TREASURY
INSPECTOR GENERAL FOR TAX ADMINISTRATION
Fiscal Year 2007 Statutory Review of Disclosure of Collection Activity With Respect to Joint Returns
July 12, 2007
Reference Number: 2007-40-119
This report has cleared the Treasury Inspector General for Tax Administration disclosure review process and information determined to be restricted from public release has been redacted from this document.
Phone Number |
202-927-7037
Email Address | Bonnie.Heald@tigta.treas.gov
Web Site | http://www.tigta.gov
July 12, 2007
MEMORANDUM FOR DEPUTY COMMISSIONER FOR SERVICES AND ENFORCEMENT
FROM: Michael R. Phillips /s/ Michael R. Phillips
Deputy Inspector General for Audit
SUBJECT: Final Audit Report – Fiscal Year 2007 Statutory Review of Disclosure of Collection Activity With Respect to Joint Returns (Audit # 200740007)
This report presents the results of our review to determine whether
the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) is in compliance with Internal Revenue Code
Section (I.R.C. §) 6103(e)(8) related to the disclosure of collection
activities to joint filers. The Treasury
Inspector General for Tax Administration is required under I.R.C. §
7803(d)(1)(B) to evaluate annually the IRS’ compliance with the joint filer
provisions of the law.
Impact on the Taxpayer
I.R.C. § 6103(e)(8) gives joint filer taxpayers who are no longer married or no longer reside in the same household the right to request information regarding the IRS’ efforts to collect delinquent taxes on their joint return liabilities. The IRS has implemented procedures for responding to requests from taxpayers concerning collection activity on their joint tax liabilities. We believe these procedures provide its employees sufficient guidance for handling these requests in accordance with the law.
Synopsis
IRS policies and procedures provide employees with
sufficient guidance for handling joint filer collection activity information
requests. However, we could not
determine if the IRS fully complied with I.R.C. § 6103(e)(8)
requirements when responding to all written information requests from joint
filers. IRS management information
systems do not separately record or monitor joint filer requests, and Congress
has not explicitly required the IRS to do so.
Furthermore, we do not recommend the creation of a separate tracking
system. Accordingly, we made no recommendations
in this report.
Response
Because this is a positive report and we made no specific recommendations, comments from the IRS were not required.
Please
contact me at (202) 622-6510 if you have questions or Michael E. McKenney,
Assistant Inspector General for Audit (Wage and Investment Income Programs), at
(202) 622-5916.
Appendices
Appendix
I – Detailed Objective, Scope, and Methodology
Appendix
II – Major Contributors to This Report
Appendix
III – Report Distribution List
Abbreviations
|
I.R.C. |
Internal Revenue Code |
|
IRS |
Internal Revenue Service |
|
SB/SE |
Small Business/Self-Employed |
|
W&I |
Wage and Investment |
The Taxpayer Bill of Rights 2[1] added Internal Revenue Code Section (I.R.C. §) 6103(e)(8), which gives joint filer taxpayers who are no longer married or no longer reside in the same household the right to request information regarding the Internal Revenue Service’s (IRS) efforts to collect delinquent taxes on their joint return liabilities.
I.R.C. § 6103(e)(8) requires the IRS to provide, in writing, collection activity information to joint filers if they send in a written request. After passage of the Taxpayer Bill of Rights 2, the IRS issued procedures that stated, if I.R.C. § 6103(e)(8) is not specifically cited in the request, the IRS can provide either an oral or written response, based upon I.R.C. § 6103(e)(7).
The
Treasury Inspector General for Tax Administration is required to annually
evaluate the IRS’ compliance with I.R.C. § 6103(e)(8).
The IRS Restructuring and Reform Act of 1998[2] added I.R.C. § 7803(d)(1)(B), which requires
the Treasury Inspector General for Tax Administration to review and certify
annually whether the IRS is complying with the requirements of
I.R.C. § 6103(e)(8).
The IRS Restructuring and Reform Act of 1998
also required both the Secretary of the Treasury and the Joint Committee on
Taxation to complete separate studies of the scope and use of provisions
regarding taxpayer confidentiality. The
Joint Committee on Taxation issued its study report in January 2000 and
recommended I.R.C. § 6103(e)(8) be amended to allow for oral information
requests in addition to written requests.
The Department of the Treasury issued its study report in October 2000
with a recommendation to eliminate the requirement that joint filer information
requests be in writing.
A study by the IRS concluded there was a low
volume of joint filer requests submitted under I.R.C. § 6103(e)(8). An analysis of 6 former district offices[3] over a 6-month period in Calendar Year 2000
identified only 5 written joint filer requests.
As a result of the study, management in the Small Business/Self-Employed
(SB/SE) and Wage and Investment (W&I) Divisions[4] decided not to develop a management control
process to track joint filer information requests.
This review was performed in the IRS National Headquarters
in the Office of the Commissioner and the National Taxpayer Advocate function
in
The Internal Revenue Manual Provides Employees Sufficient Guidance for Handling Joint Filer Collection Activity Information Requests
The
provision of the Taxpayer Bill of Rights 2 related to joint filers was enacted
out of Congressional concern about the treatment of separated or divorced
taxpayers. Representative Nancy L.
Johnson (R-Connecticut), when introducing
the Bill, stated:
The subcommittee learned of many instances
where divorced taxpayers who had previously signed a joint tax return during
their marriage were treated harshly when the IRS later disputed the accuracy of
their joint tax return. In many cases
the IRS tried to collect the entire amount of taxes from the wife, even though
the omitted income or erroneous deductions which caused the deficiency were
attributable solely to her former husband. All too often, the woman, being pursued for
payment of taxes due, was not aware that a tax return filed during the marriage
had been audited or that a deficiency had been imposed on the return.
