4.51.2. LB&I Administrative Guidance

(1) Administrative guidance is a general term that refers to instructions to staff that is often issued on specific issues by a director-level official or above. Administrative guidance may:

1. Address administrative procedures and compliance actions.

2. Provide operational instructions for planning and conducting examinations in areas of unsettled law.

3. Address time and resource allocations, including specialist involvement on cases.

4. Mandate the use of specific audit techniques in developing issues.

(2) In contrast, the term "published guidance" refers to items such as revenue rulings, revenue procedures, notices and announcements that are published in the Internal Revenue Bulletin. They provide information and guidance to taxpayers, IRS personnel and others. The Treasury Department and Office of Chief Counsel provide published legal guidance that establishes the IRS’s legal position. LB&I administrative guidance may cite or refer to established legal principles that have been published in the Internal Revenue Bulletin.

(1) According to IRM 1.2.2.2.20 , Delegation Order 1-23 (Rev. 1), Authorization to Perform Functions of the Commissioner, division commissioners may delegate to officers under their supervision certain authorities on matters under their jurisdiction and cases under their responsibility. As a result, the LB&I commissioner may, through practice area directors, issue guidance to field employees to promote better understanding and consistency. See IRM 1.2.63.2.11, Delegation Order LB&I 1-23-12 (Rev. 1).

(1) LB&I Policy is under the Assistant Deputy Commissioner Compliance Integration (ADCCI), Director – Strategy, Policy and Governance. With respect to administrative guidance, this function is charged with:

1. Developing, changing and documenting LB&I policies and monitoring adherence to those policies.

2. Ensuring administrative guidance is coordinated and vetted with affected parties.

3. Guiding administrative guidance through the approval process to either the Assistant Deputy Commissioner Compliance Integration or other defined approver.

4. Ensuring content is placed appropriately and that supplemental guidance and informational resources do not contain instructions to staff that should be placed in the IRM.

(1) LB&I will use Interim Guidance (IG) procedures to issue instructions to staff that cannot wait for an IRM update. IG memos are used Servicewide to issue guidance faster than an IRM section update. They have established clearance procedures and a system for tracking, controlling, and revoking them. IG memos are associated with their related IRM sections(s) on IRM Online and in the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) library and are incorporated into the IRM within two years (unless reissued). Instructions for authoring, clearing, distributing and monitoring IG memos are found in IRM 1.11.10, Interim Guidance Process. LB&I specific processes are established and administered by LB&I Policy.

(2) All interim guidance memos will be assigned control numbers and be added to the Internal Management Document (IMD) Tracking System. This system links these memos to their related IRM section in IRM Online. The IMD Tracking System is used to monitor the status and expiration dates of each memo. Control numbers are assigned by an LB&I IMD coordinator after approval of the document. The components of the control number are:

(3) IG memos are in effect for two years from the issuance date or through the stated expiration date on the guidance, if earlier. To remain in force, procedures must be incorporated into the IRM by the expiration date.

(1) The following acronyms are used in this IRM:

(1) LB&I Policy Office Virtual Library landing page: https://irsgov.sharepoint.com/sites/ETD-KMT-KB011/SitePages/LBIPrograms/LBIPolicyOffice/PolicyLandingPg.aspx

(2) Submit questions and policy development requests to: https://irsgov.sharepoint.com/sites/PolicyGateway/SitePages/Large-Business-and-International-Policy-Gateway.aspx

(1) The IRM is the primary, official source of instructions to staff and includes content that falls into one of the following categories:

1. Delegations of Authority— In general, the power to give orders or make decisions. Delegation orders are issued by the Commissioner of Internal Revenue (or on the Commissioner's behalf), to subordinates, with or without restriction or redelegation.

2. Guidelines — Directions employees use to determine a course of action or explanations that help employees make judgments based on facts.

3. Interim Guidance (IG)— A memorandum or IRM procedural update used to convey immediate, emergency or temporary changes to operations or procedures.

4. Policy Statement — A statement concerning an important ideal or value that guides IRS in administering the internal revenue laws and forms the basis for IRM procedures.

5. Procedures — A process, series of instructions to follow, or a sequence of steps, that establish a standard based on rule or policy.

(2) IRM content is defined in IRM 1.11.2.2, IRM Standards. This subsection provides general guidelines to follow when evaluating content for IRM inclusion

(3) In addition to consideration of the IRM standards defined in IRM 1.11.2.2, information will be placed in the IRM if it meets any of the following criteria:

1. It details actions that one or more employees are required to perform as part of their duties.

   Example: Performing a risk analysis as described in IRM 4.46.3.3 as part of an examination.

   Example: Technical instructions with mandatory steps on how to perform an examination of an issue such as the application of the economic substance doctrine as described in IRM 4.46.4.

