Opportunity to Improve the LB&I Examination Process
TEI Members Participate in 2017 IRS and US Treasury Liaison Meetings
On February 22-23, 2017, a delegation from Tax Executives Institute met with the Commissioner of Internal Revenue, John Koskinen, and senior officials of the Internal Revenue Service and with the Treasury Department’s Tax Legislative Counsel, Tom West, and senior officials of Treasury’s Office of Tax Policy. The detailed agendas TEI submitted to the IRS and Treasury Department before the meetings are provided below.
TEI Proposes Changes to IRS on FATCA Form W-8BEN-E
On June 20, 2016, TEI submitted a letter to the IRS recommending certain changes and clarifications to the FATCA-related Form W-8BEN-E. The letter discusses ambiguities in the most recent version of the form, as well as a need to allow the use of the previous version of the form through the end of 2016.
TEI’s IRS Administrative Affairs Committee prepared this letter. Colleen C. Brown chairs the Committee, and TEI Tax Counsel John Schoenecker coordinated the preparation of TEI’s comments.
Participants in Region 6/7 IRS Liaison Meeting Gain Invaluable Insights
On June 14, 2016, members from Regions VI and VII enjoyed a wide-ranging and insightful discussion with local and national LB&I executives at the University of Illinois Business Center in Chicago, Illinois. Special congratulations and thanks go out to Region VI leadership, notably RVP Janet Kreilein, who led the planning and organization of this year’s event. LB&I’s recent restructuring and the reengineering of its examination process fostered a lively conversation benefitting both TEI members and LB&I officials.
LB&I has begun publishing Internal Revenue Manual updates
** Update of March 31, 2016
LB&I has begun publishing Internal Revenue Manual updates to incorporate the issue-driven examination process outlined in Publication 5125. We encourage TEI Members to review the updates and send your questions, comments, and concerns to Patrick Evans, TEI’s Chief Tax Counsel, at pevans@tei.org or (202) 464-8351.
TEI Members Participate in 2015 IRS and US Treasury Liaison Meetings
On February 26-27, 2015, a delegation from Tax Executives Institute met with the Commissioner of Internal Revenue, John Koskinen, and senior officials of the Internal Revenue Service and with the Treasury Department’s Assistant Secretary for Tax Policy, Mark Mazur, and senior officials of Treasury’s Office of Tax Policy. Summaries of the meetings are provided below.
TEI Members Participate in 2014 IRS and US Treasury Liaison Meetings
On June 4-5, 2014, a delegation from Tax Executives Institute met with the Commissioner of Internal Revenue, John Koskinen, and senior officials of the Internal Revenue Service and with the Treasury Department’s Assistant Secretary for Tax Policy, Mark Mazur, and senior officials of Treasury’s Office of Tax Policy. The agendas and minutes from the meetings are provided below.
TEI Submits Comments on FATCA Temporary & Coordinating Regulations
On May 5, 2014, TEI submitted comments to the Internal Revenue Service regarding temporary and proposed regulations implementing Chapter 4 of the Code, better known as the Foreign Account Tax Compliance Act (FATCA), and coordinating withholding under FATCA with withholding under Chapters 3 and 61 and section 3406.
LB&I Rolls Out Revised IDR Process
As you may have recently read in the tax press or heard about at TEI’s Annual Conference, LB&I has redesigned its examination process to increase the efficiency, effectiveness, and transparency of its audits. A central aspect of a tax audit is information gathering, generally through the use of Information Document Requests or IDRs. LB&I executives believe the current IDR management process lacks the rigor necessary to hold taxpayers and examiners accountable for timely and efficient fact gathering.