There may be times when calling the taxpayer will expedite the resolution of the case. Information explaining when to make a telephone attempt is found in IRM 4.19.13.9, Taxpayer Replies. The following is required for all outgoing calls

Follow all call requirements as stated in IRM 4.19.19.2, Call Requirements. Be sure to provide your name and identification number at the beginning of the initial call to the taxpayer. Since the examination of returns can involve re-occurring contacts with a taxpayer by the same examiner, the examiner is not required to provide their identification number during subsequent phone contacts.

When you make an outgoing phone call, the taxpayer may be reluctant to provide their Taxpayer Identification Number (TIN). To ease their concerns provide the taxpayer with the last four digits of their TIN e.g. Social Security Number (SSN) and request that the taxpayer verify the first five digits. After you verify the TIN, follow taxpayer authentication procedures as stated in IRM 4.19.19.4, Taxpayer Authentication.

If taxpayer is still reluctant to provide information, provide the taxpayer with the Examination toll-free number to call back. Leave a detailed CEAS note outlining the information that is needed from the taxpayer. Another assistor can tell the taxpayer what information is needed.

Use the following guidelines when leaving messages that contain confidential information on voice mail. These guidelines are consistent with prudent business practices and disclosure rules while still providing good customer service.

To search for a current telephone number there are several options available. Directory service can be dialed at 1-800-373-3411 (1-800-FREE411). Internet telephone lookup resources are available at:

Employees must act upon all CEAS notes and Form 4442, Inquiry Referral, that indicate a return call is requested by the taxpayer within 3 business days of receipt.

If the employee is not available within the requested timeframes, the manager/lead will ensure the call is returned.

Managers are required to monitor action notes to ensure their employees are taking timely action.

If the case is unassigned (i.e., B0), the manager of the group will ensure the CEAS notes are reviewed and worked.

Examination employees are required to write professional CEAS notes. Examiners must input clear and concise annotations and avoid inappropriate language not relevant to the facts and circumstances of the case.

There are 2 types of CEAS notes, Action and Non-Action.

If the case is assigned to the examiner speaking with the taxpayer, the call information will be recorded in the work paper audit trail. CEAS notes are not required when the work paper is updated with the call information unless required by specific program procedures.

This subsection describes procedures for transferring calls to Examination and out to other functions.

The Self-Assign function allows the examiner working phone calls to reassign a case to their inventory even if the case is not open in their campus.

Self-Assign will be used by Examination employees to close cases when:

The Self-Assign feature is NOT allowed systemically for the following types of cases:

A non-action note is required if the examiner self assigns the case. The non-action note must contain enough detailed information to inform the losing campus of the reason for self-assignment.

After a case has been self-assigned, the gaining examiner must follow normal exam processing in the completion of their workpapers. The case closure must be completed within 24-48 business hours from the receipt of the documentation.

Once a case has been self-assigned, it must be retained by the gaining campus through closing. If a case is incorrectly self-assigned and cannot be closed, the workpaper must be documented with the reason why a self-assigned case remained open.

Manager and/or Coordinator Duties: Self-Assign reports reflecting the losing and gaining campus information are provided to the campuses at the end of each month and must be worked within 7 workdays of receipt.

With Enterprise E-fax, employees can send and receive faxes at their computer. E-fax increases efficiencies, reducing cost for taxpayers, tax preparers and the Service through the implementation of fax server technology.

Documents received through E-fax will not be saved in the examiners Outlook folders.

Documents received through E-fax will be treated as normal paper correspondence or fax receipts and retained as a print in the case file. They will not be saved electronically to the CEAS/RGS record due to CEAS capacity concerns.

E-fax can be a valuable tool in case resolution.

Documents sent to the taxpayers through E-fax will follow guidance established in IRM 10.8.1.5.4.8, Information Technology (IT) Security, Policy and Guidance, and IRM 11.3.1.11, Introduction to Disclosure. Transmissions to taxpayers will only be in special circumstances.

