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

More documents

Recommendations

Info

Governmental Relationship and Communication Between the Internal Revenue Service and Indian Tribal GovernmentsIn addition to the orientation and training provided for new ITG hires, ITG specialists andmanagers are required to attend three days of internal technical training periodically,which ITG endeavors to hold annually. This training session is referred to as“Continuing Professional Education” or “CPE.” The training is held in one location for allpersonnel and is the only opportunity that ITG has for a gathering of all of its staff. Theagenda is set by the Director of ITG after soliciting suggestions from staff.ITG’s managers in each geographic region hold one regional meeting each year for allthe specialists in the region to meet together and discuss issues of common concern.The annual regional meetings are three days in length.A few specialists indicated in their responses to our survey that they havesupplemented their formal training with research on their own regarding their assignedTribes, sometimes done through accessing information regarding Tribal history from theTribes’ websites. The Director of ITG informed us that specialists and their managershave access to Indian Country Today, a well-known national newspaper covering theTribes and events and issues in Indian Country, and that she expects them to read itregularly.ITG’s work force of specialists and their managers is relatively stable in comparison withthe work force in many other groups within the IRS. ITG’s work force reports a higherlevel of employee satisfaction in IRS’s survey of its employees’ satisfaction than theaverage satisfaction level within the IRS.Assignment shifts do occur from time to time for Tribes from one ITG specialist ormanager to another, usually as a result of employee turnover. 2 ITG has lost 26members of its initial 68-member staff, approximately 16 of whom were specialists ortheir managers. Twelve of them left for promotional opportunities within the IRS and 11of them retired or resigned. Thirteen members of ITG’s staff are currently eligible forretirement and may decide to announce their retirement at any time, and several morewill become eligible for retirement over the next year. Of those currently or soon eligiblefor retirement, approximately 10 are specialists or their managers.Budgetary constraints have placed limits on new ITG hiring. ITG’s staff is currentlycomprised of 74 members, with three recent additions. ITG had hoped to add 15 staffmembers in the current fiscal year, but a shortfall in hoped for budget allocationsrequired ITG to scale back its new hiring.D. ITG’s Work Plan and Increasing Emphasis on Enforcement Activitiesin Indian CountryITG sets forth its work priorities in an Annual Work Plan that it posts on its website.ITG’s current plan can be found at .Much of the work that ITG performs involves2Assignment shifts also occur because IRS procedural rules place certain limitations on the ability of the same specialist toperform consecutive examinations of returns involving the same Tribal Government.ADVISORY COMMITTEE ON TAX EXEMPT AND GOVERNMENT ENTITIES (ACT) June 11, 2008 8
Governmental Relationship and Communication Between the Internal Revenue Service and Indian Tribal Governmentscontacts with Tribal Governments that are classified either as “outreach” contacts or as“enforcement” contacts. ITG defines “outreach” for this purposes as “an interaction withan ITG entity/stakeholder group on a governmental tax issue under the jurisdiction ofITG, the primary purpose of which is to educate the entity to improve their federaltax/BSA compliance, via a structured event or activity planned in advance of the actualdelivery.” Enforcement contacts are those which occur in compliance checks andexaminations.Since approximately 2005, there has been an increasing emphasis in the IRS, and inTE/GE in particular, away from outreach and toward examinations and compliancechecks. The number of examinations performed within ITG has steadily increased inrecent years, while outreach contacts have declined. The following table captures thistrend:ITG Event FY 2005 FY 2006 FY 2007Outreach contacts 6,360 5,400 4,133Completed compliancechecks334 226 153Closed examinations 284 466 553In our view, more and broader outreach may be needed with Tribes than with other IRScustomer groups to assist Tribes in understanding their obligations and staying incompliance, due to the uniqueness of Tribal Governments and the lack of educationalopportunities regarding Tribal tax matters outside the IRS. Also, many TribalGovernments perceive that examination rates are higher for Tribal