report.

1. Section VII.A of your agency’s Annual FOIA Report, entitled “FOIA Requests – Response Time for 

All Processed Requests,” includes figures that show your agency's average response times for 

processed requests. For agencies utilizing a multi-track system to process requests, there is a 

category for “simple” requests, which are those requests that are placed in the agency’s fastest 

(non-expedited) track, based on the low volume and/or simplicity of the records requested. If 

your agency does not utilize a separate track for processing simple requests, answer the 

question below using the figure provided in your report for your non-expedited requests. 

a. Does your agency utilize a separate track for simple requests? 

Treasury uses a multi-track format which includes a separarate simple track. IRS does not.

b. If so, for your agency overall, for Fiscal Year 2011, was the average number of days to process 

simple requests twenty working days or fewer? 

The average number of days to process simple requests agency averall was less than 20 days.

c. If your agency does not track simple requests separately, was the average number of days to 

process non-expedited requests twenty working days or fewer? 

IRS average number of days was nineteen.

2. Sections XII.D.(2) and XII.E.(2) of your agency’s Annual FOIA Report, entitled “Comparison of 

Numbers of Requests/Appeals from Previous and Current Annual Report – Backlogged 

Requests/Appeals,” show the numbers of any backlog of pending requests or pending appeals

from Fiscal Year 2011 as compared to Fiscal Year 2010. You should refer to those numbers 

when completing this section of your Chief FOIA Officer Report. In addition, Section VII.E, 

entitled “Pending Requests – Ten Oldest Pending Requests,” and Section VI.C.(5), entitled “Ten 

Oldest Pending Administrative Appeals,” from both Fiscal Year 2010 and Fiscal Year 2011 should 

be used for this section.
27

a. If your agency had a backlog of requests at the close of Fiscal Year 2011, did that backlog 

decrease as compared with Fiscal Year 2010? 

Treasury FOIA backlog did decrease compared to prior year-end backlog.

However, IRS did experience an increase from the previous year from 118 to 146.

b. If your agency had a backlog of administrative appeals in Fiscal Year 2011, did that backlog 

decrease as compared to Fiscal Year 2010?

Treasury’s adjusted figures show a slight decrease in FOIA appeals from prior year end. 

IRS decreased from 35 to 4.

c. In Fiscal Year 2011, did your agency close the ten oldest requests that were pending as of the 

end of Fiscal Year 2010?

Yes, all ten requests were closed that were the oldest at the end of FY2010.

d. In Fiscal Year 2011, did your agency close the ten oldest administrative appeals that were 

pending as of the end of Fiscal Year 2010? 

Yes, all ten requests were responded to in the FOIA appeals of FY2010 end.

0

500

1,000

1,500

2,000

2,500

2,022

1,292

718

585 419 333

FOIA Backlog Department-wide

2006

2007

2008

2009

2010

2011

 a historical view
28

3. If you answered “no” to any of the above questions, describe why that has occurred. In doing 

so, answer the following questions then include any additional explanation: 

 Request Backlog: N/A

a. Was the lack of a reduction in the request backlog a result of an increase in the number of 

incoming requests?

N/A

b. Was the lack of a reduction in the request backlog caused by a loss of staff?

IRS did have an understaffing issue which was backfilled by as many as 12 positions.

c. Was the lack of a reduction in the request backlog caused by an increase in the complexity of 

the requests received?

o Yes, the IRS has seen an increase in the complexity of requests received. For 

example, we are processing multiple requests requiring a review of over eight 

million pages of responsive documents that involve international tax issues. IRS has

another case with four related requests with the potential of millions of responsive 

pages. In addition, we have seen an increase in requests for documents pertaining 

to tax treaty information and requests involving pending tax litigation.

d. What other causes, if any, contributed to the lack of a decrease in the request backlog?

o The IRS used extraordinary efforts in FY2010 and FY2011 to reduce its FOIA request 

backlog. We expended over 1,400 hours of overtime in FY2010, and over 2,500 

overtime hours in FY2011. In FY2011, the continuing implementation of the new 

AFOIA system, and the concomitant system challenges such as system response 

time and maintenance issues, made the decrease in FOIA backlog less dramatic than 

in FY2010. In addition, in FY2011, the hiring of new staff resulted in an increased 

need for training with the recognition that specific technical skills must be mastered 

before a new employee can accurately process FOIA requests.

