Ways and Means Committee’s Request for the Former President’s Tax Returns
11
Since enactment of the 1976 statute, the tax committees have occasion-
ally relied upon section 6103(f
)(1) to inspect and obtain tax returns and
(more frequently) information about the IRS’s treatment of tax returns.
13
You have advised us that, before 2019, Treasury had never before denied
such a section 6103(f
)(1) request.
14
After it denied the Committee’s
request in 2019, Treasury explained to one Senator that “[t]his is unsur-
prising”: “there is no need for close review of most requests under section
6103(f
) because the purpose of the request is usually self-evident and
legitimate.” See Letter for Ron Wyden, Ranking Member, Committee on
Finance, U.S. Senate, from Justin W. Sok, Senior Advisor, Office of
Legislative Affairs, Department of the Treasury at 2 (July 17, 2019).
15
13
See Memorandum for Members of the Committee on Ways and Means, U.S. House
of Representatives, from Richard E. Neal, Chairman, Committee on Ways and Means,
U.S. House of Representatives, Re: Historical Use of Authority To Obtain Confidential
Tax Information at 3–5 (July 25, 2019) (enumerating cases over the preceding thirty years
in which the tax committees have requested and obtained from the IRS tax information).
You have informed us that “the IRS has indicated,” based upon “institutional memory and
paper records,” that “it has no reason to question the account in Chairman Neal’s memo-
randum.” E-mail for Martin Lederman & Gillian E. Metzger, Office of Legal Counsel,
from Laurie Schaffer, Department of the Treasury, Re: Request for Information (July 26,
2021, 9:03 PM). See also Letter for Ron Wyden, Ranking Member, Committee on Fi-
nance, U.S. Senate, from Justin W. Sok, Senior Advisor, Office of Legislative Affairs,
Department of the Treasury, att. A (July 17, 2019) (describing section 6103(f
) requests
found in IRS records from between 2005 and 2019).
14
See E-mail for Martin Lederman & Gillian E. Metzger, Office of Legal Counsel,
from Laurie Schaffer, Department of the Treasury, Re: Question regarding denial of a
section 6103(f
) request prior to 2019 (July 29, 2021, 7:19 PM); E-mail for Martin Le-
derman & Gillian E. Metzger, Office of Legal Counsel, from Brian Sonfield, Department
of the Treasury, Re: FW: Request for information concerning practice under Section
6103(f
) (July 28, 2021, 11:27 AM).
15
The IRS’s Internal Revenue Manual suggests that the IRS can request or even insist
upon a delay of congressional committee access to records in cases “under active investi-
gation.” I.R.M. § 11.3.4.4(13) (2020). It is not clear what the Manual means by a case
“under active investigation”—in particular, whether this phrase includes a case subject to
an ongoing audit. Nor is it clear what the statutory authority would be for the IRS to
refuse a tax committee request under section 6103(f
)(1) where a “functional head”
concludes that disclosure would result in a “serious adverse effect on the administration
of the tax laws.” Id. You have informed us that, according to the IRS, it “routinely
communicates with committee staff when providing information, identifying information
that is particularly sensitive or that the IRS is concerned with disclosing for some reason
to ensure the recipients are sensitive to the concerns. Sometimes that results in the