Should IRS use Department of Homeland Security to Track Taxpayers Overseas Re: Civil (not Criminal) Tax Matters? The IRS works with Department of Homeland Security with TECs Database to Track Movement of Taxpayers

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The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) uses the TECS  database, which was originally managed and created by the Treasury Department as the  Treasury Enforcement Communications System.  This database allows the U.S. federal government to track the movement of people, funds and various transactions.  It is now being used by the IRS to feed taxpayer data to the TECS as described in the IRS Internal Revenue Manual –

http://www.irs.gov/irm/part9/irm_09-004-002.html

9.4.2.4.1      (08-09-2004) Treasury Enforcement and Communication System

  1. The Treasury Enforcement and Communication System (TECS) is used extensively by the law enforcement community. This subsection discusses the information available on TECS. Items discussed include:
    • description and purpose of TECS
    • responsibilities for TECS
    • information available from TEC

9.4.2.4.1.1   (03-15-2007) Description and Purpose of Treasury Enforcement and Communication System

  1. Treasury Enforcement and Communication System (TECS) is a computerized information system designed to identify individuals  and businesses suspected of, or involved in, violation of Federal law. Treasury Enforcement and Communication System is also  a communications system permitting message transmittal between Treasury law enforcement offices and other Federal, national,  state, and local law enforcement agencies. The TECS provides access to the FBI’s National Crime Information Center (NCIC)   and the National Law Enforcement Telecommunication Systems (NLETS) with the capability of communicating directly with state    and local enforcement agencies. The NLETS provides direct access to state motor vehicle departments.

9.4.2.4.1.2    (08-09-2004) Responsibilities for the Treasury Enforcement and Communication System

  1. The responsibility for TECS lies both in Headquarters (HQ) and the field offices. The following subsections provide a brief   description of these responsibilities.

9.4.2.4.1.2.1    (03-09-2012) Associate Director, Warrants and Forfeitures

  1. The Associate Director, Warrants and Forfeitures will be responsible for ensuring that all TECS entries meet authorized disclosure  criteria.
  2. All fugitive entries will be made through HQ and all non-fugitive entries will be made through or authorized by the Associate Director, Warrants and Forfeitures.
  3. Headquarters is also responsible for conducting and coordinating periodic training for TECS operators, as well as providing  operating instructions, including the TECS Operating Manual, at all locations, and additional instructions as needed.

9.4.2.4.1.2.2   (03-09-2012) Resident Agent in Charge, Scheme Development Center

  1. Each Resident Agent in Charge (RAC), Scheme Development Center (SDC), will be responsible for:
    1. designating TECS users and coordinating their training
    2. performing queries for field offices upon request, and reporting the results upon receipt of a TECS reply (either a HIT or    a No Record) by telephone, transmission of the TECS hard-copy reply to the field office, or by attachment of the hard-copy   reply to the primary investigation (PI) being evaluated

9.4.2.4.1.2.3  (08-09-2004) Special Agent in Charge

  1. The Special Agent in Charge (SAC) in each field office will be responsible for:
    1. designating a TECS Systems Control Officer (SCO) to assist other users and compliance functions in obtaining authorized data
    2. designating TECS users and coordinating their training
    3. disseminating written instructions to field office personnel regarding TECS query requests within the general guidelines as     stated in this section
    4. providing HQ with a mailing list for their field office of direct distribution recipients of wanted circulars

9.4.2.4.2     (08-09-2004) Information Available From Treasury Enforcement and Communication System

  1. All information retrieved from TECS must be stamped OFFICIAL USE ONLY.
  2. The US Customs Financial Intelligence Branch (FIB) Financial Information Database provides information via TECS as follows:
    1. Form 4789, Currency Transaction Reports (CTR)
    2. Reports of Foreign Bank and Financial Accounts (FBAR), Treasury Form 90-22.1
    3. Form 8362, Currency Transaction Reports by Casinos (CTRC)
    4. Suspicious Activity Reports (SARs), Form TDF 90-22.47

    See Also –

http://www.dhs.gov/xlibrary/assets/privacy/privacy-pia-cbp-tecs-sar-update.pdf

This entry was posted in IRS Audit Techniques - Expatriation.

One thought on “Should IRS use Department of Homeland Security to Track Taxpayers Overseas Re: Civil (not Criminal) Tax Matters? The IRS works with Department of Homeland Security with TECs Database to Track Movement of Taxpayers”

    Expatriation Tax Form 8854 is Part of Criminal Tax Case « Tax-Expatriation said:
    November 8, 2016 at 2:39 pm

    […] Also, prior posts have discussed the steps taken by the government to track taxpayers and their assets globally, to help assure they comply with U.S. federal tax law.  See a prior related post, 19 Jan 2014 – Should IRS use Department of Homeland Security to Track Taxpayers Overseas Re: Civil (not Criminal) … […]

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