PRESS RELEASE: IRS Uses Tax Day to Stonewall FOIA Request on Political TARGETING
WASHINGTON, D.C. — As millions of Americans rushed to meet their annual tax filing deadline, the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) chose Tax Day to inform the Alliance for IRS Accountability (AIA) that it will not—and likely cannot—fulfill a Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) request filed by AIA seeking records and communications surrounding the IRS’s pass-through audit unit.
The IRS has formally asked for an extension past its original statutory deadline of May 1, 2025. However, in the same letter, the agency admits it still won’t be able to produce the requested records by the extended deadline of May 15, 2025, and may not be able to do so by the end of October. The FOIA request in question seeks communications involving IRS Large Business and International (LB&I) Division Commissioner Holly Paz and a senior pass-through audit counsel who recently left the agency, regarding the creation and activities of a controversial enforcement unit accused of targeting conservative-leaning businesses.
“It’s no coincidence that the IRS found time to send their reply on Tax Day. The response is a brushoff that symbolizes their disdain for hardworking taxpayers,” said Chuck Flint, Executive Director of the Alliance for IRS Accountability. “The agency openly mocks President Trump and Conservatives. Now it's attempting to strong-arm AIA into narrowing our FOIA request by threatening an inability to even provide records. We’ve seen this IRS playbook before, and AIA will not stop until there is accountability.”
The IRS’s pass-through audit unit is a political hit squad that operates with little public oversight and no explicit statutory authorization. The unit has been tied to Holly Paz—best known for her involvement in the Obama-era Tea Party targeting scandal. AIA’s FOIA request is aimed at exposing whether the same political abuses that embroiled the IRS a decade ago are still festering at the agency today.
The Alliance for IRS Accountability will continue to demand full IRS compliance with federal transparency laws and pursue every legal and public avenue necessary to eliminate the biased and duplicative pass-through audit unit and probe potential political targeting by unaccountable bureaucrats.
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BACKGROUND
The Alliance for IRS Accountability (AIA) is dedicated to protecting taxpayers and small businesses. The IRS is broken and operates with unchecked power. This has led to abusive enforcement practices and regulatory overreach that has unfairly targeted hard-working American taxpayers and business owners. AIA is building a broad alliance that will create a fair, transparent, and law-abiding agency that is accountable to individual Americans and businesses.
MEDIA CONTACT
Chuck Flint, Executive Director of the Alliance for IRS Accountability