RFPA exception may support Federal Reserve information request

Plain-English summary

This brief email addresses a Federal Reserve information request under the Right to Financial Privacy Act. The writer believed the exception in section 3413 could supply the requested explanation of why the Act did not apply, while noting that the exception was more commonly used with information obtained through Title 26 summons procedures. The writer also believed IRS protections for return information would exceed the Act's privacy protections. The email left open whether the recipient could accept a commitment not to disclose the requested information outside the agency without written permission.

Ruling snapshot

• Question: Can the IRS rely on an RFPA exception and accept the requested nondisclosure condition for Federal Reserve information?
• Outcome: Advice given
• Key authorities: Right to Financial Privacy Act § 3413; Title 26 summons procedures

Full text (IRS public release)

ID: CCA-06031123-15 [Third Party Communication:

UILC: 75.12.00-00 Date of Communication: Month DD, YYYY]

Number: 201536018
Release Date: 9/4/2015
From: ----------------
Sent: Wednesday, June 3, 2015 11:23 AM
To: ------------------------
Subject: FW: Assistance with privacy question

I don’t have any actual experience in dealing with the Federal Reserve, but my reading of item 6 and the
exception found in section 3413 finds that it would serve as “a statement as to why the Act does not
apply to the request.” I believe, however, that the exception is most often used in conjunction with
summonsed information for which particular procedures are set forth in Title 26 . As to protecting the
information, I don’t see that requirement enumerated below, but the protections that the IRS accords
return information would more than satisfy any protections accorded by the RFPA.

Question for you, are you okay with the requirement in item 5 which states: “A commitment that the
information requested shall not be disclosed to any person outside the agency without the written
permission of the Board or its General Counsel.”

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