[Federal Register Volume 70, Number 36 (Thursday, February 24, 2005)]
[Notices]
[Pages 9132-9134]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 05-3474]


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DEPARTMENT OF THE TREASURY

Internal Revenue Service


Privacy Act of 1974, as Amended; 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 Department of the Treasury, 
Internal Revenue Service, gives notice of a proposed new system of 
records entitled ``Treasury/IRS 00.009--Taxpayer Assistance Center 
(TAC) Recorded Quality Review Records.''

DATES: Comments must be received no later than March 28, 2005. This new 
system of records will be effective April 5, 2005 unless the IRS 
receives comments that would result in a contrary determination.

ADDRESSES: Comments should be sent to the Office of Governmental 
Liaison and Disclosure, Internal Revenue Service, 1111 Constitution 
Avenue, NW.,

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Washington, DC 20224. Comments will be made available for inspection 
and copying upon request in the Freedom of Information Reading Room 
(Room 1621), at the above address.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Buz Dereniuk, Territory Manager, W: 
CAR: FA, 777 Sonoma Ave., Room 112, Santa Rosa, California 95404, (707) 
523-4673 (ext 254) (not a toll free number).

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: Without an effective quality review system, 
the IRS cannot be assured that its employees are providing correct 
answers to taxpayer questions. Currently Taxpayer Assistance Center 
(TAC) Managers monitor employees by occasionally sitting with them and 
observing the taxpayer interaction. This produces an artificial 
environment that does not give a true representation of employee 
performance, training needs, and taxpayer service abilities. A November 
22, 2002, Treasury Inspector General for Tax Administration (TIGTA) 
review, available at http://www.ustreas.gov/tigta/2003reports/200340023fr.html, recommended that the Commissioner, Wage and 
Investment (W&I) Division, explore options such as planned remote 
monitoring (a.k.a. contact recording) by TAC managers for conducting 
quality reviews of TAC employees on a regular basis. Contact recording 
would remove advance notice of a manager's review, and the intrusion of 
the manager being physically present during the contact. It will 
capture an accurate recordation of employees' interaction with 
taxpayers in a more natural and realistic setting. The automated 
contact recording system will allow the IRS to improve the quality of 
responses to taxpayers by providing an efficient and effective means of 
assessing employee performance. Managers will review any audio 
recordings and captured computer screen images and document their 
evaluations of employee performances. Managers and employees may review 
the audio recordings and captured computer screen images when 
evaluating employee contacts with taxpayers. Each manager can only 
access records of contacts by employees under that manager's 
supervision. Quality reviewers will review records of contacts for 
purposes of identifying issues or topics about which many Taxpayer 
Response Representatives (TRR) would benefit from additional training, 
and to determine program-wide accuracy rates of information provided.
    The ability to select any contact for review purposes will result 
in greater fairness and timeliness of reviews of employees, the ability 
to sample employee performance nationwide, and improved quality of 
assistance to taxpayers. Also, in cases where managers are not in the 
same location as their employees, the time and expense of travel will 
be significantly reduced. By recording taxpayer contacts and tracking 
employee actions, the IRS will be able to improve its service to the 
public by providing specific, tangible feedback to employees. As a 
result, targeted training will be provided to employees either on-line 
or in one-on-one coaching sessions.
    Taxpayers will be notified by signs clearly posted at the TAC entry 
and on workstations of TRRs that their contacts may be recorded for 
quality improvement purposes. Taxpayers may opt out of being recorded 
by notifying the IRS employee. If so notified, the employee will stop 
any recording and will continue to assist the taxpayer. Audio 
recordings and captured computer screen images will be kept long enough 
for employee evaluation and quality review, generally not more than 45 
days. However, the agency may keep audio recordings and captured 
computer screen images for a longer period under certain circumstances, 
including, but not limited to, resolution of matters pertaining to 
employee performance, security (threat, altercation, etc.), or conduct-
related issues.
    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 
Reform 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 new system of records entitled ``Treasury/IRS 00.009--
Taxpayer Assistance Center (TAC) Recorded Quality Review Records'' is 
published in its entirety below.

    Dated: February 15, 2005.
Arnold I. Havens,
General Counsel.
Treasury/IRS 00.009

System Name:
    Taxpayer Assistance Center (TAC) Recorded Quality Review Records--
Treasury/IRS

System Location:
    Records in this system of records will eventually be located at 
every Taxpayer Assistance Center (TAC). An up-to-date list of these 
sites is available on-line at: http://www.irs.gov/localcontacts/index.html.

Categories of Individuals Covered by the System:
    IRS employees who respond to taxpayer assistance contacts in 
person.

Categories of Records in the System:
    Audio recordings of conversations with taxpayers, captured computer 
screen images of taxpayer records reviewed by Taxpayer Response 
Representatives during the conversation, and associated records 
required to administer IRS quality review and employee performance 
feedback programs.

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

Purpose:
    Records in this system of records are used to evaluate and improve 
employee performance and the quality of service at Taxpayer Assistance 
Centers.

