part9-59
- 9.12.1.1
Overview - 9.12.1.2
Daily Record of Activity Diary - 9.12.1.3
Mandatory Guidelines for Tax Return Inventory Control - 9.12.1.4
Security of Communications - 9.12.1.5
Recognition Programs - 9.12.1.6
Confidential Financial Disclosure Program for CI Employees
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This section contains administrative procedures with respect to miscellaneous topics.
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All technical Criminal Investigation (CI) personnel, (except Supervisory Special Agents (SSA) and higher management officials),
and investigative support personnel are required to maintain a daily record of activities in an electronic data file (CI Diary).
Non-technical personnel at the field office, area office, and Headquarters (HQ) levels not directly involved in investigative
activities are not required to maintain a daily record of activities. Such non-technical personnel include: budget analysts,
program analysts, management analysts, etc. -
The following instructions apply to the CI Diary:
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Keep diaries current and up-to-date.
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Entries should be brief but detailed enough to describe the employees activities with respect to official matters, such as
investigative actions, leave, Law Enforcement Availability Pay (LEAP), overtime/credit/compensatory hours worked, travel expenses,
vehicle log including home-to-work entries, official expenditures, etc. -
Entries should cover important activities, such as initial interview of taxpayers, interviews of return preparers or key witnesses.
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Entries should be of sufficient length to describe the event. This would include sources, dates of origin, and other facts
and circumstances involved in obtaining leads and evidence in investigations. -
Law Enforcement Availability Pay (LEAP) entries should be specific as to the time and details of all activities.
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Diaries will be inspected by management officials to ensure that instructions pertaining to diary maintenance are being observed.
Annually as directed, special agents, investigative analysts, tax fraud investigative assistants (TFIA) and compliance support
assistants (CSA) will transfer a copy of their CI Diary data file to their immediate manager for review. The manager will
access the Manager Review feature of the CI Diary and review the diary data file of his/her subordinate personnel. This review
must be completed as soon as practicable, since subordinate personnel cannot make entries in their CI Diary until the reviewed
data file is e-mailed back by the manager and saved to the CI Diary data file by the employee. -
All diaries or calendars used to maintain a daily record of activities should be retained by the CI head of office to which
the employee is assigned. In the event an employee transfers within CI, the head of office will forward the employees diaries
or calendars to the head of office to which the employee is transferred. Diaries or calendars of an employee will be made
available to the former field office upon request.
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Special agents may be required to maintain a detailed chronological worksheet (Form 4365) to record the sources, dates of
origin, and other facts and circumstances involved in obtaining leads and evidence in investigations. Completed chronological
worksheets relating to investigations should be maintained as a permanent part of the field office investigative file.
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A separate record of all original tax returns in the custody of field office personnel will be maintained by the Special Agent
in Charge (SAC). These original documents include Questionable Refund Program (QRP) and Return Preparer Program (RPP) documents
that contain a Document Locator Number (DLN).Note:
At the option of the Director, Field Operations, the SAC may delegate this responsibility to SSAs.
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These procedures require appropriate security for original tax returns and documents containing DLNs to prevent unauthorized
disclosures. These original documents should not be retained by CI longer than necessary. -
The SAC or SSA (if delegated this responsibility) will designate a CSA or TFIA as the designee to be responsible for the request,
receipt, control, and custody of the inventory of tax returns. -
To request tax returns or documents containing a DLN, special agents will submit a completed request Form 13368, Request for
Terminal Action, approved by the SAC or SSA, to the designee, who will input the request through the Integrated Data Retrieval
System (IDRS).-
A special agent assigned to assist government attorneys will not request tax returns or tax return information in response
to ex parte orders. The Disclosure Officer serving the field office will request all returns and return information in response to an
ex parte order. To facilitate expeditious handling, government attorneys should be directed by special agents to forward ex parte orders directly to the Disclosure Officer. -
The provisions of 26 USC §6103 do not authorize CI to secure returns or return information in response to ex parte orders. Failure to adhere to these provisions could result in an unauthorized disclosure (see IRM 11.3, Disclosure of Official
Information, and Delegation Order 11-2, Authority to Permit Disclosure of Tax Information and to Permit Testimony or the Production
of Documents).
