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FOIA

FOIA Contact

Carmen M. Banerjee
Senior Division Counsel for FOIA and PA Matters
Tax Division
Department of Justice
P.O. Box 227
Ben Franklin Station
Washington, DC 20044
(202) 307-6423 (FOIA Line Number)
TaxDiv.FOIAPA@usdoj.gov

FOIA Library

This includes records created by the Tax Division on or after November 1, 1996 and may include earlier records converted to electronic format. If you are unable to access a computer to access materials in the FOIA Library, please call (202) 307-6423 so that we can help provide to you the materials you seek.

Component Description

The Tax Division's chief activity is to represent the Internal Revenue Service in civil and criminal litigation. It also represents other Federal agencies that may have problems with state and local taxing authorities. Consequently, the Tax Division maintains information primarily about civil and criminal tax litigation, either actual or contemplated. This information is stored in files that are indexed in central classification systems under the names of the individuals or entities who are parties to the litigation. In addition, the Tax Division maintains some information relating to various procedures and guidelines for processing tax cases, as well as files on its administrative functions.

General Information About Making a FOIA Request

  1. Under the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) (5 U.S.C. 552) and Department of Justice regulations, any person may request Tax Division records.
     
  2. All FOIA requests must be made in writing, signed, and mailed to the above address. Alternatively, all requests made pursuant to items 2 and 3 may be electronically sent to TaxDiv.FOIAPA@usdoj.gov. All attachments to e-mail requests must be attached as pdf files.
     
  3. Individuals requesting records about themselves must verify their identity before the Tax Division will process the request. One verification method is to complete DOJ Form 361 (Certificate of Identity) and attach it to the request. Please click here to download DOJ Form 361.
     
  4. For more information about making FOIA requests, please refer to the DOJ Reference Guide, a comprehensive guide to the FOIA that serves as a handbook for obtaining information from the Department of Justice and to 28 C.F.R. 16.3 ("Requirements for Making Requests").

Information About Making a FOIA Request to the Tax Division

  1. FOIA does not require agencies either to create records or to provide narrative responses to inquiries that do not request records. Therefore, requests should seek only existing Tax Division records that do not fall under a specific disclosure exemption (e.g., classified national security matters, personal privacy material, investigative files, trade secrets, privileged information, etc.). See 5 U.S.C. 552(b).
     
  2. To understand the types of records the Tax Division maintains, please see the Component Description above. Individuals seeking records primarily maintained by the Internal Revenue Service, like Forms 1040 or other IRS forms filed with the Service, should submit their FOIA requests in writing to the Internal Revenue Service. See www.irs.gov/foia. The Tax Division does not: (1) process FOIA requests on behalf of the Service, (2) handle general or specific inquiries pertaining to identity theft pertaining to tax returns. See, http://www.irs.gov/Individuals/Identity-Protection for information about identity theft inquiries.

Additional Processing Information 

  • The Tax Division divides most of its FOIA requests into two tracks:  simple and complex.  The simple track is for requests the Tax Division expects would need a minimal level of effort to complete.  The complex track is for all other requests, which are those the Tax Division expects would need more than the 20-day statutory period.  The Tax Division places in a third track -expedited track- FOIA requests that satisfy the statutory and regulatory requirements for expedited processing treatment.  
  • To view the Tax Division’s average processing times for the most recent year, please click here.

Publicly Available Information for Which a FOIA Request is Not Required

Criminal Tax Manual, Judgment and Collection Manual, Settlement Reference Manual, Summons Enforcement Manual, and the log of FOIA requests made during fiscal year 2009.

Please click on the links above to access any of these documents, and note that each link goes to the Electronic Reading Room.

Major Information Systems

Tax Division Docket and Case Management System

Former Assistant Attorneys General

Updated November 20, 2024