Criminal Investigation (CI) Annual Business Plan (ABP)
The Annual Business Plan (ABP) establishes Criminal Investigation’s role and priorities for implementing the IRS Strategic Plan for 2009-2013. The highest priority is to enforce our country’s tax laws and support tax administration. Criminal Investigation’s FY 2012 investigative priorities, in order of importance, are:
- Core Mission Tax (including Legal and Illegal source tax crimes)
- Other financial crimes such as money laundering, currency violations, and terrorist financing investigations
- Narcotics related financial crimes
These investigations are conducted by applying all available statutes under our authority (Title 26, Title 18 and Title 31).
Criminal Investigation (CI) supports the IRS Strategic goals with the following enforcement, business, and communication strategies:
Enforcement Strategies
A. Maintain focus on significant legal source tax investigations, including working to increase the number of high-quality, high-impact criminal investigations with international tax administration aspects.
B. Work with the Department of Treasury, the Department of Justice, and other law enforcement partners to enforce the tax laws; investigate financial crimes that affect domestic and international tax administration; and enhance Bank Secrecy Act compliance.
Criminal Investigation will focus on delivering high-impact, high-quality investigations by committing substantial resources to core mission tax investigations and working closely with the IRS operating divisions to develop and investigate significant tax cases.
Fiscal Year 2012 Operational Priorities
International Tax Fraud - Criminal Investigation will develop a comprehensive international strategy to combat offshore tax evasion committed by both individuals and promoters of abusive schemes. This strategy includes the deployment of an expanded attaché cadre, increased liaison with IRS Large Business/International (LB/I), expanded review of Foreign Bank Account Reports (FBAR), and continued use of the Simultaneous Criminal Investigation Programs (SCIP) investigations, Tax Information Exchange Agreements (TIEA) and Mutual Legal Assistance Treaties (MLAT) requests as useful investigative tools that will help IRS address tax evasion through international transactions.
Voluntary Disclosure Program - Criminal Investigation is the key entry point, through the voluntary disclosure program, for noncompliant taxpayers to get back into the tax system.
Return Preparer Fraud - Criminal Investigation will continue to investigate tax return preparers who promote schemes designed to obtain fraudulent refunds or to fraudulently reduce their clients' tax liabilities. As part of the comprehensive IRS Return Preparer Strategy, CI will partner with civil counterparts in IRS to establish more visibility with the tax preparer community.
Refund Crimes - The Scheme Development Centers (SDCs) will continue to develop high-quality, large-dollar investigations through the Questionable Refund Program ( QRP) and Return Preparer Program ( RPP), while creating new solutions to become more efficient and effective.
Fraud Referral Program - This Program is one of the key sources of high-income tax fraud investigations. Criminal Investigation will continue to strengthen this program by working with our civil counterparts in IRS to promote fraud awareness and to facilitate fraud training, especially with a focus on educating and training newly hired revenue agents and revenue officers.
Bank Secrecy Act - Criminal Investigation, both individually and through Nationwide Suspicious Activity Report (SAR) Review Teams, will use Bank Secrecy Act (BSA) data to identify legal and illegal source tax cases, as well as money laundering, terrorist financing, and narcotics investigations.
Organized Crime Drug Enforcement Task Force (OCDETF) - Criminal Investigation will maintain support for the National Drug Control and Money Laundering Strategies by continuing to provide resources to Organized Crime Drug Enforcement Task Force (OCDETF) and High Intensity Drug Trafficking Area (HIDTA) investigations in order to dismantle and disrupt major narcotics trafficking/money laundering organizations and forfeit their illegal profits, while also targeting emerging narcotics-related financial schemes, including bulk-cash smuggling.
Counterterrorism - Criminal Investigation remains committed to pursuing financial leads related to terrorist financing and will continue to contribute financial investigative expertise and resources to the FBI’s Joint Terrorism Task Forces (JTTF) and the USAO Anti-Terrorism Task Forces.
Asset Forfeiture - Criminal Investigation will utilize our asset forfeiture authority to further our enforcement goals and take the profit incentive away from criminals.
Business Strategies
A. Increase workforce productivity by improving recruitment, workforce diversity, retention, and leadership opportunities.
B. Increase efficiency and quality by improving business systems and management oversight.
Communication Strategy
A. Maximize the impact of criminal enforcement through a communications strategy that effectively uses publicity, education, and outreach.
To deter financial crime and enhance voluntary tax compliance, Criminal Investigation will capitalize on media opportunities to maximize publicity of our investigations. Publicity will focus on informing the American public about enforcement efforts and educating the public about fraud schemes and scams they should avoid.
Criminal Investigation (CI) will support the IRS mission and strategic goals through comprehensive outreach activities directed at national and regional audiences and market segments through print, broadcast, and various types of social media. In partnership with other IRS operating divisions, CI will reach out to various market segments including the tax practitioner community to educate individuals, businesses, and return preparers about the types of fraud committed in their industry.
Criminal Investigation (CI) home page