To address this concern, the IRS revised its
Internal Revenue Manual to include procedures for responding to taxpayers who
file jointly and submit written requests for information on IRS collection
activity. The Internal Revenue Manual
instructs employees to disclose whether any attempts have been made to collect
the tax due from either one of the joint filers, the general nature of any
collection activity, and the amount collected to date.
The Internal Revenue Manual procedures allow employees to provide both oral and written responses to taxpayers. IRS procedures require employees to respond in writing only when taxpayers specifically cite I.R.C. § 6103(e)(8) as their authority for making written requests for collection information on joint return liabilities. If the taxpayer’s written request does not specifically cite I.R.C. § 6103(e)(8), the IRS has directed employees to provide oral responses when practicable. The IRS believes oral responses provide good customer service to taxpayers because the taxpayers get immediate answers.
Compliance With Statutory Requirements for the Disclosure of Collection Activity With Respect to Jointly Filed Tax Returns Cannot Be Determined
IRS management information systems do not record or monitor joint filer requests. As such, we could not determine if the IRS fully complied with I.R.C. § 6103(e)(8) requirements when responding to written requests from joint filers because of our inability to identify joint filer requests received nationwide. During this review, management from the SB/SE and W&I Divisions commented that the IRS’ position has not changed from last year, and the IRS does not plan to implement a system to identify or track joint filer requests for collection activity. In addition, there is no statutory or regulatory requirement for the IRS to develop a separate system that records or monitors these requests.
We do not recommend the creation of a separate tracking system and are making no recommendations in this report. This is the ninth year in which we have reported our inability to provide an opinion on the IRS’ compliance with the provisions of I.R.C. § 6103(e)(8).
Appendix I
Detailed Objective, Scope, and Methodology
The overall objective of this review was to determine whether the IRS is in compliance with I.R.C. § 6103(e)(8) related to the disclosure of collection activities to joint filers. To accomplish our objective, we:
I. Obtained confirmation from the SB/SE and W&I Divisions that the IRS neither has, nor plans to implement, a system or process to identify or track joint filer requests for collection information relating to the requirements of I.R.C. § 6103(e)(8).
II. Interviewed various IRS and Treasury Inspector General for Tax Administration personnel responsible for the Taxpayer Advocate Management Information System,[5] the Information Tracking System,[6] and the Performance and Results Information System [7] to determine if there is a system or process that tracks taxpayer complaints relating to the requirements of I.R.C. § 6103(e)(8).
III. Obtained information on the actions taken by the IRS in response to I.R.C. § 6103(e)(8) to determine the impact on IRS programs.
A. Reviewed all prior Treasury Inspector General for Tax Administration audit reports for the mandatory Joint Filer Reviews to identify any corrective actions taken by the IRS.
B. Reviewed historical and current Internal Revenue Manual sections to identify any updates made in response to I.R.C. § 6103(e)(8).
Appendix II
Major Contributors to This Report
Michael E.
McKenney, Assistant Inspector General for Audit (Wage and
Investment Income Programs)
Mary
V. Baker, Director
Bryce
Kisler, Acting Director
Alan
Lund, Acting Audit Manager
Craig
Pelletier, Lead Auditor
Andrea
McDuffie, Auditor
Appendix III
Acting Commissioner C
Office of the Commissioner – Attn: Chief of Staff C
Commissioner, Small Business/Self-Employed Division SE:S
Commissioner, Wage and Investment Division SE:W
National Taxpayer Advocate TA
Director, Collection, Small Business/Self-Employed Division SE:S:C
Director, Communications, Liaison, and Disclosure, Small Business/Self-Employed Division SE:S:CLD
Director, Compliance, Wage and Investment
Division SE:W:CP
Director, Strategy and Finance, Wage and Investment Division SE:W:S
Chief, Performance Improvement, Wage and Investment Division SE:W:S:PI
Chief Counsel CC
Director, Office of Legislative Affairs CL:LA
Director, Office of Program Evaluation and Risk Analysis RAS:O
Office of Internal Control OS:CFO:CPIC:IC
Audit Liaisons:
Director, Communications and Liaison, National Taxpayer Advocate TA:CL
Senior
Operations Advisor, Wage and Investment Division SE:W:S
Chief, GAO/TIGTA/Legislative Implementation Branch SE:S:CLD:PSP:GTL
[1] Pub. L. No. 104-168, 110 Stat. 1452 (1996) (codified as amended in scattered sections of 26 U.S.C.).
[2] Pub. L. No. 105-206, 112 Stat. 685 (codified as
amended in scattered sections of 2 U.S.C., 5 U.S.C. app., 16 U.S.C., 19 U.S.C.,
22 U.S.C., 23 U.S.C., 26 U.S.C., 31 U.S.C., 38 U.S.C., and 49 U.S.C.).
[3] Locations formerly known as district offices are now called Area Offices by the IRS.
[4] The SB/SE and W&I Divisions were created by the reorganization of the IRS. Components of the former Collection and Customer Service Divisions were made part of these Divisions.
[5] The Taxpayer Advocate Management Information System is an electronic database and case inventory control system used by Taxpayer Advocate Service employees.
[6] The Information Tracking System is an application used by the IRS to assign, control, and track information and correspondence. It replaced the Executive Control Management System.
[7] The Performance and Results Information System is a management information system that provides the Treasury Inspector General for Tax Administration with the ability to manage and account for the thousands of complaints received and investigations initiated annually.