AMERICAN SOCIETY FOR TESTING AND MATERIALS et al v. PUBLIC.RESOURCE.ORG, INC.

Filing 204

LARGE ADDITIONAL ATTACHMENT(S) to Public Resource's Second Motion for Summary Judgment by PUBLIC.RESOURCE.ORG, INC. 202 MOTION for Summary Judgment filed by PUBLIC.RESOURCE.ORG, INC., 203 SEALED MOTION FOR LEAVE TO FILE DOCUMENT UNDER SEAL filed by PUBLIC.RESOURCE.ORG, INC. (This document is SEALED and only available to authorized persons.) filed by PUBLIC.RESOURCE.ORG, INC.. (Attachments: # 1 Public Resources Statement of Disputed Facts, # 2 Public Resources Evidentiary Objections, # 3 Public Resources Request for Judicial Notice, # 4 Declaration Carl Malamud, # 5 Declaration Matthew Becker, # 6 Consolidated Index of Exhibits, # 7 Exhibit 1, # 8 Exhibit 2, # 9 Exhibit 3, # 10 Exhibit 4, # 11 Exhibit 5, # 12 Exhibit 6, # 13 Exhibit 7, # 14 Exhibit 8, # 15 Exhibit 9, # 16 Exhibit 10, # 17 Exhibit 11, # 18 Exhibit 12, # 19 Exhibit 13, # 20 Exhibit 14, # 21 Exhibit 15, # 22 Exhibit 16, # 23 Exhibit 17, # 24 Exhibit 18, # 25 Exhibit 19, # 26 Exhibit 20, # 27 Exhibit 21, # 28 Exhibit 22, # 29 Exhibit 23, # 30 Exhibit 24, # 31 Exhibit 25, # 32 Exhibit 26, # 33 Exhibit 27, # 34 Exhibit 28, # 35 Exhibit 29, # 36 Exhibit 30, # 37 Exhibit 31, # 38 Exhibit 32, # 39 Exhibit 33, # 40 Exhibit 34, # 41 Exhibit 35, # 42 Exhibit 36, # 43 Exhibit 37, # 44 Exhibit 38, # 45 Exhibit 39, # 46 Exhibit 40, # 47 Exhibit 41, # 48 Exhibit 42, # 49 Exhibit 43, # 50 Exhibit 44, # 51 Exhibit 45, # 52 Exhibit 46, # 53 Exhibit 47, # 54 Exhibit 48, # 55 Exhibit 49, # 56 Exhibit 50, # 57 Exhibit 51, # 58 Exhibit 52, # 59 Exhibit 53, # 60 Exhibit 54, # 61 Exhibit 55, # 62 Exhibit 56, # 63 Exhibit 57, # 64 Exhibit 58, # 65 Exhibit 59, # 66 Exhibit 60, # 67 Exhibit 61, # 68 Exhibit 62, # 69 Exhibit 63, # 70 Exhibit 64, # 71 Exhibit 65, # 72 Exhibit 66, # 73 Exhibit 67, # 74 Exhibit 68, # 75 Exhibit 69, # 76 Exhibit 70, # 77 Exhibit 71, # 78 Exhibit 72, # 79 Exhibit 73, # 80 Exhibit 74, # 81 Exhibit 75, # 82 Exhibit 76, # 83 Exhibit 77, # 84 Exhibit 78, # 85 Exhibit 79, # 86 Exhibit 80, # 87 Exhibit 81, # 88 Exhibit 82, # 89 Exhibit 83, # 90 Exhibit 84, # 91 Exhibit 85, # 92 Exhibit 86, # 93 Exhibit 87, # 94 Exhibit 88, # 95 Exhibit 89, # 96 Exhibit 90, # 97 Exhibit 91, # 98 Exhibit 92, # 99 Exhibit 93, # 100 Exhibit 94, # 101 Exhibit 95, # 102 Exhibit 96, # 103 Exhibit 97, # 104 Certificate of Service)(Bridges, Andrew)

EXHIBIT 15

IRS Plans to Begin Releasing Electronic Nonprofit Tax Forms Next Year ... https://www.philanthropy.com/article/IRS-Plans-to-Begin-Releasing/231265

1 of 4

The Internal Revenue Service said today it is working on a technology that should allow it to
release electronic versions of Form 990 tax filings by early 2016, a move that would make it far
easier for the public to search for information about nonprofit finances and operations.
The announcement follows a court ruling that ordered the agency to produce nine nonprofit tax
forms in machine-readable format in a legal battle with Public.Resource.Org, an open-records
advocacy group headed by Carl Malamud.
"The IRS has been actively considering how to incorporate new technology into its exemptorganization-return processing capabilities in order to better support the exempt organizations
and those who use the Forms 990 data," it said in a statement.
It said the technology, which will make electronically filed forms available in machine-readable
format, "will ensure that sensitive or personally identifiable information continues to be
protected from public distribution." The agency had argued in the court case that Mr. Malamud’s
request would create a significant burden on an overstretched agency, which would have to train
people how to remove the confidential information in the new format.
Mr. Malamud, who has been coordinating an effort to pressure the IRS to release its database of
electronically filed Forms 990 by getting media organizations and nonprofits to file Freedom of
Information Act requests, called the move "promising."
But he said he hopes the agency will release historical documents, not just those filed in the
future. "We need a set of returns over time to do proper analysis, so release of all the e-file data
collected in 2014 and 2015 in addition to the new data collected in 2016 would be a wonderful
solution and would be a huge boon to those that want to analyze the performance of the nonprofit
sector," he said in an email.

