4.19.21. Clerical

(1) Purpose: This IRM section contains guidance and general information on procedures for Examination Clerical functions. The clerical function is basic in nature. However, each site’s clerical staff can have varying duties. This IRM is written as a guide for the most common clerical duties. It is not all-inclusive.

(2) Audience: Wage and Investment (W&I) and Small Business/Self Employed (SB/SE) Campus Operations.

(3) Policy Owner: The Director of Refundable Credit Program (RCPM), Wage and Investment (W&I) and Small Business/Self Employed (SB/SE).

(4) Program Owner: The Director of RCPM, W&I.

(5) Primary Stakeholders: Wage and Investment (W&I) and Small Business/Self Employed (SB/SE).

(6) Contact Information: To recommend changes or make any other suggestions for this IRM section, send an email to the IRM author or use the Servicewide Electronic Research Program (SERP) Feedback Application.

(1) Correspondence is received by mail, fax, E-fax, Document Upload Tool (DUT), Taxpayer Digital Correspondence (TDC) received by secure messaging, and referrals from other areas. All new receipts, including but not limited to, undeliverables, misroutes, and Correspondence Imaging Inventory (CII) prints, must be reviewed when received, prior to controlling to a tax examiner.

(2) Statute imminent cases must be expedited for processing. These cases are maintained in red folders to be readily identified. Virtual/digital cases should not be printed for placement in a red folder.

(3) Statute imminent cases must be elevated to management to ensure proper handling. Notification by clerical is required when a statute imminent case is being assigned, and acknowledgment must be secured from the receiving team manager/lead.

(4) Date stamp all paper correspondence within two business days of receipt in Examination.

(5) For digital and faxed correspondence received, a date stamp is not required. The date will already be present on correspondence submitted digitally (TDC, DUT, Fax). Exception: If the fax is received from another internal department, date stamp to show when the Exam Operation received it.

(6) If E-fax or faxed receipts are not dated and time stamped by the computer or fax machine, follow paper correspondence procedures.

(7) To protect taxpayer privacy, the IRS masks social security numbers (SSNs) on most Computer Paragraph (CP) notices. To identify the account information for masked SSNs, use hand-held scanners to read the barcode. If the hand-held scanner is unavailable or unable to read the bar code, use IDRS CC TPIIP. For additional information on CC TPIIP, refer to IDRS Command Code Job Aid located on the Servicewide Electronic Research Program (SERP) under IRM Supplements.

(8) Update correspondence within five business days of the date it was received in the Exam Operation.

(9) Process all incoming correspondence through an initial mail sort as shown in the following If and Then table.

(10) The following table details the Exam incoming correspondence workflow update process.

(11) For W&I only, do not update the cases to Status 54 when correspondence is received with no information, or the taxpayer only provided a telephone number. The following table shows how to process this type of correspondence.

(1) Statutory Notice of Deficiencies are created through Report Generation Software (RGS). The statutory notice of deficiency (SNOD) is processed through the AMSTUS/STN02 program and those accepted are printed and mailed by the Correspondence Production Services (CPS) site.

• The two consolidated sites are CPS East in Detroit and CPS West in Ogden.

• For cases that are accepted into the STN02 process, the SNOD and the mail out package, including the report, are systemically dated the third Monday after the aging program.

• For cases that fail the validity checks for CPS processing, print and mail the SNOD locally and date for the Friday following the aging program.

• Cases that fail the STN02 process are generated by the AMSTUS/STN01 process in Machine Services at the site level, and then shipped to Exam for association with the copy of the report and mailing. The Batch Aging copy of the report is be generated and printed within the Exam area.

• Verify that the correct penalty code (if any) has been cited and the Form 886-A computation matches the amount of the report.

• If generating a SNOD through AMSTUS/STN01 or preparing a handwritten SNOD, any payments on TXMOD (i.e., TC 640 or TC 670), must be considered prior to the issuance of the SNOD. Ensure the case is reviewed for a determination to issue the SNOD or close the case as agreed.

• A digitized copy of the SNOD will be maintained in RGS/CEAS.

• SNODs will be kept bundled in mail out date, then SSN order.

(2) Only in very rare situations will a case reject from B1 and need a manual Form 5600, Statutory Notice Worksheet, input to IDRS. If this occurs, input the Form 5600 to IDRS and when the statutory notice arrives, check figures for accuracy and ensure the proper number of copies were printed (two SNODs for the taxpayer, one for file, and one for a representative if one is listed on Centralized Authorization File (CAF). Verify using CC CFINK. In most of the work, Batch will provide a listing of all cases going into the 90-Day process. The SNOD and the certified listing will generate in Machine Services. The report will generate in Batch. Check filing status with IDRS entity.

(3) Associate the report with the 90-Day letter and mail to the taxpayer using current procedures. Insert two copies of the SNOD, the Form 886-A, applicable letter, and any attachments into the appropriate envelope (e.g., E-44-B, E-142, E-212, or E-213).

(4) Reject Listings: The following reports are generated weekly via STN02 and should be printed and worked weekly.

• STN FAILED TO MERGE DETAIL

• BATCH PRINT REJECT REPORT

• EXCEPTION LIST

• ARP0843 - AIMS Weekly Updates (new addresses) are used for STN 01, 02 and manual cases

• STN0147 - Manual Research Report from Control D are used for STN 01 and manual cases for a variety of reject reasons.

