Included in this chapter are instructions for correcting errors on applications for extensions of time to file and certain other miscellaneous forms.

This Internal Revenue Manual (IRM) should be used in conjunction with IRM 3.11.212, Applications for Extension of Time to File.

Included are instructions for using both the Error Resolution System (ERS) and paper error registers.

The instructions in this IRM cover the processing of the following forms.

See IRM 13.1.7, Taxpayer Advocate Service (TAS) Case Criteria, subsection .2, for Taxpayer Advocate Service Case Criteria.

During a taxpayer contact:

If you are able to resolve and close the TAS issue within 24 hours of the taxpayer contact, do not refer the inquiry to TAS.

TAS has Service Level Agreements (SLA) with W&I, SB/SE, LMSB, TE/GE, CI and Appeals to ensure that standards are established within the business operating divisions/functions to process TAS casework when the authority to complete transactions rests with the division.

The SLAs are located on the TAS intranet homepage, under the heading "Service Level Agreements" .

The following forms are referred to in this section. The chart below shows their form number, form title and use.

Records will be placed into the Error Inventory or the Workable Suspense Inventory for correction. Once the Error Resolution tax examiner accesses the record and it is displayed on the screen, it must either be fully corrected, placed in suspense for additional information, or rejected from pipeline processing. Corrections will include correcting errors in editing or transcription.

This IRM is your main source of information in correcting the record on the screen and the related return. You will also find procedures in IRM 3.12.37, IMF SC Error Resolution System General Instructions, and IRM 3.12.38,Error Resolution - General Instructions, which contain general instructions for correcting records on the screen, document control, inventories, and management reports.

Each day the Error Inventory Report will be furnished showing the blocks by the block control number and block Document Locator Number (DLN) in DLN order. Each batch will be on separate pages. Blocks received from Block Out of Balance (BOB) Correction will also be listed separately.

A copy of the Error Inventory Report can be placed on the carts of documents and used as a charge-out. This will help to determine when a cart is completed.

The first line of the Error Inventory Report will show the number of working days the records on that page have been in the Error Inventory. This will enable work left from a previous day to have priority.

Each day the Workable Suspense Inventory Report will be furnished showing the records by program in DLN order for various statuses. Separate pages for each program with totals will be provided.

The report will show the number of working days that the records have been in the Workable Suspense Inventory. This is on the first line of the report. This will allow priority to be given to the older work.

Error Resolution System (ERS)—When perfection of a document is not possible because it is necessary to correspond, perform research or refer the document to another area of the Campus, suspend the unprocessable record by entering Command Code SSPND followed by the appropriate Action Code.

Error Register—If at any time a document is found to be unprocessable, enter an Action Code 3 to the left of Section 01 on the Error Register and charge the document out of the block, indicating "Rejecting U" , and date. Attach and prepare Form 3696, Correspondence Action Sheet (if taxpayer contact is needed), Form 4227, Intra-SC Reject or Routing Slip (indicating the reason for rejection), or Form 6882, IDRS/Master File Information Request, to the rejected document.

When an ERS document is for a non-ADP period (prior to 1962) or is extending the time to file a Non Master File (NMF) return (Form 8612, 8613, 8725, 8831, 8876, 990-BL, 8924 or 6069), the record must be rejected from ERS.

When an Error Register document is found to be Non-ADP, charge it out of the block as "Non-ADP" with the date. Prepare a Form 4227, attach it to the document and enter Action Code 3 to the left of Section 01 on the error register.

For international returns with and without remittance refer to instructions in IRM 3.12.38, Error Resolution Systems-General Instructions, or IRM 3.12.37, Error Resolution-IMF SC Error Resolution.

If unrelated or unanswered taxpayer correspondence or questions are attached or written on the document and no action has been taken, detach or photocopy and route to the appropriate area.

If unanswered taxpayer correspondence relating to the extension application forms is attached, make a photocopy of the attachment and forward it to the appropriate area.

Be sure that any attachment or photocopy of an attachment routed elsewhere contains name, address, Taxpayer Identification Number (TIN), received date, and an audit trail is noted on the extension form.

Caution should be taken to determine when an extension was filed. The received date is the date on which the extension was delivered to the IRS.

