The Information Returns Branch (IRB) serves as the focal point for the Information Reporting Program (IRP) Customer Service Section (CSS), Quality Control Section (QCS) and the Electronic and Data Management Section (EDMS). IRB is part of the Electronic Products and Services Support (EPSS) organization. IRB handles inquiries (telephone and electronic mail) from the payer/employer community in relation to the preparation and filing of information returns. Inquiries relate to tax law, filing requirements, and preparation and submission of paper and electronic filings. Topics include:

IRB customers may call 1-866-455-7438 or foreign filers may call 1-304-263-8700 for assistance. According to IRB policy, these numbers should not be given to individual taxpayers. These numbers are for transmitters, payers, and employers that need help in the preparation of information returns.

Hours of operation are 8:30 a.m. until 4:30 p.m. Eastern Time, Monday through Friday.

As a rule, Information Returns Branch assistors do not answer account specific questions (i.e., calls received regarding business or individual tax accounts).

Resources available to help assistors in the performance of their duties include: classroom training, on the job training, publications, instructions for specific forms, Internal Revenue Service (IRS) Codes and Regulations, Notices, Revenue Procedures, Announcements, Revenue Rulings, Internal Revenue Manuals (IRMs), e-help Communications and the IRB Probe and Response guide.

A probe and response guide was created on the Servicewide Electronic Research Program (SERP) to aid telephone assistors in the Information Returns Branch. The guide should be used by telephone assistors when providing tax law responses to filers of information returns. The guide has been developed by employees in the Customer Service Section and EPSS Headquarters analysts. The guide was developed as a working tool to help assistors develop proper probing techniques and to provide correct responses in a more timely manner. All topics are not available at this time, however more topics are being prepared and will be added. Employees will be notified when additional topics are posted. The tool is not mandatory at this time. However, we encourage everyone to use it and provide feedback on its usefulness. For information about accessing the guide, see Exhibit 21.3.11-17.

Training is critical to the accomplishment of the goals and objectives of EPSS. The curriculum is designed to provide assistors with the skills needed to perform their jobs.

EPSS has four courses that provide instructions for the e-help Support System (EHSS).

The following courses are supplemental training for all IRB assistors. The courses enable assistors to answer contacts with professionalism and proficiency.

Classroom training for the products supported by IRB is shown below.

e-help Communications are e-mail messages sent to individual assistors in an effort to improve communications between the e-help Desk sites, IRB, the EPSS Headquarters, and national office business analysts. e-help Communications provide information regarding new and/or revised solutions, site closures, and other pertinent information. Programming changes to EHSS or other systems/applications supported by EPSS may also be communicated this way.

This section provides a list of Publications (Pub.), instructions and other forms of reference materials used by IRB to answer questions relating to the filing of information returns.

Organization, Function, and Program (OFP) codes are recorded on Form 3081, Employee Time Report, to identify work that IRS employees perform daily. See Exhibit 21.3.11-1 for program codes to use when working telephones, e-mail and paper, and for read time. Time must be reported under the appropriate OFP codes for tracking purposes. Also see Exhibit 21.3.11-2.

A goal of IRB is for its assistors to use standardized procedures to efficiently provide consistent responses to its customers. This section establishes uniform procedures for telephone responses.

Assistors should be aware of the policies and procedures of other IRS offices that impact IRB. This section details some of those offices.

This section provides information for employee awareness on matters of safety and security for their own well being and for the security of their office or coworkers.

The routing of calls to the Information Returns Branch is managed using the Aspect telephone system via the ISN/CVP. This system provides for call routing capabilities, including queuing, reporting, and toll-free service. See IRM 3.42.7.6, Internet Service Node (ISN)/Customer Voice Portal (CVP), for information about the Aspect Telephone System.

A goal of IRB is for its assistors to use standardized procedures to efficiently provide consistent responses to its customers. This section establishes uniform procedures for telephone responses.

The Internal Revenue Service Restructuring and Reform Act of 1998 (RRA'98), Section 3705(a), provides identification requirements for all IRS employees working tax related matters.

You must provide the following information in a professional and courteous manner when you communicate with a customer by telephone or correspondence:

Follow the steps described in paragraphs (4) through (10) below to ensure that you are providing quality service.

Greet the customer:

Communicate with the caller in a professional manner during the contact:

Target the caller's question:

Verify disclosure (as appropriate). See IRM 3.42.7.7.4,Authentication and Authorization Guidelines, for instruction.

Get the Necessary Facts:

Provide assistance:

Close the conversation:

When the call is about IRS issues that are not handled in IRB:

When the call is about issues that are not IRS issues:

The e-help Support System is used to provide support to IRS' external customers. The Third Party Data Store (TPDS) maintains contact data for these customers. EHSS also receives contact data for Information Returns from the Transmitter Control Database (TCB). As customers contact IRB, assistors are able to access their contact history which is contained in e-cases. For detailed information about using EHSS, please see IRM 3.42.7.4, Introduction to the e-help Support System (EHSS).

