[Federal Register Volume 66, Number 231 (Friday, November 30, 2001)]
[Notices]
[Pages 59839-59841]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 01-29709]


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DEPARTMENT OF THE TREASURY

Internal Revenue Service


Privacy Act of 1974; System of Records

AGENCY: Internal Revenue Service, Treasury.

ACTION: Notice of Proposed New Privacy Act System of Records.

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SUMMARY: In accordance with the requirements of the Privacy Act of 
1974, as amended, 5 U.S.C. 552a, the Treasury Department, Internal 
Revenue Service, gives notice of a newly proposed system of records, 
Treasury/IRS 60.000--Employee Protection System Records. A portion of 
the existing systems of records (1) Assault and Threat Investigation 
Files, Inspection--Treasury/IRS 60.001 addressing potentially dangerous 
taxpayers and (2) the Miscellaneous Information File, Inspection--
Treasury/IRS 60.007, will be transferred to the proposed new system of 
records when the notice is effective.

DATES: Comments must be received no later than December 31, 2001. The 
system of records will be effective January 9, 2002, unless comments 
are received which result in a contrary determination.

ADDRESSES: Comments should be sent to the Office of Governmental 
Liaison and Disclosure, Internal Revenue Service, 1111 Constitution 
Ave., NW., Washington, DC 20224. Comments will be made available for 
inspection and copying in the National Office reading room upon 
request. An appointment for inspecting the comments can be made by 
calling (202) 622-5164. This is not a toll free number.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Chief, Office of Employee Protection, 
Internal Revenue Service, 477 Michigan Avenue, Detroit, MI, 48226, 
telephone (313) 628-3742. This is not a toll free number.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The Department is establishing the Employee 
Protection System Records system of records to enhance the security and 
safety of Internal Revenue Service employees who are engaged in the 
assessment and collection of federal

[[Page 59840]]

taxes. This system will consist of information furnished by Internal 
Revenue Service employees or other parties with respect to an 
individual who is involved in a tax administration matter before the 
Internal Revenue Service. The records in this system will be maintained 
for a period of five years, after which the records will be reviewed to 
determine whether there is a need to maintain the information in the 
system. This system, being established as a result of the 1998 IRS 
Restructuring and Reform Act, will consist primarily of records of 
potentially dangerous taxpayers formerly maintained under the system of 
records entitled ``Treasury/IRS 60.001--Assault and Threat 
Investigation Files, Inspection'' and records pertaining to assaults, 
threats, harassment, and suicide threats maintained under the system of 
records entitled ``Treasury/IRS 60.007--Miscellaneous Information File, 
Inspection.'' Because parts of this system are retrieved by individual 
identifier, the Privacy Act of 1974, as amended, requires a general 
notice of the existence of this system of records to the public. The 
records contained in this system of records will include reports by 
Internal Revenue Service employees of incidents of threats of harm to, 
or harassment of, employees by individual taxpayers, threats of suicide 
made by a taxpayer in response to a contact by an Internal Revenue 
Service employee, results of investigations into those incidents, 
determinations as to whether the taxpayer should be considered a 
potentially dangerous taxpayer or a taxpayer who should be approached 
with caution, and related correspondence.
    The new system of records report, as required by 5 U.S.C. 552a(r) 
of the Privacy Act, has been submitted to the Committee on Government 
Operations of the House of Representatives, the Committee on 
Governmental Affairs of the Senate, and the Office of Management and 
Budget, pursuant to Appendix I to OMB Circular A-130, ``Federal Agency 
Responsibilities for Maintaining Records About Individuals,'' dated 
November 30, 2000.
    The proposed system of records, Treasury/IRS 60.000--Employee 
Protection System Records, is published in its entirety below.

    Dated: November 7, 2001.
W. Earl Wright, Jr.,
Chief Management and Administrative Programs Officer.
Treasury/IRS 60.000

System name:
    Employee Protection System Records.

System location:
    Internal Revenue Service, 477 Michigan Avenue, Detroit, Michigan.

Categories of individuals covered by the system:
    Individuals attempting to interfere with the administration of 
internal revenue laws through assaults, threats, suicide threats, 
harassment, filing or threats of filing frivolous criminal or civil 
legal action against Internal Revenue Service (IRS) employees or the 
employees' immediate family members, or forcible interference of any 
officer or employee while discharging the official duties at his/her 
position. This includes individuals designated as potentially dangerous 
taxpayers (PDTs), based on reliable evidence or information, from IRS 
employees or otherwise furnished to the IRS or the Treasury Inspector 
General for Tax Administration (TIGTA), that fit any of the criteria 
(1) through (5) below: (1) Individuals who assault employees or members 
of the employees' immediate families; (2) Individuals who attempt to 
intimidate or threaten employees or members of the employees' immediate 
families through specific threats of bodily harm, a show of weapons, 
the use of animals, or through other specific threatening or 
intimidating behavior; (3) Individuals who are active members of groups 
that advocate violence against Internal Revenue Service employees 
specifically, or against Federal employees generally where advocating 
such violence could reasonably be understood to threaten the safety of 
Service employees and impede the performance of their official duties; 
(4) Individuals who have committed the acts set forth in any of the 
above criteria, but whose acts have been directed against employees of 
other governmental agencies at Federal, State, county, or local levels; 
(5) Individuals who are not designated as potentially dangerous 
taxpayers through application of the above criteria, but who have 
demonstrated a clear propensity toward violence through act(s) of 
violent behavior within the five-year period immediately preceding the 
time of referral of the individual to the Employee Protection System. 
(6) These records also include individuals who have threatened suicide 
and individuals who have filed or threatened to file a frivolous civil 
or criminal legal action (including liens, civil complaints in a court, 
and criminal charges) against any IRS employee.