Exceptions to normal due date - some taxpayers are allowed additional time to file their extension request. If any of the following criteria are found, the extension is considered timely filed if received or postmarked by the 15th day of the 6th month after the end of the tax period (if postmarked 06/15/2009 for tax period 200812.) ≡ ≡ ≡ ≡ ≡ ≡ ≡ ≡ ≡ ≡ ≡ ≡ ≡ ≡ ≡ ≡ ≡ ≡ ≡ ≡ ≡ ≡ ≡ ≡ ≡ ≡ .

There is no reasonable cause for late-filed extensions unless the Commissioner has extended the due date for filing due to a situation contained in Policy Statement 2-67. Policy Statement 2-67 states, "Late filed applications for extensions of time to file returns will not be approved. The Service will neither consider nor approve on a case-by-case basis late filed applications for extensions of time to file returns. The Commissioner may extend the due date for filing returns for broad classes or groups of taxpayers, but only in cases of natural disaster, catastrophe or other extraordinary situations."

If the Received Date is invalid, and it appears that the incorrect year was used when the date was stamped (i.e. 20080115 instead of 20090115), and other information (Julian date, postmark date, and/or signature date) indicates that the Received Date should be the current year, change the Received Date year to the current year.

Received dates should be determined using the following priority:

For due date charts showing the timely postmark dates for specific forms, see Exhibit 3.12.212-14 through Exhibit 3.12.212-19.

For further information, refer to IRM's 3.10.72, Extracting, Sorting, and Numbering, and 3.11.212, Applications for Extension of Time to File.

Normally extension requests will be processed by the campus where they are received, but there are some exceptions. Use the following chart to determine transshipping:

Form 7004 extensions for Forms 8612, 8613, 8725, 8831, 8876 and Form 8868 extensions for Forms 990-BL and 6069 are processed to the NMF. See IRM 3.12.212.1.8.

When transshipping extensions to another campus do not send an 86C letter. Extensions are exempted from Action 61 which requires the 86C letter.

Command Code (CC) INOLE definer S (INOLES) with the taxpayer's Employer Identification Number (EIN) or Social Security Number (SSN) is used to find the following information:

Command Code BMFOL definer I (BMFOLI) with the taxpayer's EIN or SSN is used to find the following information:

CC ENMOD with the taxpayer's EIN or SSN is used to find the following information:

Command Codes NAMEE and NAMES, NAMEB and NAMEI, and FINDE and FINDS.

Form 5466-B is processed on ERS instead of paper registers beginning with documents processed on or after January 1, 2009.

Form 5768 is processed on ERS instead of paper registers beginning with documents processed on or after January 1, 2009.

Form 8892 gift tax extensions are processed on ERS instead of paper registers beginning with documents processed on or after January 1, 2009.

Form 3177 is processed on ERS instead of paper registers beginning with documents processed on or after January 1, 2009.

Since January 1, 2008, Form 5558 extensions for Form 5330 (MFT 76) have been processed on ERS using program number 15560.

Form 7004 is revised for tax year 2008 to eliminate Form 1120–A from the list of forms that may be extended and to add Forms 8924 and 8928. The taxpayer may use either revision to file.

Form 8868 is processed on ERS.

All money amount fields are transcribed in dollars and cents.

IMF extension Form 4868 (denied) and Form 2350 (both program 4550X) are processed on ERS. See IRM 3.12.212.7.

The Error Resolution System will identify errors according to type and priority. The record heading will show the type of error.

This IRM will furnish the solution for the displays of the errors. There may be records where the tax examiner finds that programming has not furnished a section that is needed to correct an error. In this event, the tax examiner can use CC GTSEC. This should be reported to the National Office for correction of the display.

Records for the documents in the Error Resolution System (ERS) are controlled by Status Codes. The status is updated when the records are placed in specific inventory.

Below is a list of the Status Codes and brief explanation:

The final two positions of the Status Code will consist of the first two positions of the Action Code. This will put similar work together on the Workable Suspense Inventory.

The ERS Action Code indicates that specific information is missing or that the record is to be rejected from processing. The code will have sufficient detail to indicate if correspondence is to be sent to the taxpayer or the specific in-house research or action required.