Form 1042-S, Foreign Person's U.S. Source Income Subject to Withholding - Types of income reported on this form are interest, dividends, royalties, pensions and annuities, and income that is effectively connected to a U.S. trade or business. The due date for Form 1042-S to IRS and the recipient is March 15 of the year following the year of payment. Withholding is required under IRC 1441.

Form 1096, Annual Summary and Transmittal of U.S. Information Returns - Use this form to transmit Copy A of paper Form 1097, Form 1098 Series, Form 1099 Series, Form 3921, Form 3922, Form 5498 Series, and Form W-2G to the IRS. This form is not used when transmitting information returns electronically.

Form 1097-BTC, Bond Tax Credit - This is a new form that will require Real Estate Investment Trusts that hold certain types of bonds to report the pass-thru credits to shareholders. The first year for reporting these credits will be for 2011, but reporting is optional for 2011. They are reported on a quarterly basis. Reporting is required under Public Law (P.L.)111-5, section 1541, IRC 853A.

Form 1098, Mortgage Interest Statement - This form is used to report amounts of $600 or more in mortgage interest, including points, certain mortgage insurance premiums, and reimbursements of overpaid interest that were received by the filer in the course of his trade or business from individuals. Reporting is required under IRC 6050H.

Form 1098-C, Contributions of Motor Vehicles, Boats, and Airplanes - This is a report of information regarding a donated motor vehicle, boat, or airplane. Donations valued at more than $500 are required to be reported. Reporting is required under IRC 170(f)(12) and IRC 6050L.

Form 1098-E, Student Loan Interest Statement - This is a report of $600 or more in student loan interest received in the course of a trade or business. Reporting is required under IRC 6050S.

Form 1098-T, Tuition Statement - This is a report of qualified tuition and related expenses, reimbursements or refunds, and scholarships or grants. Reporting is required under IRC 6050S.

Form 1099-A, Acquisition or Abandonment of Secured Property - This is a report by a lender of information about the acquisition or abandonment of property that is security for a debt. All amounts are required to be reported. Reporting is required under IRC 6050J.

Form 1099-B, Proceeds From Broker and Barter Exchange Transactions - This is a report of all amounts of the sales or redemptions of securities, futures transactions, commodities, and barter exchange transactions. Reporting is required under IRC 6045.

Form 1099-C, Cancellation of Debt - This form is used to report cancellation of debt of $600 or more owed to a financial institution, the Federal Government, a credit union, RTC, FDIC, NCUA, a military department, the U.S. Postal Service, the Postal Rate Commission, or any organization having a significant trade or business of lending money. Reporting is required under IRC 6050P.

Form 1099-CAP, Changes in Corporate Control and Capital Structure - A report of information about cash, stock or other property from an acquisition of control or the substantial change in capital structure of a corporation. Reporting is required when the property involved in the change is valued at $100 million or more. Reporting is required under IRC 6043A.

Form 1099-DIV, Dividends and Distributions - Payers must report distributions of $10 or more for dividends, capital gain distributions, or nontaxable distributions, that were paid on stock. This form is also used to report $600 or more in liquidation distributions. Reporting is required under IRC 6042 and IRC 6043.

Form 1099-G, Certain Government Payments - This is a report of payments of $10 or more of unemployment compensation, Governmental paid family leave, and state and local income tax refunds, any agricultural grant, and $600 or more in taxable grants and Alternative Trade Adjustment Assistance (ATAA) payments. Reporting is required under IRC 6050B, IRC 6050D, and IRC 6050E.

Form 1099-H, Health Coverage Tax Credit (HCTC) Advance Payments - This form is used to report all amounts of health insurance premiums paid on behalf of certain individuals. Reporting is required under IRC 6050T.

Form 1099-INT, Interest Income - Payers are required to report payments of $10 or more in deposit interest and $600 or more in interest paid in the course of a trade or business . Reporting is required under IRC 6049.

Form 1099-K, Merchant Card and Third Party Network Payments - A payment settlement entity must file Form 1099-K for payments made in settlement of reportable payment transactions for each calendar year. Reporting is required under IRC 6050W.

Form 1099-LTC, Long Term Care and Accelerated Death Benefits - This is a report of all amounts of payments under a long-term care insurance contract and accelerated death benefits paid under a life insurance contract by a viatical settlement provider. Reporting is required under IRC 6050Q.