Categories of records in the system:
    (1) Documents reporting the incident; (2) Documentary evidence of 
the incident (i.e. threatening correspondence, copies of liens and 
legal actions); (3) Documentation of investigation of incident, with 
possible report of investigation, statements, affidavits, and related 
tax information; (4) Records of any legal action resulting from the 
incident; (5) Local police records of individual named in the incident, 
if such records are requested or otherwise provided during 
investigation of the incident; (6) FBI record of individual named in 
the incident, if such records are requested or otherwise provided 
during investigation of the incident; (7) Newspaper or periodical 
items, or information from other sources, provided to the IRS or to 
TIGTA for investigation of individuals who have demonstrated a clear 
propensity toward violence; (8) Correspondence regarding the reporting 
of the incident, referrals for investigation, investigation of the 
incident; and result of investigation (i.e. designation as potentially 
dangerous taxpayer, or other designation to alert IRS employees to 
approach the individual with caution).

Authority for maintenance of the system:
    5 U.S.C. 301; 26 U.S.C. 7801 and 7803.

Purpose(s):
    This system of records documents reports by Internal Revenue 
Service employees of attempts by taxpayers to obstruct or impede 
Internal Revenue Service employees or other law enforcement personnel 
in the performance of their official duties, investigations into the 
matters reported, and conclusions as to whether the taxpayers should be 
considered potentially dangerous taxpayers or should otherwise be 
approached with caution by employees of the Internal Revenue Service or 
any other law enforcement organization.

Routine uses of records maintained in the system, including categories 
of users and the purposes of such use:
    Disclosure of returns and return information may be made only as 
provided by 26 U.S.C. 6103. Records other than returns or return 
information may be used to:
    (1) Disclose pertinent information to appropriate Federal, State, 
local, or foreign agencies responsible for investigating or prosecuting 
the violations of, or for enforcing or implementing, a statute, rule, 
regulation, order, or license, where the disclosing agency becomes 
aware of an indication of a violation or potential violation of a civil 
or criminal law or regulation;

[[Page 59841]]

    (2) Disclose information to a Federal, State, or local agency 
maintaining civil, criminal or other relevant enforcement information 
or other pertinent information, which has requested information 
relevant to or necessary to the requesting agency's or the bureau's 
hiring or retention of an individual, or issuance of a security 
clearance, license, contract, grant, or other benefit;
    (3) Disclose information in a proceeding before a court, 
adjudicative body, or other administrative body, before which the 
agency is authorized to appear when: (a) The agency, or (b) any 
employee of the agency in his or her official capacity, or (c) any 
employee of the agency, in his or her individual capacity where the 
Department of Justice or the agency has agreed to represent the 
employee, or (d) the United States, when the agency determines that the 
litigation is likely to affect the agency, is a party to litigation or 
has an interest in such litigation, and the use of such records by the 
agency is deemed to be relevant and necessary and not otherwise 
privileged;
    (4) Provide information to a congressional office in response to an 
inquiry made at the request of the individual to whom the record 
pertains;
    (5) Provide information to the news media in accordance with 
guidelines contained in 28 CFR 50.2 which relate to an agency's 
functions relating to civil and criminal proceedings, and
    (6) Provide information to third parties during the course of an 
investigation to the extent necessary to obtain information pertinent 
to an investigation of the incident reported in the record.

Policies and practices for storing, retrieving, accessing, retaining, 
and disposing of records in the system:
Storage:
    Paper, or magnetic or electronic media.

Retrievability:
    By name of individual to whom the record applies, by name of 
Internal Revenue Service employee reporting an incident, by 
identification number of the individual to whom the record pertains, by 
subject or incident involved, and/or by case number.

Safeguards:
    Access controls will not be less than those provided by the 
Physical Security Handbook, IRM 1.16 and the Automated Information 
System Security Handbook, IRM 2.10. The records are accessible to 
employees of the Office of Employee Protection and to personnel of the 
Treasury Inspector General for Tax Administration, all on a need-to-
know basis, and all of whom have been the subject of a background 
investigation. Disclosure of information through remote terminals is 
restricted through the use of passwords and sign-on protocols which are 
periodically changed; these terminals are accessible only to authorized 
persons.

Retention and disposal:
    Records are maintained in accordance with IRM Handbook No. 1.15.

System manager(s) and address:
    Chief, Office of Employee Protection, Internal Revenue Service, 477 
Michigan Avenue, Detroit, Michigan.

Notification procedure:
    This system of records may not be accessed for purposes of 
determining if the system contains a record pertaining to a particular 
individual.

Record access procedures:
    This system is exempt and may not be accessed for purposes of 
inspection or for contest of content of records.

Contesting record procedures:
    26 U.S.C. 7852(e) prohibits Privacy Act amendment of tax records.

Record source categories:
    This system of records is exempt from the Privacy Act provision 
that requires the record source categories be reported.

Exemptions claimed for the system:
    This system is exempt from 5 U.S.C. 552a(c)(3), (d), (e)(1), 
(e)(4)(G), (H), and (I) and (f) of the Privacy Act pursuant to 5 U.S.C. 
552a(k)(2). (See 31 CFR 1.36)
[FR Doc. 01-29709 Filed 11-29-01; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4830-01-P