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All original returns, documents bearing DLNs and transmittals; Document Charge Out (Form 4251); and Document Transmittal (Form
3210) should go directly to the designee. The designee will maintain document request, receipt, custody, and assignment information
on a database, and notify the requesting special agent when documents are received. -
The designee will exercise exclusive control of the database described in the preceding paragraph and will have custody of
all original tax returns and documents with DLNs. He/she will keep the original tax returns and any related documents in a
locked cabinet. He/she will also use Form 3210 as a controlling document or log book to acknowledge transfer or receipt of
original returns when they are assigned to special agents. Special agents will work from a copy of an original return and
will not normally be assigned or retain the original for extended periods. Original tax return(s) should only be assigned
to a special agent when needed for signature verification of the taxpayer and return preparer for grand jury or trial proceedings.-
A certified copy of the original tax return will be introduced as the grand jury or trial exhibit. The original tax return
will remain in the custody of IRS.
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Special agents will periodically provide the designee with a list of all tax returns that are no longer needed for retention
in the field office. At a minimum, the returns assigned to a special agent will be reviewed annually during his/her workload
review to determine if the returns are still needed. -
Periodically, the designee will recharge original tax returns to files and update the tax returns status on the database.
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By November 30th of each year, the designee will perform database verifications to ensure that returns requested have been
received or recharged to files, and that both database and related assignment documents match.-
There shall be a 100% physical verification of every original tax return in the custody and control of the designee.
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The SSA shall assign someone other than the designee to perform the 100% verification in order to ensure a separation of duties.
If possible, the person performing the verification shall be a designee from another group within the field office. -
The SSA shall be provided with the database verification by December 15th of each year so that he/she can take necessary actions
to correct any discrepancies and ensure the effectiveness of the operation. The SSA will initial and date the database verification
and retain it for two years. The retained verifications will show the actions taken to correct any discrepancies.
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By December 15th of each year, the SSA will sample Forms 4844 to ensure the designee inputs only approved requests for any
tax return. -
As part of their operational review, the SAC or Assistant Special Agent in Charge (ASAC) will verify the accuracy of the original
tax return inventory and the SSAs original tax return assignments to the special agents. In instances where tax returns were
secured as a result of a related statute determination (see IRM 9.3.1, Disclosure), the SAC or ASAC will ensure that a copy
of the related statute determination memorandum is attached to the tax return or retained in the related tax return inventory
file.
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All communication must be protected from unauthorized disclosure. This includes oral, written and electronic communication.
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Written communications involving matters to which access is limited should be mailed in double sealed envelopes marked, “to
be opened by addressee only.”
This applies to:-
investigative, statistical and management reports
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collateral requests and replies
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memoranda of any kind
Note:
When there is doubt as to whether or not double sealed mailing should be used, it should be resolved in favor of using double
sealed mailing. -
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Official matters should not be discussed in public or within the hearing of the public (see IRM 9.3.1).
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The designations “Top Secret,”
“Secret, ”
and “Confidential”
may be used only on documents containing information affecting the national security of the United States as defined in
Executive Order 12958, Classified National Security Information as amended. -
The following are suggested designations for documents containing information other than that affecting the national security
of the United States:-
“Limited Official Use (LOU)”
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“Sensitive But Unclassified (SBU) ”
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“Official Use Only (OUO)”
Note:
Limited Official Use is a category of SBU authorized within the Department of the Treasury. Official Use Only information
is a category of SBU information authorized within the IRS. Unauthorized disclosure of SBU may reduce the effectiveness of
Tax Administration, violate law, adversely affects the national interest, the conduct of Federal programs, or the privacy
to which individuals are entitled under the Privacy Act or other laws. The Law Enforcement Manual (LEM) is OUO information
and requires special handling to prevent its loss, misuse, alteration or unauthorized disclosure (see IRM 11.3.12, Classification
of Documents). -
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When transmitting documents by regular mail, registered mail, certified mail or other express service, confirmation of delivery
will be used if any of the following documents are included in the transmittal:-
administrative file, including original tax returns
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special agents report (SAR)
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exhibits to SAR
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supplemental report
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Should confirmation of delivery not be received by the office transmitting such files or documents within a reasonable period,
not to exceed 15 days, inquiry is to be made through the regular channels of the delivery service in regard to the apparent
failure of registered mail or express service to reach the addressee.-
Information concerning the delayed or lost transmittals should be forwarded to the addressee.
