This is a companion piece to my December 15, 2019 blog about Jeff Maehr’s lawsuit against the State Department (“State”) for revoking his passport because of an alleged “seriously delinquent tax debt”.
I personally experienced the effects of IRC Section 7345 after I sent my passport renewal application, along with the $110.00 renewal fee, to State on June 14, 2018.
Following is the timeline of the subsequent correspondence:
June 27, 2018 - I received a letter denying my application because of an alleged “seriously delinquent tax debt”.
July 7, 2018 - I sent a letter to State notifying it that my alleged tax debt is currently being litigated in Federal District Court; that I have entered evidence into the record proving the IRS falsified its internal records to make it appear I have an income tax liability when I don’t; that, for the periods in question, no court has ruled I owe the IRS one penny; and that I deny its allegation that I do. I also requested that, since State appeared intent on denying my passport renewal application, it should return my $110.00 application fee.
July 13, 2018 - State sent a letter acknowledging receipt of my July 7th letter and returned my expired passport, which I had submitted with my renewal application. The letter also stated that, “by law, the passport execution and application fees are non-refundable.”
July 18, 2018 - I sent a response to State’s July 27, 2018 letter wherein I requested “a copy of the signed, sworn Certification from the Secretary of the Treasury that was provided to the State Department”, as referenced in 22 CFR §51.60(a)(3) and 26 U.S.C. §7345.
July 25, 2018 - State sent a letter acknowledging receipt of my July 18th letter and further explained that “the fees are incurred at the time your application is accepted. Therefore, the fees are non-refundable even if the passport application is subsequently denied or withdrawn.” It failed, however, to provide, or mention, a copy of the signed, sworn Certification I had requested.
August 2, 2018 - I sent my THIRD letter to State that read: “I am writing, again, to request a copy of the signed, sworn Certification from the Secretary of the Treasury that was provided to the State Department certifying that I have a “seriously delinquent” tax debt.”
August 9, 2018 - State sent a response to my August 2nd letter, which read: “As stated in our letter to you on June 27, 2018, neither the passport agency nor the Department of State has information concerning your seriously delinquent tax debt. You may request that the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) review this matter by contacting them….”.
August 17, 2018 - As any responsible American would do, I sent a Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) request to both the IRS and State Department asking for a copy of the “sworn, signed document” provided to the United States Department of State by the Department of Treasury’s IRS certifying that I have a “seriously delinquent tax debt”, since I had never received that document, as required by law.
August 23, 2018 - The IRS responded almost immediately with a letter saying that “this is a computer-generated transaction with no associated paper documents. Therefore, there are no documents specifically responsive to your request.”
September 18, 2018 - The State Department has been less cooperative, however, sending a letter acknowledging receipt of my August 17th FOIA and stating the following: “The Department of State, Office of Information Programs and Services (IPS) received your FOIA request on 8-22-2018. Your FOIA was assigned the tracking number at the top of this letter [F-2018-06462]. Please include the tracking number in all future communications concerning this FOIA request. In addition, we have placed your request in the complex category.”
The letter also stated “This Office has adopted a first in/first out practice of processing all incoming requests. Your request has been placed in chronological order based on date of receipt and will be handled as quickly as possible, If you have any questions regarding the status of your request or to discuss any aspect of your request, you may contact out FOIA Requestor Service Center or our FOIA Public Liaison via email at FOIAstatus@state.gov or by telephone at (202) 261-8484.”
October 19, 2018 - I decided to send all future correspondence by email, referencing the FOIA tracking number provided by State. In this email, I wrote: “Please advise the status of my August 17, 2018 FOIA, assigned tracking number F-2018-06462.
Also, please explain why my request was placed in the "complex" category, when I am only asking for a copy of the "sworn, signed document by the Department of Treasury's Internal Revenue Service 'certifying' that Robert Allen McNeil has a seriously delinquent tax debt", which is preventing me from having my passport renewed.”
November 9, 2018 - Twenty-two days later, I received this email response from State: “This is in reference to your email below. The Office of Information Programs and Services will soon
provide you with a status update on your FOIA case control number F-2018-06462.”
March 11, 2019 - Adequate time having passed, I sent FOIA Status Inquiry #2 by email, which read:
Please advise the status of my August 17, 2018 FOIA, assigned tracking number F-2018-06462.
This FOIA has now been unanswered for almost seven months.
In addition, please advise the status of my October 19, 2018 followup status request, which remains unanswered for almost five months.
Finally, please explain why my request was placed in the "complex" category, when I am only asking for a copy of Notice CP508C, the "sworn, signed document by the Department of Treasury's Internal Revenue Service 'certifying' that Robert Allen McNeil has a seriously delinquent tax debt". This Notice is required by statute to be sent to the State Department (with a copy to me), but, I have never received it, and I suspect neither has State, or you would have provided it by now. See the example of Notice CP508C attached.
Your reliance on an apparently non-existent document has fraudulently prevented me from having my passport renewed. And, as you know, fraud is a crime that carries severe consequences.
Please provide a copy of the Notice CP508C you relied upon to justify the denial of my passport renewal, or admit that this document does not exist.
I look forward to your prompt response.
April 3, 2019 - State sent this email response to my March 11, 2019 FOIA Status Inquiry #2:
“This is in reference to your email below. The Office of Information Programs and Services will soon provide you with a status update on your FOIA case control number F-2018-06462.”
June 30, 2019 - Being the ever-patient soul that I am, I sent FOIA Status Inquiry #3 by email, which read:
This is my THIRD inquiry into the status of my August 17, 2018 FOIA, assigned tracking number F-2018-06462. This FOIA has now been unanswered for almost eleven months.
In addition, please advise the status of my October 19, 2018 followup Status Inquiry #1, which remains unanswered for almost nine months.