10/29/19, 10:24 AM

IRS Plans to Begin Releasing Electronic Nonprofit Tax Forms Next Year ... https://www.philanthropy.com/article/IRS-Plans-to-Begin-Releasing/231265

2 of 4

More than half of Forms 990, the informational returns that nonprofits must submit annually,
are now filed electronically. But the IRS strips them of confidential information and converts
them into image files, just as it does with the forms filed manually. That makes it hard to conduct
digital operations like searches of multiple forms for specific words or phrases.
More than a dozen media outlets and nonprofits have filed Freedom of Information Act requests
for Form 990 tax filings in "modernized e-file format" for use in reporting projects.
They include The Chronicle of Philanthropy, The Chronicle of Higher Education, BuzzFeed, the Center
for Investigative Reporting, the Center for Public Integrity, ProPublica, The Washington Post, and
Vox.
Mr. Malamud hopes to get enough requests to persuade the IRS to open up the electronic files. "If
enough of these go in, that will signify to the IRS that people care about the issue and it’s not just
me," he says. "And it will be cheaper and easier just to release the whole database than to train
the IRS staff how to handle these FOIAs."
Mr. Malamud said he will keep the FOIA campaign going until he is certain the agency will release
older Forms 990. (An IRS spokesman said he would investigate that question.)
The Chronicle of Philanthropy requested forms for 10 charities to use in its annual review of the
biggest 400 charities, including Feeding America, Save the Children, and the Silicon Valley
Community Foundation. The Chronicle of Higher Education asked for the forms for 10 big
universities to inform its reporting on executive compensation.
The Washington Post requested tax filings for nonprofits that include the Bill, Hillary, & Chelsea
Clinton Foundation, International Relief and Development, and the National Football League.
The Center for Public Integrity zeroed in on a number of advocacy groups, including Americans
for Prosperity, Americans for Tax Reform, and Naral Pro-Choice America. BuzzFeed requested
filings for five groups, including the Cancer Fund of America, the subject of a lawsuit by the
Federal Trade Commission and all 50 states. BuzzFeed said its request could "help shed light on
the operations of the IRS when it comes to detecting and combating fraud."
Mr. Malamud is seeking help from nonprofits and foundations, urging those that have filed their
forms electronically to submit "FOIA Selfies" asking the IRS to release their e-data.
Several have already done so, including Code for America Labs, Demand Progress Action, and the
Open Government Foundation. Public.Resource.Org has compiled all of the FOIA requests on one
site.

10/29/19, 10:24 AM

IRS Plans to Begin Releasing Electronic Nonprofit Tax Forms Next Year ... https://www.philanthropy.com/article/IRS-Plans-to-Begin-Releasing/231265

3 of 4

An IRS advisory panel this month urged the agency to require all nonprofits to file their 990s
electronically.

The IRS has been actively considering the district court’s ruling in the Public.Resource.Org
case, where the district court ordered the IRS to produce electronic versions of the publicly
available portions of nine exempt organization returns (Forms 990) in MEF, Metadata
Exchange Format (or machine-readable format). Machine-readable is not a format that the
IRS has historically used to make Forms 990 available. The IRS did produce the Forms 990,
but those forms were manually processed in order to comply with the court’s ruling.
The IRS has been actively considering how to incorporate new technology into its exempt
organization return processing capabilities in order to better support the exempt
organizations and those who use the Forms 990 data. The IRS has made substantial progress
in developing a technology solution that, when perfected, will allow the IRS to provide
electronically-filed Forms 990 in a machine-readable format. This solution will ensure that
sensitive or personally identifiable information continues to be protected from public
distribution. The IRS expects that this technology solution should be in place in early 2016.
Currently, when the IRS distributes Forms 990 series information under section 6104 or the
FOIA, it includes all information and documents (other than information that must be
restricted under section 6103 or is PII) submitted by the exempt organization. When the IRS
begins to provide the e-filed Form 990 data in machine-readable format, as described above,
it will stop including extraneous information provided by exempt organizations when they
file their Forms 990 series. Extraneous information includes information that is not required
by the Forms 990 series and related schedules.

Send an email to Suzanne Perry.

10/29/19, 10:24 AM

IRS Plans to Begin Releasing Electronic Nonprofit Tax Forms Next Year ... https://www.philanthropy.com/article/IRS-Plans-to-Begin-Releasing/231265

4 of 4

10/29/19, 10:24 AM