26 U.S.C. § 6104 — Publicity of information required from certain exempt organizations and certain trusts

(a) Inspection of applications and notices. (1)(A) If a section 501(c) or (d) organization is tax-exempt under section 501(a), or a political organization is exempt under section 527, its exemption application or section 527(i) status notice, supporting papers, and IRS letters or documents must be open for public inspection at the IRS national office. For applications or notices filed after this subparagraph was enacted, copies must also be open at the appropriate IRS field office. The Secretary^* sets the time and method by regulation. After an organization’s section 501(a) application is open, the Secretary must, on request, state which section 501 subsection and paragraph describes the organization. (B) The following must be open at times and places set by the Secretary: applications for qualification of pension, profit-sharing, or stock^*-bonus plans under section 401(a) or 403(a); applications for individual retirement accounts under section 408(a) or annuities under section 408(b); applications for section 501(a) exemption by organizations forming part of those plans or accounts; supporting papers; and IRS letters or documents about the qualification or exemption. Except for a plan participant, this does not apply to a plan with 25 or fewer participants. (C) For those plan or account papers, information that would reveal an individual’s compensation, including deferred compensation, must not be open under (B). (D) At the organization’s request, the Secretary must withhold information in supporting papers that concerns its trade secret, patent, process, work style, or apparatus if disclosure would harm the organization. The Secretary must also withhold information whose disclosure would harm national defense. (2) Section 6103(f) applies to the listed applications, notices, and related papers as though they were tax returns, so congressional committees may inspect them under that section. (3)(A) The Secretary must publish on the Internet and at IRS offices a list of all political organizations filing section 527(i) notices, together with each organization’s name, address, electronic-mail address, records custodian, and contact person. (B) The Secretary must publish this information within 5 business days after receiving the notice.
(b) Inspection of annual returns. Information required under sections 6033, 6034, and 6058, and the organizations’ and trusts’ names and addresses, must be made public at times and places set by the Secretary. This does not authorize disclosure of a contributor’s name or address, except for a private foundation^* or a political organization exempt under section 527. For a section 501(d) organization, this does not apply to section 6031(b) copies. For a trust filing under section 6034(a), it does not apply to information about beneficiaries that are not organizations described in section 170(c). A section 501(c)(3) organization’s section 6011 annual return concerning section 511 tax is treated as information furnished under section 6033. An annual return that section 6033(n) requires to be filed electronically must be made public as soon as practicable in machine-readable form.
(c) Publication to State officials. (1) For a section 501(c)(3) organization that is exempt under section 501(a), or has applied under section 508(a) for recognition, the Secretary must, as regulations provide, notify the appropriate State officer of a refusal to recognize it, or of operation that fails or no longer meets exemption requirements; notify that officer when a deficiency^* notice is mailed for tax under section 507 or chapter 41 or 42; and, at the officer’s request, make relevant returns, statements, records, reports, and other information available for inspection and copying for State-law determinations. (2)(A) For such an organization, the Secretary may disclose a proposed refusal or revocation notice, a proposed deficiency letter for section 507 or chapter 41 or 42 tax, and the names, addresses, and taxpayer^* identification numbers of applicants for section 501(c)(3) recognition. (B) Related returns and return information may be made available to or disclosed to an appropriate State officer. (C) Disclosure or inspection under (A) or (B) requires the officer’s written request and may be only for, and only as needed to administer, State laws regulating the organizations. Another recipient must be a designated State officer or employee^* receiving the information for that officer. (D) The Secretary may disclose such returns or information without a request if the Secretary finds they may be evidence of noncompliance within the State officer’s authority. (3) On written request, the Secretary may disclose returns and return information of other section 501(c) organizations, except those covered by paragraphs (1) or (3), only as needed to administer State laws regulating their solicitation or administration of charitable funds or assets. A non-State-officer recipient must be a designated State officer or employee. (4) Information disclosed under this subsection may be used in related civil administrative or judicial proceedings under procedures similar to section 6103(h)(4). (5) No disclosure is allowed to the extent the Secretary finds it would seriously impair Federal tax administration. (6)(A) “Return” and “return information” have the meanings in section 6103(b). (B) “Appropriate State officer” means the State attorney general^*, State tax officer, another State official overseeing section 501(c)(3)-type organizations, or, for paragraph (3), the head of an agency designated by the attorney general as primarily responsible for overseeing charitable fundraising.
(d) Public inspection by organizations. (1) A section 501(c) or (d) organization exempt under section 501(a), or a section 527(a) organization, must keep available during regular business hours at its principal office, and at each regularly maintained regional or district office with at least 3 employees, copies of its section 6033 annual return, its relevant section 6011 section 511-tax return, its section 501 exemption application materials or section 527(i) notice materials if filed, and its section 527(j) reports. On an individual’s in-person or written request, it must provide copies without charge except reasonable reproduction and mailing costs. It must provide an in-person request immediately and a written request within 30 days. (2) The annual-return requirement applies only during the 3 years beginning on the last filing date, including extensions. (3)(A) A non-private-foundation and non-section-527 organization need not disclose a contributor’s name or address. A section 501(d) organization need not disclose the section 6031(b) copies. (B) Information withheld under (a)(1)(D) need not be disclosed. (4) The copying duty does not apply when regulations say the documents are widely available, or when the Secretary finds on the organization’s application that the request is part of a harassment campaign and compliance is not in the public interest. (5) “Exempt status application materials” means the section 501 application, supporting papers, and IRS letters or documents about it. (6) “Notice materials” means the section 527(i) notice, supporting papers, and IRS letters or documents about it. (7) Reports filed under section 527(j) must be made public at times and places set by the Secretary. (8) The organizations listed in section 6033(d)(1) and (2) must follow these annual-return rules in the same way as organizations in paragraph (1).