The IRS LB&I's New Document Request Process, 18 Months Later

How It Works, and How to Make It Work

Caroline Rule, JD

On February 28, 2014, the IRS Large Business and International Division (LB&I) issued a directive, LB&I-04-0214-004, setting forth how LB&I intended to fundamentally change its procedures for issuing information document requests (IDR) (IRS Form 4564). The 2014 directive, following two 2013 directives on the same issue, went into effect on March 3, 2014. It provides that 1) draft IDRs will be discussed with taxpayers before final IDRs are issued, and 2) if taxpayers do not timely comply with the ensuing IDRs, enforcement through the issuance of summonses is mandatory. It should be noted that, while the 2014 directive is to be followed by all LB&I employees, it does not confer substantive rights on taxpayers.