IRS Sued For Not Releasing Tax-Exempt Training Manuals

(CNSNews.com) - A non-partisan 501(c)3 organization whose mission is to educate the public on the issue of taxation has filed a federal lawsuit against the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) seeking “training materials used for staff in the IRS’ exempt organizations office in Cincinnati.” (See Tax Analysts v. IRS.pdf)

The lawsuit was filed August 13 by Tax Analysts in U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia after the IRS missed several deadlines to comply with the group’s May 21 Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) request.

The FOIA request asked for expedited access to “all training materials, including but not limited to, memoranda, staff manuals, Powerpoint presentations, videos and other materials that have been used since 1 January 2009 for the purpose of training personnel in the IRS exempt organizations determinations office in Cincinnati.”

However, two months after the initial FOIA request was filed, “no records have been produced,” even though “Tax Analysts has a statutory right of access to the records it seeks, and there is no legal basis for IRS to withhold those documents,” the lawsuit said.

Earlier this month, the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee subpoenaed Treasury Secretary Jack Lew to turn over any communications between the IRS and the White House “referring or relating to tax-exempt organizations or tax-exempt status.”

Via: CNS News

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