The IRS Scandal, Day 1051

Wall Street Journal, Appeals Court in Tea Party Case Puts Nick in Taxpayer Privacy Law:

Attempts to extract information out of the IRS usually run into a solid wall: Section 6103, the part of the tax code setting taxpayer privacy rules. It keeps Donald Trump’s tax returns—and everyone else’s—outside the scope of the federal Freedom of Information Act.

The Sixth U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in Cincinnati just put a tiny but important dent in that wall, at least in the states covered by that appeals circuit. The IRS office that handles tax-exempt applications is in Cincinnati.

In an appeals court ruling noticed mostly for its rhetorical blasts at the Internal Revenue Service, Judge Raymond Kethledge, writing for a three-judge panel, said the privacy rules that protect “return information” don’t apply to the names and addresses of groups seeking tax-exempt status.

The law “does not entitle the IRS to keep secret (in the name of ‘taxpayer privacy,’ no less) every internal IRS document that reveals IRS mistreatment of a taxpayer or applicant organization—in this case or future ones,” Judge Kethledge wrote Tuesday. “Section 6103 was enacted to protect taxpayers from the IRS, not the IRS from taxpayers.”

Until the ruling, the government, Congress and tax lawyers all operated under the assumption that tax-exempt groups’ names only become public if approved by the IRS. The IRS releases redacted letters denying tax-exempt status, while the names of groups that apply and withdraw–often after questions from the IRS–never become public.

“6103 is usually interpreted pretty broadly by the courts, with a lot of deference from the courts to the IRS,” said Lloyd Hitoshi Mayer, a tax law professor at the University of Notre Dame. “This is a significant change.” ...

George Yin, former chief of staff of the congressional Joint Committee on Taxation, said he was sympathetic to the policy view encapsulated in the court’s ruling. But Mr. Yin, now a law professor at the University of Virginia, said internal IRS processing of applications is covered by the privacy law. “The other Circuits that have looked at this issue are correct,” Mr. Yin wrote in an e-mail, “but the 6th Circuit was not.”

The Hill, IRS Commissioner: Court Ruling Raises Privacy Concerns for Taxpayers:

IRS Commissioner John Koskinen is warning that an appeals court ruling in the agency’s political-targeting scandal could put taxpayers’ privacy at risk.

"If suddenly, your name on an application and your address is available to the public, I think it’s going to … raise a concern by a lot of taxpayers who may not want anyone else to know what they’re applying for,” Koskinen told reporters Thursday, after delivering a speech at the National Press Club.

• Fox News, Federal Appeals Court Slams IRS in Tea Party Case, Demands Documents
• National Law Review, Sixth Circuit Denies IRS Mandamus Petition
• New American, Federal Court Slams IRS in Tea Party Targeting Case
• Nonprofit Quarterly, Federal Appeals Court Rebukes IRS, Allows Tea Party Class-Action Lawsuit to Proceed
• One News Now, IRS 'Spanked' by Judge Over Tea Party Targeting

• The IRS Scandal, Day 1050 (Mar. 24, 2016)
• The IRS Scandal, Day 1049 (Mar. 23, 2016)
• The IRS Scandal, Day 1048 (Mar. 22, 2016)
• The IRS Scandal, Day 1047 (Mar. 21, 2016)
• The IRS Scandal, Day 1046 (Mar. 20, 2016)
• The IRS Scandal, Day 1045 (Mar. 19, 2016)
• The IRS Scandal, Day 1044 (Mar. 18, 2016)
• The IRS Scandal, Day 1043 (Mar. 17, 2016)
• The IRS Scandal, Day 1042 (Mar. 16, 2016)
• The IRS Scandal, Day 1041 (Mar. 15, 2016)
• The IRS Scandal, Day 1040 (Mar. 14, 2016)
• The IRS Scandal, Day 1039 (Mar. 13, 2016)
• The IRS Scandal, Day 1038 (Mar. 12, 2016)
• The IRS Scandal, Day 1037 (Mar. 11, 2016)
• The IRS Scandal, Day 1036 (Mar. 10, 2016)
• The IRS Scandal, Day 1035 (Mar. 9, 2016)
• The IRS Scandal, Day 1034 (Mat. 8, 2016)
• The IRS Scandal, Day 1033 (Mar. 7, 2016)
• The IRS Scandal, Day 1032 (Mar. 6, 2016)
• The IRS Scandal, Day 1031 (Mar. 5, 2016)
• The IRS Scandal, Day 1030 (Mar. 4, 2016)
• The IRS Scandal, Day 1029 (Mar. 3, 2016)
• The IRS Scandal, Day 1028 (Mar. 2, 2016)
• The IRS Scandal, Day 1027 (Mar. 1, 2016)
• The IRS Scandal, Day 1026 (Feb. 29, 2016)
• The IRS Scandal, Day 1025 (Feb. 28, 2016)
• The IRS Scandal, Day 1024 (Feb. 27, 2016)
• The IRS Scandal, Day 1023 (Feb. 26, 2016)
• The IRS Scandal, Day 1022 (Feb. 25, 2016)
• The IRS Scandal, Day 1021 (Feb. 24, 2016)
• The IRS Scandal, Day 1020 (Feb. 23, 2016)
• The IRS Scandal, Day 1019 (Feb. 22, 2016)
• The IRS Scandal, Day 1018 (Feb. 21, 2016)
• The IRS Scandal, Day 1017 (Feb. 20, 2016)
• The IRS Scandal, Day 1016 (Feb. 19, 2016)
• The IRS Scandal, Day 1015 (Feb. 18, 2016)
• The IRS Scandal, Day 1014 (Feb. 17, 2016)
• The IRS Scandal, Day 1013 (Feb. 16, 2016)
• The IRS Scandal, Day 1012 (Feb. 15, 2016)
• The IRS Scandal, Day 1011 (Feb. 14, 2016)
• The IRS Scandal, Day 1010 (Feb. 13, 2016)
• The IRS Scandal, Day 1009 (Feb. 12, 2016)
• The IRS Scandal, Day 1008 (Feb. 11, 2016)
• The IRS Scandal, Day 1007 (Feb. 10, 2016)
• The IRS Scandal, Day 1006 (Feb. 9, 2016)
• The IRS Scandal, Day 1005 (Feb. 8, 2016)
• The IRS Scandal, Day 1004 (Feb. 7, 2016)
• The IRS Scandal, Day 1003 (Feb. 6, 2016)
• The IRS Scandal, Day 1002 (Feb. 5, 2016)
• The IRS Scandal, Day 1001 (Feb. 4, 2016)
• The IRS Scandal, Days 901-1000 (Oct. 27, 2015 - Feb. 3, 2016)
• The IRS Scandal, Days 801-900 (July 19, 2015 - Oct. 26, 2015)
• The IRS Scandal, Days 701-800 (April 10, 2015 - July 18, 2015)
• The IRS Scandal, Days 601-700 (Dec. 31, 2014 - April 9, 2015)
• The IRS Scandal, Days 501-600 (Sept. 22, 2014-Dec. 30, 2014)
• The IRS Scandal, Days 401-500 (June 14, 2014 - Sept. 21,2014)
• The IRS Scandal, Days 301-400 (Mar. 6, 2014 - June 13, 2014)
• The IRS Scandal, Days 201-300 (Nov. 26, 2013 - Mar. 5, 2014)
• The IRS Scandal, Days 101-200 (Aug. 18, 2013 - Nov. 25, 2013)
• The IRS Scandal, Days 1-100 (May 10, 2013 - Aug. 17, 2013)