Form 1099-MISC, Miscellaneous Income - This form is used by payers to report $10 or more in royalty payments and substitute dividends and tax exempt interest payments reportable by brokers. It is also used to report $600 or more in payments for rent, medical service payments, service payments to people that are not employees, fish purchases, crop insurance proceeds, and gross proceeds paid to attorneys. In addition, reporting is required for all amounts paid to crew members of fishing boats and income from Section 409A nonqualified deferred compensation plans to nonemployees as well as direct sales of $5000 or more of consumer goods for resale. Reporting is required under IRC 6041, IRC 6050A, IRC 6050N, and IRC 6050R.

Form 1099-OID, Original Issue Discount - Payers must report payments of $10 or more of original issue discount paid to an account holder. Reporting is required under IRC 6049(d)(6).

Form 1099-PATR, Taxable Distributions Received From Cooperatives - Report of payments of $10 or more in distributions from cooperatives passed through to their patrons including any domestic production activities deduction and certain pass-through credits. Reporting is required under IRC 6044.

Form 1099-Q, Payments From Qualified Education Programs (Under Sections 529 and 530) - Report of all amounts of distributions and earnings from qualified tuition programs and Coverdell ESAs. Reporting is required under IRC 529(d) and IRC 530(h).

Form 1099-R, Distributions From Pensions, Annuities, Retirement and Profit-Sharing Plans, IRAs, Insurance Contracts, etc. - Used to report distributions of $10 or more from retirement or profit-sharing plans, any IRA, insurance contracts, and IRA recharacterizations. Reporting is required under IRC 6047.

Form 1099-S, Proceeds From Real Estate Transactions - Generally, payments of $600 or more in gross proceeds from the sale or exchange of real estate and certain royalty payments are required to be reported. Reporting is required under IRC 6045.

Form 1099-SA, Distributions From an HSA, Archer MSA, or Medicare Advantage MSA - All amounts of distributions from an HSA, Archer MSA, or Medicare Advantage MSA are required to be reported. Reporting is required under IRC 220(h).

Form 3921, Exercise of an Incentive Stock Option Under Section 422(b) - This form is used by employers to report all amounts of the transfer of an employer's stock to an employee pursuant to the exercise of an incentive stock option under IRC 422(b). Reporting is required under IRC 6039.

Form 3922, Transfer of Stock Acquired Through an Employee Stock Plan Under Section 423(c) - This form is used to report all amounts of the transfer of an employer's stock to an employee pursuant to the exercise of an incentive stock option under IRC 423(c). Reporting is required under IRC 6039.

Form 5498, IRA Contribution Information - This form is used to report all amounts of contributions (including rollover contributions) to, and the fair market value (FMV) of, any Individual Retirement Arrangement (IRA) including a SEP, SIMPLE, and Roth IRA. Roth conversions and IRA recharacterizations are required to be reported. Also, the account holder must be notified if he must take a required minimum distribution in the next year. Reporting is required under IRC 6047 and IRC 408(i).

Form 5498-ESA, Coverdell ESA Contribution Information - Used to report all amounts of contributions (including rollover contributions) to a Coverdell ESA. Reporting is required under IRC 529(d) and IRC 530(h).

Form 5498-SA, HSA, Archer MSA, Medicare Advantage MSA Information - Report of all amounts of contributions to an HSA (including transfers and rollovers) or Archer MSA and the fair market value of an HSA, Archer MSA, and Medicare Advantage MSA. Reporting is required under IRC 220(h).

Form 5754, Statement by Person(s) Receiving Gambling Winnings - This form is used to prepare Form W-2G when the person receiving gambling winnings subject to reporting or withholding is not the actual winner or is a member of a group of two or more people sharing the winnings. Reporting is required under IRC 6041.

Form 8027, Employer's Annual Information Return of Tip Income and Allocated Tips - This is a report of receipts from large food and beverage operations, tips reported by employees, and tips allocated by the employer. Reporting is required under IRC 6053.

Form 8935, Airline Payments Report - This form is used to report payments of any money or other property made by a commercial passenger airline carrier to a qualified airline employee. The form is required to be filed with the IRS within 90 days of the date of making the airline payment(s) to the employee. Reporting is required under P.L. 110-4585, Section 125.

Form 8935-T, Transmittal of Airline Payments Reports - This form is used to transmit paper Form 8935 to the IRS.

Form 8955-SSA,Annual Registration Statement Identifying Separated Participants With Deferred Vested Benefits - This form is used to report information concerning separated participants with deferred vested benefit rights. This form is required to be reported under IRC 6057(e).

Form W-2G, Certain Gambling Winnings - This form is used by gaming establishments and other payers of gambling winnings to report winnings from horse racing, dog racing, jai alai, lotteries, keno, bingo, slot machines, sweepstakes, wagering pools, poker tournaments, etc. Amounts reported are generally $600 or more; $1200 or more from bingo or slot machines; and $1500 or more from keno. Reporting is required under IRC 6041.