Code and Edit employees will assign Action Codes to numbered returns when they determine that the document is unprocessable in its present form either by needing additional information or some manual intervention is required. This code will be entered on the bottom of the extension.

Correspondence Action sheets (Form 3696 and Form 13482) used for initiating correspondence will be attached by Document Perfection. For routing within the campus (in-house research), an explanation concerning the missing information will need to be attached to the return.

The Action Code assigned by Code and Edit will be transcribed into the record of the document.

The presence of a valid Action Code other than 001 will place the record in the Suspense Inventory, either Workable or Unworkable.

A Charge-Out (Form 8161) will be computer generated for all new suspense items. The charge-out will be used for pulling documents as well as routing and controlling documents while the record is being held in suspense and for use in associating the document with the Workable Suspense Inventory when the record becomes workable.

When a record appears on the Workable Suspense Inventory with the Action Code as first priority:

When perfection is not possible, the record may be rejected from ERS and action initiated to have the DLN voided. If remittance is involved, remittance may have to be transferred to the "Unidentified Remittance File" .

Perfection may be possible but the record may require renumbering or uncorrectable fields may need correcting and the record will require rejecting for reinput. Reject the record by entering the CC RJECT followed by the Action Code 630 (reinput) or 640 (void). If a new DLN is to be assigned, use CC NWDLN with the appropriate Action Code and new DLN Master File ID Code if required.

A charge-out will be generated for all rejected records. The charge-out will remain in the campus files for future reference.

ERS will automatically control most of the adjustments to Service Center Control File (SCCF). When manual adjustment is required, Form 4028, Service Center Control File Adjustment Record will be used.

Only one Action Code may be assigned at a time to a record. The priority of the Action Code will be 310, 4xx, 6xx, 3xx, 2xx. An ERS tax examiner may enter an Action Code on a record, delete or correct an invalid code or may overlay the present Action Code with another to either resuspend or reject from ERS. This is done by entering the valid Action Code with the Command Code RJECT, SSPND, or NWDLN.

An ERS tax examiner entering a valid Action Code with SSPND will be clearing the record from the screen and placing the record in either Workable Suspense or Unworkable Suspense.

A Suspense Correction tax examiner entering a valid Action Code with CC RJECT will be deleting the record from ERS. Generally SCCF will automatically update for the rejected records.

See following the Action Code Chart below:

The letter "C" is used as a Clear Code for the Error Codes where the error condition does not require a change or correction to the record as displayed. The screen display will include a clear field labeled "CL" to indicate the possible need of a clear code.

Error Codes are cleared by either correcting the condition or entering a "C" in Field CL to indicate no correction is needed.

Code "C" is also used for clearing the Action Code from the screen after corrections have been completed, or as with Action Codes 410 and 700, the Action Code must be cleared initially, so other errors in the record can be resolved. The presence of the "C" with a priority I error indicates that you have made the corrections to the Action Code and now wish to have any other errors on the record displayed.

The "000" is also used as a Clear Code when deleting Action Codes. It will only be used for erroneous Action Codes when you have determined there is no reason to suspend the record. The "000" cannot be used in suspense correction.

Programming erases all "C" Clear Codes for Error Codes when a record is suspended with the CC SSPND.

Programming erases all "C" Clear Codes for Error Codes and Action Codes for the new day's Error Inventory and Workable Suspense Inventory. Unfinished records from the previous day will contain none of the "C" Clear Codes that were assigned to a record that was not completely worked.

Error Codes (including the ones which may require a "C" Clear Code) are numbered consecutively for correcting.

The "C" Clear code will prevent any other corrections to the record. If a correction must be entered but you have already transmitted the "C" Clear Code, and the error is no longer displayed, then use CC GTRECW to make any corrections.

Correspondence may be necessary if Code and Edit has not already corresponded for missing or contradictory information or to notify the taxpayer that the extension has not been approved for Forms 4868, 2350, 7004 and 8892.

The following table shows the available IDRS Correspondex Letters to be used if corresponding to the taxpayer is necessary.

When the taxpayer replies to correspondence enter the correct information provided by the taxpayer.

