Internal Revenue Service’s Use of Federal Case Registry Information

DCL-00-60

MAY 22, 2000

TO: ALL STATE IV-D DIRECTORS

RE: Internal Revenue Service’s Use of Federal Case Registry Information

Dear Colleague:

The purpose of this letter is to provide you with information regarding the Internal Revenue Service's use of Federal Case Registry information.

When the Personal Responsibility and Work Opportunity Reconciliation Act (PRWORA) was enacted in August of 1996, it provided the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) with access to information contained in the Federal Case Registry (FCR). The purpose of the IRS’ access to FCR data is to administer those sections of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 which grant tax benefits based on support or residence of children.

In February 2000, in compliance with PRWORA, the Federal Office of Child Support Enforcement (OCSE) provided IRS with an extract of the FCR. This FCR extract contains some of the person and case information you have transmitted to the FCR as well as the identifying information about the State where those cases are located. A similar extract will occur every six months hereafter. The IRS is currently utilizing FCR data from States that have provided child information to determine how useful the FCR data will be when combined with other IRS data to review returns which claim tax benefits based on support or residence of children. OCSE has worked very closely with the IRS to ensure that FCR participant and case information remains private, and that FCR information is safeguarded.

The IRS will not be contacting your offices regarding information from the FCR. However, if a taxpayer wants to provide updated child support information, IRS will inform the taxpayer to contact the State child support enforcement agency that provided the information to the FCR. The taxpayer may thereafter contact your offices to request correction of information maintained by the State child support enforcement agency.

You may wish to inform your staff of the possibility of being contacted by taxpayers regarding information maintained by the State child support enforcement agency. If you determine, during the course of your contact with the taxpayer, that a correction of that individual’s records is appropriate, the change to your records should be made and the information transmitted to correct the FCR.

In anticipation of the possibility that a taxpayer may need to contact your agency, OCSE has provided IRS with the State agency contact information from the Giving Hope and Support to America’s Children, Handbook on Child Support Enforcement and an updated list of telephone number(s) for each State's IV-D agency.

Should you have any questions regarding the IRS’ access to FCR data, or you wish to discuss the available technical assistance regarding the transmission of required data to the FCR, please contact your FPLS technical support liaison.

Thank you for your continued support and cooperation as we work to improve the lives of our nation's children.

Sincerely,

David Gray Ross
Commissioner
Office of Child Support Enforcement

cc: ACF Regional Administrators
Regional Program Managers