Stakeholder Outreach includes activities with external partners with the intention of establishing cooperative efforts to identify ways to increase compliance of FSLG customers. Examples of stakeholder outreach include meetings with the State Social Security Administrator, the Social Security Administration, practitioner groups or government agencies responsible for administering related laws.

One goal of outreach is to provide opportunities to establish new partnership relationships and expand existing partnerships. This type of outreach can be used as a tool to remedy systemic or regional noncompliance.

If the Specialist receives an inquiry from an authority for state and local government concerning the development of joint or partnership tax administration efforts with IRS, he or she should consult with the Office of Governmental Liaison and Disclosure (GLD). See IRM 11.4.1.6.11(1).

Customer outreach includes activity that provides educational information to a group of customers. Examples of Customer Outreach include conducting workshops, seminars, and attending or participating in customer association conferences and meetings. Meeting with other agencies who are the customers or direct representatives of the entities responsible for tax matters is also customer outreach.

Customer outreach is a preferred compliance tool when there is an opportunity to educate and interact with large numbers of customers at once. This is a very useful and effective preventive and remedial tool for systemic and regional noncompliance.

Outreach activity can be a costly compliance remedy due to time involved with the activity and travel costs. Therefore, it is necessary to consider the following factors when planning this type of activity.

Depending on the resources available, each market segment within each state should be provided outreach over a reasonable period of time. The primary approach for providing this outreach should be to work cooperatively with the customers, government associations, government practitioners, and IRS stakeholders, participating in conferences, seminars, workshops, and other events.

Pre-filing and filing activities should be the result of an established plan of action for the area for which the Specialist is responsible. Each manager will have a plan or schedule for each state in his or her area.

A major objective of outreach is to promote awareness of information return reporting. This includes Federal as well as state and local entities. Studies show that the issuance of a Form 1099 greatly increases the likelihood that the income will be reported.

When Forms 1099 are issued, they are included in the Information Reporting Program (IRP) matching process, thus facilitating the verification that the income was reported and identifying taxpayers that fail to file Forms 1040. Information return reporting is an integral part of ensuring voluntary compliance.

The most effective tool in the comprehensive IRP program to improve compliance is general outreach. To educate our customers, we will include this issue in our outreach packages along with other issues. Specialists should include information return reporting in their presentations when discussing worker classification or when the audience has responsibility for the issuance of Form 1099. By speaking to large audiences, we leverage our limited resources to touch the largest number of customers. We expect many entities to "self-correct" once they fully understand their obligations.

The Specialist should also focus on educating the entity about the errors and gaining future compliance. FSLG maintains an ongoing effort to develop, monitor, and revise programs designed to assist taxpayers in complying with legal requirements, thus avoiding penalties.

Specialists should be aware of special requirements applicable to federal agencies. IRC 6050M generally requires Federal agencies to file information returns for Federal contracts for goods and services each calendar quarter. Section 6041A requires Federal agencies to issue Form 1099-MISC, Miscellaneous Income, for all payments in connection with remuneration of more than $600 or payments to a corporation for services performed by the corporation.

Each FSLG Specialist will consider the background of the attendees and their roles and responsibilities in their respective organizations. This ensures that we fulfill our mission to provide taxpayers with information that will help them to accurately and timely file employment tax returns and information returns. The attendees should include representatives from governmental entities, such as policy makers, payroll and accounting officers, bookkeepers, CPAs, and all others that are in the position to make changes in organizational payroll procedures, information return preparation, or procurement of services.

The booth’s rental cost in dollars should not exceed the expected number of attendees. In other words, there should be at least one attendee per each dollar of rental cost. Often, organizations will offer discounted fees to government agencies, or fees may be waived entirely. Specialists should pursue this option whenever possible. If the cost cannot be waived or reduced, then cost sharing with other divisions (e.g., SB/SE, W/I, and EP) or outside agencies (Social Security Administration, employment development department) should be pursued. The Specialist must consider the total amount of the booth rental fee, which may include miscellaneous charges (e.g., labor union fees, processing fees, and backdrop charges), when negotiating cost sharing. All parties must reach an agreement on payment amounts prior to the submission of a booth rental request.

