Public.resource.org
Public.resource.org v. United States Internal Revenue Service
Opinion
Lead Opinion
Orrick, J.
Re: Dkt. No.
ORDER DENYING DEFENDANT’S MOTION TO DISMISS
INTRODUCTION
This motion to dismiss presents the question of whether the Freedom of Information Act (“FOIA”) is superseded by section 6104 of the Internal Revenue Code, a previously enacted disclosure statute concerning Form 990 filings. Public.Re *1214 source.org (“PRO”) seeks the tax return data of several nonprofit organizations in “machine-readable format.” The United States Internal Revenue Service (“IRS”) refuses because it contends that FOIA is superseded by section 6104 and its internal rules for releasing the requested data. Because of the breadth of FOIA’s disclosure requirements, which has been repeatedly upheld by the courts, and the inapplicability of the cases on which the IRS relies, there is no basis to conclude that FOIA is superseded by section 6104. The IRS’s motion is DENIED.
BACKGROUND
On March 11, 2013, PRO submitted a request for tax return data to the IRS pursuant to FOIA, 5 U.S.C. § 552 . PRO requested the Form 990 filings of nine tax-exempt organizations from 2011, specifically in Modernized e-File (MeF) format or “any other machine-readable format.” Complaint, Ex. F. The IRS uses the MeF…