1.4.5 Corporate Tax Administration Tools

1.4.5.1  (09-04-2007)
Electronic Research Program Strategy

  1. In 1999, IRS adopted a strategy for national standardization and management of commercial research services in order to provide consistent and reliable access to research materials. IRS and NTEU made a commitment to standardize and expand availability of research tools to all levels of the organization, especially to frontline employees for whom this research is essential in their daily work. The goals were to:
    • Improve access to commercial Electronic Research
    • Provide products tailored to IRS needs, and
    • Maximize the benefit of available resources.
  2. The first contracts were awarded in 1999. For the first time ever IRS had consistent access to research materials and employees could depend on unlimited access throughout the year.
  3. The following describes the types of electronic research available to IRS employees:
    Category Description
    Tax and Legal Research Internal Revenue Code, income tax regulations, IRS administrative decisions, federal tax judicial decisions, commercial tax services, and tax related books, treatises and periodicals, and other non-tax legal, news, and business sources
    Internal Materials Internal Revenue Manual (IRM), tax forms, and internal use forms
    Asset and Locator Services Credit bureau reports, judgments, verdicts, liens, bankruptcy data, real and property records, state incorporation and corporate officer/principal information, corporate asset data, and Department of Motor Vehicles (DMV) records where available, etc.
  4. IRS manages these contracts on a corporate level. The Office of Servicewide Policy, Directives, and Electronic Research (SPDER) is responsible for contract administration for all electronic research contracts except the credit bureau contract, which is owned by SBSE.

1.4.5.2  (09-04-2007)
Definition

  1. “Electronic Research” is the use of computers to gather information needed to complete a full analysis of a tax return, whether as part of the audit process, collection process, or assistance process. Electronic research includes the following categories of material:
    • Tax Law and other Legal sources,
    • News and Business
    • Asset and Locator
    • Internal Materials.
  2. The quality of field investigations has direct impact on fair and impartial administration of the tax laws, protection of taxpayer rights, and the collection of the proper revenue from assigned cases. IRS employees commonly use research to determine a defensibly “correct” conclusion to a tax question.
  3. Expanded access to electronic research improves the quality of cases, assists in the fair application of the laws, and helps front line assistors resolve taxpayer questions.
  4. While paper research products may still be purchased, there are several advantages to using electronic research:
    1. Employees have immediate access to current procedures, forms, documents, agency decisions, regulations, related court cases as well as primary sources and secondary sources for tax-related research.
    2. Time and money spent traveling to libraries and courthouses to perform research is reduced.
    3. Electronic research is faster than perusing numerous paper sources.
    4. The ability to validate references ensures research results are accurate.
    5. More cases can be worked, consistent treatment to taxpayers is ensured, thereby improving business results.

1.4.5.3  (09-04-2007)
Electronic Research Program Leadership

  1. The Office of Servicewide Policy, Directives, and Electronic Research (SPDER) functions as the steward for corporate delivery of a suite of tax administration tools that includes:
    • Online IRM
    • Commercial Tax Law Research services, and
    • Commercial Locator/Asset services.
  2. In this stewardship role, SPDER provides oversight of the enterprise strategy for delivering these tools, much like AWSS or MITS provides stewardship for other corporate assets.
  3. SPDER chairs the Electronic Research Oversight Council (EROC), which has representatives from each division and function (including Chief Counsel). The EROC is chartered to provide a strategic direction for the identification and delivery of tax administration tools. This group provides a forum for division collaboration on the delivery of research services to employees.
  4. The Council serves as a decision-making body and makes recommendations on electronic research issues. Some of these issues include training, connectivity problems, content of products, and concerns expressed by users.

    Note:

    A listing of the Electronic Research Council members are posted to the ReferenceNet web site at http://rnet.web.irs.gov/rs/eroc.asp.

