The Freedom of Information Reform Act includes three special exclusions for protecting certain law enforcement records under subsection (c) of the FOIA.

These exclusions expressly authorize Federal law enforcement agencies to treat certain law enforcement records as not subject to the requirements of the FOIA. These provisions apply only to especially sensitive records in specific limited circumstances.

Disclosure personnel must thoroughly familiarize themselves with the exclusion guidelines found in the DOJ Freedom of Information Act Guide and Privacy Act Overview. The publication is available electronically by accessing the DOJ web page at www.usdoj.gov/04foia/04_2.html and clicking on "Reference Materials" link on the left side of the page.

Disclosure personnel must coordinate the assertion of these exclusions through channels with the FOIA Senior Tax Law Specialist who will coordinate as necessary with Branch 6 or 7 of the Office of the Associate Chief Counsel, Procedure and Administration.

During the review and editing process, Disclosure personnel are responsible for balancing their two roles as enforcer of access statutes and guardian of protected data. Sometimes those roles may appear to work against each other. Case files shall reflect adherence to both roles, and explain the reasoning behind the final determination to withhold or release information.

Some exemptions are discretionary and some are clearly non-discretionary by statute as discussed in IRM 11.3.13.7.1(4) and (5). While citing the non-discretionary exemption is sufficient, clear case file documentation of the reasoning behind the application of the discretionary exemptions is crucial because the requester may appeal the final determination. The use of an index to document these determinations is encouraged.

Any reasonably segregable portion of a record must be released after deletion of the portions that are exempt. The deletion must be obvious to the requester and, if feasible, the applicable exemption cited at the point of deletion. The FOIA also requires an explanation in the response letter for any items withheld. See IRM 11.3.13.8.

When editing portions of a record being released, reasonable effort must be made to clearly indicate to the requester that editing has been done and the extent of the editing. Whiting out is not acceptable. Editing and its magnitude must also be apparent in electronic records.

The volume of information deleted on the released record must be indicated at the place in the record where the deletion was made. Use any suitable means that will clearly indicate that editing has been done and the extent of the editing.

Requesters must be able to identify the exemptions that apply to the information being withheld.

Investigatory files generally include returns and return information compiled for law enforcement purposes.

Returns and return information are only available, under the FOIA, to those taxpayers and requesters who meet the criteria contained in IRC §6103(e) and IRC §6103(c). The following instructions apply to those requesters who meet the criteria under IRC §6103(e) and IRC §6103(c).

A requester may not obtain access to the return information of another individual by relying on the provisions of IRC §6103(h)(4). Third party information must be withheld under §6103(a) regardless of any item or transaction test. If a taxpayer requests his or her own open case file and third party return information is contained therein, the third party return information must be withheld using FOIA exemption (b)(3) in conjunction with IRC §6103(a).

Records or information in open investigatory files, or portions thereof, may be exempt under (b)(7)(A) through (b)(7)(F). The other exemptions provided by the FOIA may be applicable to some portions of the records, depending upon the specific records involved. In some cases, exclusions under section (c) may be used. See IRM 11.3.13.7.3.

When a determination has been made to assert exemption (b)(7)(A), generally the (b)(3) exemption will also apply as a basis to withhold the records. The statutory basis for the (b)(3) exemption is IRC §6103(e)(7). IRC §6103(e)(7) requires the IRS to withhold return information relating to the taxpayer-requester unless the Secretary of the Treasury or his/her delegate has determined that disclosure would not seriously impair Federal tax administration.

FOIA exemptions shall generally not be asserted by Disclosure personnel to deny records that would otherwise be available to the taxpayer during the course of an administrative proceeding (e.g. audit). However, see (3) above.

When processing a FOIA request for records relating to an open civil or criminal investigation, a blanket denial under the (b)(3) and/or (b)(7)(A) exemptions shall not be made.

A line by line review is usually necessary to determine whether a particular record is exempt in full or in part from disclosure under the (b)(3) and/or the (b)(7) exemptions.

