Advisory Committee on Tax Exempt and Government Entities (ACT ...

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Governmental Relationship and Communication Between the Internal Revenue Service and Indian Tribal GovernmentsITG was designed to provide a single point of contact for Tribes to obtain assistanceand service from the IRS. As noted above, five field groups organized by region provideprimary front-line service. These field groups consist of ITG specialists and their directsupervisors who work in locations relatively near the seats of the Tribal Governmentsthey serve. As noted on the IRS website, “[o]ur specialists can address issues andprovide guidance unique to Indian country. Issues may relate to tribal governments asemployers, distributions to tribal members, and the establishment of governmentalprograms, trusts and businesses.” ITG also has two other groups performing important functions.The first of these, the ADAPT group, employs nine specialists and their directsupervisor, and its primary function is to identify potential tax frauds and abusive taxschemes at Tribal facilities and conduct compliance checks and examinations designedto identify and curtail – or rule out the existence of – such frauds and schemes. Thesecond of these, the Compliance and Program Management group, employs ten peopleand their direct supervisor, and its primary functions are to maintain ITG’s tribal contactdatabase, coordinate the implementation of ITG’s Annual Work Plan, select cases forcompliance checks and examinations using ITG’s critieria for case selection, maintainITG’s web pages within the IRS website, and similar functions.B. IRS Protocols for its Day-to-Day Dealings with Tribal GovernmentsIn recognition of the government-to-government relationships that exist between theFederal Government and Tribal Governments, the IRS has established importantprotocols for its day-to-day dealings with Tribes. These protocols, which are nowcontained in Sections 4.86.1.2 and 22.41.1.2 of the Internal Revenue Manual, were firstdeveloped in 2000, soon after ITG was established. While not phrased in mandatorylanguage, the protocols provide that when scheduling a visit to a Tribal entity, IRSpersonnel should (a) contact the responsible Tribal official(s) via telephone or mail andset a convenient time to meet, (b) inform the official(s) of the purpose of theappointment and whether it is an education/outreach endeavor, compliance check, orexamination, and (c) express a willingness to repeat the information to the TribalCouncil or other Tribal representatives if requested. The protocols further describe howthe initial meeting with the Tribal official(s) or their designee(s) should be conducted andhow the assignment should be completed. The protocols specify that “[p]ersonalcontact is essential to obtain an understanding of tribal perspectives and concerns.”I.R.M. §§ 4.86.1.2, 22.41.1.2. ITG has implemented these protocols by asking eachTribal chairperson for direction regarding the Tribal officials who should be contacted,and by communicating directly with the Tribal chairperson any time an examination isplanned. In the absence of tailored instructions from the Tribal chairperson, ITG’s policyis to initiate all contacts with the Tribe at the level of the Tribal chairperson. Although itappears that most ITG specialists follow these protocols, we are aware of occasionswhen IRS agents outside of ITG have ignored the protocols and proceeded in a mannernot acceptable to Tribal Governments.ADVISORY COMMITTEE ON TAX EXEMPT AND GOVERNMENT ENTITIES (ACT) June 11, 2008 6
Governmental Relationship and Communication Between the Internal Revenue Service and Indian Tribal GovernmentsC. Selection, Training, Expectations, and Retention of ITG SpecialistsOne key component for successful government-to-government relationships betweenthe IRS and Tribal Governments, at least with respect to day-to-day tax administrationmatters, are the ITG specialists who constitute the day-to-day points of contact betweenthe IRS and the Tribes.ITG specialists are GS-12- or GS-13-level personnel on the Federal Government’sgeneral federal pay schedule, a higher level than is required for examining agents inother divisions of the IRS. Because of this, all of the ITG specialists have come to ITGfrom other positions within the IRS, rather than from outside the IRS. There is a fivepagewritten job description for the position. Among the six categories of knowledgerequired for the position, knowledge relating to the unique government-to-governmentprotocols and to an understanding of diverse Tribal cultural backgrounds that apply towork in ITG is listed last. Although listed last in the formal job description, the Directorof ITG emphasized in her response to our written survey that in hiring new ITGspecialists she focuses on whether the person is flexible, can “think outside the usualrevenue agent IRS box,” can “deal with the variety of cultural situations required,” can“communicate at a variety of levels so that they can do effective outreach and training,”and “want[s] to work with this customer base and in this atmosphere.”While the IRS is prohibited from using a hiring preference for Native Americans, theDirector of ITG informed us that she believes that approximately eight of the current 48ITG specialists (including ITG specialists in the ADAPT group) are Native Americans.After ITG was established, ITG did its initial hiring of specialists and managers in twolarge waves. For each of these groups of initial hires, ITG conducted a three-dayorientation session and an eight-day training session. These sessions, held inWashington, D.C. and Tulsa, Oklahoma, were universally praised by the attendees.The eight-day training session was developed and delivered with the assistance of anoutside, Tribally-owned consultant, and it covered a wide range of appropriate subjectmatter including pertinent technical tax topics, federal Indian law and policy, Tribalhistory, law, and culture, and protocols for contacts with Tribes. A variety of outsidespeakers were presenters at the training session, including Tribal leaders. From ourconversations with the Director of ITG, specialists, and their managers, it appears to usthat the eight-day training session contributed importantly to a culture of respect withinITG for Tribal Governments and the government-to-government relationships withinwhich the IRS must operate.Substantially fewer resources are made available today for orientation and training newITG hires than were made available when ITG hired its initial staff. Today, thesesessions are three days in length and are taught by IRS personnel, primarily theDirector of ITG and one of her top managers. Generally, an outside speakerrepresenting Tribal Governments will appear as part of the program, but newer hires didnot often praise this training in their survey responses.ADVISORY COMMITTEE ON TAX EXEMPT AND GOVERNMENT ENTITIES (ACT) June 11, 2008 7
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