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Publication 963 — Federal - State Reference Guide: A Federal-State Cooperative Publication · 2026-10-03 edition · updated 2026-10-04 · United States
responsibilities, as well as conducting compliance and enforcement activities.
More information about the programs and responsibilities of the IRS is available at IRS.gov. Information for federal, state and local governments, including employment tax, is available at IRS.gov/FSLG.
Organization
National headquarters for the IRS, in Washington, DC, develops nationwide policies and programs for the administration of the agency. The chief executive of the agency is the IRS Commissioner. Several functions report directly to the Commissioner, including:
Chief Counsel
Independent Office of Appeals
Taxpayer Advocate Service
Communications & Liaison
The IRS is organized around four specific “customer bases” or groups of taxpayers with generally common interests and needs. Each operating division has a Commissioner and its own Counsel to provide legal expertise and guidance.
The four customer-based divisions are:
Taxpayer Services (TS) is focused on individual taxpayers and income tax returns.
Small Business/Self-Employed (SB/SE) is oriented to S corporations, partnerships, small corporations and sole proprietors.
Large Business and International (LB&I) deals with large businesses and international tax issues.
Tax Exempt and Government Entities (TE/GE) serves all government organizations as well as nonprofit and other exempt organizations. Most or all of the contact with the IRS that a government entity has will be with TE/GE, so it is discussed in more detail below. TE/GE has responsibility for providing assistance and education to taxpayers, as well as performing compliance activities related to these organizations.
Tax Exempt and Government Entities Division
The Tax Exempt and Government Entities Division was established in 1999 and replaced the former office of Assistant Commissioner (Employee Plans and Exempt Organizations).
TE/GE customers range from small local community organizations and municipalities to major universities, large pension funds, state governments, federal agencies, Indian tribal governments and issuers of tax-exempt bonds. These organizations represent a large economic sector with unique needs. They are governed by often complex, highly specialized provisions of the tax law.
TE/GE serves three distinct customer segments:
» Retirement plans, IRAs and related trusts » Plan participants and beneficiaries » Employer sponsors of retirement plans
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» Organizations exempt from income tax under IRC Section 501 (including charities, private foundations and
other types of exempt organizations, such as business leagues, labor unions and veterans’ organizations) » Political organizations described in IRC 527
» Federal, State and Local Governments » Indian Tribal Governments » Tax Exempt Bonds
Federal, State and Local Governments/Employment Tax (FSL/ET), formerly known as FSLG, is responsible for administering the tax laws affecting federal, state and local government entities. Its primary focus is ensuring compliance on information return reporting and employment tax issues for government entities. It provides easily accessible and equitable voluntary compliance programs for its government customers.
Indian Tribal Governments helps Indian tribes deal with their federal tax matters and provides a single point of contact for assistance and service. The ITG specialists address issues and provide guidance to Indian tribes, whose concerns may relate to tribal governments as employers, distributions to tribal members and the establishment of governmental programs, trusts and businesses. Visit IRS.gov/tribes to find the ITG specialist assigned to your tribe and links to other information.
Tax Exempt Bonds provides information to the tax-exempt bond community and encourages voluntary compliance through educational resources, Voluntary Closing Agreement Program and interactive forms. For more information, visit IRS.gov/bonds.
Customer Account Services
If you are authorized to represent a taxpayer, you can call 877-829-5500 toll-free for your government entities questions on:
Your account
General information about tax exemption of a government
Private letter ruling requests
Note: Although the State Administrator is responsible for maintaining and interpreting your Section 218 Agreement, federal disclosure laws prohibit the State Administrator from inspecting your tax information without your consent. If you would like the State Administrator to assist you with a Section 218 Agreement or related Social Security coverage issue, you can expedite the process by completing Form 8821, Tax Information Authorization, and filing it with the IRS.
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