Records of a taxpayer's own statements can seldom be withheld; such withholding should not be attempted unless justified by the circumstances in a specific case. The agency has the burden of convincing courts of the interference caused by the full or partial release of memoranda of interviews with taxpayers. The release of memoranda of interviews with taxpayers and the underlying IRS employee's notes shall be evaluated on a case by case basis as follows:

The following classes of records are generally available to the taxpayer requester or authorized representative(s):

For other records, Disclosure personnel in consultation with affected law enforcement personnel and/or Counsel, must determine whether disclosure meets the criteria of (b)(7).

The IRS employee assigned to the case may be aware that a specific investigation involves circumstances which may require a greater or lesser level of disclosure. Such special circumstances shall be discussed prior to the Disclosure Manager's determination.

Facts that could affect the level of disclosure in a particular case include:

The Bank Secrecy Act (BSA) provisions found in Title 31 of the United States Code require that certain currency transactions and other financial information be reported to the Secretary of the Treasury. The Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (FinCEN) has jurisdiction over these reports. They are:

A FOIA request which seeks access to these Title 31 reports and/or information extracted from them is to be denied under FOIA exemption (b)(3) in conjunction with 31 USC 5319, unless the information has been used in a tax administration case (see IRM 11.3.13.7.6(5)).

Forms 8300 filed after December 31, 2001, meet a dual filing requirement under both IRC §6050I and 31 USC 5331. All information pertaining to Form 8300 on the IRS Master File (including Information Return Master File (IRMF) data) is subject to §6103 disclosure standards and therefore may be considered for release under FOIA.

Form 8300 reports filed after December 31, 2001 and accessed through the Currency and Banking Retrieval System (CBRS) are Title 31 information subject to Bank Secrecy Act disclosure standards and are not subject to release under FOIA.

If a FOIA request is made for tax investigatory files, which may include CTRs, CMIRs, FBARs, or SARs, or information extracted from these reports, the determination to withhold or release the reports or information depends upon the status of the underlying investigation and the effect, if any, of disclosure to the taxpayer under investigation. The following information must be used to determine whether BSA data may be released pursuant to the FOIA:

Title 31 investigatory files, other than the CTRs, CMIRs, FBARs, or SARs themselves, or information extracted from these reports, are not exempt from access under 31 USC 5319 and FOIA exemption (b)(3). Requests for investigatory files related to "pure" Title 31 investigations must be evaluated under applicable FOIA exemptions (e.g. (b)(7)(A)). Money laundering cases (i.e., most 18 USC 1956 and 1957 cases) follow these same rules.

Microfilm transcripts and similar records sometimes included in Collection, Examination, and Criminal Investigation enforcement action files contain information about several other taxpayers in addition to the taxpayer to whom the file pertains. This results from the physical limitations of microfilm copying equipment or other reasons not related to the administration of the case. These records require special consideration as follows:

In order to administer the tax laws of the United States, the IRS may on occasion receive information concerning taxpayers from foreign governments.

Tax treaties provide that under some circumstances the IRS may provide similar assistance to foreign governments.

IRC §6105 limits the disclosure of information received by IRS from a foreign country and prohibits the disclosure of tax convention information, except as provided by terms of the treaty or Tax Information Exchange Agreement, or as provided by the terms of IRC §6105 itself. For additional information on tax convention information, see IRM 11.3.25, Disclosure to Foreign Countries Pursuant to Tax Treaty.

At times, information may be exchanged or consultations may take place for purposes of coordination, such as may be necessary to determine the extent to which a taxpayer's affairs are subject to the jurisdiction of the United States or one or more foreign governments.

Records of contacts with foreign governments, records which imply the existence or anticipation of contacts with foreign governments concerning specific taxpayers, or records received from foreign governments may become subject to disclosure determinations because of requests to access such records in particular or because of general requests which coincidentally extend to such records.

The complexity and sensitivity of disclosure determinations relating to records of contacts with foreign governments generally require extensive coordination between the Director, Governmental Liaison and Disclosure, the Director, International (LMSB), and the Associate Chief Counsel (International), and sometimes with Branch 6 or 7 of the Office of the Associate Chief Counsel, Procedure and Administration.

In view of the above, for disclosure purposes, records of contacts with foreign governments or records which imply the existence or anticipation of contacts with foreign governments, or records received from foreign governments, are not considered to be records under the control of field officials, regardless of their physical location.

