[Federal Register Volume 63, Number 216 (Monday, November 9, 1998)]
[Notices]
[Pages 60367-60368]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 98-29983]


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DEPARTMENT OF HOUSING AND URBAN DEVELOPMENT

[Docket No. FR-3918-N-16]


Privacy Act of 1974; Notice of a Computer Matching Program

AGENCY: Office of the Assistant Secretary for Administration, HUD.

ACTION: Notice of a Computer Matching Program--HUD and the Internal 
Revenue Service (IRS).

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SUMMARY: In accordance with the Privacy Act of 1974 (5 U.S.C. 552a), as 
amended by the Computer Matching and Privacy Protection Act of 1988 
(Pub. L. 100-503), Office of Management and Budget (OMB) Guidelines on 
the Conduct of Matching Programs (54 FR 25818 (June 19, 1989)), and OMB 
Bulletin 89-22, ``Instructions on Reporting Computer Matching Programs 
to the Office of Management (OMB), Congress and the Public,'' the 
Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) is issuing a public 
notice of its intent to conduct a computer matching program with the 
Internal Revenue Service (IRS). Under the terms of the agreement IRS 
agrees to disclose to HUD taxpayer mailing addresses as authorized by 
the Commissioner or her delegate pursuant to Section 6103(m)(2) of the 
Internal Revenue Code (IRC) for use in locating individuals to collect 
or compromise Federal claims in accordance with 31 United States Code 
(U.S.C.) 3711, 3717 and 3718. This program is called the Taxpayer 
Address Request Program (TAR). It was established by the IRS to 
facilitate the retrieval of taxpayer mailing addresses from the 
individual Master File on a volume basis. The volume of addresses and 
the method in which the IRS maintains the information make computer 
matching the most feasible method of extracting the data for disclosure 
to other agencies. Using the TAR computer matching program, current 
addresses can be obtained from the IRS within a one-week period, 
thereby avoiding the expenditure of substantial Federal resources in 
the manual execution of a matching process or investigations by a large 
workforce to ascertain the current address of individuals against whom 
the agency has a claim or indebtedness.

DATES: Effective date: Computer matching is expected to begin 40 days 
after publication of this notice in the Federal Register (December 21, 
1998), unless comments are received which will result in a contrary 
determination, or 40 days from the date a computer matching agreement 
is signed, whichever is later.

Comments due by: December 9, 1998.

ADDRESSES: Interested persons are invited to submit comments regarding 
this notice to the Rules Docket Clerk, Office of General Counsel, Room 
10276, Department of Housing and Urban Development, 451 Seventh Street, 
SW, Washington, DC 20410. Communications should refer to the above 
docket number and title. A copy of each communication submitted will be 
available for public inspection and copying between 7:30 a.m. and 5:30 
p.m. weekdays at the above address.

FOR PRIVACY ACT INFORMATION AND FOR FURTHER INFORMATION FROM RECIPIENT 
AGENCY CONTACT: Jeanette Smith, Departmental Privacy Act Officer, 
Department of Housing and Urban Development, 451 7th Street SW, 
Washington, DC 20410, telephone number (202) 708-2374 or FAX (202) 708-
3577. (These are not toll-free numbers.)

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION FROM SOURCE AGENCY CONTACT: M.R. Taylor, 
Internal Revenue Service, Office of FedState Relations, 1111 
Constitution Avenue, NW, Washington, DC 20224, telephone number (202) 
622-5145 or Fax (202) 622-3041. (These are not toll-free numbers.)

Reporting

    In accordance with Pub. L. 100-503, the Computer Matching and 
Privacy Protection Act of 1988, as amended, and Office of Management 
and Budget (OMB), Bulletin 89-22, ``Instructions on Reporting Computer 
Matching Programs to the Office of Management and Budget (OMB), 
Congress and the Public;'' copies of this notice and report are being 
provided to the Committee on Government Reform and Oversight of the 
House of Representatives, the Committee on Governmental Affairs of the 
Senate, and the Office of Management and Budget.

Authority

    The matching program will be conducted under the authority of 
section 6103(m)(2) of the Internal Revenue Code and 31 United States 
Code 3711, 3717 and 3718.

Objectives to be Met by the Matching Program

    HUD expects that this computer matching program will enable it to 
quickly and effectively identify and locate individual debtors, and to 
obtain current mailing addresses of defaulted debtors.

Records to be Matched

    HUD will utilize its system of records entitled, Accounting 
Records, HUD/Dept-2. HUD will submit approximately 40,000 records 
annually of individuals with outstanding Federal debts for matching 
purposes. These records are extracted from the Privacy Act system of 
records, HUD/Dept-2, Accounting Records, maintained in the following 
programs and automated systems: (1) Title I--Debt Management Collection 
Systems; (2) Section 312--Loan Mortgage System; and (3) Departmental 
Claims--Delinquent Debt Control System. The IRS will extract taxpayer 
address information from Privacy Act System of Records: Individual 
Master File, Treas/IRS 24.030, maintained at the Martinsburg Computing 
Center, Martinsburg, WV. This file contains approximately 20 million 
records of taxpayers who have filed U.S. Individual Income Tax returns.

[[Page 60368]]

Notice Procedures

    The IRS provides direct notice to taxpayers in the instructions to 
Form 1040, 1040A, and 1040EZ that information provided on U.S. 
Individual Income Tax Returns may be given to other Federal agencies, 
as provided by law. HUD agrees to ensure that each applicant, at the 
time of application, receives written notice that the information 
provided on the application is subject to verification through computer 
matching with other Federal agencies for the purpose of locating 
delinquent debtors. Direct notice consists of appropriate language 
printed on its application forms or a separate handout provided to the 
individual.

Categories of Records/Individuals Involved

    The debtor records include these data elements: SSN, claim number, 
program code, and indication of indebtedness. Categories of records 
include: records of claims and defaults, repayment agreements, credit 
reports, financial statements, and records of foreclosures.

Period of the Match

     Matching will begin at least 40 days from the date copies of the 
signed (by both Data Integrity Boards) computer matching agreement are 
sent to both Houses of Congress or at least 40 days from the date this 
Notice is published in the Federal Register, whichever is later, 
providing no comments are received which will result in a contrary 
determination. The matching program will be in effect and continue for 
18 months with an option to renew for 12 additional months unless one 
of the parties to the agreement advises the other in writing to 
terminate or modify the agreement.

    Dated: October 29, 1998.
Leslie H. Graham, Jr.,
Deputy Director, Office of Information Technology.
[FR Doc. 98-29983 Filed 11-6-98; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4210-01-P