Open Recommendations

The Chief Taxpayer Services should conduct annual refresher training for all representatives providing customer service through IRS telephone lines and emphasize the importance of always providing professional and courteous customer service.

The IRS Human Capital Officer should Update the quality review process and enhance training to ensure that misconduct cases involving potential FTCP violations are correctly coded and resolved according to IRS policies and procedures.

The IRS Human Capital Officer should review the 19 miscoded issues (16 cases) to ensure that a proper analysis of the potential FTCP violations is conducted and discuss the results with the impacted managers and employees to promote awareness and improve future results.

The Chief, Appeals, the National Taxpayer Advocate, and the Commissioner, TE/GE Division, should discuss the 29 instances of noncompliance with RRA 98 § 1204(b) due to missing or unsigned documents with the responsible managers to ensure that they understand the retention standard documentation requirements.

The Chief, Appeals, the National Taxpayer Advocate, and the Commissioner, TE/GE Division, should discuss the 37 instances where the retention standard was not acknowledged timely with the responsible managers, so employees are aware of the standard to treat taxpayers fairly and equitably.

The Chief, Appeals and the Commissioner, TE/GE Division, should discuss the six instances of the “Not Applicable” retention standard ratings with the responsible managers so they understand that all employees should be rated on the retention standard.

The Human Capital Officer should revise the quarterly self-certification questions to clarify the language used for the responses to increase the accuracy of the certification results and potential ROTERs reported.

The Chief, IRS Independent Office of Appeals, should ensure that Appeals employees identify unlawful levies in CDP hearings and revise procedures to direct hearing officers through account research to identify, address and document unlawful levies as part of the verification process.

The Chief, IRS Independent Office of Appeals, should establish procedures requiring hearing officers to compare the posting date of the CDP hearing transaction code with the actual date of the taxpayer’s written request for a CDP hearing. This will assist the hearing officers comply with Recommendation 1.

The Director, Field Collection, SB/SE Division, should issue a memorandum to revenue officers emphasizing the importance of preseizure actions, such as those identified during our review.

The Director, Collection Policy, SB/SE Division, should establish seizure log reconciliation procedures and a uniform set of defined seized property classifications for Form 13719 and the seizure log.

The Chief Procurement Officer should revise the contract file checklists to include the following: a) a certification statement that the contracting officer added all applicable documents to the contract file; and b) managerial approval confirming the completeness of the contract file.

The Chief Procurement Officer should work with the Chief Financial Officer to develop a form that includes all the elements of the required quality assurance inspection report, provide training to the CORs on its use, and implement a requirement for consistent use.

The Director, Collection Policy, SB/SE Division, should update IRM 5.1.22, Field Collection Procedures-Disclosure, to accurately reflect the IRS disclosure guidance regarding I.R.C. § 6103(e)(8).

The Director, Collection Policy, SB/SE Division, should issue an annual reminder on the topic of I.R.C. §§ 6103(e)(7) and (e)(8) for all employees and managers in the ACS, Field Collection, and Specialty Collection, OIC functions who have direct contact with taxpayers. The reminder should be in official format, such as a memorandum, and include guidance on disclosure for mirrored and non-mirrored accounts, provide a link to the training course related to I.R.C. §§ 6103(e)(7) and (e)(8), and inform employees of the availability of the Disclosure Help Desk.

The Director, Examination, SB/SE Division, should remind Field Examination employees that a Form 8821 does not permit
the designee to act on behalf of the taxpayer.

The Director, Examination, SB/SE Division, should remind field examiners and group managers of the need to verify and document taxpayer representation before initiating contact and reinforce procedures for handling revocations or withdrawals of representation.

The Director, Accounts Management, Taxpayer Services, should reinforce to the CAF unit the importance of timely and accurate
processing of Forms 2848 and 8821.

The Director, Examination, SB/SE Division, should coordinate with the Offices of Chief Counsel and Professional Responsibility, to revise Form 2848 and its instructions to better reflect taxpayer intent and procedural requirements.

The Chief Information Officer should prioritize and resolve the backlog of configuration compliance vulnerabilities in the platform.

Complete POA&Ms and/or RBDs to document and track the **2** overdue configuration compliance vulnerabilities.

Ensure that the Standard Operating Procedures and IRM reflect consistent guidance regarding the requirements and timing of POA&Ms and/or RBDs.

The Chief Information Officer should develop and approve an RBD or POA&M for deviating from the requirement to employ *****2******** ******2******* for all systems.

The Chief Information Officer should reconcile the platform asset inventory to the new inventory management system to ensure its completeness and accuracy.

The Chief Information Officer should ensure that the ECM Office prioritizes incorporating and decommissioning
of the legacy case management systems.