In some cases, the Office of Chief Counsel follows IRS policy and procedures, such as for travel. For all Personnel Policy, since the Office of Chief Counsel is part of the Legal Division of the Department of the Treasury, our policies, guidance, and procedures may differ from those of the IRS.

Where the Office of Chief Counsel, as a matter of policy, has elected to adopt an IRS policy, guidance, or procedure on a particular matter, then the pertinent section of the CCDM shall state that the Chief Counsel expressly adopts and incorporates that specific IRS policy, guidance, or procedure. For those sections, any change to IRS policy will automatically change Office of Chief Counsel policy.

Where an Office of Chief Counsel policy may be substantively the same as that for the IRS, but the Chief Counsel has elected not to expressly adopt and incorporate IRS policy, the Chief Counsel policy in the CCDM will be stated without reference to the parallel IRS policy. For those sections, any change to IRS policy will not affect Office of Chief Counsel policy on that particular matter, unless the Chief Counsel expressly decides to approve a change.

All Associate Chief Counsel and Division Counsel offices are responsible for ensuring that the CCDM reflects the current policies, guidance, and procedures of the Office of Chief Counsel. Designated Associate Chief Counsel or Division Counsel offices are responsible for monitoring the currency of their assigned CCDM parts and ensuring that they are updated in a timely fashion. Because provisions of the CCDM affect many different organizations, the Part Manager does not have exclusive control of all substantive elements of its assigned part. The role of the Part Manager is to identify the need for changes, coordinate the changes with the affected or interested organizations, and ensure the changes are finalized and forwarded to the Planning and Management Division for processing and publication.

The CCDM Parts will be managed by the following organizations:

The Associate Chief Counsel (Finance and Management), through the Planning and Management Division, is responsible for the administrative oversight of the CCDM. This includes processing all changes provided by the issuing office for the CCDM, and ensuring that the current version of the CCDM is published in accordance with IRS policy. The Planning and Management Division will coordinate with the IRS Service-wide Policy Directives and Electronic Research (SPDER) and Media and Publications organizations and will issue procedures within the Office of Chief Counsel for publication of the CCDM. For detailed information, see CCDM 30.2.1, Office of Chief Counsel Directives System.

The Planning and Management Division will submit historical records of all changes to the CCDM to the Federal Records Center per the current Records Control Schedule.

The historical CCDM content is available at the IRS Historical Research Library.

Electronic versions of the current CCDM are available through:

The Office of Chief Counsel’s MSOP, supported by specific measures, goals and objectives identified in the BPR and Executive Performance Agreements, represents what the Office is striving to achieve and how the Office will judge its success, both qualitatively and quantitatively. The Major Strategies through FY 2014 include:

The strategic planning process serves as a framework for senior management involvement and guidance. It also provides for greater integration between planning, budgeting, and performance accountability mechanisms.

In addition to providing their own input and discussion into the MSOP, senior executives work closely with their IRS and Treasury colleagues to incorporate their ideas concerning their future direction and priorities.

The Chief Counsel reviews accomplishment of the strategic priorities through the IRS Business Performance Review (BPR) process. The Chief Counsel shares the status of priority accomplishment with the IRS Commissioner during quarterly BPR meetings.

The Planning and Management Division in the Office of Associate Chief Counsel (F&M) initiates strategic planning for the Office of Chief Counsel by working with each Associate Chief Counsel or Division Counsel to develop the MSOP based on the Commissioner’s Plan and new priorities. The Planning and Management Division:

At the beginning of each fiscal year, each Associate Chief Counsel and Division Counsel develops an Executive Performance Agreement (EPA) that translates the broad MSOP objectives into specific objectives for that year. Specific performance measures are coordinated between the Associate Chief Counsel or Division Counsel and the Deputies Chief Counsel to ensure that they support both the goals of the MSOP and overall management goals of the Chief Counsel. The Associate Chief Counsel or Division Counsel Operational Plans also propose the standards by which performance of the goals will be measured.

The performance measures and standards are documented in a formal EPA that is signed by the Deputies Chief Counsel and the respective Associate Chief Counsel or Division Counsel. Each Associate Chief Counsel and Division Counsel is accountable for the accomplishment of the objectives in their performance plan and for the business results.