Tax Analysts, IRS Agree to Dismiss Circular 230 FOIA Suit

TAX ANALYSTS,
Plaintiff,
INTERNAL REVENUE SERVICE,
Defendant.

UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT
FOR THE DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA

STIPULATION OF DISMISSAL

The parties to this action, Tax Analysts and the Internal Revenue Service (“IRS”), by and through undersigned counsel, hereby agree to the following terms and conditions for dismissal of this case, subject to the approval of the Court.

1. In response to a Freedom of Information Act (“FOIA”) request from Tax Analysts, IRS released 113 pages of decisions in cases filed by IRS's Office of Professional Responsibility (“OPR”) alleging that a practitioner has violated 31 C.F.R. Part 10 (“Circular 230"). These decisions consist of Preliminary Decisions and Orders issued by Administrative Law Judges, as well as Decisions on Appeal issued by the Appellate Authority if a Preliminary Decision and Order is appealed (collectively “Decisions”).¹

2. Those Decisions have been posted and are available on the IRS's web site on the page entitled Final Agency Decisions (FAD), available at https://www.irs.gov/tax-professionals/final-agency-decisions-fads. As of the date of this stipulation, IRS has posted additional Decisions issued after January 1, 2015.²

3. The parties agree that within 60 days following the Court's approval of this stipulation, IRS will provide to Tax Analysts and will post on the IRS web site all other Decisions issued between January 1, 2015, and December 31, 2020,³ with redactions of personal identifiers and/or return information in a manner consistent with 31 C.F.R. § 10.72(d)(4)(iv), Internal Revenue Code § 6103 and the FOIA.

4. For all Decisions issued on or after January 1, 2021, the parties agree that the IRS will post each such Decision to the IRS web site as soon as reasonably practicable after that Decision becomes final and, in any event, no later than one year thereafter, with redactions of personal identifiers and/or return information in a manner consistent with 31 C.F.R. § 10.72(d)(4)(iv), Internal Revenue Code § 6103 and the FOIA. This time period shall exclude any Federal government shutdown or other office closure due to exigent circumstances that interrupts the operations of an IRS office involved in reviewing and posting such decisions. This obligation shall continue as to any additional or future decisions that may have different titles or are or may be decided by different entities than at present, but that are the functional equivalent of the current Decisions issued on complaints filed by OPR against practitioners alleging violations of Circular 230.

5. For Decisions issued prior to January 1, 2015, the parties agree that IRS will redact and otherwise process those Decisions and post them to the IRS web site within five years of the date of the Court's approval of this stipulation.

6. Each party shall bear its own attorneys' fees and costs in this case, including the costs of any further proceedings necessary to enforce provisions of this Order.

7. The Court shall maintain jurisdiction to enforce provisions of this Order.

8. This action is dismissed with prejudice on the basis of the terms and conditions set forth in ¶¶ 1-7 above.

Dated: July 8, 2021

HITCHCOCK LAW FIRM PLLC

Cornish F. Hitchcock
(D.C. Bar No. 238824)
5614 Connecticut Avenue, NW No. 304
Washington, D.C. 20015
Tel: (202) 489-4813
E-mail: conh@hitchlaw.com
Attorneys for Plaintiff

DAVID A. HUBBERT
Acting Assistant Attorney General

Joseph E. Hunsader
(D.C. Bar No. 453328)
Trial Attorney, Tax Division
U.S. Department of Justice
P.O. Box 227, Ben Franklin Station
Washington, D.C. 20044
Tel: (202) 514-0472
E-mail: joseph.e.hunsader@usdoj.gov
Attorneys for Defendant

SO ORDERED:

Trevor N. McFadden
United States District Judge

Dated: 7/8/2021