IRS Open Data MCP Server

IRS Open Data MCP Server

Eight IRS.gov search tools, zero manual browsing: IRS Open Data MCP Server turns Tax Exempt Organization Search, the FATCA FFI List, Excise Tax registration status, the Taxpayer Assistance Center Locator, the Authorized e-file Provider Locator, the VITA/TCE Site Locator, the Tax Mat form catalog, and the EO Business Master File extract into MCP tools any AI agent can call directly. Ask for "is this nonprofit's EIN still tax-exempt" or "nearest free VITA tax prep site to 90210" in plain language and get back real, structured results — not a screen-scrape of a form you have to fill in yourself.

Each tool covers that source's real search surface — EIN/name lookup, GIIN/country filters, ZIP/radius search, state/NTEE filters — reverse-engineered from the actual site (the real JSON API behind the page where IRS has one, IRS's own published bulk CSV/delimited files where a stable API doesn't exist). No headless browser required for seven of the eight tools, so lookups are fast and cheap to run.

Because it runs on Apify in Standby mode, it behaves like a normal always-on HTTP MCP endpoint — no cold start per query — plus you get Apify's monitoring, scheduling, and proxy infrastructure for free if you need it.

Why use IRS Open Data MCP Server?

• One connection, eight IRS data sources. Skip eight different forms and eight different query languages — point an agent at a single MCP endpoint instead.
• Due diligence and compliance workflows. Verify a nonprofit's tax-exempt status, check a counterparty's excise tax registration, or confirm FATCA FFI status, all from a chat or agent workflow.
• Taxpayer-facing assistants. Help users find the nearest IRS office, a free VITA tax prep site, or an authorized e-file provider near them.
• Research and data enrichment. Pull structured nonprofit records at scale from the EO BMF bulk extract.

How to use IRS Open Data MCP Server

1. Add it to your MCP client as an HTTP/Streamable-HTTP server:

   claude mcp add --transport http irs-data \
     https://rl1987--irs-data-mcp.apify.actor/mcp \
     --header "Authorization: Bearer $APIFY_TOKEN"
   

   The token is your own Apify API token (Console → Settings → Integrations), not the Actor owner's — export it as $APIFY_TOKEN in your shell, or substitute your own.

2. Verify the connection and tool count:

   claude mcp list
   # or, inside a Claude Code session:
   /mcp
   

3. Ask your agent to search, e.g. "Use irs-data to look up the EIN for the American Red Cross" or "Find VITA tax prep sites near 90210 via find_vita_tce_free_tax_prep_site."

A team can commit a .mcp.json with just the URL (no token) to a shared repo; each teammate runs claude mcp add --scope local once with their own token.

Tools

Tool	Source	Covers
search_tax_exempt_organizations	TEOS	EIN/name search across Pub 78, Auto-Revocation List, Determination Letters, Form 990-N, copies of returns
search_fatca_ffi_list	FATCA FFI List	GIIN, FFI name, country filters
check_excise_tax_registration	Excise Tax (Form 637)	registration number + activity letter status check
find_irs_taxpayer_assistance_center	TAC Locator	address/city-state/ZIP search, radius, office hours/services
find_authorized_efile_provider	e-file Provider Locator	ZIP code and/or state search, provider service type
find_vita_tce_free_tax_prep_site	VITA/TCE Site Locator	ZIP + radius, language, virtual sites, hours, appointment info
search_irs_tax_forms_catalog	Tax Mat	form number/title/keyword search across the paper form catalog
get_eo_business_master_file_records	EO BMF	per-state bulk extract, filterable by EIN, name substring, NTEE code

Every tool returns JSON with the matched records and, where the source provides one, a link back to the record's IRS.gov detail page — no PDFs or bulk archives are pre-downloaded on your behalf.

Example output (search_tax_exempt_organizations, abbreviated)

{
  "database": "all",
  "search_by": "name",
  "search_term": "red cross",
  "matched": 234,
  "truncated": true,
  "records": [
    {
      "ein": "941322159",
      "name": "American Red Cross",
      "dba": null,
      "city": "Washington",
      "state": "DC",
      "country": "US",
      "types": "CHARITIES"
    }
  ]
}

Pricing / cost

This Actor uses Apify's Pay Per Event model — see .actor/pay_per_event.json for the configured tool-call price. You're charged once per completed tool call, not per underlying HTTP request the tool makes internally, and never for a failed call.

Tips

• get_eo_business_master_file_records and search_fatca_ffi_list cache their downloaded bulk files in memory for the life of the container — the first call against a new state (or the FATCA list) is slower than subsequent ones.
• find_vita_tce_free_tax_prep_site replays a Salesforce Lightning API call pinned to the site's current deployment build; if IRS redeploys that Experience Cloud site, this tool may need updating.
• Most tools accept a limit parameter — keep it modest for faster responses, since several sources return large candidate sets before filtering.

FAQ, disclaimers, and support

All data comes directly from public, unauthenticated IRS.gov endpoints and bulk data files — this Actor performs no scraping of restricted or robots.txt-disallowed paths (the e-file provider locator, for instance, deliberately uses IRS's published bulk file instead of the disallowed live search endpoint). IRS.gov backend APIs and Salesforce Lightning internals are undocumented and can change without notice; if a tool starts failing, please open an issue. This is an unofficial, independently built integration and is not affiliated with or endorsed by the IRS.

Documentation reference

• Apify SDK for Python documentation
• Apify Platform documentation
• FastMCP documentation
• Apify MCP server documentation

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