Faxing of tax or Privacy Act information is used only in those situations where the authorized recipient has approved use of the faxing method for the information involved.

When transmitting sensitive information through E-fax services, the IRS shall:

The caller’s fax number and the address where the information will be faxed should be obtained. This may provide another source for address information to assist in verifying the correctness of the disclosure authorization and verify the taxpayer’s address of record.

CEAS notes will be properly documented to show where the tax information was faxed, who received it, and how the receipt was acknowledged.

Practitioner Priority Services® (PPS) is a nationwide toll-free, account related service for all practitioners. PPS serves practitioners as the first point of contact for assistance regarding their clients' account related issues.

Effective April 2, 2012, calls received by Accounts Management on PPS will include prompts referring callers to the appropriate Program Area. Examination PPS calls will be divided between SB/SE (Agent 861, Application 859) and W&I (Agent Group 509).

The PPS toll-free number is 1-866-860-4259. The hours of service are weekdays Monday – Friday 7:00 a.m. to 7:00 p.m., local time (Alaska and Hawaii follow Pacific Time). The lines are available to all practitioners with valid power of attorney declarations, tax information authorizations or third party designee authorizations.

After the caller selects Prompt 7, a submenu will allow the practitioner to self-route to the appropriate WI or SBSE Exam BOD. Because the practitioner will be self-routing, the correct BOD may not be selected and the telephone assistor will need to transfer the practitioner per IRM 4.19.19.2(4), Call Requirements.

Assistors will limit the practitioner to no more than five (5) clients per call.

Person(s) requesting tax account information must have proper authorization in the form of a valid Form 2848, Power of Attorney and Declaration of Representative or Form 8821, Tax Information Authorization. See IRM 4.19.19.4.3, Power of Attorney.

For additional information, see the following:

Do not refuse to speak with a practitioner when you are unable to verify authorization. PPS assistors may do the following tasks with an unauthorized third party:

All employees must be familiar with the basic information available in IRM 21.1.3.1, Overview. More detailed information is always available in IRM 11.3, Disclosure of Official Information, and from your local Disclosure Officer.

Before disclosing any tax information, you must be sure you are speaking with the taxpayer or authorized representative. You must confirm the caller’s identity. It may be necessary to ask if the caller is an individual (IMF) taxpayer (primary or secondary), a business (BMF) taxpayer (sole proprietor, partner, or corporate officer), or an authorized third party. See the taxpayer authentication guidelines in IRM 21.1.3.2, General Disclosure Guidelines. Verify the following:

Request for General Examination Information – You may receive calls requesting general information that do not require account research. In order to provide the correct IRS office address or fax number, research AIMS and CEAS for the Primary Business Code (PBC). All calls must be documented, if possible. Request the following information to allow for the documentation of the call on CEAS notes:

If the caller is unable to pass the disclosure requirements, follow IRM 21.1.3.2.4, Taxpayer Additional Authentication.

If the individual on the call indicates they a POA on file, research the Central Authorization File (CAF) to determine if there is a valid POA or Tax Information Authorization (TIA) for the tax return under examination before disclosing tax information.

Refer to IRM 4.19.13.7, Power of Attorney and Other Third Party Authorizations, for information, as well as the SERP IRM Supplement, Power of Attorney/Third Party Authorizations Toolkit.

Person(s) requesting tax account information must have proper authorization in the form of a valid Form 2848, Power of Attorney and Declaration of Representative or Form 8821, Tax Information Authorization. For other Tthird Party Designations, see IRM 21.3.7.1, What is a Third Party Authorization? and IRM 21.1.3.3.2, Oral Disclosure Consent/Oral TIA (Paperless F8821). Research must be performed on the applicable systems (i.e., CAF, IDRS, AMS) to verify that the authorization is on record.

