BUR cases are built from two primary sources:

Discrepant cases are grouped by the following:

IRDM Business Masterfile Analytics (IRDMBMFA) inventory selection tool is used to select inventory for the BUR program.

The BUR inventory is selected in groups referred to as correlations. Each case is assigned a Case Sequence Number (CSN). The inventory is then delivered to the campus to be controlled by BUR Clerical.

Cases are controlled to BUR utilizing the following tools:

BUR Clerical Function builds Modernized e-File (MeF) and paper returns into screening batches. Screening batches are requested and worked by Tax Examiners in the technical teams.

Tax examiners perform an in-depth analysis of each case. If the identified discrepant amount is resolved, the case is closed with no taxpayer contact. If the discrepant amount was not included on the return or otherwise resolved, the taxpayer is sent one of the following:

Process codes (PCs) are codes used to provide an audit trail for BUR case processing. See IRM 4.119.4-6, BUR Process Codes (PC) for further information. Integrated Data Retrieval System (IDRS) reflects BUR PCs as pending actions until they post to Master File. BUR PCs follow the transaction code (TC) 925 string on IDRS.

Internal Process Codes (IPCs) are used for internal processing (e.g., route cases requiring research, CRX letters, or referral). See IRM 4.119.4-5, BUR Internal Process Codes (IPC) for further information.

Purpose The BUR program has four phases:

The Case Analysis phase is the initial screening of a case. A technical determination is made whether:

When a notice is sent, the taxpayer can respond to the proposal or inquiry. Once a taxpayer responds, the case enters the Response phase. A response from the taxpayer can be a phone call or a written statement.

A Statutory Notice of Deficiency (STAT) is a legal notice sent to the taxpayer by certified mail and is sent if:

Once the Statutory Notice of Deficiency is sent, the case enters the Statutory Notice of Deficiency (STAT) phase of the BUR Program.

When a taxpayer’s response is received after the BUR case is closed, the response enters the Reconsideration (RECON) phase of the BUR Program.

The following time frames are, as a rule, applied to the appropriate letter suspense files.

Chapter 61 of the Internal Revenue Code (Information and Returns), Subchapter A (Records and Returns), Part III (Information Returns), sections 6031 – 6059, contain the requirements for the filing of information returns for income reporting purposes. Rev Proc 2005-32 identifies taxpayer contacts to verify a discrepancy between the taxpayer’s tax return and an information return, or between a tax return and information otherwise in the IRS’s possession as taxpayer contacts and other actions not considered an examination, inspection, or reopening.

The Manager is responsible for their employee’s reviews, appraisals, and ensuring that the workload is being managed in a timely and efficient manner.

The BUR Coordinator is responsible for monitoring BUR processing to ensure it is progressing per the schedule reflected on the program planning documents.

See Exhibit 4.119.3-3 for a list of acronyms and definitions used in this IRM and for BUR processing.

Program Reports. The following reports are used to monitor BUR inventory and identify multiple IDRS controls:

Program Effectiveness. Program goals are measured by the Inventory Status Report prepared by The Workload Planning and Analysis staff.

A guiding principle of security within IRS is "limiting access to assets based on need" . This principle is the basic premise for most of the IRS security programs. When applied to BUR, this translates to limiting access to documents on a need-to-know basis.

The repository is used to limit access to BUR content.

The system owner grants or denies access to the repository.

This IRM is to be used in conjunction with IRM 4.119.1, BMF Liability Determination, BMF Underreporter (BUR) Control and IRM 4.119.4, BMF Liability Determination, BMF Underreporter (BUR) Program.

Additional information may be found in IRM 1.4.1, Management Roles and Responsibilities.

Initial Operations Assistance Request (OARS), requests are assigned to the TAS Liaison.

The BUR TAS log is located on the BUR repository.

Requests are entered on a BUR TAS Log and documented as appropriate.

Daily review OARS received for attachments that would be applicable to resolve the discrepancy i.e., Letter 2531, Letter 2030 for Form 1041, Form 1120 submitted. If they are asking for a reconsideration of our proposal or abatement of an Accuracy Related Penalty, and the documentation received had no bearing to reconsider, notify TAS of the documents needed, suspense for three days, if documents are not received, then reject back to TAS and close the case and update the Excel tracking log.