1.4.5.4  (09-04-2007)
Contract Management

  1. Electronic Research contracts are set up at agency level with a single funding point for all delivery orders and requisitions. These 5 year contracts allow IRS to purchase contracts at a consolidated bulk rate or volume discount, which allows IRS to provide unlimited access to all employees who need to research, at a reduced cost per person.
    1. SPDER manages the Tax Law and Asset/Locator contracts.
    2. Asset/Locator contracts for “local” or regionalized services are coordinated through SBSE. Following IRT 05-11, such requests should be cleared through the SBSE and SPDER offices to eliminate duplication of services.
    3. The National Credit bureau contract is managed by SBSE.

1.4.5.4.1  (09-04-2007)
Contract Restrictions

  1. A key component of IRS’ standardization of electronic research services is the intent to acquire, at the best value to the government, as much of the content for an ideal tax and legal reference library as possible through one source. Additional content will be obtained through other existing avenues such as Fedlink or GSA schedules, as necessary.
  2. Current IRS policy issued by the Office of Procurement controls the purchase of commercial electronic research services. This policy is provided in Information Request or Transmittal No. 05-11 dated January 1, 2007. It states that no commercial multi-license electronic research services, including the development of training for these services, will be purchased at any level without first obtaining specific approval from SPDER. All electronic research service requirements must be reviewed by SPDER to determine whether they are covered by the contract. This policy ensures that IRS obtains standardized research materials that best meet the requirements of the agency at the best possible cost and no duplication occurs.
  3. To review this procurement policy, access it at http://spder.web.irs.gov/research/documents/IRT05-11.htm.

1.4.5.5  (09-04-2007)
IRS Corporate Tax and Legal Research Services

  1. Current corporate contracts for tax and legal research services managed by SPDER provide IRS employees with access to the following:
    1. primary and secondary Federal tax resources, news, business, and legal sources;
    2. an up-to-date, searchable web-based version of the IRM (IRM Online);

      Note:

      These products are fully linked to cited references which allow access to all research material from one place.

    3. federal tax resources on a commercial “carry-along” or portable CD ROM Windows product; and
    4. an Intranet product which includes a set of CDs that run on servers.
  2. SPDER is the single point of contact for all contract issues and is responsible for the overall management of these contracts. The EROC is used as a means of sharing division and employee issues as well as to ensure business needs are met.
  3. To obtain access to these research tools, contact your division ID administrator. The ID administrator information can be found on the ReferenceNet web site at http://rnet.web.irs.gov/idadmin.htm.
  4. The tax and legal research services are customized to have portal like access to the sources used most often by IRS employees. This simplifies research by making it easier to access these sources.
  5. Access to these services is available from the ReferenceNet web site or the IRWeb under Research Center or Tax Resources as well as from division web sites.
  6. A commercial portable CD ROM is also available under these contracts. The CD ROM is intended for employees who need to perform research from off site locations. The CD’s are published quarterly to refresh the content. The disks expire after one year, except the last CD of the year which is an archival non-expiring disk.
  7. To request automatic distribution of the CD’s, update the Internal Management Document Distribution System (IMDDS) Order Point Summary Report (IMR02) for your office. Provide the following information: File 498, quantity needed and catalog number 01403V.
  8. The contract also includes an online product consisting of a set of CD ROMS running on servers. These networked CDs contain the full tax service provided by the vendor. Employees working in the office have access via the intranet and can access it without a password at CCH on Intranet found on the ReferenceNet web site.

1.4.5.5.1  (09-04-2007)
Permissible Uses of Extracts from Commercial Research Services

  1. Copyright laws apply to data housed by electronic research vendors on their services and certain restrictions apply to the use of the material. This section describes how the IRS can use materials obtained through electronic research tools.
  2. “Fair Use” of copyrighted material has generally been defined by the courts and allows:
    1. Making multiple copies for use in a classroom
    2. Copying and inserting materials in a training document
    3. Copying, downloading and distributing materials for internal use by IRS employees
    4. Copying a document for a single person (i.e. a taxpayer or for a case file).
  3. Explicit permission is required from the vendors when their content in training materials is posted on the IRS public web site or released as part of a FOIA request. Request permission through SPDER at .

    Note:

    IRS does not have permission to otherwise redistribute content from the vendor services on any external web sites.

