The Internal Revenue Service will use these guidelines for disseminating quality information (in the context of Section 515) from its respective organizations.  The guidelines describe the categories of information disseminated by the IRS and its organizational components, as well as the steps taken to comply with Section 515.          

The guidelines apply to information disseminated to the public in any medium including textual, graphic, narrative, numerical, or audiovisual forms. The guidelines apply to information that organizations post on the Internet.  The guidelines also apply to IRS sponsored distribution of information – where the IRS directs a third party to distribute information or the IRS has the authority to review and approve the information before release.

The guidelines do not override other compelling interests such as privacy, trade secrets, intellectual property, and other confidentiality protections. The guidelines do not apply to Hyperlinks to information that others disseminate. The guidelines do not apply to opinions where the IRS’s presentation makes it clear that the material is an opinion or the IRS’s views rather than fact. In addition, the guidelines do not apply to information disseminated in the following contexts:

• Agency employees or agency contractors or grantees, when information is disseminated to only these recipients.
• Disseminations intended to be limited to intra- or inter-agency use or sharing of government information.
• Correspondence with individual persons, press releases containing factual information previously disseminated to the public, archival records, public filings, subpoenas or adjudicative processes.
• Testimony of officials, information or drafting assistance provided to Congress relating to pending or proposed legislation that has not been previously disseminated to the public in another manner.
• Response to requests for agency records under the Freedom of Information Act, the Privacy Act, the Federal Advisory Committee Act, or other similar laws.