FSLG Specialists have the authority to negotiate booth rental fees. However, no commitment should be made nor contract signed until the Field Manager approves the request and it is approved and processed by Headquarters (Staff Assistant) as outlined in the next section.

The FSLG Specialist will prepare and submit a booth rental request, along with the sponsor’s reservation form, to the Field Manager. Specialists should submit these forms so that there is enough time to process the request before the date of the event or the cut-off date for registration, as defined by the vendor. As a general rule, a minimum of two weeks is required to process a request. The Specialist should retain a copy of the request for his or her records. The Field Manager will conduct an analysis within five days from receipt of the request. The Field Manager will determine whether the outreach objective promotes FSLG’s mission to increase voluntary compliance among Federal, state, local and quasi-governmental agencies. The Field Manager's cost analysis should include the total booth rental fee as well as the cost of travel.

If the Field Manager determines that the event is a cost-effective use of time and resources, the request should be sent to the Management Assistant, who will complete Form 182, Request, Authorization, Agreement and Certification of Training, and will submit it to Headquarters. Headquarters (Staff Assistant) will make the final determination as to whether the Form 182 will be approved based on availability of funds and the Field Manager will be notified of the decision.

When the Field Manager approves a request, it will be given to the Management Assistant to process. The Management Assistant is responsible for having the necessary funds committed on the RTS system and for contacting the vendor to make the actual reservation. Reservations will be made by E-mail, phone, fax or mail, as directed by the vendor, using the originating Specialist’s contact information. Vendors will usually send a confirmation to the Specialist. Specialists may also contact the Management Assistant to arrange for forms, publications and any other materials needed for the event.

When the Field Manager does not approve a request, the request form will be annotated to indicate the reason for disapproval. The Field Manager will discuss this information with the Specialist to ensure better understanding of where outreach efforts are to be focused.

Copies of all requests will be retained for data collection at the FSLG office of Compliance and Program Management (CPM).

Use the following activity codes to report outreach contacts on the outreach database:

Activity Type 1 (Customer Outreach) includes:

Activity Type 2 (Stakeholder Outreach) includes individuals who receive materials, information or other assistance at a convention booth or exhibit staffed by FSLG, or receiving material from someone distributing these on behalf of FSLG.

Activity Type 6 (Newsletters) includes individuals who receive tax information from an FSLG source, including the FSLG Newsletter, a local newsletter or mail-out. It includes material a Specialist may receive and retransmit. Each individual on the distribution list counts as one outreach contact for each distribution. Receiving information from the FSLG Web Site does not count as Outreach.

Activity Type 9 (Customer Assistance) includes one-on-one assistance with a representative for an entity to provide remedies for its individual tax situation. (See IRM 4.90.2, Customer Assistance, for more information.)

There should be one event report per event, regardless of the number of FSLG participants. If multiple Specialists participate in an outreach event, the lead employee for the event should file one event report for the entire activity. For example, three Specialists and a management assistant operate a booth at a four-day event. One event took place and one outreach entry is required.

If a Specialist(s) provides a seminar on FSLG tax issues and also operates a booth at a four-day event, an outreach entry is required for both the seminar and the booth activity.

Customers Reached (Customer Outreach) is defined as the total number of non-IRS external customers involved in each customer educational event. The number is based on the best available information (actual overall registration or actual head count). If this activity is a booth event, the number is based on the total number of visitors to the booth or total number of handouts distributed. If more than one operating unit participates in the same event, each will count its respective customers.

Customers Reached (Stakeholder Outreach) is defined as the total number of non-IRS external customers involved in each customer partnership meeting. The number is based on the best available information, which includes actual registration or actual head count.