As the TAS Manager it is your responsibility to ensure the TAS cases are worked promptly. The cases can be assigned out to tax examiners based upon their program skills.

When TAS has requested expedite processing, the TAS liaison will acknowledge receipt of the OAR via Form 3210, Document Transmittal, secure messaging e-mail, facsimile or by telephone, within one (1) workday of receipt of the OAR. The TAS liaison will provide relief/no relief decision within three (3) workdays by telephone, facsimile (fax), Electronic Facsimile (e-fax), secure messaging e-mail, or hand delivery to the TAS employee. Telephone responses are acceptable if followed up within the time agreed upon, and with the necessary documentation.

Update the EXCEL tracking log with all actions taken to the TAS case and ensure OARS assigned to tax examiners are closed within the negotiated completion date. Verify to ensure the EXCEL tracking log balances to the ATAO cases listing on your CCA 4243 weekly.

The following table provides charts showing the statute expiration dates of Form 1120 and Form 1041 tax returns and the day to begin expedited statute processing:

The campus must route tax returns to the designated BUR Statute Coordinator beginning with the expedited processing dates shown in the tables above.

BUR cannot input an on-line tax assessment adjustment when the normal statute or extended statute is 90 days or less.

Managers/Statute Coordinator is responsible to communicate the importance of statutes to all employees.

Management will issue statute reminders to employees annually.

Campus must alert the Statute Team of any changes to the BUR Statute Coordinator contact information.

A statute search is required on all BUR inventory (paper and electronically filed returns) to identify any case(s) that meet statute imminent criteria.

Statute searches must be performed beginning:

Document the result of the statute search using the following forms:

BUR maintains an archived file of cases for 10 years and can be viewed in the BUR repository.

A Form 4251, Charge-Out, is attached to BUR paper filed return(s).

If the paper return has not been retired to the Federal Records Center (FRC), the campus files area pulls the return and routes to BUR Operations.

If the paper return has been retired to FRC, the campus files area routes the charge-out to the appropriate FRC. The FRC pulls the return and routes to BUR Operations.

A Batch Number is a six-digit number that is used to describe the physical location or the stage of processing for a case file:

The following information provides a definition of batch types and outlines the characteristics and functionality of batch types in the BUR program.

Batch Type (BT) 31X (Screening Association/Complete Case). A Case control is opened on IDRS for every TIN that was selected to be worked in BUR.

Batch Type (BT) 34X (Priority Screening). A Priority Case control is opened on IDRS for every TIN that was selected to be worked in BUR.

Batch Type (BT) 41X (Undeliverable Letter 2531). Cases are classified as Undeliverable when the Post Office returns the Letter 2531 as undeliverable.

Batch Type (BT) 43X (Letter 2531 Response). When a response to a Letter 2531 is received, the TIN is assigned to Letter 2531 Response BT 43X.

Batch Type (BT) 44X (Letter 2531 Priority Response).Letter 2531 response cases that are 23 days or older should receive priority handling and are built into Letter 2531 Priority Response BT 44X.

Batch Type (BT) 49X (Aged Letter 2531/ Letter 2030 Preparation). No Responses Cases in Letter 2531 Suspense have an expiration suspense time frame. When the suspense time frame has expired, these cases are built to BT 49X to have a Letter 2030 generated.

Batch Type (BT) 51X (Agreed Response). Fully agreed Letter 2030/ Recomp notice response cases are built into BT 51X.

Batch Type (BT) 53X (Letter 2030/ Recomp Disagreed Response). Disagreed taxpayer responses to Letter 2030/Recomp cases are built to Letter 2030/ Recomp Disagreed Response BT 53X.

Batch Type (BT) 54X (Letter 2030/ Recomp Priority Batch). Disagreed Letter 2030 responses that are 23 days old or older (from the IRS received date) are classified as Priority Responses and built into batch types 54X.

Batch Type (BT) 59X (Aged Letter 2030/ Recomp Stat Preparation) No Response. Cases in Letter 2030 Suspense have an expiration suspense time frame. When the suspense time frame has expired, these cases are built to BT 59X to have a Statutory Notice of Deficiency generated.

