Request for Public Inspection or Copy of Exempt or Political Organization IRS Form

Instructions for Form 4506-A

Department of the Treasury
Internal Revenue Service

(Rev. December 2011)

Request for Public Inspection or Copy of Exempt or Political Organization IRS
Form
Section references are to the Internal Revenue Code unless
otherwise noted.

What’s New

• You can order sample CDs and/or DVDs of Forms 1024, 990,
990-EZ, 990-PF, and 990-T.
• The IRS has created a page on IRS.gov for information about
Form 4506-A and its instructions, at www.irs.gov/form4506.
Information about any recent developments affecting Form
4506-A (such as legislation enacted after we release it) will be
posted on that page.

General Instructions
Purpose of Form
Use Form 4506-A to request under section 6104:
• A copy of an exempt or political organization’s return, report,
notice, or exemption application, or
• An inspection of a return, report, notice, or exemption
application at an IRS office.
You do not have to complete Form 4506-A to get copies of
the following forms.
• Form 8871, Political Organization Notice of Section 527
Status, and Form 8872, Political Organization Report of
Contributions and Expenditures, are available for inspection
and printing from the Internet. The website address for both
forms is www.irs.gov/polorgs.
• Exempt or political organizations must make their returns,
reports, notices, and exempt applications available for public
inspection. You can visit the organization to inspect the material
instead of requesting it from the IRS. The organization may be
able to mail the copies to you.
• You may request images of Form 990-N (e-Postcard) filings
at www.irs.gov/app/ePostcard.
An organization, or its officers, may request a copy of
the organization’s own return on Form 4506-A.
CAUTION However, they will only receive the copy that is “Open
for Public Inspection.” The publicly available copy will not
include, for example, information that may identify a contributor
and documents that were filed with the return, but are not open
to public inspection. An organization, or its officers, may request
a complete copy of the organization’s own return by completing
Form 4506, Request for Copy of Tax Return, and paying the
applicable fee.

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CD and DVD
The IRS can provide copies of exempt organization returns on
CD and/or DVD. Requesters can order the complete set (for
example, all Forms 990 and 990-EZ or all Forms 990-PF filed
for a year) or a partial set by state or by month. If you are
ordering a partial set on CD or DVD, indicate the format
(Alchemy or raw), state(s), and month(s) you are ordering.
Sample CD or DVD requests are not available for individual
states. CDs and/or DVDs and sample CDs and/or DVDs are not
available for individual exempt organizations. Complete
information, including the cost, is available on the IRS website.
Feb 03, 2012

Search Copies of Scanned EO Returns Available at www.irs.
gov.

Formats
Alchemy. CDs and DVDs contain image files associated in an
Alchemy database to simplify visual searching of the tax
returns. All required Alchemy software is provided. This format
is best for users who wish to examine returns visually.
Individual state CDs and DVDs are only available in Alchemy
format.
Raw. CDs and DVDs contain image files in Tag Image File
(TIF) format for returns selected for the month or quarter
requested. This format is best for users who intend to process
the image files through their data software.

How Much Will It Cost?
You may inspect a return, report, notice, or exemption
application at an IRS office free of charge.
If you want a photocopy of a return, report, notice, or an
exemption application, see the chart below.
Note. The IRS will send you a bill for the photocopy cost. If
your cost is over $250, we will ask for payment in advance.
IF you are. . .

THEN the charge for paper
copies is . . .

A commercial user

$ .20 per page

An educational institution, media,
non-commercial scientific
institution, or all other requesters

First 100 pages free,
$ .20 per page thereafter

CD and/or DVD requests and sample CD and/or DVD
requests must be prepaid. Please include your payment with
your request. Search Copies of Scanned EO Returns Available
at www.irs.gov for the cost of CDs and/or DVDs and sample
CDs and/or DVDs. A check or money order for the fee should
be payable to “United States Treasury.”

Where To File
Use the following chart to determine where to fax or mail
(depending on the service needed) Form 4506-A.
IF you want . . .

