As U.S. lawmakers investigate actions by the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) that may have targeted conservative nonprofit groups, some of the fact-finding, reports Bloomberg, is being hampered by Section 6103 of the tax code, which establishes taxpayer privacy rights. Passed by Congress in 1976 after it came to light that Richard Nixon wanted to audit his political opponents, 6103 creates an assumption that taxpayer information is private unless it is needed for a specific investigation targeted at that individual. In the case of the current probe, since it is the IRS, itself, that is under investigation, many congressional questions can’t be answered directly by the IRS, as the answers involve private taxpayer information.
Full Story