Batch Type (BT) 62X (Undeliverable Letter 2030/ Recomp). When undeliverable Letter 2030/ Recomps are identified with a better address, these cases are built into Undeliverable Letter 2030/ Recomp BT 62X.

Batch Type (BT) 68X (Review). Cases selected for notice review from the Letter 2030 current letter mail out.

Batch Type (BT) 71X (Statutory Notice Agreed Responses). Fully agreed Statutory Notice Letter 3219-B responses are built into BT 71X.

Batch Type (BT) 73X (Statutory Notice Disagreed Response). When a Disagreed Response is received for a Statutory notice, Letter 3219-B the TIN is assigned to BT 73X.

Batch Type (BT) 74X (Statutory Priority Response). Statutory Notice Letter 3219-B responses that are 23 days or older (from the IRS received date) are classified as Priority Responses and are built to BT 74X.

Batch Type (BT) 79X (Statutory Notice Defaults). Cases in STAT Letter 3219-B suspense have an expiration suspense time frame. When the suspense time frame has expired, these cases are built to Statutory Notice Default BT 79X.

Batch Type (BT) 82X (Undeliverable Statutory Notice). Cases are classified as Undeliverable when the Post Office returns the Letter 3219-B as undeliverable.

Batch Type (BT) 83X (Declared Disaster). Cases identified as meeting disaster criteria and the disaster date has expired are built into BT 83X.

Batch Type 94X Reconsideration (RECON). When a case is closed and needs to be reopened it is considered a Recon and is updated on IDRS to BT 94X.

Underreporter cases to be analyzed by BUR tax examiners are assembled into batches, which are then divided into work units.

Cases identified with closing process codes are placed in a designated area for closed suspense.

Clerical inputs daily all necessary case information from the DCI/ Case Folder into the database(s) located in the repository.

Cisco Unified Intelligence Center (CUIC) is used to view reports that contain call and non-call activity, it is a key element in the BUR telephone environment and provides access to the telephone data.

Cisco Unified Intelligence Center is utilized by:

The Cisco Unified Intelligence Center allows for an in-depth display of information on the telephone traffic, ready agents, level of service (LOS) and abandoned calls.

Each manager ensures all employees scheduled for telephone duty are signed into the Cisco Systems and their name is displayed on CUIC. This allows the manager to see the current phone status of each employee.

Review the screens for all the following:

End of day activities involve reviewing the CUIC screen for assistors in wrap or idle that should be signed off the system.

Schedules help ensure adequate telephone coverage. A schedule is developed one week in advance based on the following:

Whether the SME or someone else sets up the phone schedule, managers must monitor their team by using CUIC frequently throughout the day. When looking at CUIC ensure your phone assistors are signed on or off as scheduled, taking calls and following break/lunch schedule.

If an Assistor is in available for an excessive amount of time, and isn’t receiving any calls, although other assistors are receiving calls, the assistor may not be signed-on correctly or there may be systemic issues. Verify the assistor is signed onto the IUP- ER CTIOS Desktop application for in-coming calls. If not, have the assistor log-off and log back on.

If the CUIC is unavailable:

Telephone assistors are not expected to handle U/R actions on the account while the taxpayer is on the phone. Telephone actions should be taken after the call has ended. Wrap time is appropriate when the:

Muting a call is not appropriate when research is being conducted; the caller should be placed on hold.

Manager calls should be very rare. If an assistor refers an excessive number of calls, it is likely that additional training and coaching is needed in "Effective Communication" and/ or "Dealing with Difficult Taxpayers" .

Everyone in the IRS is an advocate for the taxpayer. Appropriate actions should be taken to correct the taxpayer’s problem on first contact. However, if you cannot correct the problem AND the taxpayer’s issue meets Taxpayer Advocate Service (TAS) criteria (see IRM 21.1.3.18, Taxpayer Advocate Service (TAS) Guidelines), refer the case to TAS.