  4. Permission for any other uses of material obtained from an electronic research service must first be requested through SPDER at spder@irs.gov.
  5. It is highly recommended that whenever possible, one should link directly to the source documents. It is not recommended that you download and post a stand alone copy of legal sources documents to internal web sites because it is difficult to keep them up to date.

1.4.5.6  (12-21-2005)
Corporate Locator/Assets and Public Records Contracts

  1. The Office of Servicewide Policy, Directives and Electronic Research (SPDER) is responsible for delivering, funding, and maintaining Servicewide contracts for the asset/locator (public records) contract.
  2. Employees that are required to research public records can do so through the locator/asset tool. It provides front-line employees with easy access to public records such as real estate transactions, real property, vehicles, aircraft, as well as information on people and businesses.
  3. IDs and passwords are required for employees to access public records data. A listing of ID administrators is available from the ReferenceNet web site at http://rnet.web.irs.gov/accurint/idadmin.asp.
  4. Once IDs and passwords are obtained, researchers can access public records products from the ReferenceNet web site..
  5. Batch processing of public record information like phone numbers and addressees is also available under a national contract and is user funded. Offices that need this data can contact spder@irs.gov for additional information.

1.4.5.6.1  (09-04-2007)
Local Contracts

  1. “Local” contracts may still be required for data that is unavailable from the national contract vehicles. These local contracts are obtained by all operating divisions/functions based on sources available in various localities. For example, in some states the Department of Motor Vehicles does not sell records to third-party vendors. Local contracts are predominately funded by SBSE, however, these funds are expected to cover all needs for local contracts, regardless of operating division or function.
  2. IRT-05-11 applies to the purchase of all “local” contracts. IRT-05-11 must be followed when seeking to purchase services outside the national contracts.

1.4.5.6.2  (12-21-2005)
Credit Bureau Information

  1. IRS has competitively selected a single vendor as the primary source for all credit bureau data. This contract is owned and managed by SBSE.
  2. Full Credit Reports are only available to IRS employees working balance due cases. The Fair Credit Reporting Act requires this limitation. Credit Reports can be a valuable source of information regarding an individual’s addresses, assets, financial relationships, and provide judgment information where available.
  3. Credit Header information is available primarily for Automated Collection System (ACS) employees. Credit Headers provide only address, phone, and employer information. This information is also used by some Areas and International.
  4. Smart.Alx is the program that is required to access credit bureau information. IDs are assigned to the computer used to access this system and are input directly into Smart.Alx by designated coordinators.
  5. Smart.Alx automatically ensures compliance with the Fair Credit Reporting Act by matching all Credit Report requests against a validation table that contains current case assignment information.

1.4.5.6.3  (09-04-2007)
Court Records through WebPACER

  1. A nationwide Interagency Agreement provides IRS employees with Public Access to Court Electronic Records (PACER). Through WebPACER, users can access case and docket information from Federal Appellate, District and Bankruptcy courts, and from the U.S. Party/Case Index.
  2. SBSE has funded the agreement to cover all users with a charge-back provision for non-SBSE users. If you do not have a WebPACER ID, you may request one using the Online 5081.
  3. More information on the agreement, funding, point of contact, as well as access to WebPACER is provided from the ReferenceNet web site at http://rnet.web.irs.gov/index.htm or from http://pacer.psc.uscourts.gov/.

1.4.5.7  (09-04-2007)
Overview of IRM Electronic IRM Sources

  1. This section provides employees and managers with information on the electronic sources of the Internal Revenue Manual (IRM) and tips for conducting IRM research.
  2. The IRM is available either in paper through the Internal Management Document Distribution System (IMDDS) or through several electronic sources.
  3. The Electronic Publishing web site maintains the core repository for all published products, including the official published IRM. There are other electronic IRM sources; however, they all originate from the files posted to Electronic Publishing. These other sources include:
    • IRM Online
    • Commercial CD ROM and Intranet products
    • Servicewide Electronic Research Program (SERP)
    • IRS.gov
    • IRM CD ROM (SGML/Windows Version)
  4. These various electronic IRMs offer options designed for specific customer groups. A description of each electronic IRM source can be found in IRM 1.11.6.
  5. Other tools that can be used in IRM research are:
    • IRM Index (Document 10988), Catalog 27371W
    • User Guide to the IRM (Document 11582), Catalog 32466C
    • IRS Published Products Catalog (Document 7130), Catalog 63740X
    • IRM Historical Library

