Demand for FOIA reached another record high in fiscal 2023 government wide. Image: Tada Images/Shutterstock.com
By: FEDweek StaffThe IRS has improved in its compliance with Freedom of Information Act requests, says an inspector general audit which said that the agency’s disclosure office had legitimate grounds for withholding information in a sample of 99 instances in which requests were fully or partially denied.
In contrast, the IG noted that in a prior report it questioned the withholding of information in 11 cases from 2022 out of a sample of 83.
The report noted that law allows taxpayers or designees to request and receive their specific documents and information, but that there are exceptions from disclosure for law enforcement-related reasons.
The disclosure office has the main responsibility for responding to such requests, it added, although other IRS offices having custody of taxpayer records may also process requests.
It said that the one case it questioned in the latest review resulted from human error, and “because this error was not systemic in nature, we did not make a recommendation for this issue.”
According to the Justice Department, based on data uploaded to FOIA.gov, demand for FOIA reached another record high in fiscal 2023, surpassing 1.1 million requests received and reflecting a nearly 30% increase compared to fiscal 2022.
Agencies processed a record high of 1,122,166 requests. Federal departments and agencies are required by law to submit a report to the Attorney General detailing various statistics regarding their agency’s FOIA activities, such as the numbers of requests processed and received, and the time taken to process them, Justice noted.
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