These instructions are not intended to preclude or delay the prompt denial of access to records that field officials have properly determined to be exempt from disclosure requirements for reasons other than the fact that the record involves contacts with, or information received from, foreign governments. Field officials may continue to deny access pursuant to applicable Privacy Act or FOIA exemptions. A copy of the denial must be sent to the Director, International (LMSB), through the Baltimore Disclosure Office, with a memorandum stating the possibility that the information at issue may be tax convention information and briefly explaining the field official’s reasons for this opinion.

Whenever a field official has a request for access from a member of the public that extends to records of contacts with a foreign government, or records received from a foreign government, that are not being denied for other considerations, the following actions will be taken:

Copies of records made in connection with FOIA matters must be as legible as possible.

The burden of proof in defending withholding rests with the Government. Therefore, copies of documents which may ultimately be submitted to a court for in camera inspection must be legible.

When copies are illegible because the originals are poor, the copy should be stamped with the notation "best copy available."

Indexing is a technique for creating a detailed list of the records that were reviewed in response to a FOIA request.

The index is useful in making the final FOIA determination whenever a case involves an extensive number of records, some of which may be granted and others denied in whole or in part. It is especially helpful if the records to be denied are subject to several exemptions.

Disclosure personnel must consider the preparation of an index whenever the case is sufficiently complex to warrant one.

In some cases, Disclosure personnel may determine that a partial index or a handwritten draft is adequate for an initial determination.

To prepare an index, the records reviewed must be numbered and the index should generally:

Blocks of substantially identical records may be described generally rather than in individual detail.

The index is not required to be provided to the requester and would generally not be attached to the response.

The index should generally be prepared by the Functional Coordinator of the function whose records are involved, pursuant to the advice and assistance of the Disclosure Manager.

History notes must document and explain any actions taken or considered which cannot be inferred from other records in the file.

Notice 393 shall be enclosed for no record, denial, or partial denial closures. The body of the letter must state that Notice 393 is enclosed.

Inventory management system entries shall be made to reflect:

Every effort shall be made to meet the statutory 20 business day time limit for response. Disclosure employees are responsible for managing FOIA inventories to ensure all extension letters are sent as required, including during absences from the office and any unforeseen delays while response letters are being reviewed. Early identification and closure of imperfect requests is recommended.

The FOIA (at 552(a)(6)(B)(i)) provides for an additional 10 business days to respond if the requester is notified in writing that Disclosure personnel need more time to:

If it is impossible to locate and review the records within 20 business days, the caseworker determines that the response can be made within an additional 10 business days, and the reason additional time is needed meets the criteria in (2) above, Letter 1522 10-day extension letter shall be mailed to the requester.

Letter 1522-B, the "Voluntary Extension Letter," shall be sent if a response will not be issued until more than 30 business days after receipt of the request. This extension shall not exceed 90 calendar days. The expected response date provided to the requester shall be entered in the "Revised Due Date" field in E-DIMS. If the Letter 1522-B is the initial notification to the requester that an extension is needed, the date the Letter 1522-B is mailed shall be entered into E-DIMS "L 1522-B Date" field.

Letter 1522-A can be used if additional time is needed beyond the due date of the first voluntary extension letter (Letter 1522-B). ( See Exhibit 11.3.13-7 for a sample of extension Letter 1522-A.) The "Revised Due Date" field in E-DIMS shall be updated with the new response date that was provided to the requester.

In the request for voluntary extension of time to respond (Letter 1522-B), the requester must be provided an opportunity to:

The Letter 1522-B requesting the initial voluntary extension of time is required even if there has been personal or telephone contact in which the requester has agreed to the additional time to respond. It is important to notify the requester in writing that he/she has a right to file for judicial review to obtain a response. Additionally, the requester shall be notified that the court may find (if there is a refusal either to limit the scope or to accept a reasonable alternate time frame for response) that the agency's failure to comply with the statutory response date is justified.

Where exceptional circumstances require more than 30 calendar days to respond, Disclosure personnel must review open cases at least once every 30 days and take any action deemed appropriate to bring the case to a closure. These reviews and any follow-up activity, such as contact with the function regarding the status, shall be recorded in the history notes.

There is no right to an administrative appeal for failure to meet the statutory 20 business day time limit for response.

