IRS Alters Letter-Forwarding Policy for Missing Taxpayers | Tax Tip of the Week | No. 166

A Reduction of an IRS Service

Previously, the IRS abided by the rules of Revenue Procedure 94-22.  Under these rules, the IRS was allowed to assist individuals, companies, plan administrators and others involved with the Department of Labor’s Abandoned Plan Program. After a written request to the IRS, they could use the letter-forwarding program to locate missing plan participants.  Interested parties could also use the letter-forwarding services of the IRS if the action was for humane purposes and there was no other way to relay the information to the taxpayer.  Revenue Ruling 2012-25 was recently announced which will severely limit the IRS letter forwarding-program.  Due to budget constraints, the IRS has decided to get out of the business of providing free detective services.  An IRS spokesperson stated: “Since the release of the revenue procedure in 1994, several alternative missing person locator services, including the internet, have become available.” Under these new rules, the IRS will no longer provide letter-forwarding services to locate a taxpayer that may be owed assets from another organization.  The letter-forwarding program is now limited to situations in which a person is trying to locate a taxpayer to convey a message for a humane purpose or in an emergency situation. Questions?  I know we have several as we have no first-hand experience with this service.  If you have a need for this service let us know and we will figure it out together.

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