Governments andTribal Entities than for other customer groups within TE/GE, given that there are onlyapproximately 560 federally recognized Tribes in the United States and 2,519 additionalTribal Entities, and they question whether they have been singled out unfairly forexaminations. It may be beneficial to the IRS’s relationships with Tribal Governmentsfor ITG to take advantage of appropriate opportunities to explain to Tribal Governmentsthe factors that have resulted in high examination rates in Indian Country.E. “Consultation” Between IRS and Tribal GovernmentsThe Federal Government, including the IRS, has an obligation to consult with TribalGovernments on all matters that affect them. Federal Government departments andagencies must undertake “regular and meaningful consultation and collaboration withtribal officials in the development of federal policies that have tribal implications.”Executive Order 13175, Consultation and Coordination with Indian Tribal Governments(Nov. 6, 2000). “Each executive department and agency shall consult, to the greatestextent practicable and to the extent permitted by law, with tribal governments prior totaking actions that affect federally recognized tribal governments. All such consultationsare to be open and candid so that all interested parties may evaluate for themselves theADVISORY COMMITTEE ON TAX EXEMPT AND GOVERNMENT ENTITIES (ACT) June 11, 2008 9
Page 5:
ADVISORY COMMITTEE ON TAX EXEMPT AN
Page 9 and 10:
MEMBER BIOGRAPHIESGOVERNMENT ENTITI
Page 11 and 12:
GENERAL REPORTOF THEADVISORY COMMIT
Page 13:
General Report of the Advis
Page 18:
Improving the Employee Plans Compli
Page 23 and 24:
Page 25 and 26:
Page 27 and 28:
Page 29 and 30:
Page 31 and 32:
Page 33 and 34:
Page 35 and 36:
Page 37 and 38:
Page 39 and 40:
Page 41 and 42:
Page 43:
Page 47 and 48:
Page 49 and 50:
Page 51 and 52:
Page 53 and 54:
Page 55 and 56:
Page 57 and 58:
Page 59 and 60:
Page 61 and 62:
Page 63 and 64:
Page 65 and 66:
Page 67 and 68:
Page 69 and 70:
Page 71 and 72:
EXHIBIT DSubmission Type:(insert fr
Page 73 and 74:
EXHIBIT D (CONTINUED)18. Descriptio
Page 75 and 76:
EXHIBIT D (CONTINUED)VCP CHECKLISTT
Page 77 and 78:
EXHIBIT D (CONTINUED)23. Have you i
Page 79 and 80:
EXHIBIT D (CONTINUED)Instructions f
Page 81 and 82:
EXHIBIT D (CONTINUED)23. Under Exam
Page 83 and 84:
ADVISORY COMMITTEE ONTAX EXEMPT AND
Page 85:
The Appropriate Role Of The Interna
Page 88 and 89:
Page 90 and 91:
Page 92 and 93:
Page 94 and 95:
Page 96 and 97:
Page 98 and 99:
Page 100 and 101:
Page 102 and 103:
Page 104 and 105:
Page 106 and 107:
Page 108 and 109:
Page 110 and 111:
Page 112 and 113:
Page 114 and 115:
Page 116 and 117:
Page 118 and 119:
Page 120 and 121:
Page 122 and 123:
Page 124 and 125:
Page 126 and 127:
Page 128 and 129:
Page 130 and 131:
Page 132 and 133:
Page 134 and 135:
Page 136 and 137:
Page 138 and 139:
Page 140 and 141:
Page 142 and 143:
Page 144 and 145:
Page 146 and 147:
Page 148 and 149:
Page 150 and 151:
Page 152 and 153:
Page 154 and 155:
Page 156 and 157:
Page 158 and 159:
Page 160 and 161:
Page 162 and 163:
Page 164 and 165:
Page 166 and 167:
Page 168 and 169:
Page 170 and 171:
Page 172 and 173:
Page 174 and 175:
Page 176 and 177:
Page 178 and 179:
Page 180 and 181:
Page 182 and 183:
Page 184 and 185:
Page 186 and 187:
Page 188 and 189:
Page 190 and 191:
Page 192 and 193:
Page 194 and 195:
Page 196 and 197:
Page 198 and 199:
Page 201:
The Streamlined Closing Agreement F
Page 204 and 205:
Page 206 and 207:
Page 208 and 209:
Page 210 and 211:
Page 212 and 213:
Page 214 and 215:
Page 217:
ADVISORY COMMITTEE ONTAX EXEMPT AND
Page 220 and 221:
PROTECTING PLAN BENEFITS:IMPROVING
Page 222 and 223:
Page 224 and 225:
Page 226 and 227:
Page 228 and 229:
Page 230 and 231:
Page 232 and 233:
Page 234 and 235:
Page 236 and 237:
Page 238 and 239:
Page 240 and 241:
Page 242 and 243:
Page 244 and 245:
Page 246 and 247:
Page 248 and 249:
Page 250 and 251:
Page 252 and 253:
Page 254 and 255:
Page 256 and 257:
Page 259 and 260: PROTECTING PLAN BENEFITS:IMPROVING
Page 267: ADVISORY COMMITTEE ONTAX EXEMPT AND
Page 271 and 272: Tax Treatment Of Cellular Telephone
Page 279 and 280: IRC, 2007-CODE-VOL, SEC. 280F. LIMI
Page 281 and 282: PENIRC S 274 Page 1 of 12IIRC, 2007
Page 283 and 284: PENIRC S 274 Page 3 of 12relationsh
Page 285: Employee Cell Phones Page 1 of 1Emp
Page 289 and 290: 15. Special Rules for Various Types
Page 292: Withholding RequirementsACCOUNTING
Page 299: ADVISORY COMMITTEE ONTAX EXEMPT AND
Page 303 and 304: Governmental Relationship and Commu
Page 309: Governmental Relationship and Commu
show all

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

Create successful ePaper yourself

Delete template?

Save as template?