Business rules streamline administrative duties, improve the determination process, and facilitate accurate and consistent business policy implementation across the country. TEDS uses the Business Rules Engine (BRE), a managerial software program, which automates operational business decisions. BRE is used by TEDS to program information from the application package into an electronic format. The BRE allows the IRS to more easily write, view, manage, modify or change business processes as needed. It covers the complete life cycle of a case within TE/GE, Employee Plans (EP) Determinations.

Business rules describe operations, definitions, and constraints that apply to a business in achieving its goals.

Business rules are developed by taking data transcribed from the application package and establishing summary information about the case (e.g., case grade, preliminary user fee validation, open case status, etc.).

Application information is translated into "if – then" statements which are uploaded into the business rule engine.

Cincinnati Service Processing Center (CSPC) manually inputs the data from the application.

The data is converted into binary code or computer language (e.g. questions on the application may be answered "yes" or "no" or business rule may also be stated in such a way that the result may be "true" or "false" .

There are two categories of business rules:

After an application has been scanned and assigned a case number, the following business rules are automatically run and values are assigned:

Some business rules results record case data, which can be found in the Case Information file on the General Case Information and Receipt and Handling tabs. Other business rules results are stored within the BRE Results folder.

A user cannot edit opening business rules results. Any necessary information corrections must be made in the Case Information file Entity Data.

Business rules can be used to:

Business Rule results may be stated in the following format:

Business rules results can be viewed as:

Accessing the case folder BRE Results allows the user to view the Summary Message screen. Accessing this screen allows the user to view the result for each business rule set.

Business rules results can also be viewed within the case file by accessing the case file BRE Response. This opens a TEDS Package Facts document. The document contains all of the data fields that are transcribed at the establishment of the case.

If when accessing Summary Messages or BRE Response screens an Internet Explorer Security Warning message should appear, the user should select Run.

Case Completeness business rules determine if the application package is complete.

To be complete an application package must include:

Case complexity rules evaluate the data from the application form and determines:

The level of complexity of the case is based on the results obtained from the above information. Using the information, TEDS gives the case a preliminary classification of Merit, Non-Merit or Auto Closure.

Case category business rules determine the case type, e.g., initial application/submission, amended plan or Affiliated Service.

Case grading business rules determine the grade.

User fee business rules verify whether the fee paid is correct. The accuracy of the fee is determined based on the amount received and various answers to application questions.

Case classification business rules consider the outcome of case complexity, case completeness and the user fee opening business rules.

Disclosability business rules determine whether the case is disclosable (greater than 25 participants) or non-disclosable (less than or equal to 25 participants).

Before a case can be successfully submitted to a manager for proposed closure, the EP specialist must ensure all case closing data is present.

Business rules run when a specialist submits a case for the manager to close. If all of the required fields are not complete, the case will not close to the manager.

Closing business rules automatically run when a specialist attempts to send a case to the manager in status 74PC for proposed closure. If the closing business rules will not let the case close to the manager, the specialist will take these actions: