To provide TE/GE customers top quality service by helping them understand and comply with applicable tax laws and to protect the public interest by applying the tax law with integrity and fairness to all.

TEGE’s Strategic Priorities are Aligned with the IRS Strategic Goals:

• Strengthen Enforcement Activities
• Advance the Public Interest
• Enable a Paperless Environment
• Promote Self Guidance, Self Assistance and Self Correction
• Enhance Customer Satisfaction
• Foster Proactive Partnerships
• Employ a Highly Qualified, Diverse, and Motivated Workforce

Customer Profile:

• Approximately three million customers that range from small local community organizations and municipalities to major universities, huge pension funds, state governments, and participants of complex tax exempt bond transactions
• Pay more than $220 billion in employment tax and income tax withholding
• Control $8.2 trillion in assets
• Employee Plans taxpayers represent private and public retirement plans with approximately $4 trillion in assets.
• Exempt Organization taxpayers represent more than 1.6 million tax exempt organizations – including about 400,000   religious organizations – with approximately $2.4 trillion in assets.
• Government Entities taxpayers include outstanding tax exempt bonds with a total value of approximately $1.8 trillion,  88,000 federal, state, and local entities, and over 550 federally recognized Indian tribes.

The Tax Exempt and Government Entities Division was established in late 1999 as part of the Internal Revenue Service's modernization effort.    This Division replaces the former Assistant Commissioner (Employee Plans and Exempt Organizations) function, which was established as a result of the Employee Retirement Income Security Act (ERISA) of 1974.

The Division is designed to serve the needs of three very distinct customer segments: Employee Plans, Exempt Organizations, and Government Entities.    The customers range from small local community organizations and municipalities to major universities, huge pension funds, state governments, Indian tribal governments and participants of complex tax exempt bond transactions.   These organizations represent a large economic sector with unique needs.    Although generally paying no income tax, this sector does pay over $220 billion in employment taxes and income tax withholding and controls approximately $8.2 trillion in assets.  Governed by complex, highly specialized provisions of the tax law, this sector is not designed to generate revenue, but rather to ensure that the entities fulfill the policy goals that their tax exemption was designed to achieve.  

The TE/GE Division was created to address four basic key customer needs: education and communication, rulings and agreements, examination, and customer account services.    Education and communication efforts will focus on helping customers understand their tax responsibilities with outreach programs and activities tailored to their specific needs.   Rulings and agreements efforts will provide a strong emphasis on up-front compliance programs, such as the determination, voluntary compliance, and private letter ruling programs.   Examination initiatives will identify and address non-compliance, through customized activities within each customer segment, and Customer Account Services will provide taxpayers with efficient tax filings as well as accurate and timely responses to questions and requests for information.

The Commissioner of the Tax Exempt and Government Entities Division is responsible for the uniform interpretation and application of the Federal tax laws on matters pertaining to the Division's customer base.    In addition, the Commissioner provides advice and assistance throughout the Service, to the Department of the Treasury, other government agencies, including state governments and Congressional committees, and maintains a particularly close liaison with the Department of Labor and the Pension Guaranty Corporation.

TEGE is Comprised of Three Distinct Business Divisions:

• Employee Plans (EP)
• Exempt Organizations (EO)
• Government Entities (GE)

Leadership Team:

Employee Plans (EP) (www.irs.gov/ep)

The EP Activities Cover:

• Employee plans (including the qualification of pension, annuity, profit-sharing, and stock bonus plans, individual retirement arrangements, simplified employee pensions, saving incentive match plans for employees, tax sheltered annuities and IRC 457 plans) and related trusts
• Tax treatment of participants and their beneficiaries
• Deductions for employer contributions and procedural and administrative provisions with respect to such plans

Exempt Organizations (EO) (www.irs.gov/eo)

Exempt Organizations Include:

• Organizations exempt from income tax under IRC 501 (including private foundations and organizations described in IRC 170(b)(1)(A)(except clause (v))
• Political organizations described in IRC 527
• Organizations described in IRC 4947(a)
• Prepaid legal plans described in IRC 120
• Welfare benefit funds described in IRC 4976

Government Entities (GE) (www.irs.gov/govt)

GE Includes:

• Federal, State and Local Governments (www.irs.gov/govts)
• Indian Tribal Governments (www.irs.gov/tribes)
• Tax Exempt Bonds (www.irs.gov/bonds)