Notwithstanding any other provision of law, not later than 30 days after the close of each calendar quarter, the Secretary shall publish in the Federal Register the name of each individual losing United States citizenship (within the meaning of section 877 (a) or 877A) with respect to whom the Secretary receives information under the preceding sentence during such quarter.
Notices to be printed in the Federal Register for 30 July 2014 have just been placed on public inspection, but the Quarterly Publication of Individuals Who Have Chosen to Expatriate is not among them. This means that for the eighth quarter in a row, the list of certain expatriates will not be published in a timely fashion as required by 26 USC § 6039G(d).
Defenders of the poor beleaguered Secretary of the Treasury will claim that he already approved the list for publication, and it’s someone else’s fault that it failed to actually get published on time, and that he hasn’t broken the law. But applicable case law shows quite clearly that when a statute requires publication of a notice, mere agency approval or placement on public inspection is not enough to meet the requirement of the law.
And since the IRS is so concerned that about international reporting requirements these days, shouldn’t they be enforcing 6039G(d) just as strictly as they enforce its neighbour, 6038D?