 Administrative Appeal Backlog: N/A

a. Was the lack of a reduction in the backlog of administrative appeals a result of an increase in the 

number of incoming appeals? 
29

N/A

b. Was the lack of a reduction in the appeal backlog caused by a loss of staff?

N/A

c. Was the lack of a reduction in the appeal backlog caused by in increase in the complexity of the 

appeals received?

N/A

d. What other causes, if any, contributed to the lack of a decrease in the appeal backlog?

N/A

All agencies should strive to both reduce any existing backlogs or requests and appeals and to improve 

their timeliness in responding to requests and appeals. Describe the steps your agency is taking to make 

improvements in those areas. In doing so, answer the following questions and then also include any 

other steps being taken to reduce backlogs and to improve timeliness. 

1. Does your agency routinely set goals and monitor the progress of your FOIA caseload?

Yes, the Chief FOIA Officer sets goals every fiscal year. Monthly and weekly reporting 

mechanisms are used to monitor progress. Progress meetings are held with the Chief FOIA 

Officer if sufficient progress towards desired reductions is not being reached.

2. Has your agency increased its FOIA staffing?

Treasury has had more staff receive FOIA as “duties as assigned.”

IRS has backfilled at least half of its vacant positions.

3. Has your agency made IT improvements to increase timeliness?

Treasury has expended significant efforts at improving the tools to do business and leveraging 

the tools across components. (see Section II above)

IRS developed a broadband tracking solution called AFOIA.

4. If your agency receives consultations from other agencies, has your agency taken steps to 

improve the efficiency of the handling of such consultations, such as utilizing IT to share the 

documents, or establishing guidelines or agreements with other agencies on the handling of 

particular information to speed up or eliminate the need for consultations?
30

The most common challenges with consultations are not receiving a copy of the associated 

request along with the referred documents or the consultation is with an entity no longer a 

component of Treasury.

IRS maintains an up-to-date contact list of key staff in other agencies which are frequent 

consultation partners on FOIA requests. Internal Revenue Code Section 6103 prevents some 

uses of IT for sharing documents electronically, due to cybersecurity rules and special handling 

for protection of tax information.

Use of FOIA’s Law Enforcement “Exclusions”

In order to increase transparency regarding the use of the FOIA’s statutory law enforcement exclusions, 

which authorize agencies under certain exceptional circumstances to “treat the records as not subject to 

the requirements of [the FOIA],” 5 U.S.C. § 552(c)(1), (2), (3), please answer the following questions:

1. Did your agency invoke a statutory exclusion during Fiscal Year 2011?

It does not appear that the Treasury invoked the exclusion in FY 11.

2. If so, what is the total number of times exclusions were invoked?

N/A 

Spotlight on Success

Out of all the activities undertaken by your agency since March 2011 to increase transparency and 

improve FOIA administration, describe here one success story that you would like to highlight as 

emblematic of your agency’s efforts.

DO: Of those requests received via online submission 22% were imperfect compared to 69% 

imperfections received by U.S. Mail during Fall 2011. Leveraging this Citizen Web portal 

through a federal cloud has now made this solution possible for other agencies too.
31

IRS completed implementation of the new AFOIA inventory management systerm in 2011. This 

includes centralized electronic case log-in and assignment, electronic maintenance of records, 

and electronic archiving of case records and histories. IRS continues to build on its extensive 

electronic library of FOIA pattern response letters and specific paragraphs used for unique FOIA 

requests; we easily edit letters and update text when required by legal or procedural changes. 

IRS actively manages an inventory balancing program nationwide to evaluate caseload and 

balance work among Disclosure offices. 

Our social media efforts have also been helpful in increasing transparency. IRS features 

information on YouTube and Twitter on primary programs. On YouTube, the Tax Tips videos 

are posted in English, Spanish and American Sign Language. Various audio podcasts are posted 

on both IRS.gov and on iTunes. A listing of media contacts is also posted. We also provide 

information such as news and events for the tax professional community and information on 

new initiatives. We maintain an updated Commissioner's section, mission, 

history, organizational structure of IRS and the strategic plan.

Updated: March 2012

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