FALLS CHURCH, Va. /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ — Tax Analysts, the nonprofit provider of federal, state, and international tax news and analysis, announced yesterday that in response to its Freedom of Information Act lawsuit against the IRS, the Service has released nearly 3,000 pages of training materials used for guidance by the exempt organizations determinations office.
The documents received — most of which date from mid-2012 — represent some, but not all, of what Tax Analysts hopes to receive under its FOIA request. The materials specify cases in which applications may require closer scrutiny, including political advocacy cases.
“It is unfortunate that Tax Analysts needed to go to court to get this process started,” said Christopher Bergin, president and publisher of Tax Analysts. “An important mission of Tax Analysts is to promote transparency in tax administration. We will vigorously continue to pursue that mission.”
Tax Analysts requested the documents in May following the controversy surrounding the determinations office’s handling of exemption applications from conservative organizations. The company brought suit against the Service in August, seeking expedited processing of the request. The IRS released roughly 1,000 pages in September, followed by another 1,800 pages in November.
“Our motion for a preliminary injunction is on hold pending the IRS’s continued processing of documents,” said Cornish F. Hitchcock, Tax Analysts’ attorney in the matter. “Although the IRS has indicated that they have produced the bulk of the training documents we’re seeking, we’ve pointed out some items that seem to be missing. The Service has until November 27 to produce all remaining documents or explain to the court why it can’t do so.”
As part of its public education mission, Tax Analysts seeks transparency in tax laws and more dialogue between tax authorities and taxpayers. Through these and other efforts, Tax Analysts seeks to ensure that tax laws are applied fairly and equally to taxpayers across the country.
Read more about the lawsuit and the released documents here.
About Tax Analysts
Tax Analysts is an influential provider of tax news and analysis for the global community. More than 150,000 tax professionals in law and accounting firms, corporations, and government agencies, as well as academics, rely on Tax Analysts’ federal, state, and international content daily. Key products include Tax Notes, Tax Notes Today, State Tax Notes, State Tax Today, Tax Notes International, and Worldwide Tax Daily. Founded in 1970 as a nonprofit organization, Tax Analysts has the industry’s largest tax-dedicated correspondent staff, with more than 250 domestic and international correspondents.
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