Form W-2, Wage and Tax Statement - This form is used by employers to report wages, tips, other compensation; social security, medicare, withheld income taxes, and deferred compensation. Other payments include bonuses, vacation pay, severance pay, certain moving expenses, certain travel allowances, third-party sick pay, distributions from certain non-qualified retirement plans, IRC § 409A income, and taxable fringe benefits. The form is due to the Social Security Administration (SSA) by the last day of February. Reporting is required under IRC 6051.

Form W-3, Transmittal of Wage and Tax Statements - This form is used by employers to transmit Forms W-2 that are being filed with the Social Security Administration. The form is also used to reconcile dollar amounts and other information from any Forms W-2 that are submitted with it.

Form W-2c, Corrected Wage and Tax Statement - This form is used when correcting errors on a previously filed Form W-2, Wage and Tax Statement. Only the portions of the form that were originally reported incorrectly are completed on this form. The forms should be filed as soon as the incorrect information is discovered.

Form W-3c, Transmittal of Corrected Wage and Tax Statements - This form is used to transmit any Forms W-2c that must be filed with the Social Security Administration. It may also be filed alone to correct an error on Form W-3.

Contact Representatives must advise filers of the required and suggested format for filing paper forms to the IRS and to the recipients. Refer filers to the General Instructions for Certain Information Returns, (Forms 1097, 1098, 1099, 3921, 3922, 5498, and W-2G) or the Instructions for Forms W-2 and W-3.

Different rules apply to furnishing statements to recipients depending on the type of payment that is being made and the form being filed. The specific guidelines for preparing and mailing recipient copies are provided in the General Instructions for Certain Information Returns (Forms 1097, 1098, 1099, 3921, 3922, 5498, and W-2G) and the Instructions for Forms W-2 and W-3.

This section provides information for working inquiries on information returns.

Form W-2, Wage and Tax Statement, must be filed with the Social Security Administration (SSA) by the last day of February of the year following payment. Form 3921, Form 3922, Form 1099 series, Form 1098 series, and Form W-2G returns must be filed with the IRS by February 28 of the year following payment. Forms 1042-S are due to IRS by March 15 of the year following payment. The due date for Form 3921, Form 3922, Form 1099 series, Form 1098 series, and Form W-2G returns filed electronically to the IRS is March 31 of the year following payment. Form 5498 series returns are due to IRS by May 31 each year. Forms W-2 that are filed electronically to SSA are also due March 31 of the year following payment.

Employers may furnish Form W-2 information electronically to employees on the employer's web site. An employee may voluntarily consent to receive the Form W-2 information electronically, in lieu of a paper Form W-2. If the employee elects/consents to receive the Form W-2 electronically (and the consent is not revoked or withdrawn), the employer is required to post the statement on an accessible web site by January 31 of the following year. The employee may withdraw consent, electronically or in writing, before being notified by the employer that the information is posted on the web site. The employer must confirm receipt of consent withdrawal, electronically or in writing. In the case of timely consent withdrawal, the employer is still obligated to provide a paper Form W-2. See Treas. Reg. 31.6051-1(j) for more information.

For payee statements furnished after December 31, 2001, employers may furnish Form 1099 information returns electronically on a payer's web site. Congress passed the "Job Creation and Workers Assistance Act of 2002" on March 9, 2002. The Act allows organizations to furnish Form 1099 electronically to taxpayers in lieu of providing a statement via the mail or through personal delivery. The act reads: "Any person required to furnish a statement, under any section of the IRC of 1986, for any taxable year after the date of the enactment of this Act, may electronically furnish such statement, without regard to any first class mailing requirement, to any recipient who has consented to the electronic provision of the statement, in a manner similar to the one permitted under the regulations issued under IRC 6051." Temporary and proposed regulations under IRC 6051 address the provision of Form W-2 information electronically. See (3) above.

If an employee is terminated before the close of the calendar year and requests a Form W-2, the Form W-2 must be furnished within 30 days of the request or 30 days after the last wage payment, whichever is later.

Questions relating to the following forms should be referred as follows:

This section provides information about the forms required when submitting paper copy "A" of information returns to the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) or the Social Security Administration (SSA).

This section provides information about U.S. income paid to foreign persons and where it is reported.

The following form is used to report the issuance of tax credits on certain bond instruments.

The following Form 1098 and Forms 1099 are used to report various types of interest and dividend payments.

The following form is used to report donations of certain vehicles to qualified organizations.

The following forms are used to report Tuition Payments, Student Loan Interest and contributions to and distributions from Section 529 and Coverdell ESA plans.