FOIA and the IRS

Possibly the single most important piece of legislation ever passed in the history of the United States was the Freedom of Information Act. The FOIA mandates that our elected representatives be held accountable for their actions, and that accountability includes the IRS. Under current rules, you are allowed to see any and all information or documentation held by the IRS that pertains to you and your family. You simply have to request it from the IRS office that is most likely to have it. There is a small fee involved, as there is with almost any FOIA request, but the law mandates that it be low, even if you are requesting a huge amount of information.

Why Use the FOIA

FOIA and the IRS are an unlikely combination. When most of us think about making a FOIA request, we think about requesting information as it pertains to a bill recently passed by Congress or it could be to see our FBI file. Many people don’t even know that the FOIA applies to the IRS. However, if you are being audited or if you are just curious as to how the IRS uses your file or who looks at it, you can request a copy of all information as it pertains to your file.

Nine Exemptions

As there is with any FOIA request, there are a series of exceptions that could doom your request. Such exceptions include the request of any documentation ruled to be classified by the government on the grounds of national security. Another common exception has to do with you requesting information for someone other than yourself or your immediate family. We may all want to see the president’s IRS file, but we can’t. Other commonsense exceptions are in place, but they likely won’t get in the way of you seeing your own file.

Three Exclusions

In addition to the nine exceptions, there are also three exclusions in place that could interfere with you seeing your own file. For example, your FOIA request can be turned down if the IRS is pursuing a criminal investigation into your file. There is another exclusion in place to help protect the identity of a criminal informant who may have been used to pursue a criminal investigation in your file. As you can see, these exclusions only really pertain to extreme cases and don’t have any bearing on regular citizens who simply want to see their file.

Everything Else

Since FOIA and the IRS have been functioning together, it has allowed millions of people to better understand how the tax structure in this country works. An open and honest IRS works for the people and not against them. The FOIA is one of the strongest pieces of legislation in history and it allows for people everywhere to request information, even if there is a great deal of it, for only a few dollars. You can learn more about FOIA and the IRS on the IRS website or on the website for the FOIA.

Darrin T. Mish is a Nationally recognized Attorney whose practice focuses on representing clients across the United States with IRS Problems. He is AV rated by Martindale-Hubbel and is a member of the American Society of IRS Problem Solvers and the Tax Freedom Institute. He has been honored by a listing in Martindale-Hubbel's Bar Register of Preeminent Lawyers. His passion is providing IRS help to taxpayers with both individual and payroll tax problems. He teaches attorneys, CPAs and Enrolled Agents in the finer aspects of IRS representation all around the United States. Visit his website at http://ftlauderdaletaxattorney.info.