Tax Analysts v Internal Revenue Service
AI-generated text. This page was generated using artificial intelligence.
Tax Analysts v. Internal Revenue Service concerns a Freedom of Information Act request for data cards used by IRS artificial-intelligence models to select complex partnerships for audit. In an October 14, 2026 memorandum opinion and order, Judge Christopher R. Cooper accepted the agency’s protection of sensitive audit-selection information but found its explanation for withholding the records in full inadequate.[1]
Request and litigation
According to the opinion, Tax Analysts requested structured summaries describing aspects of datasets used by the agency’s AI models. The IRS denied the request in full under FOIA Exemption 7(E), explaining that disclosure could reveal its methods, criteria and analytical approaches for identifying taxpayers for compliance review. Tax Analysts sued, and the IRS sought summary judgment in ECF 16.[1] The complaint was filed on May 8, 2025.[2]
October 14, 2026 opinion and order
Protected audit-selection information
Tax Analysts did not dispute that Exemption 7(E) protected sensitive information in the data cards. The court treated that point as conceded and also accepted the IRS’s explanation that revealing model thresholds, parameters and internal audit-selection logic could allow taxpayers to adjust their reporting to evade detection. It found the foreseeable-harm requirement satisfied.[1]
Segregability
The court distinguished protection of some information from justification for withholding entire records. The IRS’s three-page declaration said sensitive information was intertwined throughout, but the agency supplied no Vaughn index and insufficient detail about the records’ format, length or distribution of non-exempt information. The court therefore could not make the required findings on whether reasonably segregable portions could be disclosed.[1]
Rather than immediately requiring the court to examine the records privately, the order gives the IRS another opportunity to justify its position. It requires a supplemental Vaughn index and/or declaration by November 4, 2026. With that filing the IRS may renew its summary-judgment motion on segregability; Tax Analysts must oppose and/or cross-move within 30 days after any renewed motion.[1]
The decision grants the IRS’s motion in part and denies it in part without prejudice. It does not order immediate release of the complete data cards or reject Exemption 7(E).[1]
Related coverage
References
- ↑ 1.00 1.01 1.02 1.03 1.04 1.05 1.06 1.07 1.08 1.09 1.10 1.11 1.12 1.13 1.14 Tax Analysts v. Internal Revenue Service, No. 25-cv-1409 (CRC) (D.D.C.), memorandum opinion and order, ECF 21, October 14, 2026, pp. 1–7 (original PDF).
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 D.D.C., Tax Analysts v. Internal Revenue Service, No. 1:25-cv-01409, docket entries reproduced by Justia, May 8, 2025 complaint entry; snapshot labeled retrieved October 14, 2026.