• Obtaining taxpayer financial informa

tion specified by the IRS.

In addition, the IRS has further refined the role of PCAs. To be eligible for an installment agreement, a taxpayer must file all required Federal tax returns. PCAs will request that the taxpayer provide information regarding tax return filing compliance. To verify the accuracy of the taxpayer’s responses regarding whether the taxpayer has filed all returns, the PCAs must confirm the information with the IRS. Only IRS employees will have access to IRS records to investigate the issue.

Although the IRS retains the right to approve or reject any installment agreement negotiated between PCAs and taxpayers,

PCAs must obtain specific IRS approval of any installment agreement involving payment of more than $25,000 or covering a period of more than 36 months. During evaluation of payment arrangements, the PCA may request taxpayer financial information that will be forwarded to the IRS. PCAs are not authorized to negotiate installment agreements for periods exceeding 60 months or that provide for less than full payment of the taxpayer’s liability. In such cases, PCAs will serve only to gather financial information for transmittal to the IRS.

Subject to certain limited exceptions, PCAs are restricted from contacting third parties during the course of their work on behalf of the IRS. In the course of their efforts to locate or obtain financial information about a taxpayer, PCAs may access non-IRS computer databases or web sites. PCA employees are not permitted to call or write any third party, such as the taxpayer’s employer, bank, or neighbors, to ask about the taxpayer’s financial condition. PCA employees may speak to intermediaries, such as a taxpayer’s spouse, or leave a message on an answering machine, for purposes of trying to contact the taxpayer by phone. Once the PCA knows how to reach a taxpayer directly, a PCA employee may not contact third parties in an effort to reach the taxpayer at a different temporary location.

PCA EMPLOYEES MUST SAFEGUARD TAXPAYER INFORMATION

PCA employees may be given certain tax return information necessary to perform services for the IRS. PCA employees are prohibited by Code section 6103 from disclosing the tax return information they receive from the IRS or from taxpayers to the same extent as are IRS employees. PCA employees are also prohibited from gaining access to tax return information that is not necessary to the performance of their duties. If PCA employees violate their obligation to keep tax return information confidential or if they gain access to tax return information that is not necessary to the performance of their duties under the contract with the IRS, the PCA employees may be subject to criminal prosecution under Code section 7213 or 7213A. The taxpayer whose return information was im

properly disclosed may also have a civil cause of action under Code section 7431.

The IRS will not provide PCAs with copies of a taxpayer’s filed returns or with access to any information the IRS has concerning the taxpayer that is not necessary for PCA employees to perform their jobs. When the IRS refers a taxpayer’s account to a PCA, the information the IRS will provide to PCAs includes: