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be considered adequate if the requester supplies the name, subject matter and, if known, the date and location of the desired record.

A schedule of fees has been established for locating and copying records. Where the fees are expected to exceed $50, the requester may be required to obligate himself for payment before any action is undertaken by the Service.

Fees are as follows:

Records search (per hour or fraction).
Photocopies (per page)---

Certification of Photocopies.--.

Minimum charge for photocopies---.

$3.50

.25

1.00

1.00

Every person making a request is entitled to prompt advice of its receipt and notification in writing about whether the request will be granted. In instances where a request has been denied, the letter of notification will state the location of the requested records and the grounds for denial.

A person making a request has 30 days to appeal a denial to the Commissioner. The Commissioner has 30 days to respond. If the appellant has not received a reply within 30 days, or has received a denial from the Commissioner, he may commence action in a U.S. district court. When an action is brought to court, the agency involved has the entire burden of justifying the denial of records.

Available IRS Data? The $64 question is what information is or is not available from the IRS under the Freedom of Information Act. While no all-encompassing document as yet exists which will answer this question, the following listing-by no means exhaustive-may provide some practical guidance on how the IRS has thus far interpreted its responsibilities under the new law:

AVAILABLE INFORMATION

1. Current index providing identifying information on matters required to be made available since effective date of Act, July 4, 1967.

2. Administrative staff manuals and instructions to the staff that affect members of the public (not to include personnel rules, operating rules, guidelines and manuals of procedure for government investigators or examiners).

3. Comments submitted on proposed regulations unless specifically designated as confidential by the commentator.

4. Certain Internal Revenue Service training manuals.

5. Issues now recorded for IRS personnel in the RIRA system.

6. Federal-state agreements on tax administration.

UNAVAILABLE INFORMATION

1. Appellate Division supporting statements.

2. Confidential addenda to technical advice from the National Office to the field.

3. Agent's reports.

4. Appendixes to, or transmittal letters with, reports of agents.

5. Informers' reports.

6. Advice of chief counsel or regional counsel.

7. IRS operating rules ; for example, audit tolerances, return selection criteria.

8. Procedure manuals for government investigation.

9. Private or letter rulings.

10. Third party tax returns or information contained therein.

11. Any information obtained from persons under statutory or other rules or understanding as to confidentiality.

12. Actions on decisions.

VISIT TO AN IRS PUBLIC READING ROOM

What is an Internal Revenue Service public reading room as established under the Freedom of Information Act? What can one expect to find there?

To determine this, a visit was made to one of the seven IRS regional reading rooms. From our understanding all seven regional reading rooms, as well as the one in the National Office in Washington, D.C., will contain the same information The reading room in this instance was not a separate room, but rather a small alcove located within the regional public information office. It contained a small conference table and two small bookcases which were partly filled.

The public reading room was staffed by public information personnel rather

than technical personnel. The main function of these people is in the public relations area, and the staffing of the reading room seems to be an additional responsibility rather than a primary duty. However, a fulltime staff at this time probably would be wasteful, since use of the facilities to date has been exceptionally light. Since a good deal of confusion exists as to just what should or will be made available, the reading room staff is working with a handicap. Materials in the reading room should include:

1. A complete set of Federal Tax Regulations; this will be the official Looseleaf Regulations System.

2. Other federal regulations or materials promulgated by the Service and published in the Federal Register or incorporated by reference therein. This will include delegation orders, Statement on Organization and Functions, and those official policies of the Internal Revenue Service which are considered to be under the purview of Sections (a)(1) and (a) (2) of the Revenue Act.

3. A set of Cumulative Bulletins, and Internal Revenue Bulletins which have not yet been cumulated in C.B.'s, which is as complete as is reasonably possible, recognizing that some early C.B. volumes are now rare.

4. All other IRS publications (except tax forms) which are intended for public sale or use, such as "Your Federal Income Tax," "Farmer's Tax Guide," etc.

