In June 2011, the White House launched a campaign to cut waste across the federal government, which targeted ineffective and wasteful spending. Treasury issued Treasury Directive (TD)12-70, Policy and Guidance for Conference Approval, Planning and Reporting, addressing event spending.

Treasury Directive 12-70, Policy and Guidance for Conference Approval, Planning, and Reporting

5 U.S. Code 5707, Regulations and Reports

This section provides responsibilities for:

Internal controls encompass a set of related policies and procedures to provide reasonable assurance that event spending reports are accurate, reliable and comply with applicable laws and regulations.

Program reports: Event spending must meet all requirements of law, executive orders, regulations and all other applicable IRS procedures. Travel Management uses reports obtained from the business units and Servicewide Training Events Tracking System (STETS) to prepare event spending reports for the Department of the Treasury.

Program effectiveness: Program effectiveness is measured by ensuring accuracy of the information and amounts recorded on the source document, and compliance with Department of the Treasury reporting requirements.

Several program controls are in place to ensure compliance with Department of the Treasury requirements. They include, but are not limited to, the controls listed below:

The following terms and definitions apply to this program:

Conference - A pre-arranged formal event with at least some of the following characteristics: designated participants and/or registration, a published substantive agenda, and scheduled speakers or discussion panels on a particular topic, and involves IRS expenses (other than the salaries of attendees), such as expenses for refreshments, meals, or travel (including transportation, lodging, or other expenses authorized under the Federal Travel Regulation (FTR)). A conference may include, but is not limited to, a retreat, convention, seminar or symposium. A conference typically is not a:

Convention - A formal meeting of members or representatives of a profession or industry.

Event - An all-inclusive term to include a conference, meeting, training occurrence, award ceremony or other similar gathering that, for the purpose of this guidance, involves expenses of the attendees, such as for travel, meals or refreshments.

Government space - An IRS or other federal, state, or municipal building, room or facility.

Hosted/co-hosted event - An event arranged either in total or in part by the IRS, Treasury, or another Treasury bureau, held in either a government or commercial facility, that may include both employees and non-employees as attendees. The bureau provides or arranges for resources required to hold the event.

Internal order code (IOC) - An Integrated Financial System (IFS) data element that collects expenditure data for a specific project; used to track training and event-related costs, and to track planning and expenditure data for projects within IFS.

Light refreshments - Include, but are not limited to: coffee, tea, milk, juice, soft drinks, ice cream, donuts, bagels, muffins, fruit, vegetable trays, cheese trays, pretzels, cookies and chips.

Meeting - A gathering of people with a purpose to discuss business matters that involves strategizing, planning and resolving specific issues or areas of concern.

Non-government space - A building, room or facility owned by a private-sector organization or entity.

Off-Site - A location not on IRS premises, including other government facilities and privately-owned buildings, such as hotels.

Retreat - A meeting held off-site or away from the normal duty station or office. The attendees are staff who meet to discuss various aspects of government or departmental activities, or to review progress and challenges of the implementation of government or departmental policies. Retreats usually offer participants an opportunity to interact in an informal manner to a greater extent than they otherwise would in the normal course of work. This interaction is for the purpose of developing stronger and more effective working relationships.

Seminar - A lecture or presentation delivered to an audience on a topic or set of topics that may be educational in nature.

Symposium - A gathering of experts in a particular field at which papers are presented by specialists on particular subjects and discussed with a view to making recommendations.

Total cost of an event - The total cost of an IRS event is a key indicator in determining the level of approval required and includes all direct and indirect expenses such as refreshments, meals, or travel (including transportation, lodging, or other expenses authorized under the FTR), excluding salaries of attendees. For joint events, the sponsoring organization is responsible for coordinating and securing the total cost and maintaining the records for the event.

Training - A planned, prepared and coordinated program, course, curriculum, subject or program of instruction or education that improves individual and organizational performance and helps achieve the agency’s mission and performance goals.

The following table provides acronyms that are used throughout this IRM section:

IRM 1.33.4, Financial Operating Guidelines

IRM 6.410.1, Learning and Education Policy

Frequently Asked Questions About Treasury Directive 12-70 Review and Approval Process

Delegation Order 1-58 (Rev. 2), Policy and Guidance for Conference (including: meetings, retreats, seminars, symposiums or training activities) Approval and Planning

The IRS has determined that the exemptions listed below are exempt from reporting to Treasury all events that have total costs under $20,000.

These exemptions are not meant to cover meetings, conferences, or training events held in non-Government space, occurring over multiple days. IRS employees and managers should be mindful of decisions consistent with the current budget environment and also be aware of situations that could be perceived as wasteful or inappropriate in nature.

Business units must continue to input into STETS and also submit to the CFO the detailed information required by Treasury for all events (including those listed below) with events costing $20,000 or greater.

This information must be submitted at 10 calendar days and 40 calendar days after the event is held to cfo.event.request@irs.gov. See IRM 1.32.10.3, Reporting Requirements to Treasury, for additional information.