Encourage assistors to practice techniques to diffuse a taxpayer's anger, reassure taxpayers that they can assist with the issue, and to make every effort to handle the call themselves. However, some taxpayers:

Business Entitlement Access Request System (BEARS), Automated Information System (AIS) User Registration/ Change Request, is required for access to IUP- ER CTIOS Desktop application and the CUIC/ Verint Canvas.

If a user forgets the password, a BEARS is required to reset the password.

User reports provide call activity statistics on a particular assistor or on all assistors signed on to the system. Several types of user reports may be requested through your TSA:

User reports may be used as a manager's tool when performing an assistor’s regular scheduled review.

When the Cisco phone system is not functioning take one or more of the following actions:

In the event of power outages:

If IDRS is unavailable, direct the assistor to use Form 4442 (or similar documentation) and return the call later.

In the event of Fire Drills and other building evacuations:

When equipment malfunctions or is broken:

Managers should notify the SA when problems have been identified. Some of the issues managers should address with the SA are:

Managers need to maintain the SA's contact information:

Depending on the type of problem being experienced, the SA normally asks several questions. Have the following information ready:

Managers are required to perform evaluative telephone review for each assistor in their team. See IRM 4.119.3.12.10, Evaluative Review for additional information.

To review a live call:

Calls can also be reviewed using Contact Recording/ Verint. To review a call using Contact Recording/ Verint:

Additional information may be found in IRM 4.119.4.21.2, Telephone Responses and should be referenced in call reviews.

Share the review with the assistor as outlined in the National Agreement. However, if the assistor has provided incorrect information to the taxpayer, the manager needs to inform the assistor as soon as possible.

Keep a signed copy of the review for your records.

Workload reviews are performed on open/ closed cases for the following reasons:

Workload reviews should focus on effective case resolution according to IRM guidelines.

In addition, reviews should focus not only on your employee's ability to complete assignments, but also on the ability to set priorities and complete assignments independently and expeditiously.

Inventory reviews are applicable to BMF Underreporter Lead Tax Examiners, Tax Examiners (TEs) and Clerks. The purpose of these reviews is for the manager to determine whether the employee is:

Managers are responsible for routine and periodic review of each employee’s assigned inventories. This is accomplished through reviewing various types of reports and comparing the information to the employee’s physical and virtual inventory. For successfully achieving program goals, it is critical each employee’s inventories are monitored and that effective performance feedback is provided on individual case progression, as well as overall inventory management practices.

When completing the inventory reviews, ensure:

The manager of IDRS users shall be responsible for day-to-day implementation and administration of IDRS security in their unit/group.

The manager will:

Utilize the information listed in the weekly and monthly IDRS Security reports when preparing your employee’s mid-year and annual evaluations.

Managers will conduct a yearly On the Job review to evaluate employees. This review will evaluate employee performance as it relates to:

The review will include a time or period when the employee is assigned to work inventory. This review can be performed by directly observing the employee (side by side) during a defined period. Typically, this would be a block of time ranging from one to four hours or two complete cases.

As a Manager, you are required to ensure that your employee's time is input correctly into the Single-Entry Time Reporting (SETR).

Review each employee’s Form 3081 focusing on the following areas:

IDRS adjustment reviews help prevent unpostables and ensure prompt correction of errors. Review a sample of IDRS adjustments focusing on the following areas:

IDRS adjustment reviews may be delegated to a lead, but the lead may not conduct a review of their own cases. If this review is delegated, the lead conducting the review will brief the manager and the employee involved.

Clerical employees perform various administrative duties which support the BUR program. Clerical reviews must address the clerical work processes. The reviews include the following:

Clerical reviews should focus not only on the employee’s ability to complete their assignments, but also on their ability to set priorities and complete assignments independently and expeditiously. You must conduct Weekly/Monthly reviews to determine the accuracy and timeliness of employees' work.

The Embedded Quality Review System (EQRS) is used by managers to capture evaluative and non-evaluative data obtained from monitoring taxpayer phone calls and reviewing paper and MeF cases. Reports can be generated for evaluative purposes and/or non - evaluative purposes (including training).

Managers use the system to track employee performance and training needs.

Another function of EQRS is the National Quality Review System (NQRS), it is used by independent quality reviewers to capture non-evaluative national and local product review data obtained from monitoring taxpayer phone calls and reviewing paper and MeF cases.

