Disclosure of Return Information by Certain Officers and Employees for Investigative Purposes

This document contains temporary regulations relating to the disclosure of return information pursuant to section 6103(k)(6) of the Internal Revenue Code. The temporary regulations describe the circumstances under which officers or employees of the IRS, the IRS Office of Chief Counsel, and the Office of Treasury Inspector General for Tax Administration (TIGTA), in connection with official duties relating to any examination, administrative appeal, collection activity, administrative, civil, or criminal investigation, enforcement activity, ruling, negotiated agreement, prefiling activity, or other proceeding or offense under the internal revenue laws or related statutes, or in preparation for any proceeding described in section 6103(h)(2) (or investigation which may result in such a proceeding), may disclose return information to the extent necessary to obtain information relating to such official duties or to accomplish properly any activity connected with such official duties. The temporary regulations amend the existing regulations to clarify and elaborate on the facts and circumstances in which disclosure pursuant to section 6103(k)(6) is authorized. The temporary regulations clarify that IRS and TIGTA officers and employees make the determination, based on the facts and circumstances, at the time of the disclosure, whether a disclosure is necessary to obtain the information sought, and that section 6103(k)(6) does not affect the authority or decision of IRS and TIGTA officers and employees to initiate, or to conduct, an investigation, or to determine the nature of the investigation. The temporary regulations clarify that the return information of any taxpayer, not only the taxpayer under investigation, may be disclosed when necessary to obtain the information sought in an investigation. The temporary regulations clarify that section 6103(k)(6) permits IRS and TIGTA officers and employees to identify themselves, their organizational affiliation with the IRS (e.g.,