Routine Uses of Records Maintained in the System, Including Categories 
of Users and the Purposes of Such Uses:
    Disclosure of returns and return information may be made only as 
provided by 26 U.S.C. 6103. Records other than returns and return 
information may be used to:
    (1) Disclose information during a proceeding before a court, 
administrative tribunal, or other adjudicative body when: (a) The IRS 
or any component thereof, (b) any IRS employee in his or her official 
capacity, (c) any IRS employee in his or her personal capacity where 
the IRS or the Department of Justice has agreed to provide 
representation for the employee, or (d) the United States is a party 
to, has an interest in, or is likely to be affected by, such 
proceeding, and the IRS (or its DOJ counsel) determines that the 
information is relevant and necessary to the proceeding and no 
privilege is asserted. Information may also be disclosed to the neutral 
to resolve issues of relevancy, necessity, or privilege pertaining to 
the information.
    (2) Disclose information to the Department of Justice when seeking 
legal advice or for use in any proceeding, or in preparation for any 
proceeding, when: (a) The IRS or any component thereof, (b) any IRS 
employee in his or her official capacity, (c) any IRS employee in his 
or her individual capacity under circumstances in which the IRS or the 
Department of Justice has agreed to provide representation for the

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employee, or (d) the United States government is a party to the 
proceeding or has an interest in such proceeding, and the IRS (or its 
DOJ counsel) determines that the records are both relevant and 
necessary to the proceeding or advice sought.
    (3) Disclose information to a contractor to the extent necessary 
for the performance of a contract.
    (4) Disclose to an appropriate Federal, State, local, tribal, or 
foreign agency, or other public authority, responsible for implementing 
or enforcing, or for investigating or prosecuting the violation of, a 
statute, rule, regulation, order, or license, when a record on its 
face, or in conjunction with other records, indicates a violation or 
potential violation of law or regulation and the information disclosed 
is relevant to any regulatory, enforcement, investigative, or 
prosecutorial responsibility of the receiving authority.
    (5) Disclose information to officials of labor organizations 
recognized under 5 U.S.C. Chapter 71 when relevant and necessary to 
their duties of exclusive representation, and no privilege is asserted.
    (6) Disclose information to an arbitrator, mediator, or similar 
person, and to the parties, in the context of alternative dispute 
resolution, to the extent relevant and necessary to permit the 
arbitrator, mediator, or similar person to resolve the matters 
presented, including asserted privileges.
    (7) Disclose information to the Office of Personnel Management, 
Merit Systems Protection Board, the Office of Special Counsel, or the 
Equal Employment Opportunity Commission when the records are relevant 
and necessary to resolving personnel, discrimination, or labor 
management matters within the jurisdiction of these offices.
    (8) Disclose information to the Federal Labor Relations Authority, 
including the Office of the General Counsel of that authority, the 
Federal Service Impasses Board, or the Federal Mediation and 
Conciliation Service when the records are relevant and necessary to 
resolving any labor management matter within the jurisdiction of these 
offices.
    (9) Disclose information to the Office of Government Ethics when 
the records are relevant and necessary to resolving any conflict of 
interest, conduct, financial statement reporting, or other ethics 
matter within the jurisdiction of that office.

Policies and Practices for Storing, Retrieving, Accessing, Retaining, 
and Disposing of Records in the System: Storage:
    Paper records and machine-readable media.

Retrievability:
    Records are retrieved by the name of the employee to whom they 
apply.

Safeguards:
    Safeguard access controls will not be less than those provided for 
by IRM 25.10.1, Information Technology Security Policy and Guidance, 
and IRM 1.16, Manager's Security Handbook.

Retention and Disposal:
    Record retention will be established in accordance with 36 CFR, 
Chapter XII--National Archives and Records Administration, Part 1228, 
Subpart B--Scheduling Records. Audio recordings and captured computer 
screen images will be kept long enough for managerial review and 
feedback, and for quality review purposes, generally not more than 45 
days. However, the agency may keep audio recordings and captured 
computer screen images for a longer period under certain circumstances, 
including, but not limited to, resolution of matters pertaining to poor 
employee performance, security (threat, altercation, etc.), or conduct-
related issues.

System Manager and Address:
    Commissioner, Wage and Investment Division, 401 West Peachtree 
Street Northwest, Stop 11-WI, Atlanta, GA 30308, (404) 338-7060 (not a 
toll free number).

Notification Procedure:
    Individuals seeking to determine if this system of records contains 
a record pertaining to themselves may inquire in accordance with 
instructions appearing at 31 CFR Part 1, Subpart C, Appendix B. 
Inquiries should be addressed to the system manager address listed 
above.

Record Access Procedures:
    Individuals seeking access to any record contained in this system 
of records, or seeking to contest its contents, may inquire in 
accordance with instructions appearing at 31 CFR Part 1, Subpart C, 
Appendix B. Inquiries should be addressed to the system manager at the 
address listed above.

Contesting Record Procedures:
    See ``Record Access Procedures'' above for seeking amendment of 
records that are not tax records.

Record Source Categories:
    Taxpayers, Employees, IRS records of taxpayer accounts.

Exemptions Claimed For The System:
    None.
[FR Doc. 05-3474 Filed 2-23-05; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4830-01-U