Referrals to PGLD’s Incident Management Office

If a caller states he or she received a letter from the IRS about a data breach but lost, misplaced the letter, etc., refer the caller to the IM office via Form 4442/e-4442, Inquiry Referral. See IRM 21.3.5.4.2, How to Prepare a Referral, for the required fields to be completed on Form 4442/e-4442.

If a caller states he or she attempted to redeem the enrollment code included in the data breach notification letter but was told the enrollment code is expired, invalid, or does not work, refer the caller to the IM office via Form 4442/e-4442, Inquiry Referral. See IRM 21.3.5.4.2, How to Prepare a Referral, for the required fields to be completed on Form 4442/e-4442.

If the caller is requesting additional information or details about the data breach, and is unsatisfied with the limited information you can provide and is insistent that he or she would like additional information, more than what was already provided, or wants to know why his or her spouse received a letter, and he or she didn’t, or why his or her spouse received the free identity protection/identity monitoring offer, and he or she didn’t, refer the caller to the IM office via Form 4442/e-4442, Inquiry Referral. See IRM 21.3.5.4.2, How to Prepare a Referral, for the required fields to be completed on Form 4442/e-4442.

In addition to the required fields as noted in IRM 21.3.5.4.2, if available, include the Breach Date and Breach Number, as shown on the caller's letter, in the Referring To field (Box #5) of Form 4442/e-4442, Inquiry Referral. The Breach Date, if included in the letter, is located in the first paragraph of Letter 4281C, IM Breach Notification Letter. The Breach Number is located to the right and just above the Salutation (Dear Taxpayer).

A brief narrative must be completed in the Taxpayer Inquiry/Proposed Resolution section (Part III, Section B) of Form 4442/e-4442, Inquiry Referral. Include in the Taxpayer Inquiry/Proposed Resolution section of the Form 4442/e-4442 the IRM reference (IRM 10.5.4.4.7.6) directing the referral, the reason you are making the referral, and a complete description of the caller’s issue. Also document the response time frame provided to the caller and the fax number for PGLD/IM.

Inform the caller a referral has been completed in response to his or her inquiry. Tell the caller he or she will hear from us within 30 calendar days. See IRM 21.3.5.4, Referral Procedures.

Document AMS with the details of the Referral. See IRM 10.5.4.4.7.8, Updating History on Accounts Management Services (AMS) for Calls About IRS Data Breach Notification Letters. EXCEPTION: If the AMS or CIS system is down, then narratives and/or case notes will not be required.

All Forms 4442 will be collected by the Lead CSR at the beginning of each business day and faxed to the IM Office in Philadelphia. The IM EEFax number is listed on the Form 4442 Referral Fax Numbers list (Site: Philadelphia and Function: PGLD: Incident Management) located on the SERP Who/Where tab.

An analyst from PGLD/IM will contact the sender via secure email confirming receipt of the faxed Forms 4442. Once confirmation is made, the original Form 4442 can be destroyed. If no confirmation email is received within 48 hours from the fax date, re-fax the Form 4442 to PGLD/IM.