6-1.100 Department of Justice Policy and
Responsibilities
6-1.110 Criminal Tax Cases
6-1.120 Civil Tax Cases
6-1.130 Other Relevant Manuals for United States
Attorneys
The Assistant Attorney General in charge of the Tax Division, subject to
the general supervision of the Attorney General and under the direction of the
Deputy Attorney General, is responsible for conducting, handling, or supervising
all matters arising under the internal revenue laws. 28 C.F.R. § 0.70.
The Department of Justice, including the United States Attorneys, is
responsible for the conduct of all phases of federal tax litigation in the
federal district and appellate courts and in state courts, including the
prosecution of criminal tax cases, the collection of tax claims in bankruptcy,
probate and insolvency proceedings, the defense of mortgage foreclosure suits
involving tax liens, the initiation of collection suits against delinquent
taxpayers, the defense of refund litigation, and the handling of administrative
summonses cases. All federal tax litigation, except that in the Tax Court, in
which the United States is a party must be handled by attorneys who are either
employed by the Department of Justice or are authorized by it to represent the
United States.
NOTE THAT TAX INFORMATION PROVIDED BY THE IRS TO THE DEPARTMENT OF JUSTICE
IS CONFIDENTIAL, MAY BE USED ONLY IN ACCORDANCE WITH 26 U.S.C. § 6103, AND
MUST BE SAFEGUARDED TO PREVENT UNAUTHORIZED DISCLOSURE AND USE. SEE TAX
INFORMATION SECURITY GUIDELINES FOR FEDERAL, STATE, AND LOCAL AGENCIES (IRS PUB.
1075 (REV. 2-96)).
The Tax Division generally has the responsibility of authorizing
prosecution in criminal proceedings arising under the internal revenue laws.
Once prosecution is authorized, United States Attorneys generally have the
initial responsibility for the trial of criminal tax cases. However, the Tax
Division has a staff of highly qualified trial attorneys who will render
assistance in criminal tax cases upon request. The litigation assistance may be
in the form of a senior Tax Division attorney who, either individually or with
another Division attorney, may handle the grand jury investigative and/or trial
aspects of a criminal tax case or even may assume responsibility for a period of
time of a district's criminal tax docket. In other instances, the assistance may
be provided by a Tax Division attorney acting as co-counsel with an Assistant
United States Attorney in one or more cases or investigations. Tax Division
attorneys also are available for consultation and assistance on crim
inal tax policy and litigation matters, including foreign evidence gathering
problems. Contact the appropriate Criminal Enforcement Section for assistance.
See Tax Resource Manual at 9.
- Tax Division Responsibility. In civil tax
litigation, the primary responsibility for handling most of the cases rests with
attorneys from the Tax Division's Civil Trial Sections. See Tax Resource Manual at 21 for organization chart. The
function of the United States Attorney in civil tax cases varies depending on the
nature of the case. In tax cases in the United States District Court, the United
States Attorney and his/her designated Assistant United States Attorney are
counsel of record.
- Referrals from the Tax Division. On occasion, special
circumstances may make it desirable for the government to be represented in a
particular civil tax case by the United States Attorney, and not by an attorney
from one of the Civil Trial Sections. The Chief of the appropriate Civil Trial
Section or one of his/her Assistants is authorized to make the determination.
An individual trial attorney has no authority to allow a United States Attorney
to represent the government in any civil tax case. When, however, the United
States Attorney is authorized to handle a civil tax case, a trial attorney will
also be assigned to the case.
- Direct Referrals. Some types of civil tax cases are assigned
directly to the United States Attorneys, including certain types of bankruptcy
proceedings, actions under 28 U.S.C. § 2410 (other than interpleaders), and
some types of summons litigation. In such cases, when United States Attorneys
are unable because of personnel shortages or for other uncontrollable
circumstances to staff civil tax cases for which their offices have litigation
responsibilities, the Tax Division should be contacted and assistance requested.
In the event that the Tax Division is unable to provide such assistance, it will
undertake to aid the United States Attorney in preparing the paperwork necessary
to have an IRS attorney appointed as a Special Assistant United States Attorney
as an interim measure until the crisis is over.
- Special Assistant United States Attorneys. In a district in
which an IRS District Counsel office is located, special arrangements can be made
with the concurrence of the Tax Division, the United States Attorney, and the
District Counsel to have one or more District Counsel attorneys appointed as
Special Assistant United States Attorneys to handle certain bankruptcy
matters.
PRIMER ON IRS SUMMONS ENFORCEMENT
United States Attorneys have been furnished with the Tax Division's
Criminal Tax Manual (1994), the Tax Division Judgment Collection Manual (1997),
and the Tax Division's Primer on IRS Summons Enforcement (1996). The Criminal
Tax Manual is a comprehensive procedural and substantive guide to the handling
of criminal tax cases and includes jury instructions and other forms. It is
available by a request directed to the Chief of the Criminal Appeals and Tax
Enforcement Policy Section, and is also published as part of the USABook Library.
The Judgment Collection Manual is a procedural guide to collection of tax
judgments and emphasizes procedures not available in attempting to collect
non-tax judgments.
The Primer on IRS Summons Enforcement is a guide to the law relating to
enforcement of IRS summonses.
These publications should be of assistance to United States Attorneys and
their staffs in the conduct of tax litigation. Nevertheless, this Title of the
USAM will prevail in any instance where any other manual is in derogation or
conflict.
| October 1997
| USAM Chapter 6-1
|