This Is How Often the IRS Improperly Held Information From Taxpayers
The Internal Revenue Service improperly withheld information requested by taxpayers 12.3 percent of the time, according to a new government audit.
The Treasury Inspector General for Tax Administration (TITGA) reviewed the IRS’ compliance with the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) and discovered that disclosure specialists at the agency failed to properly respond to all requests, actions that the watchdog said may have violated taxpayer rights.
TITGA looked at a statistically valid sample of 65 FOIA requests for their review and found eight cases—or 12.3 percent—in which the IRS improperly withheld requested information. Under the Freedom of Information Act, federal government agencies must make records requested by the public available unless a specific exemption is given while providing an initial response to the request within 20 business days.
The eight instances discovered by the watchdog were found to improperly withhold “information of examination and collection activity and other tax return information that the taxpayer or authorized Power of Attorney should have received.” When this number is projected to the entire population of 2,809 FOIA requests that the agency closed between Oct. 1, 2013, through Sept. 30, 2014, it equates to 346 FOIA requests that may have been erroneously withheld from the requester.
Additionally, the audit found that the agency withheld four (7.3 percent) of the 55 Internal Revenue Code (IRC) information requests that were reviewed. (Read more from “This Is How Often the IRS Improperly Held Information From Taxpayers” HERE)
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