Purpose: Records are destroyed in accordance with the Records Control Schedules (RCS), Document 12990 and General Records Schedule (GRS), Document 12829. In keeping with the mission of the Records and Information Management (RIM) Program to improve the quality of, document, protect, and efficiently manage all IRS records until final disposition, a local procedure has been developed to record all internal records disposals.

Audience: These procedures apply to ALL IRS employees and contractors.

Program Owner: The Records and Information Management (RIM) office, under Privacy, Governmental Liaison and Disclosure (PGLD) is the program office responsible for oversight of the Servicewide records management policy.

Determine the appropriate method to destroy records based on their category.

Destruction Certification (Exhibit 1.15.3-1), which may be reproduced, is to be used to certify the destruction of IRS records for court purposes. Records Specialists are authorized to issue notarized destruction certifications after verification that a particular accession of records or that a particular record has been destroyed.

Unauthorized disposition is the removal from the legal custody of the Federal government or the alienation, alteration, or mutilation of records without regard to the provisions of IRS Records Control Schedules located in IRS Document 12990, Catalog 57910D and General Records Schedules (GRS) located in IRS Document 12829, Catalog 54713E .

The Records and Information Management (RIM) Program office manages the Records Loss Reporting (RLR) process for investigating, analyzing and reporting IRS incidents involving the loss, theft or destruction of records. Records loss is defined as the theft or unauthorized destruction, deletion, or removal of any record or device containing records under an employee’s control, which cannot be recreated or restored.

Immediately upon becoming aware of a loss, theft, or unauthorized destruction of a hardcopy or electronic record, contractors and IRS employees must report the loss using the Personally Identifiable Information (PII) Breach Reporting Form. The PGLD Incident Management (IM) office will review the PII Breach Reporting Form as outlined in IRM 10.5.4, Incident Management Program, and alert the PGLD RIM Program office that a suspected records loss has occurred. Upon receipt of the Records Loss Report from the IM office, RIM will contact the reporting point of contact to complete Form 15035 , Records Loss Reporting. The RIM Program office will conduct an intake and risk assessment process that includes:

Under certain conditions, records may be destroyed without regard to the IRS RCS. Also see 36 CFR 1229, Emergency Authorization to Destroy Records.

Dangers to human life, health or to property:

State of war or threatened war:

Disposal lists are for non-recurrent records. These lists provide one-time authority for the immediate disposal of existing records no longer accumulating and having no further value or no longer being created. These lists can be authorized only by the IRS Records Officer, and individual offices are responsible for notifying their Information Resource Coordinator (IRC) and Records Specialist of the need for such a list.

The IRS Records Officer will develop records disposition lists as required or based on information submitted by Records Specialists from the IRCs.

When records at the FRC are eligible for destruction, the FRC issues a Form NA-13001, Notice of Eligibility for Disposal, at least 90 days before the date the records are scheduled for destruction. The Records Specialists verify the information on the Forms NA-13001 against their reference copies of the SF-135 forms provided at the time of retirement. A copy of each NA-13001, with a cover letter stating agreement to destroy the subject records will be sent to the appropriate IRC for review and coordination. The IRC determines:

Agreements with the FRC Program will include requirements for compliance with physical security requirements for protection of IRC 6103 records. NARA may use outside vendors to accomplish destruction of IRS records. These vendors will be obligated to comply with Section 6103 Non-Disclosure requirements for the protection of taxpayer and other records containing sensitive IRS information. These sites will be inspected by IRS Physical Security personnel prior to beginning a destruction of IRS records and will be subject to random and unannounced inspections thereafter.

IRS Form 11671 , Certificate of Records Disposal, documents the in-house disposition of original paper and electronic IRS records. Some series of IRS records are maintained throughout their entire life cycle in a single office or in IRS maintained space (including non-recordkeeping electronic systems) rather than retired to a FRC. The recurring series of records that fall under this category must be identified prior to destruction or deletion. Should they be required for work purposes, for Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) requesting or Congressional requesting purposes, or be needed for court purposes, the IRS would have to identify the exact date when the records were destroyed and under what authority. IRS Form 11671 should be used to identify the office of record, the manager approving the disposal, the series/system being disposed, the RCS/GRS and Item Number, the inclusive dates of the records, the volume (number of boxes being destroyed or amount of data being deleted), and the date of the destruction. IRS records, paper or electronic, series being destroyed or deleted in-house (with exceptions, see below) should be documented in this manner. Completed IRS Form 11671, Certificate of Records Disposal should be forwarded to the Records Specialist assigned to the Post of Duty for processing.

The deletion of electronic records in approved recordkeeping systems (such as email, SETR and HRConnect) do not require the completion of Form 11671.

Guidance on the use of this form and the processes for carrying out in-house records destruction/deletion are available on the Records and Information Management (RIM) Program SharePoint.

When possible, paper records will be sold as waste. The contract for the sale will prohibit resale or use as records or documents and will prohibit brokerage sales of shredded documentation to foreign located entities. The contract will further state that records containing protected information, such as taxpayer or privacy act data, will be destroyed beyond legibility or reconstruction. See the Physical Security Handbook for approved methods of destruction, e.g. shredding, burning or pulping. All sites where IRS paper is shredded, macerated, pulped, or burned, will be available for inspection by Disclosure personnel.

The Privacy Act Notification and the clause entitled Privacy Act, See 48 CFR Subpart 24.1, 48 CFR 52.224–1, 52.224–2, and 31 CFR Subtitle A, Part 1, Subpart C, should also be included in the contract. If the material is removed from the IRS facility under circumstances that prohibit immediate destruction, the container used for removal must lock in such a manner that a seal may be applied. The seal will then be removed by the witnessing IRS employee at the time of destruction.

For small quantities, paper records may be donated to local public or non-profit institutions or agencies for the purposes of recycling. IRS personnel must take the necessary precautions to ensure that the materials are not sold as documents and that the interests of the United States and of private individuals are protected. In all cases, donations of records must be approved and authorized by the IRS Records Officer prior to transferring of the records for these purposes.

To serve the public interest, the IRS may donate records authorized for disposal to another government agency, organization, institution, corporation or person that has made application for them. The following terms must be met:

If, in the opinion of management officials the donation is acceptable, approval of the proposed donation must be obtained through:

Refer to Disaster Recovery Policies on the Privacy, Governmental Liaison and Disclosure, Records and Information Management SharePoint to gain information regarding lost, destroyed or damaged records recovery procedures: https://portal.ds.irsnet.gov/sites/vl003/lists/informationresource/disaster%20recovery%20toolkit.aspx.

Report damaged or lost records immediately to the Records Management staff or simply send an email to *Records Management at <p.rim@irs.gov>.