The Freedom of Information Act provides for expedited processing if the requester asks for such processing in writing and demonstrates a compelling need for the information.

A compelling need may exist when:

A request for expedited processing must include a detailed explanation of the circumstances creating the compelling need. The explanation must be sufficient to enable Disclosure personnel to determine whether the asserted need meets the statutory or regulatory requirements. The statement of compelling need must be certified to be true and correct to the best of the requester’s knowledge and belief. A request for expedited processing may be submitted at the time of the initial request for records or at any later time.

If the requester includes a statement explaining the compelling need, notice of the determination to grant or deny expedited processing must be provided within 10 calendar days after receipt of the request. If the request for expedited processing is denied, a Notice 393 must be provided with this determination.

If the requester fails to provide information explaining compelling need, the request for expedited processing is invalid and there is no need to prepare a letter solely addressing the compelling need request or provide a Notice 393.

The following language may be used to deny or imperfect a request for expedited processing. Paragraph a) or b) should be added as appropriate:

In accordance with Treasury Regulation 26 CFR 601.702(c)(10)(i), a requester may administratively appeal an initial determination made under the FOIA when a letter is received notifying the requester:

Generally, the appeal must be postmarked within 35 days after the date of the applicable FOIA determination letter.

An administrative appeal for denial of a request for expedited processing may also be submitted. Such an appeal must be postmarked within 10 days of the date of the notification letter.

Processing appeals under the FOIA is the responsibility of the Office of Appeals.

Upon receipt of an appeal, FOIA Appeals processing personnel will notify Disclosure personnel. Disclosure will enter the appeal date on the inventory management system using the postmark date of the letter as the date of the appeal.

FOIA appeals from constructive denials of records (i.e., lack of timely response) will no longer be processed or monitored by Appeals personnel. When any such appeal is received by Appeals, they will respond to the requester advising him/her that there are no administrative appeal rights and if the requester is not willing to wait for an initial determination, the only recourse is to seek judicial review in court.

IRS provides for administrative appeal of the adequacy of the FOIA search. Requesters who believe that there may be more responsive records than those addressed in the FOIA response, may communicate their concern regarding the search to the FOIA caseworker. If the concern is not promptly resolved by the caseworker and local Disclosure Manager, then the requester may exercise administrative appeal rights.

When an administrative appeal is being processed, Disclosure personnel shall promptly make requested records, history notes, and other processing documentation available to Appeals in order to permit the timely processing of appeals.

If informal or partial indexes are part of the file, Appeals processing personnel may request that Disclosure personnel develop improved indexes in order to facilitate resolution of an appeal. When assistance is requested, Disclosure personnel shall cooperate fully with Appeals personnel.

If the requester files litigation pursuant to the FOIA, declarations will generally be used to establish the processing of the request and the scope of the search. Declarations will generally be prepared for the signature of Disclosure personnel and/or Functional Coordinators.

A declaration to establish the factual basis for any law enforcement claims will generally be prepared for the signature of the revenue agent, revenue officer, or special agent, who is most familiar with the underlying investigation, or his/her supervisor.

Declarations must be based upon the specific facts and circumstances of the particular case and should logically lead to the conclusion based upon those facts.

An index of documents withheld in full and in part may be required by attorneys in the Office of the Associate Chief Counsel, Procedure and Administration (Branch 6 or 7) in order to facilitate resolution of the case. Disclosure personnel should prepare, or assist in preparing, such an index when an attorney from Branch 6 or 7 of the Office of the Associate Chief Counsel, Procedure and Administration informs them that it is needed.

Attorneys in the Office of the Associate Chief Counsel, Procedure and Administration, who are responsible for the agency's defense in FOIA lawsuits, will prepare the declarations of agency personnel. Disclosure personnel shall be available to assist the attorneys in:

The public may access "written determinations" and "background file documents" pursuant to IRC §6110. These documents are not subject to FOIA. These terms are defined in IRC §6110(b)(1) and (b)(2) respectively. The underlying file may also contain records which are not available under IRC §6110 (e.g. internal memoranda, inter-agency memoranda, routing slips, e-mails, case control sheets) but are subject to request under the FOIA. See IRM 11.3.8 regarding processing requests pursuant to IRC §6110. This section of the IRM provides guidance related to the processing of FOIA requests for records in the underlying file which are not covered by IRC §6110.

Written determinations are:

Chief Counsel advice (CCA) is written advice or instruction by the National Office of the Office of Chief Counsel to field offices relating to interpretations of revenue provisions whether taxpayer specific or generic. Examples are:

CCA issued on or after January 1, 1986, are available for public inspection through the Freedom of Information Reading Room. Requests seeking these CCA should be directed to the Reading Room.

Written determination files are generally stored in the Headquarters Office, and FOIA requests for the underlying files should be transferred to the Baltimore Disclosure Office for processing.

When a taxpayer makes a request for an investigative file pursuant to FOIA, and a third party written determination (example: CCA, PLR or TAM) is located within the file, field Disclosure personnel must coordinate the release of the written determination with the Baltimore Disclosure office. Disclosure personnel must not attempt to sanitize a written determination. (See IRM 11.3.8.11) The objective is to ensure that only the publicly available version of the written determination in question is released with the investigative file. Therefore, a copy of the publicly available version must be substituted for any copy of the written determination contained in the responsive file. If the written determination is retrieved from a commercial publishing service and contains any information subject to copyright (e.g. headnotes or other proprietary additions), all such copyrighted material must be deleted (by whiting out) from what is released. No exemptions need be claimed for these deletions. The requester must be notified of the substitution and the reason for it by using language similar to:

If the written determination located within a responsive file is the requester's own written determination, Disclosure personnel must still coordinate the provision of that record with the Baltimore Disclosure office to ensure that any copy released to the requester is identical to the copy released to the public through the IRC §6110 process. To ensure that only the publicly available version of a written determination is released within a responsive file, Disclosure personnel shall follow the same substitution process described in IRM 11.3.13.9.1(6).

If a FOIA requester asks for a ruling or determination letter to be issued (as an adjunct to the FOIA request itself), the following response shall be used:

Requesters sometimes seek access to information which may physically be in the possession of the IRS, but:

Examples of information which may involve commercial or proprietary considerations include:

Studies, operating manuals, and computer software (when prepared by non-governmental sources) may not be agency records subject to the FOIA and may be the property of the originator.

Determinations shall be based upon the provisions of the agreement whereby the IRS obtained the materials, the presence or absence of copyright or other restrictive markings, and whether the IRS obtained exclusive use of the materials.

A single record may contain both materials which the IRS prepared and which were obtained elsewhere. The segregability of such materials will depend upon practical considerations and physical constraints.

Materials may have been prepared for IRS use by employees acting on their own initiative and on their own time. Such materials may remain the property of the employees and would not be agency records. This determination shall be made based upon the terms of the use permitted by the employee. See (4) above.

The status of transcripts prepared by court stenographers will depend upon applicable law and the agreement under which the stenographer serves the court. Generally, court transcripts are agency records in those situations in which the stenographer's rights to exclusive distribution have terminated.

Contracts and related records, including evaluative records, concerning the purchase of goods and services are agency records, but they may contain trade secrets and commercial or financial information which is privileged or confidential. Vendors frequently provide the government with more information concerning their products or services than they would make available in ordinary trade.

Business information provided to the IRS by a business submitter shall not be disclosed pursuant to a FOIA request except in accordance with 26 CFR 601.702(g).

Certain business information provided to the IRS by a business submitter is subject to statutory prohibition against disclosure, and must be withheld under FOIA exemption (b)(3) citing 41 USC 253b(m) as the supporting statute. See 26 CFR 601.702(g)(9).

A business submitter's objections to disclosure shall be given considerable weight in making the decision, unless they are clearly in conflict with legal precedent or obviously lacking merit.

If the determination is made to release some or all of the business information over the objections of a business submitter, the business submitter will be notified, in writing, of the:

Whenever a requester brings suit seeking to compel disclosure of business information covered by 26 CFR 601.702(g)(4), the business submitter will be promptly notified thereof.

When requests for nationwide information related to e-file are received, the Baltimore Disclosure office will respond to the requester.

The processing of these nationwide requests will be coordinated with the Office of Director, Electronic Tax Administration.

When requests for local information related to e-file are received in the campus, the Disclosure Office with responsibility for the campus will respond to the requester. The processing of campus requests will be coordinated (through the appropriate Functional Coordinator) with the campus Electronic Filing Office for extraction of data. See Document 6209, Section 4, Document Locator Number, subsections 2 and 3, for locations of Campus offices processing e-file records.

When requests for local information related to e-file are received in the field office, the local office will respond to the requester. The processing of field office requests will be coordinated (through the appropriate Functional Coordinator) with the campus Electronic Filing Office for extraction of data.

To ascertain assessment information, requests may be made for the records used in campus processing of the taxpayer's accounts. These requests may contain language with one or more of the following phrases:

Occasionally, requesters submit FOIA requests for such material to be used in the context of IRS enforcement activities. A response that merely advises the requester that "there is no Form 23C with your name on it" opens the door for the requester to assert that the IRS has not made a valid assessment when challenging a statutory notice of deficiency. Responses to these requests shall provide a brief explanation similar to that in IRM Exhibit 11.3.13-9.

To ensure consistency of treatment, and to avoid misinterpretation of the FOIA response, Disclosure personnel shall strictly follow this IRM subsection.

Requests of the type listed above that are received in the field offices shall be reviewed and compared to the inventory management system database. If this is the first such request, the field will respond by providing a transcript of the account and written explanation of the information (Document 11734), where applicable.

The requester shall also be informed, either by telephone contact or in the response letter, that if he/she insists on a Form 23C (or other information from the list in (1) above), that the request must be resubmitted to the appropriate campus. The address where the requester should submit the request must be provided.

Field offices that receive subsequent requests for the same type of information (see (1) above) from the same requester, will transfer the request to the appropriate campus. Receipt of the subsequent request will be construed to indicate that the requester is now aware of the nature of the information available and still wants the specific product originally requested (Form 23C, Summary Record of Assessment, RACS-006). Since the requester was originally directed to the campus for such products, the new request to a field office is considered misdirected. Since there may be more than one assessment involved, or more than one tax year involved, it is possible that more than one campus will have to be contacted. Only the appropriate portion of the request should be sent to each campus.

The transfer procedures shall be followed, and the contacted campus must accept the transfer. See IRM 11.3.13.5.12.

When FOIA requests of the above type are received in the campuses, either by transfer or by direct submission from the requester, the Disclosure Office will work the case and provide responsive records in accordance with the procedures listed in IRM Exhibit 11.3.13-8.

If in all contacts with the requester it appears that the requester does not understand the IRS procedures on assessments, Disclosure personnel will provide additional information as suggested in the sample paragraph in IRM Exhibit 11.3.13-9.

In all instances, carefully word responses to the requester (either on the telephone or in writing). Even though the Form 23C is rarely used, and there is generally no identifying information on either the signed RACS Automated Summary or the paper Form 23C, Disclosure personnel shall avoid making statements like "there are no records responsive to your request."

Disclosure personnel are authorized to request preparation of Form 4340, Certificate of Assessments and Payments by completing Form 4338 (BMF) or Form 4338-A (IMF). Per IRM 21.2.3.4.2.1, Form 4340, Certificate of Assessments, Payments and Other Specified Matters, the Form 4338 should be submitted to the Compliance and Accounting function in the appropriate Campus. Do not certify Forms 4340 in response to FOIA requests. See IRM 11.3.13.9.28.

The use of IDRS transcripts in responding to requests from taxpayers has become more and more frequent. Issues arise in determining what sections, if any, in transcripts responsive to requests should be redacted or released.

This section provides information related to where protected data appears on certain transcripts, the actions necessary to release the data, the appropriate citations to use to support not releasing certain information and additional remarks explaining the logic of the instructions. Instructions are being provided for:

Potentially Dangerous Taxpayer (PDT) indicators are no longer required to be redacted from IDRS transcripts. Determinations to redact the PDT indicator will be made on a case by case basis.

In cases involving a taxpayer's designee or business transcripts where business relationships such as partnership participants are involved, the type(s) of tax and the tax periods specified on the POA or other disclosure authorization must be reviewed carefully to ensure that the information being released is fully covered by the authorization.

In cases involving married taxpayers, be alert to changes in marital status and to different spousal combinations for a taxpayer having recently married, divorced, or separated. Taxpayer entity information on the primary SSN is automatically updated for subsequently filed years. This information can include filing status, filing history, SSNs of previous and/or subsequent spouses, etc. Information requested by a separated or divorced spouse on a previously filed joint return must be carefully reviewed to protect the confidentiality of the other taxpayer's current information.

FOIA requests may be received from unrelated third parties for Form SS-8, Determination of Worker Status for Purposes of Federal Employment Taxes and Income Tax Withholding, or for written determinations concerning Form SS-8. Such requesters shall be advised that Form SS-8 does not come within the auspices of the FOIA, but rather IRC §6110, and to the extent they wish to pursue their request for Form SS-8, they must make an IRC §6110 request.

The nationwide authority to determine inter-company and intra-company transfer prices of foreign-produced crude oil and by-products, and the acceptance of the average freight rate assessment as an inter-company charge for shipping of foreign-produced crude oil and by-products were delegated to the LMSB Director, Natural Resources by Delegation Order 153 effective October 2, 2000.

FOIA requests for records pertaining to the methodology, formula, or general data used in the determination of pricing information relating to the Petroleum Industry Program (PIP) should be promptly referred to the Dallas Disclosure office for necessary consideration and coordination with the Pre-Filing and Technical Guidance group (LMSB).

Risk analysis reports and related records and background papers are assessments of the security afforded to information and assets in the custody of the IRS, and recommendations for maintaining appropriate levels of protection. Unauthorized disclosure of the content of such records could itself contribute to the threat of loss or destruction being guarded against.

The sensitive nature of risk analysis reports and related records require that any FOIA request and the records to which it pertains be referred to the Chief, Disclosure, in the Headquarters Office prior to the release of any portion. The Chief, Disclosure, will either advise on the proper disposition of the request or will make a direct response to the requester.

Requests need not be referred in accordance with (2) above when a determination is otherwise made to deny the requested records in their entirety on the basis of applicable exemptions.

Executive Performance Agreement, Forms 2450, are available to the public when edited pursuant to exemption (b)(6) to prevent any unwarranted invasion of personal privacy.

The names, signatures, initials or other identifying details (but not name of office) of lower level IRS employees may be deleted from records released when considered necessary in order to avoid any unwarranted invasion of personal privacy including threat of harassment or abuse of employees and their families.

Generally, the identities of senior level officials (i.e., those management officials who are heads of office) may not be withheld pursuant to these privacy-based exemptions. However, these employees who are the subject of alleged wrongdoing may have privacy interests that must be balanced against the public's interest. (See IRM 11.3.13.7.2.6 for guidance pertaining to balancing private and public interests.) The result of that balancing will depend on the facts and circumstances of a particular employee case. Any questions that may arise with regard to who is a senior level official shall be directed to the FOIA Senior Tax Law Specialist or FOIA Policy Analyst.

The typed identities and signatures of IRS employees and witnesses shown on Form 61, Appointment Affidavits, may not ordinarily be withheld pursuant to the privacy-based exemptions.

Only the name, post of duty, grade, and appointment affidavit/oath of office of an employee in a position designated as sensitive by OPM (see IRM 11.3.13.9.12.1(2)) may be released. Care must be taken to ensure the requested information is not for the legal name of an employee with a pseudonym.

Requests may be received for information concerning IRS employees which do not identify the employee by name but which provide IDRS employee identification numbers. Disclosure offices must advise requesters that the name of an IRS employee associated with a specific IDRS identification number is protected under FOIA exemption (b)(6). No research will be done to determine which IRS employee has been assigned to any specific IDRS identification number even if the number is assigned to a manager or other IRS employee whose identity would be made known to the requester through normal channels.

FOIA requests for "who has accessed my account" or the "Audit Trail for my SSN" are to be processed by the Disclosure office serving the requester's address.