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Steps should be taken as appropriate or necessary to duplicate the contents of the original transmittal to permit the addressee
to proceed with the proposed necessary action.
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The legal restrictions for facsimile transmission of tax information is the same as for responding to an inquiry for tax information
by telephone or mailing tax information to third parties. Guidelines regarding the faxing of return and return information
can be found in IRM 11.3.1, Introduction to Disclosure.
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Employees may not use e-mail to transmit SBU data unless they use the IRS Secure Messaging (SM) system. Secure Messaging allows
users to encrypt e-mail messages and attachments for transmission between IRS employees. However, both the sender and recipient
must have SM to protect the e-mail. -
See IRM 11.3.1 (subsection 11.3.1.13.2, Electronic Mail and Secure Messaging, and IRM 10.8.1, Policy and Guidance (subsection
10.8.1.4.6.3, Electronic Mail (E-Mail) Security) for additional information regarding e-mail guidelines.
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There are various CI and IRS employee recognition programs. See subsection 9.12.1.5.1 for the CI, Chief award criteria; all
other procedures for preparing and processing award recommendations can be found on CI Connections on the Human Resources
(CI:S:HR) Web page; Finance (CI:S:F) Web page; and the IR Web site on the IRS Human Capital Office (HCO) Web page
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The Criminal Investigation Chief’s Award may be presented to individuals who have made a significant contribution benefiting
CI nationwide. Those who may qualify for this award are both internal and external. CI and IRS employees, as well as law
enforcement or regulatory officials, state attorneys, Department of Justice Attorneys, Assistant United States Attorneys and
United States Attorneys whose contribution was national in scope will be considered. -
The Chief’s award can be granted when the Services, or other personal efforts performed by an individual official or an organization,
have substantially exceeded normal standards and expectations and have a national impact on the CI mission. -
Submit the request in writing, to the respective Director, Field Operations or the Headquarters Directors for Operations,
Policy and Support; Strategy; Refund Crimes; or Technology Operations and Investigative Services for approval. This request
should be submitted at least 60 days prior to the date needed to ensure sufficient time to order the award and engraving. -
Written request for the Chief’s award must contain the following information:
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name of the recipient
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recipient’s position or title
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narrative description of the individual’s or organization’s contribution and how they contributed to the nationwide accomplishment
and success of CI’s mission -
projected presentation date i.e., when and where the award will be presented
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After approval by the Director, Field Operations, or HQ Director, the request will be forwarded to the Director, Communications
& Education (CI:CE) to coordinate final approval by the Chief, CI. -
If approved by the Chief, CI the respective Director, Field Operations or HQ Director will be responsible for planning the
award presentation at a time convenient for both the Chief, CI and the recipient. This will be coordinated with the Director,
CI:CE. -
Should a request for this award be disapproved, a local field office award may be given subject to the approval of the SAC.
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In order to avoid conflicts of interest, certain executive branch employees must file a Confidential Financial Disclosure
Report upon entering covered positions and yearly thereafter with the Office of Government Ethics (OGE). -
Confidential financial disclosure is subject to a number of legal requirements. The filing of Confidential Financial Disclosure
Reports is addressed in the Ethics in Government Act of 1978 (as amended); Title 5 of the Code of Federal Regulations, Part
2634, Subpart I; and Treasury Directive 61-02. In-depth information on the Services Confidential Financial Disclosure Reporting
Program can be found on the Service-wide Ethics Program Web site. The Desk Procedures for Administering the IRS Confidential
Financial Disclosure Program in CI can be found on the CI Human Resources Web page. -
The Associate Chief Counsel (General Legal Services) is the Deputy Ethics Official (DEO) for the IRS. The DEO provides advice
to IRS employees concerning the OGE Standards of Ethical Conduct, the Treasury Supplemental Standards, the Treasury Rules
of Conduct, conflicts of interest, and related statutes and regulations.