Management uses this system to track organizational performance against official business performance measures, and to identify opportunities for improvement.

Evaluative reviews must be recorded in accordance with the National Agreement established between National Treasury Employees Union (NTEU) and management.

Conduct a minimum of two evaluative reviews (phone or paper) for each employee per month.

Evaluative reviews must be shared with the employee by a manager or individual in an official acting manager capacity.

When conducting reviews, ensure recordation is input into the Embedded Quality Review System (EQRS).

Use the Employee Feedback Report on EQRS for sharing evaluative monitoring results. Share results of the review within three workdays. (If incorrect information is given, the results must be shared within eight (8) business hours.) Notate the reason on the review sheet if you do not meet these time frames, (i.e., due to unexpected leave, etc.).

Obtain the employee's acknowledgment on the designated form. Provide one copy to the employee and retain the other copy for the Employee's Performance Folder (EPF).

The primary purpose of a non-evaluative review is to help employees develop and enhance their job skills and/ or Performance Improvement/Action Plan.

Effective non-evaluative reviews foster open lines of communication between the employee, manager, and the lead. These reviews enable the manager/ lead to convey employee feedback and transfer operational goals in an informal manner.

Non-evaluative reviews do not contain a numerical rating. The results are to be shared orally. Some documentation is appropriate to establish that the review took place (EQRS may be used to track employee development for this purpose):

The IDRS CCA 4243 Report lists cases assigned to IDRS employee/team numbers. This report must be reviewed and monitored weekly to ensure inventory is moved according to first in/ first out (FIFO) order. In addition, discrepancies between the CCA 4243 report and physical inventory are identified.

Managers/Leads use this report to:

The manager/lead will perform a weekly review of the individual employee’s CCA 4243 reports to ensure that cases are being worked according to IRS received date. Manager/Lead will follow-up with their employees on cases where:

Review the report to determine if the correct actions were taken or return to the employee with feedback on the actions that need to be taken.

The manager/ lead will review the generic team IDRS CCA 4243 for the following activities and take corrective action as appropriate:

Maintain both reports for three months. In addition, each manager will consolidate, sign, and complete a Quarterly Physical Inventory Certification sheet utilizing their employee's inventory forms and submit to the Department Manager for consolidation.

The IDRS CCA 4244 Report identifies cases with an open control base on the same TIN by two or more employees (Multiple Controls).

A weekly review is preformed to identify cases in their respective team to identify cases with multiple controls.

The manager will:

Maintain the annotated reports for three months.

The Physical Inventory Counts/ Reconciliation requires a physical inventory count/reconciliation of all BUR inventories. This must be completed prior to the end of each quarter.

The team manager will sign and complete a Quarterly Physical Inventory Certification sheet after receiving their employee's inventory forms and submit to the Department Manager for consolidation. See Exhibit 4.119.3-1, Manager Quarterly Physical Inventory Certificate.

The clerical team manager will sign and complete a Wall Inventory, quarterly by comparing the current CCA 4243 to the inventory on the wall. The clerical manager will:

The Department Manager will consolidate all tax examiner and the "Wall" physical inventory results, complete the Manager Wall Inventory Sheet. See Exhibit 4.119.3-2, Wall Inventory Certification and submit to the Operation for signature.

Ten business days following the end of each quarter, the Operation will notify the Planning and Analysis (P&A) Staff and additional local management as appropriate by sending an e-mail with confirmation reporting the validation has been performed and including the details of any adjustment actions taken.

A statistically valid sample of cases is produced for review by the campus. This is a product review toward perfecting the quality of notices. In the review, the case is reworked from the beginning, including the determination of the U/R amount.

The BUR Coordinator:

The IDRS CCA 4243 Report lists all cases assigned to BUR.

The BUR Coordinator retrieves the report from Control-D every Monday morning. The report is saved in the BUR Inventory Reports folder located on the repository.

Prior to notice reconciliation of Letter 2030 and Letter 2531 performed by the Clerical Function, the BUR Coordinator will take the following actions:

Prior to notice reconciliation of Letter 3219-B Statutory Notice of Deficiency performed by the Clerical Function, the BUR Coordinator will take the following actions:

The IDRS CCA 4244 Report identifies cases with an open control base on the same TIN by two or more employees (Multiple Controls).