(5) Replies Received in Status 24 STN01, B0 Manual:

• Pull the SNOD

• If no CRD is on RGS/CEAS, input one.

• If the case is assigned to a group, deliver the reply to the appropriate group. Unit clerk will update RGS/CEAS to Status 2498 and assign the case to CET.

• Do not update the status on AIMS. Leave all 90-Day cases in status 24.

• If the case is not assigned to a correspondence group, assign it to one based on guidelines set by the local management.

(6) STN02 and prior Status 23 or 25:

• If there is a physical case when an STN02 Statutory Notice of Deficiency is issued by CPS, follow campus procedure for staging the status 24 case file during the aging process.

(7) Defaulting STN02 With No Replies (Blocking Series 40 X):

• A listing (in SSN order) of the cases that have defaulted will be provided by the ACE Coordinator.

• Form 13181, Examination Report Generation Software (RGS) Closing Information, is generated in the Print Manager Program. Properly dispose of it.

(8) Defaulting STN02 Cases With Replies Case will consist of the following when it is forwarded to files:

• Taxpayer correspondence,

  Note: For digitized cases, taxpayer correspondence is purged after 180 days and there is no need to forward to Files. The taxpayer’s correspondence is maintained in digital form in CEAS.

• Closing Information Cover Sheet (Form 13181).

(9) Defaulting Cases STN01/B0 Manual With No Reply Case will consist of the following when it is forwarded to files:

• Closing Information Cover Sheet (Form 13181),

• Statutory Notice of Deficiency, and

• Any attachments or documents not saved electronically.

(1) The clerical function will assemble the letter package and prepare the envelope for mail out. If the letter is a SNOD, and a joint return both taxpayers must receive a copy so each package would contain the same information. The package will contain the following:

1. One (1) copy of the letter

2. One (1) copy of the exam report

3. One (1) copy of Form 14817 , Reply Coversheet for Exam Correspondence

4. One (1) copy of the Form 886

5. One (1) return envelope

(2) Place package in envelope E-44-B.

(3) If the letter package does not contain all the above mentioned items and is no more than 5 to 8 pages, use a smaller envelope if possible.

(4) Periodically, Exam mails letters to foreign addresses. Detailed information on international mail is found in IRM 1.22.3.4, Addressing Standards for International Mail.

(1) Assist local management in the preparation and review of reports.

(2) Receive weekly listings such as status workloads, ARP340, etc.

(3) Responsibilities include researching RGS/CEAS, AIMS, IDRS, and paper case files, to:

• Account for the case and/or determine if the case was forwarded elsewhere.

• Monitor dates to ensure work is moved to next status promptly.

• Update all cases going to another unit (such as 90 day unit).

• Update on AIMS/RGS/CEAS/IDRS. Follow procedures in the Batch Processing Guidelines to update.

(4) When updating AIMS and CEAS through RGS, clerks should include a unique identifier in the Action Text. The unique identifier can be either the clerk’s initials or RGS user number as determined by local management.

(5) The following suggested Action Text in the table below references the clerk identifier as XXX, #### indicates the EGC and NN is the RGS Group Number.Standard Action Text

(6) The following procedures described in the table below are standard for maintaining Examination cases in RGS/CEAS.

(7) Cases in Group B0 must have the proper status code extension so that the correct Blocking Series, Technique and Disposal Code is applied to defaulted cases during the Automated ACE closing process. The table below details that information:

(1) All closed cases that have a SNOD, a Reply, Agreed Report or were closed elsewhere by Self-Assign, will be forwarded to files.

• Forward the Form 13181, Closing Information Cover Sheet, and attachments, to the Documents Retention Unit for association with Form 5147 transmittals.

• Any attachments or miscellaneous documents that need association with a previously closed file will be forwarded using Form 9856, Attachment Alert, or an IMFOLT print highlighting the SSN, tax year, name control and document locator number (DLN) as a cover sheet.

(1) There are numerous command codes for case research. The Servicewide inventory Exam control system is AIMS. Prior to most case activity, research should be performed.

(2) SeeIRM 4.19.13.4, Researching Cases. This section contains the common command codes for research.

(3) IDRS Command Code Job Aid on SERP under IRM Supplements. See IDRS Command Code Job Aid.

(1) Address changes can be made when:

• There is direct contact made by the taxpayer

• Form 8822, Change of Address, is received

• The yellow USPS label on undeliverable mail presents a new address

• Taxpayer provides new address in correspondence/reply

(2) CC ENREQ is the command code used for initiating an address change.

(3) IDRS Command Code Job Aid on SERP under IRM Supplements (see link for Command Code Job Aid). See SERP - Job Aids (irs.gov).

(1) Statute searches must be performed beginning 90 days prior to the Statute expiration date. All inventories, both paper and electronic, must be reviewed for statute imminent criteria to expedite processing.

(2) Campuses must have all employees complete Form 11122, Employee’s Statute Certification, documenting the biweekly statute searches beginning 90 days prior to the statute expiration date. These searches are to be increased to weekly searches 30 days prior to the statute expiration date. During the final week prior to the statute expiration date, increase the searches to daily. Each search performed must be documented.

(3) To identify digital/virtual/paper statute imminent cases, close monitoring should be conducted in RGS and through AIMS generated reports (Table 4.0).