The TE/GE operating division of the IRS earlier this month released its Fiscal Year 2022 program letter, which outlines priorities for the division. Organizations that fall within one of the selected areas may want to spend some time in the next year making sure that they are in compliance.

The areas that TE/GE will be focusing on include the following:

1. Strengthening compliance activities including targeting abusive promoter schemes like syndicated conservation easements, auditing of high-income taxpayers with private foundations and retirement plans, abusive charitable remainder trusts, and abusive Covid-related employer credits. Further, TE/GE will partner with IRS Criminal Investigation to identify areas of significant non-compliance.
2. Reviewing systems and processes to streamline enforcement and improve operational efficiencies.
3. Collaborating with the Taxpayer Experience Office to expand outreach, focus on taxpayer and employee positive experiences, and increasing digital services including e-filing of Forms 1024 and 8038-CP, and developing online resources.
4. Ensuring awareness and collective understanding in the TE/GE community with effective messaging and expanded outreach.
5. Detecting emerging issues and significant areas of non-compliance using data analytics, and increasing the use of automation to promote efficiency and identify hospitals subject to Affordable Care Act review.
6. Developing the TE/GE workforce by onboarding a significant amount of new hires, retaining employees and managers by increasing training, coaching and mentoring programs, and preserving the knowledge of senior staff with tools such as virtual libraries.

In addition, TE/GE Commissioner Sunita Lough noted that TE/GE plans to assign most of its new hires to enforcement duties and that TE/GE continues to prioritize enforcement cases to ensure that those who take advantage of the exempt sector to enrich themselves are held accountable.