Internal Revenue Manual

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The Internal Revenue Manual (IRM) is an official compendium of internal guidelines for personnel of the United States Internal Revenue Service (IRS). [1] [2]

United States Federal republic in North America

The United States of America (USA), commonly known as the United States or America, is a country composed of 50 states, a federal district, five major self-governing territories, and various possessions. At 3.8 million square miles, the United States is the world's third or fourth largest country by total area and is slightly smaller than the entire continent of Europe's 3.9 million square miles. With a population of over 327 million people, the U.S. is the third most populous country. The capital is Washington, D.C., and the largest city by population is New York City. Forty-eight states and the capital's federal district are contiguous in North America between Canada and Mexico. The State of Alaska is in the northwest corner of North America, bordered by Canada to the east and across the Bering Strait from Russia to the west. The State of Hawaii is an archipelago in the mid-Pacific Ocean. The U.S. territories are scattered about the Pacific Ocean and the Caribbean Sea, stretching across nine official time zones. The extremely diverse geography, climate, and wildlife of the United States make it one of the world's 17 megadiverse countries.

Internal Revenue Service revenue service of the United States federal government

The Internal Revenue Service (IRS) is the revenue service of the United States federal government. The government agency is a bureau of the Department of the Treasury, and is under the immediate direction of the Commissioner of Internal Revenue, who is appointed to a five-year term by the President of the United States. The IRS is responsible for collecting taxes and administering the Internal Revenue Code, the main body of federal statutory tax law of the United States. The duties of the IRS include providing tax assistance to taxpayers and pursuing and resolving instances of erroneous or fraudulent tax filings. The IRS has also overseen various benefits programs, and enforces portions of the Affordable Care Act.

Contents

History

The IRM was made publicly available through the Freedom of Information Act.

Freedom of Information Act (United States) US statute regarding access to information held by the US government

The Freedom of Information Act (FOIA), 5 U.S.C. § 552, is a federal freedom of information law that requires the full or partial disclosure of previously unreleased information and documents controlled by the United States government upon request. The Act defines agency records subject to disclosure, outlines mandatory disclosure procedures, and defines nine exemptions to the statute. President Lyndon B. Johnson, despite his misgivings, signed the Freedom of Information Act into law on July 4, 1966, and it went into effect the following year.

According to CCH (formerly known as Commerce Clearing House, Inc.):

The IRS Internal Revenue Manual is the official source of instructions to IRS personnel relating to the organization, administration and operation of the IRS. The IRM contains directions IRS employees need to carry out their responsibilities in administering IRS obligations, such as detailed procedures for processing and examining tax returns.
Procedures set forth in the IRM are not mandatory and are not binding on the IRS. The provisions are not issued pursuant to a mandate or delegation of authority by Congress and do not have the effect of a rule of law. Nonetheless, IRM offers insights into IRS procedures, and many tax practitioners use the IRM for guidance. [3]

In the Internal Revenue Manual, the IRS states:

The IRM is the primary, official source of "instructions to staff" that relate to the administration and operation of the IRS. It details the policies, delegations of authorities, procedures, instructions and guidelines for daily operations for all IRS organizations. The IRM ensures that employees have the approved policy and guidance they need to carry out their responsibilities in administering the tax laws or other agency obligations. [4]

The Internal Revenue Manual itself is not the law. The general rule is that neither the taxpayer nor the IRS is bound by the Internal Revenue Manual. See, e.g., United States v. Horne [5] and First Federal Savings & Loan Ass'n v. Goldman. [6]

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Garnishment is a legal process for collecting a monetary judgment on behalf of a plaintiff from a defendant. Garnishment allows the plaintiff to take the money or property of the debtor from the person or institution that holds that property. A similar legal mechanism called execution allows the seizure of money or property held directly by the debtor.

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Income tax in the United States

Income taxes in the United States are imposed by the federal, most state, and many local governments. The income taxes are determined by applying a tax rate, which may increase as income increases, to taxable income, which is the total income less allowable deductions. Income is broadly defined. Individuals and corporations are directly taxable, and estates and trusts may be taxable on undistributed income. Partnerships are not taxed, but their partners are taxed on their shares of partnership income. Residents and citizens are taxed on worldwide income, while nonresidents are taxed only on income within the jurisdiction. Several types of credits reduce tax, and some types of credits may exceed tax before credits. An alternative tax applies at the federal and some state levels.

The Internal Revenue Service Restructuring and Reform Act of 1998, also known as Taxpayer Bill of Rights III,, resulted from hearings held by the United States Congress in 1996 and 1997. The Act included numerous amendments to the Internal Revenue Code of 1986.