5. A description of forms available; it is contemplated that Document No. 5259, "List of Major Tax Returns and Related Forms," will be revised and made available for this purpose.

6. Those Internal Revenue Manual materials, and IRS training texts and materials, which are furnished to the reading rooms by the National Office as being open for public inspection and copying.

7. Final opinions and orders.

8. Such indexes as may now exist and such other indexes as may be provided by the National Office covering reading room materials.

Many of the items to be made available have not yet been received, such as a complete set of Cumulative Bulletins. However, they were available within the building and would have been secured if requested. Other items, like the Internal Revenue Manual are being made available as the Service determines what items in the Manual properly pertain to public information. To date, no index of available items has been prepared.

This reading room-as all others has been open since July 4, 1967. Although no accurate account of requests received has been kept, it was estimated that as of February 1, 1967, there had been 25 requests received directly at the reading room and an additional 25 requests referred by district offices.

About one half of the requests were for copies of Code sections or regulations. The balance pertained to requests for copies of tax returns other than the requester's. For example, a former corporate stockholder requested the subsequent return of the corporation in which he had sold his stock. Purpose? To determine whether he had gotten a fair deal when he sold out. When requests like this are made, the regional and district offices have no authority to deny the information nor do they have any authority to reveal anything that has not been approved by the National Office.

Thus, in instances as above, the reqeuster is informed that his written request has been forwarded to the Disclosure and Liaison Branch, Collection Division, National Office, Washington, D.C. When a decision is reached, a written notice is sent directly to the requester by the National Office.

Perhaps the only really new item of significance which was available in the reading room is the Internal Revenue Manual. This Manual, consisting of approximately 60 loose-leaf volumes plus handbooks, represents a complete guide to the administrative and procedural practices of the Service. The Manual was in no way complete because the National Office has determined that certain portions are exempt.

As yet there is no specific guide informing either the public or the reading room personnel what parts of the Manual are now available. A broad tropical index to the Manual was available and is reproduced on this page. Reading room personnel will make available any part of the Manual physically present in the reading

room.

If any other part of this Manual is desired, a specific request must be made to the National Office. Since supplements to the Manual are being received on a frequent basis, one should not assume that physical nonavailability precludes the intention to make disclosure in the future.

TOPICAL INDEX TO INTERNAL REVENUE MANUAL-LISTING OF IRM NUMBERS AND TITLES (INCLUDING HANDBOOKS)

(Basic text of IRM Chapters is shown in bold-face type)

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TOPICAL INDEX TO INTERNAL REVENUE MANUAL-LISTING OF IRM NUMBERS AND
TITLES (INCLUDING HANDBOOKS)-Continued

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1(16)00 Safety; Physical and

Document Security

1(17)00 Printing and Publication
*1(17)71 Forms Design Standards and
Techniques Handbook
1(18)00 Emergency Relocation

Planning and Operations Guide
*(18) 10 Emergency Relocation
Planning and Operations Guide
General

*1(18) 20 Emergency Relocation

Planning and Operations Guide-
Personnel

*1(18) 30 Emergency Relocation

Planning and Operations Guide-
Communications

*1(18) 40 Emergency Relocation
Planning and Operations Guide-
Space, Equipment Supplies
*1(18)50 Emergency Relocation
Planning and Operations Guide
Fiscal Management

*1(18) 60 Emergency Relocation
Planning and Operations Guide-
Revenue Collection
*1(18)70 Emergency Relocation

Planning and Operations Guide-
Alcohol and Tobacco Tax
Administration
*1(18) 80 Emergency Relocation
Planning and Operations Guide-
Printing and Distribution
*1(18)90 Emergency Relocation

Planning and Operations Guide—
Automatic Data Processing

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TOPICAL INDEX TO INTERNAL REVENUE MANUAL-LISTING OF IRM NUMBERS AND
TITLES (INCLUDING HANDBOOKS)-Continued

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