| Type | Nonprofit |
|---|---|
| Founded | 1970 |
| Headquarters | Falls Church, Virginia, United States |
| Website | taxanalysts.com |
Tax Analysts is a nonprofit publisher of weekly magazines and daily online journals on tax policy and administration. Tax Analysts also promotes transparency in tax policymaking and holds regular conferences on key tax issues.
Contents |
Thomas F. Field founded Tax Analysts in 1970 as part of an effort to expose tax policymaking to the general public at a time when it was being heavily influenced by special interests. The organization provided analysis on prominent policy debates, offered congressional testimony on proposed legislation and published op-eds that could reach a broader audience.[1] But within 10 years, the group had shifted focus and become the country's foremost provider of unbiased tax information with a style that since come to be regarded by tax professionals as "the epitome of hard-nosed impartiality."[2]
The organization underwent a restructuring at the end of 2001 as it sought to deal with globalization, technological advances and increased competition in the tax publishing arena. In 2001, Field retired from Tax Analysts and was succeeded by Christopher Bergin, who had until then been the editor Tax Notes, the organization's flagship publication.[1]
Since its inception, the organization has grown dramatically in size and scope, moving from a lightweight nonprofit to a global publisher with correspondents across the country and around the globe providing information for some 150,000 readers worldwide.[1][3]
Tax Analysts says it has the “largest tax-dedicated correspondent staff” of any organization, with more than 250 correspondents in the United States and around the world.[3] Overseeing this staff is the organization’s president and publisher, Christopher E. Bergin, who took the reins from founder Thomas Field in 2001.[4]
Besides Bergin, the Tax Analysts board of directors includes:[5]
The primary vehicle by which Tax Analysts pursues its goals is the publication of various weekly magazines covering legislative, administrative and judicial developments in tax law. Those publications include:
The organization also publishes several reference sources, including:
The TA mission statement calls for a commitment to “working for the transparency of tax rules, fostering increased dialogue between taxing authorities and taxpayers, and providing forums for education and debate." To those ends, the organization carries out several other functions beyond its publishing efforts.
First, it has extensive time and effort to ensure public access to key documents in tax policy and administration. When necessary, it has sued the IRS for access to documents through which the agency provides guidance to its staff and individual taxpayers. Using the Freedom of Information Act, Tax Analysts fought for access to key documents in tax policy and administration. In 1972, the organization sued the Internal Revenue Service for access to private letter rulings (PLRs) and technical advice memorandums (TAMs) — crucial guidance documents that provided legal advice to specific taxpayers and IRS field agents.[1][2]
Over the years, this guidance had become a sort of “secret law” whereby the IRS decided how to apply the law to particular taxpayers and then refused to make the terms public. This practice left other taxpayers at a disadvantage, since the IRS relied on existing secret guidance when deciding subsequent cases. At the same time, it gave an unfair advantage to a few large law and accounting firms that had joined forces to create a private library of these undisclosed materials.[1][2]
The courts gave Tax Analysts access to PLRs, and Congress soon required public disclosure of TAMs as well. Those key victories provided the foundation for almost 40 years of subsequent litigation by Tax Analysts to defend disclosure and tax transparency. The organization continues to work for transparency in the administration of the tax law and recently forced the IRS to disclose guidance being sent to IRS field agents via email.[1][2][16]
| Date | Action | Case Number |
|---|---|---|
| March 26, 2009 | Stipulated Order Entered in Chief Counsel Two-Hour Advice Case | Tax Analysts v. IRS; No. 1-05-cv-00934
(D.C. Cir. March 26, 2009) |
| July 24, 2007 | D.C. Circuit Courts Affirms Two-Hour Rule Decision in favor of Tax Analysts | Tax Analysts v. IRS; No. 06-5136
(D.C. Cir. July 24, 2007) |
| November 20, 2006 | Tax Analysts files a FOIA suit against the IRS asking the agency to comply with "monthly performance reports" | Tax Analysts et al. v. IRS; No. 1:06CV01983 |
| February 27, 2006 | The District Court for the District of Columbia determines that the IRS Office of Chief Counsel's written advice prepared in less than two hours is advice subject to section 6110's public inspection requirements, but that some IRS records are exempt from FOIA disclosure because they are predecisional and deliberative. | Tax Analysts v. IRS; No. 05-0934.2 |
| May 10, 2005 | Tax Analysts files a FOIA suit against the IRS seeking disclosure of Chief Counsel Advice Memos | Tax Analysts v. IRS; No. 05-0934 |
| June 25, 2004 | Tax Analysts Files FOIA Action for Release of Withheld Chief Counsel Advice Memorandums | Tax Analysts v. IRS; No. 1:04CV01050 |
| December 2, 2003 | The District of Columbia Circuit, reversing the district court, holds that the IRS must disclose determinations revoking or denying tax exemptions. | Tax Analysts v. IRS; No. 02-5278 |
| August 27, 2002 | District Court Denies FOIA Request for Letter Rulings Denying or Revoking Tax-Exempt Status | Tax Analysts v. IRS; No. 00-2914 (RMU) |
Tax Analysts also sponsors regular conferences – up to a half-dozen a year – on key issues in tax policy and administration. Through these events, Tax Analysts gathers tax experts from the Treasury Department, IRS, Congress, law and lobbying firms, think tanks, and academic institutions to discuss issues and bridge differences among experts from different ideological perspectives.[1]
Tax Analysts also sponsors a free web site, Tax.com, where some of its leading writers blog frequently about the tax issues of the day. This site also provides other content as well.
After years of providing the latest news on tax policy, TA launched the Tax History Project in 1995 to provide historical information, as well. The project provides access to web-based documentary publications, original historical research, access to tax returns filed by U.S. presidents and other archival data.