§7217 — Title 26 Internal Revenue Code | U.S. Code

Summary

Senior executive branch officials are barred from asking the IRS, directly or indirectly, to start or stop an audit or investigation of any particular taxpayer. The ban covers the President, the Vice President, their executive office staff, and Cabinet-level officials, though not the Attorney General. Any IRS employee who gets such a request must report it to the Treasury Inspector General for Tax Administration. There are narrow exceptions: requests forwarded on behalf of the taxpayer personally, lawful requests for tax information under the disclosure rules, and requests by the Treasury Secretary that come from carrying out a change in tax policy. Willfully violating the ban, or failing to report a prohibited request, is a crime punishable by a fine of up to $5,000, up to 5 years in prison, or both, plus prosecution costs.

Title 26, §7217

Internal Revenue Code — Source: USLM XML via OLRC

(a)It shall be unlawful for any applicable person to request, directly or indirectly, any officer or employee of the Internal Revenue Service to conduct or terminate an audit or other investigation of any particular taxpayer with respect to the tax liability of such taxpayer.

(b)Any officer or employee of the Internal Revenue Service receiving any request prohibited by subsection (a) shall report the receipt of such request to the Treasury Inspector General for Tax Administration.

(c)Subsection (a) shall not apply to any written request made—

(1)to an applicable person by or on behalf of the taxpayer and forwarded by such applicable person to the Internal Revenue Service;

(2)by an applicable person for disclosure of return or return information under section 6103 if such request is made in accordance with the requirements of such section; or

(3)by the Secretary of the Treasury as a consequence of the implementation of a change in tax policy.

(d)Any person who willfully violates subsection (a) or fails to report under subsection (b) shall be punished upon conviction by a fine in any amount not exceeding $5,000, or imprisonment of not more than 5 years, or both, together with the costs of prosecution.

(e)For purposes of this section, the term “applicable person” means—

(1)the President, the Vice President, any employee of the executive office of the President, and any employee of the executive office of the Vice President; and

(2)any individual (other than the Attorney General of the United States) serving in a position specified in section 5312 of title 5, United States Code.

Notes & Related Subsidiaries

Editorial Notes

Prior Provisions

A prior section 7217, added Pub. L. 94–455, title XII, § 1202(e)(1), Oct. 4, 1976, 90 Stat. 1687; amended Pub. L. 95–600, title VII, § 701(bb)(7), Nov. 6, 1978, 92 Stat. 2923, related to civil damages for unauthorized disclosure of returns and return information, prior to repeal by Pub. L. 97–248, title III, § 357(b)(1), (c), Sept. 3, 1982, 96 Stat. 646, applicable with respect to disclosures made after Sept. 3, 1982.

Statutory Notes and Related Subsidiaries

Effective Date

Pub. L. 105–206, title I, § 1105(c), July 22, 1998, 112 Stat. 711, provided that: “The

Amendments

made by this section [enacting this section] shall apply to requests made after the date of the enactment of this Act [July 22, 1998].”

§7217 Prohibition on Executive Branch Influence Over Taxpayer Audits and Other Investigations