Department of the Treasury
        Internal Revenue Service

Notice 609
(Rev. October 2013)

Privacy Act Notice
The Privacy Act of 1974 says that when we ask 
you for information about yourself, we must rst 
tell you our legal right to ask for the information, 
why we are asking for it, and how it will be used. 
We must also tell you what could happen if you do 
not provide it and whether or not you must 
respond under the law. 
This notice applies to tax returns and any 
papers led with them. It also applies to any 
questions we need to ask you so we can 
complete, correct, or process your return; gure 
your tax; and collect tax, interest, or penalties. We 
ask for information to carry out the U.S. tax laws. 
We need the information to gure and collect the 
right amount of tax. 
Our legal right to ask for information is found in 
Internal Revenue Code sections 6001, 6011, and 
6012 and their regulations. They say that you must 
le a return or statement with us for any tax you 
are liable for. Your response is mandatory under 
these sections. Sections 7601–7613 authorize us 
to examine books and records and ask questions 
to obtain information we need. Section 6109 and 
its regulations say that you must provide your 
identication number on what you le. Paid tax 
return preparers and electronic return originators 
are also required to provide their identifying 
numbers.
We may give the information to the Department 
of Justice to enforce the federal civil and criminal 
tax laws, and to other federal agencies as 
provided by law. We may also give it to cities, 
states, the District of Columbia, and to U.S. 
commonwealths or possessions to carry out their 
tax laws. We may give it to certain foreign 
governments under tax treaties they have with the 
United States. We may also disclose this 

                       Notice 609 (10-2013)
                       Cat. No. 45963A

information to federal and state agencies to 
enforce federal nontax criminal laws, or to federal 
law enforcement and intelligence agencies to 
combat terrorism. 
If you do not le a return, the law says that you 
may be subject to penalties and interest, and in 
certain cases, criminal prosecution. If you do not 
provide required information, or provide false or 
fraudulent information, the law says that we may 
have to disallow the exemptions, exclusions, 
credits, deductions, or adjustments shown on your 
return. This could make your tax higher or delay 
any refund. You may also be subject to additional 
interest, penalties, or criminal prosecution. 
Please keep this notice with your records. You 
may want to refer to it if we ask you for other 
information. If you have questions about the rules 
for ling and giving information, please visit our 
website at IRS.gov, or call or visit any Internal 
Revenue Service ofce.