Tax protesters in the United States have advanced a number of arguments asserting that the assessment and collection of the federal income tax violates statutes enacted by the United States Congress and signed into law by the President. Such arguments generally claim that certain statutes fail to create a duty to pay taxes, that such statutes do not impose the income tax on wages or other types of income claimed by the tax protesters, or that provisions within a given statute exempt the tax protesters from a duty to pay.

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IRS Criminal Investigation Division

Internal Revenue Service, Criminal Investigation (IRS-CI) investigates potential criminal violations of the U.S. Internal Revenue Code and related financial crimes in a manner intended to foster confidence in the tax system and deter violations of tax law. While other federal agencies also have investigative jurisdiction for money laundering and some bank secrecy act violations, the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) is the only federal agency that can investigate potential criminal violations of the Internal Revenue Code.

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A Tax levy, under United States Federal law, is an administrative action by the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) under statutory authority, generally without going to court, to seize property to satisfy a tax liability. The levy "includes the power of distraint and seizure by any means". The general rule is that no court permission is required for the IRS to execute a tax levy. While the government relies mainly on voluntary payment of tax, it retains the power of levy to collect involuntarily from those who persistently refuse to pay. The IRS can levy upon wages, bank accounts, social security payments, accounts receivables, insurance proceeds, real property, and, in some cases, a personal residence. Under Internal Revenue Code section 6331, the Internal Revenue Service can "levy upon all property and rights to property" of a taxpayer who owes Federal tax. The IRS can levy upon assets that are in the possession of the taxpayer, called a seizure, or it can levy upon assets in the possession of a third party, a bank, a brokerage house, etc. All future statutory references will be to the Internal Revenue Code unless noted otherwise.

Treasury Regulations are the tax regulations issued by the United States Internal Revenue Service (IRS), a bureau of the United States Department of the Treasury. These regulations are the Treasury Department's official interpretations of the Internal Revenue Code and are one source of U.S. federal income tax law.

Potentially Dangerous Taxpayer (PDT) is a government designation assigned by the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) to taxpayers of the United States of America whom IRS officials claim have demonstrated a capacity for violence against employees of the IRS or other government agencies, contractors or their families. Suspected PDT cases are handled by the Treasury Inspector General for Tax Administration.

A tax protester is someone who refuses to pay a tax claiming that the tax laws are unconstitutional or otherwise invalid. Tax protesters are different from tax resisters, who refuse to pay taxes as a protest against a government or its policies, or a moral opposition to taxation in general, not out of a belief that the tax law itself is invalid. The United States has a large and organized culture of people who espouse such theories. Tax protesters also exist in other countries.

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Treasury Inspector General for Tax Administration

The Treasury Inspector General for Tax Administration (TIGTA) is an office in the United States Federal government. It was established in January 1999 in accordance with the Internal Revenue Service Restructuring and Reform Act of 1998 to provide independent oversight of Internal Revenue Service (IRS) activities. As mandated by RRA 98, TIGTA assumed most of the responsibilities of the IRS' former Inspection Service.

Tax protesters in the United States advance a number of administrative arguments asserting that the assessment and collection of the federal income tax violates regulations enacted by responsible agencies –primarily the Internal Revenue Service (IRS)– tasked with carrying out the statutes enacted by the United States Congress and signed into law by the President. Such arguments generally include claims that the administrative agency fails to create a duty to pay taxes, or that its operation conflicts with some other law, or that the agency is not authorized by statute to assess or collect income taxes, to seize assets to satisfy tax claims, or to penalize persons who fail to file a return or pay the tax.

References

  1. ↑ Parnell, Archie W. Jr. (1979). "The Internal Revenue Manual: Its Utility and Legal Effect". The Tax Lawyer. 32 (5): 687.
  2. ↑ Internal Revenue Manual Table of Contents, Internal Revenue Service United States Department of the Treasury, Retrieved November 7, 2013
  3. ↑ "Tax Research: Understanding Sources of Tax Law", p. 7 (CCH).
  4. ↑ "IRM Standards," Internal Revenue Manual, IRM 1.11.2.2, Internal Revenue Service, U.S. Dep't of the Treasury (May 8, 2014) (quotation marks in original).
  5. ↑ 714 F.2d 206 (1st Cir. 1983) (per curiam).
  6. ↑ 644 F. Supp. 101, 86-2 U.S. Tax Cas. (CCH) ¶ 9624 (W.D. Pa. 1986).


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