As always, assume typos are mine; my comments are included in [[ double brackets. ]]
This did not come on the usual letterhead I've seen from IRS.
Internal Revenue Service
Department of the Treasury
District Director
Date: September 15, 1997 Karl Kleinpaste 427 Northern Pike Penn Hills, PA [[ no ZIP code! ]] |
Person to Contact: M. Bromley Telephone Number: 215-597-7146x136 Refer Reply to: E:QMS:D Date of Request: 8/7/97 |
Dear Mr. Kleinpaste:
We received your request for information under the Freedom of Information Act. To constitute a valid request under the Act, certain requirements must be met.
Please send us the information needed to meet the requirements of the Act as indicated in the boxes checked on the back of this letter, and we will try to honor your request. The 10-day period that we are allowed by law to determine whether we can comply with your request will not begin until we receive this information.
If you have any questions, please contact the person whose name and telephone number are shown above.
Sincerely yours, signature Darlene Berthod District Director |
600 Arch St., Philadelphia, Pa. 19106 | Letter 1526(DO)(5-81) |
[[ back side of page 1 ]]
The boxes checked apply to your request. Please do the following:
[[ Note: Item #3 has a largish `X' beside it; no others are marked. Also, the numbered items do not line up neatly -- #4 is a space farther left than the rest. ]]
a. Present a single document bearing a photograph such aS [[sic]] a passport or identification badge) [[sic, on closing right-paren: no matching left paren]] or two items of identification that bear both a name and signature, without a photograph, such as a driver;s [[sic]] license or credit card if you come in person, or
b. Send your signature, address, and one other identifier (such as a copy of a driver's license) bearing your signature if you make the request by mail, or
c. Present in person or send by mail a notarized statement swearing to or affirming your identity.
Letter 1526(DO)(5-81)
I'll be blunt, cynical, and conspiratorial: This letter is bullshit from the word Go. Item #3, the only one which applies to me, is also the only one which is not in fact supported in the law. I do not have to prove my identity to any such extent. I will be sending a letter back shortly which demands to see the citation of authority by which such a demand is made. They will curl up and die before admitting to such a thing.
Further cynicism: This is no "analysis form" at all. It's a letter manufactured on-the-fly by someone who is desperately avoiding answering inconvenient questions. The number of simple typos, the fact that the letter did not come on the usual letterhead, the poor formatting, the simply amateurish use of grammar... This letter is nothing but an attempt to backpedal and avoid answering.
Again.