The BUR Coordinator retrieves the report from Control-D Monday morning and sends the report by e-mail to the manager/ lead of each team. Each team is required to respond back to the coordinator with comments annotated next to each multiple control by COB Wednesday.

When the coordinator receives the CCA 4244 from the teams:

The open Response Report provides information on in-house correspondence such as: volume of responses received and volume of aged responses for each tax year and phase of the program.

The Response Inventory tool is used to complete this report and is in the BUR ESRP coordinator’s Share Point site.

Weekly the BUR Coordinator will:

The coordinator utilizes the information in the report to prepare the WAAG and determine the workload priorities for the week.

The WAAG report is used to monitor the overall progress of the program, including program benchmark dates and closures.

The Week-at-a-Glance tool is used to complete this report and is in the BUR ESRP coordinator’s Share Point site.

Weekly the BUR Coordinator will:

The IRS may grant disaster relief based on FEMA declarations of disaster/emergency areas. IRS Disaster Relief memos are available on Servicewide Electronic Research Portal (SERP), http://serp.enterprise.irs.gov, and are accessed under the Who/Where option as Disaster Declarations/FEMA by tax year. The IRS memos can be identified in the MEMO column.

The BUR Coordinator receives e-mail notification of federally declared disasters in the form of a signed Disaster Relief Memorandum.

The BUR Coordinator will:

The BUR Coordinator is responsible for distributing disaster-related communications to the appropriate employees within their functions.

The Database Discrepancy Review is a tool used to identify input errors, incorrect process codes, assessments, and penalty errors. Monthly the report is run by the BUR Coordinator and errors are provided to the employee’s manager for correction. The review includes the following:

The BUR Coordinator will:

The Databases are updated daily, it is important to ensure correct information is available for reporting and proper case selection.

The BUR Coordinator is responsible for maintaining the BUR Share Point Technical site. These responsibilities include, but are not limited to:

When issues arise or information must be clarified, the coordinator will issue an Information Sharing document to the employees in the Campus. The information is gathered from:

The Coordinator:

Bimonthly HQ provides the BUR Coordinator with master notice files updated with the next set of notice dates.

The BUR Coordinator will:

The Request for Clarification (RFC) template is used by the Campus employees to request an IRM change, clarify instructions, or make suggestions for improvements in BUR.

The BUR Coordinator acts as the liaison between HQ and the Campus employees requesting the RFC.

When Transaction Code 925 unpostables are received, the BUR Coordinator will:

The BUR Coordinator acts as the liaison between the Campus employees and Exam when referring cases that meet CAT-A criteria.

When a campus employee identifies a case that meets CAT-A criteria the coordinator will take the following actions:

The Training Subject Matter Expert (SME) will be responsible to ensure training is administered. New hires will receive New Recruit Training and all other employees will receive CPE training. The duties of the Training SME are listed below:

Reserve Training Rooms: Reserve training rooms sufficient for delivering BUR training. Reserve the rooms far enough in advance to ensure they are available for your training. Ensure you prepare for employees with disabilities accordingly.

Order supplies for students and instructors: Students will need paper, pens, highlighters, tabs, and course training material.

Supply Forms needed for ELMS credit: Ensure the following forms are available for class startup:

Solicit the Operation for Subject Matter Experts (SMEs). Contact the Operation for employees that received Classroom Instructor Training (CIT) and are most qualified to instruct.

Assist with the preparation of training plans for students and instructors. Assist with the development of course material, handouts, disclosure. Review nature of changes listing in the most current IRM available to include in the course material. Discuss with the instructors the delivery method you will be using and what phases of the program will be covered.

Monitor/ Evaluate Training: Supply the manager/instructors with On-the-Job Instructor (OJI) and On-the-Job Training (OJT) Guidelines. Ensure guidelines are followed and individual employee’s progress can be tracked.

Training Resources: Prepare a report for submission to your Operation detailing the number of hours used at the end of the classes. Participate in the completion of the Operation’s Training Work Plan.