Verify the Practitioner's

See IRM 21.1.3.2.2, Authorized and Unauthorized Disclosures for information on unauthorized disclosures. Note that Form 10848, Report of Inadvertent Disclosure of Tax and Privacy Act Information, has been replaced with the Computer Security Incident Response Center's online form. It can be found at http://www.csirc.web.irs.gov/incident/.

When a practitioner states they are a Level H representative, in order to provide any information, the practitioner must have prepared the return and the return must be under Examination. For additional information on Level H representation verification, see IRM 21.3.7.5.6, Unenrolled Return Preparer (Level H ) and Registered Tax Return Preparer (Level I ) Representative Research, Rejections and Processing.

Frivolous filers are identified as PC 0310 - 0349. Research the project code using the Exam Project Code Search or review the letters issued on CEAS.

Some frivolous filers are not on AIMS, but are identified with a TC 971 Action Code (AC) 089. Transfer all calls to Ogden’s frivolous filer Team according to transfer procedures in IRM 4.19.19.4.2, Non-Authentication. Do not try to handle these calls yourself.

Taxpayers identified as Frivolous filers have shown a history of non-compliance with tax law or raised arguments about the validity of tax law.

The audits are done to pursue additional tax liability or to correct the frivolous return that was processed or seek the filing of returns where taxpayers have not filed voluntarily.

During the call:

Contact Recording is a phone application/tool/system that records incoming toll free phone contacts for the purpose of possible subsequent monitoring.

When the taxpayer calls the Exam toll-free number, they are notified their call may be recorded. Follow procedures in IRM 21.1.1.10, Contact Recording, if the caller states they do not wish to be recorded.

Hearing-impaired taxpayers with Phone Devices or the Deaf/Teletypewriter (TDD/TTY) equipment are instructed in Pub 17, Your Federal Income Tax (For Individuals) to call 1-800-829-4059 for tax assistance.

If you receive a call from a hearing-impaired taxpayer, they may be speaking through a relay operator. The operator will announce they are calling as a relay operator on behalf of a taxpayer as soon as you answer.

The IRS Language Services Webpage is designed as a consolidated language resource across the IRS, to provide links to internal and external tools to better serve taxpayers with limited English proficiency (LEP).

If you receive a call from a non-English speaking taxpayer, use the Over the Phone Interpreter (OPI)service.

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To contact the OPI service use the following information table:

An interpreter will be connected to the call.

Brief the interpreter. Summarize what you wish to accomplish and give any special instructions.

Add the non-English speaker to the line, by pressing the “Conference Hold” key again.

The SERP EMERGENCY INFO LINK consolidates hyperlinks for handling all emergency situations. Emergency Situations include the following:

Document The Call -- for all emergency situations and if possible, obtain the following information:

When a threat is received - recording the call enables the call to be traced:

Compliance has the authority to resolve taxpayer issue/case when one or more of the following conditions are present:

The Service recognizes taxpayers may experience problems associated with the holding of the refund that may meet TAS criteria. See IRM 13.1.7, Taxpayer Advocate Service (TAS) Case Criteria, for information on case criteria that qualifies taxpayers for TAS assistance.

If steps can be initiated to resolve the case within 24 hours, then do not forward the case to TAS unless the taxpayer asks to be referred to TAS. See IRM 4.19.13.23, Taxpayer Advocate Services (TAS) Procedures, for Examination procedures.

If steps can not be initiated to resolve the case within 24 hours, then complete Form 911, Request for Taxpayer Advocate Service Assistance (And Application for Taxpayer Assistance Order) pursuant to IRM 13.1.7 and tell the taxpayer someone will contact them in 3 business days.

You may provide the taxpayer with the TAS office contact toll-free number of 1-877-777-4778.
http://www.irs.gov/advocate/index.html

Taxpayers often call with the primary inquiry "I didn't get my refund," '' "You're holding my money," '' etc. Do not immediately transfer or refer the taxpayer to the Refund Hotline. This is often the first step to begin discussing their examination issues.

Research IDRS to determine the account status. The following table explains when to refer the taxpayer to the Refund Hold Hotline: