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Free Sacred Trinity Church v. IRS, No. 21-1756, 2022 WL 959645 (S.D. Cal. Mar. 30, 2022) (Whelan, J.)

Date

Free Sacred Trinity Church v. IRS, No. 21-1756, 2022 WL 959645 (S.D. Cal. Mar. 30, 2022) (Whelan, J.)

Re:  Request for records concerning audit of plaintiffs

Disposition:  Denying defendant's partial motion to dismiss

  • Procedural Requirements, Searching for Responsive Records:  "Defendant IRS contends that it and TIGTA ["U.S. Treasury Inspector General for Tax Administration"] are separate agencies for the purposes of FOIA and that it does not have access to TIGTA records."  "Contrary to Defendant's argument, not all records responsive to this request lie under the exclusive control of TIGTA."  "For example, as Plaintiffs suggest, the IRS might have 'notes or written communications between IRS agents in connection with their request that TIGTA conduct an investigation.'"  "Moreover, to comply with FOIA, the IRS must actually search for documents to know whether they exist in their possession."  "If the IRS claims it does not possess or control a requested document, the IRS must show that it conducted a search 'reasonably calculated to uncover all relevant documents.'"  "Therefore, because Defendant failed to conduct a reasonable search for records, its Partial Motion to Dismiss the subsection (e) portion of Plaintiffs' 2021 FOIA Request is DENIED."
     
Court Decision Topic(s)
District Court opinions
Procedural Requirements, Searching for Responsive Records
Updated April 26, 2022