2. Employees are evaluated on how they follow the instructions it provides.

   Example: Soliciting an extension of the statute of limitations as described inIRM 25.6.22.

   Example: Completing a Form 4549 / Form 4549-A, Report of Income Tax Examination Changes, according to IRM Exhibit 4.10.8-1.

   Example: Following instructions for closing various claim for refund cases as described in IRM 4.10.11.2.15.

3. It provides rules for completing required worksheets or forms which are not published elsewhere.

   Example: Accurately completing entries on Form 5344, Examination Closing Record, as described in IRM 4.4.12.5,2or related interim guidance memo.

   Example: Instructions for filling out the "Other Information" section of Form 4549 when inviting the taxpayer to file a claim as described in IRM 4.10.8.10.1 (4).

   Example: Instructions for completing a technical issue checksheet, letter to be sent, or other actions that must be completed in a particular way, such as the IDR enforcement process described in IRM Exhibit 4.46.4-2.

(4) The advantages to placing instructions to staff in the IRM (as opposed to another source) are:

1. Content is subject to a formal review and approval process.

2. Archived copies of previous versions are easy to find in the core repository of published products.

3. Changes between revisions are clearly documented in the Manual Transmittal. (Background material is also available through the IRM Historical Library.)

4. Instructions are available to the public for transparency purposes unless specifically redacted.

5. IRMs are certified as current or not current on a yearly basis.

6. Employee performance can be evaluated based on adherence to the IRM.

(1) Supplemental guidance is defined in IRM 1.11.2.2.1, Supplemental Guidance. This subsection provides information on material that supplements or supports a program process or activity when the primary guidance is in the IRM.

(2) For LB&I, the following types of supplemental guidance and informational resources are known to be used (may not be all inclusive):

1. A Performance Support Tool is a web-based tool which provides information that supplements information in the IRM. Examples include the E-FOIA Decision Tool, and the IRM Decision Tool. All performance support tools must reference the official guidance or procedures, such as the IRM, and be approved by the responsible IRM author/analyst or program owner.

2. Job aids are documents containing information on a specific issue which supplements or supports a program, process, or activity. Job aids summarize official procedures and guidance, such as the IRM, in order for employees to quickly obtain information on a specific subject or topic or for a specific user. An example is Form 10949, Statute Extension Check Sheet.

3. Practice Units are developed through internal collaboration and serve as both job aids and training materials on tax issues. They contain general information on specific tax concepts and processes, as well as guidance on what to consider in an examination of a particular transaction or fact pattern. Practice Units are not official pronouncements of law or directives and cannot be used, cited or relied upon as such. They do not limit an IRS examiner’s ability to use other approaches when examining issues.

4. Audit Technique Guides (ATGs) help IRS examiners during audits by providing insight into issues and accounting methods unique to specific industries or issues. ATGs explain industry-specific examination techniques and include both common and unique industry issues, business practices and terminology. Guidance is also provided on the examination of income, interview techniques and evaluation of evidence. ATGs are not an official pronouncement of the law or the position of the IRS and cannot be used, cited, or relied upon as such.

5. Software or application specific instructions that describe how to use and operate computer software or an application are not IRM material. See IRM Exhibit 1.11.2-1, Definitions of IMD Terms for Determining What Belongs in the IRM. However, instructions that go beyond basic program usage such as the mandatory workpaper naming convention or mandatory IMS inputs do belong in the IRM.

6. Training materials are used to communicate specific aspects of guidance and may be used for new hire training, to increase knowledge on a specific issue, or other purposes.

7. Communications: Email or other communication formats where material supporting published guidance are published. Care must be taken not to issue authoritative instructions using this means instead of interim guidance.

(3) Supplemental guidance and informational resources that help employees do their jobs should be placed into the Virtual Library. Information in the Virtual Library is grouped by related subject matter and placed on different floors. Floors are organized by knowledge base (KB) groupings with multiple KBs within each grouping. KBs contain information related to specific entities, systems, issues, topics, programs or procedures. KBs are organized by shelves with contents placed into books.

(1) LB&I Policy does not own, author, publish, or approve ATGs, practice units, other informational resources or supplemental guidance. These functions are carried out by various practice areas across LB&I. The role of LB&I Policy is to ensure that these types of resources do not contain instructions to staff that should be placed in the IRM. Policy analysts will review IRM content to ensure it is housed in the appropriate place and move content between formats as necessary.

(2) LB&I practice areas publishing this type of content should include a step in their process to consider whether the content belongs in the IRM before publishing. IRM 1.11.2.2 and the https://spder.web.irs.gov/imd/Resources/IRMDecisionTool.aspx is available to help determine what belongs in the IRM. LB&I Policy is available to help determine where content belongs during the development process before approval.

(1) See IRM 1.11.2.2.1, Supplemental Guidance, paragraph (4) for annual review requirements for supplemental guidance.