Compliance November 23, 2011

IRS Announces EP International Unit Initiatives

November 23, 2011 (PLANSPONSOR.com) – The Internal Revenue Service said its Employee Plans (EP) International unit has made significant progress on international initiatives and projects, including the Hacienda Project with Puerto Rico and compliance efforts in the U.S. Virgin Islands.
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In addition to providing audit assistance on dual jurisdiction plans, the unit trained agents in Puerto Rico and the U.S. Virgin Islands and helped them to promote voluntary compliance.  

The Employee Plans Compliance Unit (EPCU) completed two international compliance check projects on foreign distributions and domestic trusts. It also started a new Hacienda Compliance Check Project, which focuses on the Form 5500 coding to ensure adherence to Puerto Rican or U.S. law.   

To distinguish the qualification intention of plans covering Puerto Rico employees, the unit created two feature codes for the Form 5500, line 8. Plan sponsors use 3C if the plan doesn’t intend to be qualified under the Internal Revenue Code and 3J if the plan intends to be dual-qualified.  

EP International will continue to cover issues related to offshore asset sheltering, multinational corporations’ activities and taxpayers at all economic levels. The Employee Plans Team Audit group is currently examining more than 40 returns with international issues.  

In addition, EP International will continue to expand its international and U.S. Territory enforcement coverage, identify new international issues, provide online web materials and ensure effective global tax administration.

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