Tax Analysts reports (subscription required) that the IRS has deciding to stop automatically providing the media with copies of favorable determination letters issued in response to applications for recognition of exemption because of the changes in the structure and geographic location of the IRS Exempt Organizations Division and related IRS Office of Chief Counsel functions. Practitioners quoted in the article expressed disappointment with this decision. While the media and other members of the public can still request such letters by submitting Form 4506-A for each organization for which the letter is sought, practitioners noted the burden doing so imposes and the usually lengthy delay in the IRS response to such requests.
Additional coverage: Forbes (contributor opinion).
UPDATE: To clarify, the letters were previously provided by the IRS National Office and so were limited to the relatively few letters issued by that office, as opposed to the Cincinnati office that issues the vast majority of determination letters. That said, the National Office tended to handle the most difficult – and interesting – cases. According to later comments from the IRS, the change is apparently driven by the fact that the National Office will no longer be issuing determination letters.
Lloyd Mayer
