TE/GE’s Program Letter Provides Projects And Priorities For 2019

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By Marc R. Berger, CPA, JD, LLM

The IRS Tax Exempt and Government Entities (TE/GE) division released its Fiscal Year 2019 Program Letter on Oct. 3, 2018. The Program Letter outlines its projects and priorities for fiscal year 2019 for tax-exempt organizations, employee plans, Indian tribal governments, and tax-exempt bonds. This article focuses on those projects and priorities relating to tax‑exempt organizations.

The TE/GE division will continue to refine its compliance strategy approach, which is designed to ensure that its examination programs are focused on the highest priority compliance areas to promote efficient tax administration. In this regard, TE/GE collaborates with its IRS business partners and various other groups and agencies, including the Advisory Committee on Tax Exempt and Government Entities, the U.S. Department of Labor, the Municipal Securities Rulemaking Board, and the Securities and Exchange Commission. TE/GE will continue to use advance data and data analytics to drive decisions about identifying and addressing high-risk areas of noncompliance.

The Tax Cuts and Jobs Act (TCJA) will remain a priority in fiscal year 2019. TE/GE has completed numerous form revisions, as well as guidance and training, and it anticipates more developments in these areas going forward. It plans on initiating additional education efforts in FY 2019 along with TCJA-related compliance strategies.

For the first time this decade, TE/GE is onboarding a significant number of new hires, and is cross-training employees to allow flexibility in directing resources to shifting needs. The increase in employees signals a potential increase in examination and enforcement action.

The bulk of the Program Letter focuses on six areas of its compliance program in an effort to become more effective and efficient. These six areas are:

Compliance Strategies

Compliance strategies are issues approved by TE/GE’s Compliance Governance Board (Board) to identify, prioritize and allocate resources within the TE/GE taxpayer base. Using a web-based portal, TE/GE employees submit suggestions for consideration by the Board. Once approved, these issues are considered priority work. Strategies approved to date include:

  • Tax-exempt social clubs under Internal Revenue Code (IRC) Section 501(c)(7) – The focus will be on investment income, non-member income, and non-filers of Form 990-T, Exempt Organization Business Income Tax Return.
  • Non-Exempt Charitable Trusts under IRC Section
    4947(a)(1) – The focus will be on organizations under-reporting income and over-reporting charitable contributions.
  • Tax-exempt organizations that were previously for-profit – The focus will be on organizations formerly operated as for-profit entities prior to their conversion to IRC Section 501(c)(3) organizations.
  • Self-dealing by private foundations – The focus will be on organizations with loans to disqualified persons.
  • Early retirement incentive plans – Determining whether federal, state or local governmental entities that provide cash (and other) options to employees as an incentive for early retirement have applied proper tax treatment to these benefits.
  • Forms W-2/1099 matches – Comparing payments reported on Form 1099-Misc., Miscellaneous Income, with wages reported on Form W-2.
  • Notice CP 2100 (backup withholding) – Determining whether mismatched and/or missing taxpayer identification numbers on Form 1099 indicate a failure to comply with backup withholding requirements.
  • Worker classification – Determining whether misclassified workers result in incorrectly treating employees as independent contractors.

Data-Driven Approaches

Data-driven approaches use data, models and queries to select work based on quantitative criteria, which allows TE/GE to allocate resources that focus on issues that have the greatest impact. TE/GE integrates data into its processes and procedures, using return data and historical information to identify the highest risk areas of noncompliance.

With respect to models, this includes continuing to improve compliance models based on Forms 990, 990-EZ, and 990-PF, as well as testing the newly developed model for Form 5227 (Split Interest Trust Information return). In addition, identifying returns containing the highest risk of employment tax noncompliance will be a priority.

Referrals, Claims and Other Casework

Referrals allege noncompliance by a TE/GE entity and are received from internal and external sources. The public can submit a specialized exempt organization referral on Form 13909 (Tax-Exempt Organization Complaint). With respect to referrals, TE/GE will continue to pursue referrals received from all sources alleging noncompliance.

Claims are requests for refunds or credits of overpayments of amounts already assessed and paid, and can include tax, penalties and interest. TE/GE will continue to address claims requests, including high-dollar complex employment tax claims filed by federal, state and local governments.

Other casework includes examining entities that filed and received exemption using Form 1023-EZ, focusing on (1) filers who are ineligible to file Form 1023-EZ, (2) filers who donate to (or pay expenses for) individuals, and (3) filers operating bingo and other gaming activities.

Compliance Contacts

Compliance units are employed to address potential noncompliance, primarily using correspondence contacts known as “compliance checks” and “soft letters”.

A compliance check is correspondence with organizations to inquire about an item on a filed return; to determine if specific reporting requirements have been met; or to determine whether an organization’s activities are consistent with its stated tax-exempt purpose. A compliance check is not an examination.

A soft letter is correspondence with organizations that provides notification of changes in tax-exempt law or compliance issues. A response to these letters is generally not expected.

TE/GE will continue to inform taxpayers via compliance checks and soft letters, in particular in the area of adhering to recordkeeping and information reporting requirements, including:

  • Combined Annual Wage Reporting – Focusing on tax-exempt employers that had discrepancies between Form W-2 and either Form 941 or Form 944.
  • Financial Assistance Policy – Whether tax-exempt hospitals are complying with IRC Section 501(r)(4).
  • Form 990-T Non-filers – Looking for IRC Section 501(c)(7) organizations that reported investment income on Form 990 but did not file Form 990-T.
  • Supporting Organizations – Entities that state that they are supporting organizations but have filed Form 990-N, which is not allowed.

Determinations

TE/GE expects a continued increase in determination applications and will concentrate on identifying new strategies for reducing a filing burden and case processing time. The exempt organizations group expects to hire 40 new revenue agents to process determination applications to help offset application increases and workforce attrition.

Voluntary Compliance and Other Technical Programs

This area is focused primarily in the employee plans group of TE/GE, and enables a plan sponsor, at any time before audit, to pay a fee and receive IRS approval for correction of plan failures.

Management of exempt organizations should evaluate the potential implications of the areas identified in the Program Letter on their organizations and consult with their tax advisors.

For more information, contact Marc Berger, national director, Nonprofit Tax Services at mberger@bdo.com