Upon receipt of a perfected FOIA request, Disclosure personnel will prepare Form 9936, Request for Audit Trail Extract. The form must list all years and all campuses to be searched in response to the FOIA request. The form will be forwarded to the Andover Campus Security Officer. The completed audit trail extracts will be sent to the requesting Disclosure office. Contact information for the Andover Security Officer is located at http://mass.web.irs.gov/IDRS/DataSecurityStaffs.asp

If requests for audit trails are received for tax years prior to 1996, the requester should be advised of the following:

The audit trail extract includes the inputting employee's IDRS employee number, command code used, the command code definer, whether the record was viewed by the employee (i.e., Hit/No Hit Indicator with Y for yes and N for no), date and time of the transaction, terminal identifier, and the SSN of the inputting employee.

Upon receipt of the extract, Disclosure personnel must analyze it as follows:

The response letter must clearly advise the taxpayer that this trail of accesses covers only electronic IDRS accesses. Accesses to other computer systems and to paper records may not have a trailing system in place.

The Office of Personnel Management (OPM), as the custodian of the Official Personnel Folder (OPF) and Employee Performance Folder (EPF) and the authority through which other Federal agencies may appoint employees, has issued rules and regulations governing the disclosure of OPF and EPF records. These rules and regulations are found in Part 294 of the Federal Personnel Manual (FPM).

The OPM also has FOIA responsibilities for personnel records that are maintained by agencies. These responsibilities are detailed in each of the sections describing the various records. Processing FOIA requests will be consistent with OPM regulations at 5 CFR 293 and 297. See IRM 11.3.20, Personnel Records, for additional information regarding OPFs/EPFs and their contents.

Disclosure personnel shall follow the Agency-Wide Shared Services (AWSS) standard operating procedures. Procedure Number 293-1, which covers guidance for requesting the OPF, can be found at the following website:   http://awss.web.irs.gov/ess/pps/SOP-UOG/SOP-293-1.pdf

OPFs for current employees, (other than executives, Chief Counsel employees located in Headquarters (except support staff) and Chief Counsel attorneys), have been centralized in one location under the jurisdiction of the Kansas City TPC. Search requests for one or two employees may be made by phone. Search requests for three or more employees must be faxed.

OPFs for executives are maintained at the Philadelphia Transaction Processing Center (TPC). Requests may be made via secure e-mail (i.e., using the encryption feature of the Secure Messaging System).

OPF information pertaining to Chief Counsel employees located in Headquarters (except support staff, whose information is located in Kansas City) and Chief Counsel attorneys is maintained in Washington, DC.

If you need the entire OPF, you must provide your complete name and street mailing address (OPFs cannot be sent to a Post Office Box), along with a phone number to contact.

Generally, requests for information on former employees will be directed to the following address: 
    National Personnel Records Center
    Civilian Personnel Records
    111 Winnebago Street
    St. Louis, MO 63118

Search requests for information on time and attendance shall be referred to the attention of: 
    Personnel Management Specialist
    Philadelphia TPC

If a request is received for a deceased employee's records, a surviving heir cannot invoke common law privacy rights. Decedent's records are generally available under the FOIA, unless it can be shown that release could cause harm to a survivor's privacy by causing "a disruption of his/her piece of mind."

44 USC 3301 defines records as "all books, papers, maps, photographs, machine readable materials, or other documentary materials, regardless of physical form or characteristics, made or received by an agency of the U.S. Government under Federal law or in connection with the transaction of public business and preserved or appropriate for preservation by that agency or its legitimate successor as evidence of the organization, functions, policies, decisions, procedures, operations, or other activities of the Government or because of the information value of data in them."

Electronic records include records maintained on floppy disks, hard drives, compact disks, tape reels, or other magnetic medium, including electronic mail (e-mail) and are governed by the same guidelines as paper records.

Guidelines for managing electronic records are contained in IRM 1.15.6, Managing Electronic Records, including the basic requirements for creation, maintenance, and disposition of electronic records. Employee adherence to the IRM helps ensure that electronic agency records are not maintained inappropriately. Agency records that still exist, even though they shouldn’t, are subject to the FOIA.

The FOIA requires the agency to respond to requests for records maintained by the agency. E-mail messages may be saved by employees on their own workstations or by IRS on backup tapes. To the extent that e-mail messages have been saved on backup tapes and/or archived by IRS employees electronically or on paper, Disclosure personnel shall retrieve the responsive records, make determinations as to whether the records can be released, and/or apply applicable FOIA exemptions.