THEN file Form 4506-A
with the . . .

To inspect a return, report, notice,
or exemption application at an IRS
office*

Internal Revenue Service
Disclosure Scanning Operation Stop 93A
P.O. Box 621506,
Atlanta, GA 30362-3006

To inspect a return, report, notice,
or exemption application at IRS
National Headquarters

Internal Revenue Service
Attn.: Freedom of Information
Reading Room
1111 Constitution Avenue NW
Washington, DC 20224

Cat. No. 51552X

A copy of an exemption application Internal Revenue Service
(includes all supporting
Attn: Correspondence Unit
documents)
P.O. Box 2508, Room 4024
Cincinnati, OH 45201
Fax no. 513-263-3434
A copy of a return,
report, or notice

Privacy Act and Paperwork Reduction Act Notice. We ask
for the information on this form to carry out the Internal
Revenue laws of the United States. We need the information to
gain access to the return or other exempt or political
organization IRS form you requested in our files and properly
respond to your request.
The authority to ask for the information requested on this
form is section 6104 and its regulations. You are not required to
provide the information requested on this form. However, if you
do not furnish the information, we may not be able to fulfil your
request. Providing willfully false or fraudulent information may
subject you to criminal penalties. Routine uses include
disclosing the information to the Department of Justice for civil
or criminal litigation. We may also disclose this information to
federal and state agencies to enforce federal nontax criminal
laws and to federal law enforcement and intelligence agencies
to combat terrorism.
You are not required to provide the information requested on
a form that is subject to the Paperwork Reduction Act unless
the form displays a valid OMB control number. Books or
records relating to a form or its instructions must be retained as
long as their contents may become material in the
administration of any Internal Revenue law. Generally, tax
returns and return information are confidential, as required by
section 6103. The time needed to complete and file Form
4506-A will vary depending on individual circumstances. The
estimated average time is:

Internal Revenue Service
RAIVS Unit MS: 6716
Ogden, UT 84201
Fax no. 801-620-7896

*The office handling your request will contact you to
schedule an appointment when the item is available for
inspection.

How Long Will It Take?
It may take up to 60 calendar days for us to process your
request.

Specific Instructions
Line 1
Exempt or political organization. Enter the organization’s
official name under which exempt status was approved,
address, and employer identification number. If you do not enter
the official name, we may not be able to locate the requested
form.

Line 2

Recordkeeping . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Learning about the law or the form . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Preparing the form . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Copying, assembling, and sending the form to the IRS

Requester. Enter the requester’s name, address, phone
number, and the name of a contact person.

Line 3
Category of requester. Check the appropriate category of the
requester. You must check a box.

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6 min.
10 min.
21 min.
20 min.

If you have comments concerning the accuracy of these time
estimates or suggestions for making Form 4506-A simpler, we
would be happy to hear from you. You can write to:

Line 4
Reason for request. To avoid being charged the commercial
rate, all requesters except commercial users, must provide a
reason for requesting the records and explain how the records
will be used.

Internal Revenue Service
Tax Products Coordinating Committee
SE:W:CAR:MP:T:M:S
1111 Constitution Ave. NW, IR-6526
Washington, DC 20224
Do not send Form 4506-A to this address. Instead, see
Where To File on page 1.

Lines 5-9
For each applicable form, check the box(es) for the item(s) you
are requesting. You may request more than one form. For each
form requested, check either the copy, inspection, CD/DVD, or
sample CD/DVD box and enter the specific tax year(s) or
period(s) as indicated. If ordering a partial set on CD/DVD or
sample CD/DVD, indicate the format, state(s), and month(s)
requested. If ordering a sample CD/DVD, check the sample CD/
DVD box, indicate the format, and write in the calendar year(s).
Sample CD and DVD requests are not available for individual
states. Individual state CDs and DVDs are only available in
Alchemy format.

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Incomplete requests will be rejected.

CAUTION

Note. Tax returns are generally available only for 7 years from
filing before they are destroyed in accordance with applicable
provisions of law.

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