Your April 3, 2019 email (two months ago) [Please see attached], in response to my March 11, 2019 Status Inquiry #2 (three months ago), indicated the "the Office of Information Program and Services will soon provide a response to your inquiry regarding Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) case control number F-2018-06462."
Also, please explain why my request was placed in the "complex" category, when I am only asking for a copy of Notice CP508C, the "sworn, signed document by the Department of Treasury's Internal Revenue Service 'certifying' that Robert Allen McNeil has a seriously delinquent tax debt". This Notice is required by statute to be sent to the State Department (with a copy to me), but, I have never received it, and I suspect neither has the State Department, or you would have provided it by now, in compliance with the relevant statute.
Based on your failure to provide this document, I believe, and have reason to believe, that it simply does not exist.
Therefore, your reliance on an apparently non-existent document has fraudulently prevented me from having my passport renewed. And, as you know, fraud is a crime that carries severe consequences.
If you have in your possession a copy of the Notice CP508C you relied upon to justify the denial of my passport renewal, I hereby DEMAND that you provide it to me, or admit that this document does not exist.
I look forward to your prompt response.
October 12, 2019 - Since State did not reply to my June 30th FOIA Status Inquiry #3 email, I sent FOIA Status Inquiry #4, which read:
This is my FOURTH inquiry into the status of my August 17, 2018 FOIA, assigned tracking number F-2018-06462. This FOIA has now been unanswered for almost FIFTEEN months.
In addition, please advise the status of my October 19, 2018 followup Status Inquiry #1, which remains unanswered for almost TWELVE months.
Your April 3, 2019 email (SIX months ago) [Please see attached], in response to my March 11, 2019 Status Inquiry #2 (SEVEN months ago), indicated the "the Office of Information Program and Services will soon provide a response to your inquiry regarding Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) case control number F-2018-06462."
Also, please explain why my request was placed in the "complex" category, when I am only asking for a copy of Notice CP508C, the "sworn, signed document by the Department of Treasury's Internal Revenue Service 'certifying' that Robert Allen McNeil has a seriously delinquent tax debt". This Notice is required by statute to be sent to the State Department (with a copy to me), but, I have never received it, and I suspect neither has the State Department, or you would have provided it by now, in compliance with the relevant statute.
Based on your failure to provide this document, I believe, and have reason to believe, that it simply does not exist. Therefore, your reliance on an apparently non-existent document has fraudulently prevented me from having my passport renewed. And, as you know, fraud is a crime that carries severe consequences.
If you have in your possession a copy of the Notice CP508C you relied upon to justify the denial of my passport renewal, I hereby DEMAND that you provide it to me, or admit that this document does not exist.
I look forward to your prompt response.
October 22, 2019 - Fourteen months after I filed my August 17, 2018 FOIA request, I received this unbelievable email from State:
Mr. McNeil,
You previously contacted the Department of State’s FOIA Requester Service Center and requested a status update for Case Control Number F-2018-06462.
After reviewing your request, it has been determined that additional information is needed to certify your identity since you are seeking personal records concerning yourself. The Department’s form DS-4240 may be used to certify your identification. A copy of the form is attached. You may email the completed form to foiastatus@state.gov.
If you have any concerns or questions regarding a FOIA-related matter, please contact the FOIA
Requester Service Center (FRSC) at 202-261-8484 or send an e-mail to foiastatus@state.gov.
Sincerely,
U.S. Department of State
FOIA Requester Service Center
October 22, 2019 - Once my anger subsided, and I regained my wits about me, I filled out State’s Form 4240 and sent it as an attachment to the following email:
Dear Sir or Madam:
Let me see if I understand this correctly.
Since filing my initial FOIA on August 17, 2018 (14 months ago), you're just now asking me to confirm my identity?
So be it.
Attached, please find my completed Form 4240, as requested.
As additional proof, I have also attached a copy of my Texas Driver License and my previous passport #426382771.
Now that I have gone above and beyond your requirements to prove that I am who I say I am, please expedite a copy of IRS' sworn, signed Notice CP508C required, by law, to be provided to the United States Department of State by the Department of Treasury’s Internal Revenue Service “certifying” that I have a seriously delinquent tax debt, upon which the State Department relied to deny my request to renew my passport.
Thank you.
December 31, 2019 - As my final attempt, I emailed FOIA Status Inquiry #5, which read:
Dear Sir or Madam:
Two months have now passed since I provided proof of my identity on Form 4240, as you requested. (See my October 22, 2019 email attached.)
Sadly, I have not received the documentation requested in my initial FOIA request on August 17, 2018 (17 months ago).
So, once again, I request that you please expedite a copy of IRS' sworn, signed Notice CP508C required, by law, to be provided to the United States Department of State by the Department of Treasury’s Internal Revenue Service “certifying” that I have a seriously delinquent tax debt, upon which the State Department relied to deny my request to renew my passport.
Thank you.
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As I write this blog, the State Department has not provided the Notice CP508C that I have been requesting since 2018.
It looks like my next step is to file a FOIA lawsuit against State to obtain a Court Order to provide the Notice CP508C or admit that it does not exist and that my passport application was unlawfully rejected.
As you all know, I am retired and existing on Social Security and a small pension, so, I am unable to bear the $500.00 + cost of filing this lawsuit ($400 filing fee + postage) without financial help. This is especially true since the Social Security Administration has been garnishing my monthly check by more than $1,000.00 based on an alleged IRS signed, sworn “certification” of a “seriously delinquent income tax debt” that neither the IRS nor the Social Security Administration can produce and, most likely, does not exist.
Therefore, if you are so moved, please send a donation to help me file a lawsuit to bring this massive, multi-agency fraud to an end and restore the Rule of Law to America. Any amount will be welcomed and appreciated.
Thank you.
RAM