When there is no reply from the taxpayer for correspondence requesting information needed to process the extension, follow the no reply instructions for the Error Code, and ensure an Audit Trail is noted on the extension form. If the document carries a remittance, reinput the form as a non-remittance document and prepare Form 3244, Payment Posting Voucher, with TC 670 to post the payment to the appropriate account. If unable to determine the appropriate account, send payment to Unidentified Remittance Unit.

Undeliverable correspondence - when correspondence is returned as undeliverable, research attachments and IDRS for another address. If found, send the correspondence to the new address. If no new address is found:

Any field that does not meet the requirements for that field will be shown as a field error. Some reasons for this type of error are:

All fields with a field error will be displayed in the order encountered in the record. The Action Code will never be displayed as a field error.

There are two types of errors which are identified as section errors— Integrated Submission & Remittance Processing (ISRP) and Terminus errors.

ISRP errors are errors detected by the ISRP System. The table below shows the codes that identify what type of ISRP error is being displayed.

When displayed, an ISRP error will display all input fields except for the Remittance in Section 01 of the section in error. Transcribed data will be present. Computer generated data will not be present.

Terminus Errors are caused by a section with variable length input fields containing an erroneous size field.

An error code is computer generated to a record and assigned in numerical order.

Error Codes will be displayed in ascending numerical order.

Error codes require one of three actions to be taken by the tax examiner:

Use the instruction in this section of the IRM for working extensions when the taxpayer filed Form 7004 instead of Form 8868.

Listed below are the contents of Section 01. See Exhibit 3.12.212-1, Exhibit 3.12.212-2, Exhibit 3.12.212-5, and Exhibit 3.12.212-6 for Form 5558, Form 7004 and Form 8868 locations for Field entries.

Form 5558, Form 7004 and Form 8868 may carry a remittance.

This field will be blank for non remittance forms.

Validity Check Follows:

Correction Procedures Follow:

A "2" is generated in this field unless ISRP has transcribed a "0" to indicate that the TIN is an SSN. A "2" will always be generated on Form 8868.

Validity checks:

Correction procedures:

The following Sections give instructions for Employer Identification Number–01TIN.

The following Sections give validity check and perfection procedures for Tax Period Field 01TXP.

This field contains the ending month and year of the Tax Period of the extension. The Tax Period is printed in year-month (YYYYMM) format; i.e. December 31, 2008 is printed 200812.

Form 5558 - Tax Period is the date in the "Plan year ending" column in section C.

The Master File Tax (MFT) Code is a two position field that indicates what type of tax return the extension is for.

It is edited in the top left margin of the Form 7004 or Form 8868.

MFT 76 is automatically generated for program 15560 (Form 5558).

Validity checks for Received Date:

Correction procedures:

For further information, refer to IRM's 3.10.72, Extracting, Sorting and Numbering, and 3.11.212, Applications for Extension of Time to File.

The entry for Field 01CCC is transcribed from the top center margin of the form.

Validity check:

Form 7004 - Priority of codes is L, then W. If both CCC "L" and "W" are necessary, only edit CCC "L" .

Correction procedures:

Field 01RGC is used for the Return Code on Form 7004 and for the EO Group Code on Form 8868. This field is not present on Form 5558.

The Return Code must be present on Form 7004 when the extension is for Form 1120-F (Form Code on line 1a or 1b (line 1 on 2007 revision) is 15).

The EO Group Code is only edited on Form 8868 extending a Form 990 when the form is being filed for a group.

The CAF Indicator is no longer edited by Document Perfection. If an entry displays in Field 01CAF, delete the entry.

The Notice Code is a 1 position numeric code that is edited on the top center margin of Form 5558 and Form 8868.

The Notice Code indicates whether the extension request is approved or denied and if denied, the reason.

When the extension posts to the BMF, the Notice Code will cause the appropriate notice to generate to the taxpayer to tell whether the extension is approved or denied, and if it is denied, to tell the taxpayer the reason for denial.

If a Notice Code for an approved extension is used (Notice Code 1 and 3), the extended due date will be generated when the extension transaction posts to the BMF.

The following sections provide instructions for Error Code 002.