35

In United States v. Powell, 379 U.S. 48 (1964), the United States Supreme Court held that in order to obtain judicial enforcement of a summons or subpoena the IRS must prove “that the investigation will be conducted pursuant to a legitimate purpose, that the inquiry may be relevant to the purpose, that the information sought is not already in the Commissioner's possession, and that the administrative steps required by the Code have been followed . . . .” Powell did not involve an IRS examination of church records. In United States v. Holmes, 614 F.2d 985 (5th Cir. 1980), a federal appeals court held that section 7605(c) narrowed the scope of the second part of the Powell test from mere relevancy to necessity in the context of church records since it required that an examination of church records be limited “to the extent necessary.” The “necessity test” should apply to church inquiries or examinations conducted under section 7611 since the same language is employed. United States v. Church of Scientology, 933 F.2d 1074 (1st Cir. 1991).