The Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995

[truedelphi]

To whit:
"§ 3512. Public protection

(a) Notwithstanding any other provision of law, no person shall be subject to any penalty for failing to comply with a collection of information that is subject to this subchapter if--

(1) the collection of information does not display a valid control number assigned by the Director in accordance with this subchapter; or

(2) the agency fails to inform the person who is to respond to the collection of information that such person is not required to respond to the collection of information unless it displays a valid control number.

(b) The protection provided by this section may be raised in the form of a complete defense, bar, or otherwise at any time during the agency administrative process or judicial action applicable thereto." (5)

According to 44 U.S. Code, Subsection 3506: "With respect to general information resources management, each agency shall--

(B) ensure that each information collection-
(i) is inventoried, displays a control number and, if appropriate, an expiration date;
(ii) indicates the collection is in accordance with the clearance requirements of section 3507; and
(iii) informs the person receiving the collection of information of-
(I) the reasons the information is being collected;
(II) the way such information is to be used;
(III) an estimate, to the extent practicable, of the burden of the collection;
(IV) whether responses to the collection of information are voluntary, required to obtain a benefit, or mandatory; and
(V) the fact that an agency may not conduct or sponsor, and a person is not required to respond to, a collection of information unless it displays a valid control number;" (6)

Subsection (D) of 3506 states that each form shall be: "written using plain, coherent, and unambiguous terminology and is understandable to those who are to respond."
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Now part of what the above means is that every time that the IRS or some other agency attempts to communicate with you, they have to send you multiple copies of what they are sending. And they have to be sure and recite chapter and verse of everything listed above. However audits of this situation reveal that even so, many many times a year, people are contacted by agencies like the ATF and the IRS and not given the properly worded and written paper summons requiring a response. Thus whether one is required to comply or not comes into question.

[truedelphi]

1. A forest of trees must surely shudder, every time it hears the words

Paperwork reduction.