Form 8850 - Public Disclosure

Public Disclosure

In the United States, tax records are not publicly available, with the exception of Forms 990 and 1023 for nonprofit organizations which are generally open for public inspection. Selected tax data is released as economic data for research. In other countries such as Norway and Finland, tax records are public information. Tax filings in the U.S. were not private when federal income taxation began in 1861, but controversy led to Congress prohibiting any examination of tax records by 1894. Congress allowed public examination of individual and corporate tax payments only in 1923, but the disclosure was eliminated by 1924. In 1934 the measure was briefly considered again. As of 2010, various experts have advocated that the income and tax payments be released for individuals and corporations to shed further light on tax efficiency and spur reform. These experts have suggested only releasing information which can't be used for identity theft to address privacy concerns.