This Section describes the requirements and procedures for requesting a collateral examination.

A collateral examination should be requested when an exchange of information between areas is essential to resolve an issue of material consequence and the information can not be obtained from the taxpayer, representative or third party. A collateral examination can be " internal" (i.e.; a request from one area office of TEGE to another), or "external" (i.e.; a request from TEGE to another business unit such as LMSB or SBSE.) For example, a collateral examination would be justified when:

No collateral examination should be requested if the desired information can be obtained from the taxpayer, representative, or third parties.

The area office requesting a collateral examination will submit its request on Form 6229, Collateral Examination, to the Business unit of the area office from which information is desired. The request needs to include the name and telephone number of the person in the requesting area office who may be contacted, if necessary, to discuss the matter.

If the collateral examination results in a finding of nationwide interest, the receiving area office will furnish information to the Director, Exempt Organizations (EO) Examinations.

The area office receiving a request for collateral examination is responsible for promptly completing the necessary action and reporting the results to the requesting area office. Staffing concerns would be addressed to the area manager receiving the request.

The protection of the statute of limitations is the responsibility of the receiving office.

If the receiving area office believes the anticipated results of a collateral examination would not justify the time and other costs of conducting the examination(s), a memorandum to that effect will be sent to the requesting area office.

The Area Managers of both offices should resolve any disagreement between the requesting and receiving area offices concerning the need for collateral examination. Any disagreement between the Area Managers may be referred to the Director of EO Examinations.

The initiating area examiner will prepare the Form 6229, which consists of five parts. See Exhibit 4.75.23-1. The five parts will be distributed as follows:

After review, the group manager will forward the original and four copies to the Ogden Service Center (OSC).

The Classification Section at the OSC will request the return and forward the return and collateral request to the area of jurisdiction for examination.

In those instances where the use of the form does not require service center action, e.g., follow up status request, the area requesting the information should submit the request to the EO Area Manager of the area from which the information was requested.