1.4.5.8  (09-04-2007)
Electronic Research Training and Reference Material

  1. Every manager is responsible for ensuring employees have access to these tax administration tools and receive the training required to use them.
  2. Information on all training products is easily accessible from the ReferenceNet web site at http://rnet.web.irs.gov. Follow the steps below to navigate to the training information for each research service.
    1. Go to the ReferenceNet web site at http://rnet.web.irs.gov.
    2. Then click on the tab “Research Services” and select the radio button for “Training” .
    3. You will see the list of research services, click on the research service to see the training available.
  3. Types of training available are as follows:
    1. Computer Based Training - This gives you the flexibility to review the modules you need when it’s convenient for you.
    2. Centra - Receive training at your desk with a live instructor via this web conferencing tool. Recorded sessions are available for Introductory and Advanced classes.
    3. Telephonic Training - This allows for one-on-one or small group training by phone tailored to your research needs.
    4. User Guide - These guides contain detailed instructions on how to use various tools.
    5. Quick Reference Guide - Use these one page quick reference guides to help you get started with the most common tasks.
  4. For information on conducting tax law research, order the publication Tax Law Research Techniques, Training 5112, TPDS 84237X, through the Training Publication Distribution system.

1.4.5.9  (09-04-2007)
Paper Research Products

  1. The IRS goal is for employees to conduct tax research via web-based products, however, it is recognized that employees may also need paper research materials. This trend is also occurring in the publishing and text retrieval industry.
  2. It is the responsibility of each operating division and function to provide adequate research materials. Factors such as employee skills, computer availability, centralized-shared libraries, etc., should be considered in determining the need for paper research products.
  3. Enterprise contracts are available for bulk purchase of universally used paper products. These contracts are managed by SPDER.

1.4.5.9.1  (09-04-2007)
Ordering Paper Research Products

  1. The following paper publications are available for ordering:
    • Internal Revenue Code
    • Income Tax Regulations
    • Tax Handbooks
  2. The IRS has a five-year bulk order contract for the code and regulations with a sole provider through 2010. Additionally, IRS has bulk order contracts with vendors who produce tax handbooks. Employees can choose from one of the two available handbooks. For more information on these products contact your IMDDS coordinator at http://publish.no.irs.gov/distsys/imdds/imddcoor.html.
  3. These publications can be ordered annually from the Printed Tax Reference Material (PTRM) Renewal Survey, (formerly the Other Government Agency (OGA) survey) that comes out every July. Orders must be placed by the first week in August. The survey contains instructions and is distributed to all IMDDS order points. If you have questions about the IMDDS system, call your functional IMDDS coordinator.
  4. Each operating division and function is responsible for providing funds for the number of copies of the code and regulations ordered.
  5. The SPDER Office will fund all handbooks, up to the amount budgeted for this purpose. If costs exceed the amount SPDER has received, the operating division or function has two choices:
    1. Provide additional funding, or
    2. Reduce quantity ordered.

    Note:

    Remember that the code and regulations, as well as the two of the tax handbooks are available electronically from the commercial vendors providing electronic tax research services

1.4.5.10  (09-04-2007)
IRS Historical Research Library

  1. The IRS Historical Research Library is maintained by SPDER. This library contains historical IRM materials and organizational history files.
  2. Currently the IRM library is located n Room 6102 of the Main IRS Building at 1111 Constitution Avenue, NW, Washington, DC.

    Note:

    The Historical Library is planned on being moved to 500 N. Capitol, NW in late 2007.

  3. You can find prior versions of the IRM in this library. An online database can be accessed at http://oldirm.web.irs.gov/
  4. Visit the IRS Historical Library web site at http://oldirm.web.irs.gov/ for additional information concerning the contents of the organizational history library. These records document and define organizational realignments and changes in functional responsibilities of the IRS from its inception to the present.
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