The Director of Employee Plans Examinations has a list of what are called the "Critical Priorities" and goals for the year ahead. EP will focus our limited resources and attention on these priorities. We recognize the importance of a reasonable and vigorous EP Examination Program to the overall community. The overall message is clear: There will be a prominent EP examination presence in the Retirement Plans Community of benefits practitioners, plan sponsors/employers and plan participants/employees. EP will still be committed to providing the determination letter, outreach, and correction programs, but its focus will increase on enforcement.
Here are the four examination/enforcement priorities for this current fiscal year:
1. Address Abusive Transactions - During the last year we have had a large impact on curbing abusive transactions, specifically 412(i) plans and Subchapter S-Corp ESOPs. We will continue to address all identified abusive transactions and emerging issues/abuses by taking an aggressive stance against them. We are asking retirement plan practitioners to partner with us to stamp out these kinds of abuses.
2. Expand Enforcement Contacts - We will expand our enforcement contacts by continuing to use the EP Compliance Unit (EPCU) to leverage our resources. We will start new EPCU projects to pursue and investigate areas of potential noncompliance. By combining our EPCU contacts with our examinations, we will have the broadest impact on compliance in the retirement plans community.
3. Employ Efficiencies - We will also continue to employ efficiencies in how we conduct examinations so that we reduce burden on compliant taxpayers and use enforcement resources to better target noncompliance. This will be done by completing risk-based targeted examination projects and LESE (Learn, Educate, Self-Correct, Enforce) projects that use “judgment sampling” as selection criteria. We will continue to use the focused examination approach for all types of examinations.
4. Practitioner Partnering - We will also continue to maintain, on a national and area level, the superb relationships we have with pension practitioners. Practitioners and the Service have similar goals and visions - to preserve the enhance the retirement system for participants and beneficiaries and to promote voluntary compliance. By having the practitioner community involved at the beginning while we are creating our web-based solutions to improve compliance and reduce stakeholder burden, it guarantees that the products and tools truly meet their needs.
"IRS Enforcement Priorities" video - IRS EP Examinations Director discusses 2008 employee plans examination priorities. (3:24 min.)
Archive of Critical Priorities...by Director, EP Examinations
The Director's view on the critical priorities vital to the success of EP Examinations as issued in articles in EP's two newsletters (Employee Plans News and Retirement News for Employers):
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Source
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Critical Priorities
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Winter 2009, Employe Plans News, Page 10 |
Employee Plans Compliance Unit (EPCU) |
Fall 2008, Employee Plans News, Page 5 |
Enrolled Retirement Plan Agent (ERPA) Program |
Summer 2008, Employee Plans News, Page 5 |
Employ Efficiencies |
Spring 2008, Employee Plans News, Page 5 |
Large Case Examinations |
Winter 2008, Employee Plans News, Page 5 |
Partnering Relationships |
Fall 2007, Employee Plans News, Page 2 |
EP Connections: EP Director's FY 2008 Critical Priorities |
Summer 2007, Retirement News for Employers, Page 2 |
EPCU Web Site |
Summer 2007, Employee Plans News, Page 9 |
Focused Examinations |
Spring 2007, Retirement New for Employers, Page 3 |
Focused Examinations |
Spring 2007, Employee Plans News, Page 4 |
FY 2007 Examination Priorities - Research & Analysis |
Winter 2007, Retirement News for Employers, Page 4 |
FY 2007 Examination Priorities - Research & Analysis |
Winter 2007, Employee Plans News, Page 5 |
FY 2007 Examination Priorities |
Fall 2006, Retirement News for Employers, Page 4 |
FY 2007 Examination Priorities |
Fall 2006, Employee Plans News, Page 6 |
Place of Audit |
Summer 2006, Retirement News for Employers, Page 5 |
Place of Audit |
Summer 2006, Employee Plans News, Page 2 |
ATAT - Abusive Tax Avoidance Transactions |
Spring 2006, Retirement News for Employers, Page 3 |
ATAT - Abusive Tax Avoidance Transactions |
Spring 2006, Employee Plans News, Page 5 |
Overall Points; Employee Plans Compliance Unit (EPCU); Enrolled Retirement Plan Agent (ERPA) |
Winter 2006, Retirement News for Employers, Page 3 |
Overall Points; Employee Plans Compliance Unit (EPCU); Enrolled Retirement Plan Agent (ERPA) |
Winter 2006, Employee Plans News, Page 4 |
ATAT - Abusive Tax Avoidance Transactions; Expand Focused Examination Concept; Hiring & Training |
Fall 2005, Retirement News for Employers, Page 2 |
ATAT - Abusive Tax Avoidance Transactions; Expand Focused Examination Concept
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Fall 2005, Employee Plans News, Page 4 |
Focused Examinations
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Summer 2005, Employee Plans News, Page 4
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Overall Points
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Summer 2005, Retirement News for Employers, Page 4
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Overall Points
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