TREASURY INSPECTOR GENERAL FOR TAX ADMINISTRATION

Improvements Are Needed to

Reduce Erroneous Foreign
Earned Income Exclusion Claims

August 16, 2010

Reference Number: 2010-40-091

This report has cleared the Treasury Inspector General for Tax Administration disclosure review process
and information determined to be restricted from public release has been redacted from this document.

Redaction Legend:
1 = Tax Return/Return Information
2(f) = Risk Circumvention of Agency Regulation or Statute (whichever is applicable)

Phone Number | 202-622-6500

Email Address | [email protected]
Web Site | http://www.tigta.gov
 HIGHLIGHTS

IMPROVEMENTS ARE NEEDED TO • 17,787 (8 percent) individuals overstated

REDUCE ERRONEOUS FOREIGN their foreign earned income exclusion by
EARNED INCOME EXCLUSION CLAIMS $410 million.
• 5,547 (2 percent) tax returns with

Highlights $265 million in exclusions had incomplete

information or inaccuracies on the
Forms 2555.
Final Report issued on August 16, 2010
WHAT TIGTA RECOMMENDED
Highlights of Reference Number: 2010-40-091
TIGTA recommended that the Commissioner,
to the Internal Revenue Service Commissioner
Large and Mid-Size Business Division, review
for the Large and Mid-Size Business Division
the tax returns of those individuals TIGTA
and the Commissioner for the Wage and
identified as incorrectly claiming the foreign
Investment Division.
earned income exclusion; establish a unit to
IMPACT ON TAXPAYERS address taxpayers identified as erroneously
claiming the foreign earned income exclusion;
Taxpayers excluded $19.2 billion in foreign and assess whether compliance project criteria
earned income on Tax Year 2008 tax returns. can be used to identify erroneous claims during
Our review identified 23,334 Tax Year 2008 tax tax return processing.
returns with erroneous foreign earned income
tax exclusions totaling $675 million with an In addition, TIGTA recommended that the
estimated revenue loss totaling $90 million. Commissioner, Wage and Investment Division,
Over 5 years, TIGTA estimates erroneous include programming to forward tax returns
claims could result in total revenue losses of (both electronically filed and paper) to the Error
$450 million. Resolution System for correction for individuals
who incorrectly compute their foreign earned
WHY TIGTA DID THE AUDIT income exclusion.
This audit was initiated to assess the IRS’ IRS management agreed with four of the seven
process to ensure the accuracy of foreign recommendations. Management stated that
earned income tax exclusions. If an individual is substantial barriers prevent the implementation
a United States (U.S.) citizen or resident alien, of the remaining three recommendations at this
his or her worldwide income generally is subject time. TIGTA is concerned that the lack of
to U.S. income tax, regardless of where the corrective action will allow continued revenue
individual lives. The individual is subject to the loss as noted in our report.
same income tax filing requirements that apply
to U.S. citizens or resident aliens living in the
U.S. However, if an individual meets certain
requirements while living abroad, the individual
may exclude up to $91,500 of foreign earned
income (Tax Year 2010).
WHAT TIGTA FOUND
Using information on the completed Foreign
Earned Income (Form 2555), TIGTA reviewed
231,277 Tax Year 2008 tax returns with claims
for foreign earned income tax exclusions and
identified that some individuals incorrectly
calculated the exclusion or did not qualify for the
exclusion.
 DEPARTMENT OF THE TREASURY
WASHINGTON, D.C. 20220

TREASURY INSPECTOR GENERAL

FOR TAX ADMINISTRATION

August 16, 2010

MEMORANDUM FOR COMMISSIONER, LARGE AND MID-SIZE BUSINESS DIVISION

COMMISSIONER, WAGE AND INVESTMENT DIVISION

FROM: Michael R. Phillips

Deputy Inspector General for Audit

SUBJECT: Final Audit Report – Improvements Are Needed to Reduce Erroneous

Foreign Earned Income Exclusion Claims (Audit # 200940043)

This report presents the results of our review to assess the Internal Revenue Service’s process to
ensure the accuracy of foreign earned income tax exclusions. This audit is included in our Fiscal
Year 2010 Annual Audit Plan and addresses the major management challenges of Erroneous and
Improper Payments and Credits and Implementing Tax Law Changes.
Management’s complete response to the draft report is included in Appendix VII.
Copies of this report are also being sent to the IRS managers affected by the report
recommendations. Please contact me at (202) 622-6510 if you have questions or
Michael E. McKenney, Assistant Inspector General for Audit (Returns Processing and Account
Services), at (202) 622-5916.
 Improvements Are Needed to Reduce
Erroneous Foreign Earned Income Exclusion Claims

Table of Contents

Background ..........................................................................................................Page 1

Results of Review ...............................................................................................Page 5

Improvements Are Needed to Reduce Erroneous
Foreign Earned Income Tax Exclusion Claims ............................................Page 5
Recommendation 1:........................................................Page 9

Recommendations 2 through 4:.........................................Page 10

Recommendation 5:........................................................Page 11

The Internal Revenue Service Identifies Noncompliant

Individuals Through Its Compliance Initiatives ...........................................Page 11
Recommendations 6 and 7: ..............................................Page 13

Appendices
Appendix I – Detailed Objective, Scope, and Methodology ........................Page 15
Appendix II – Major Contributors to This Report ........................................Page 19
Appendix III – Report Distribution List .......................................................Page 20
Appendix IV – Outcome Measures...............................................................Page 21
Appendix V – Descriptions of Electronic Filing Error Reject Codes...........Page 24
Appendix VI – Foreign Earned Income – Form 2555 ..................................Page 26
Appendix VII – Management’s Response to the Draft Report.....................Page 29
 Improvements Are Needed to Reduce
Erroneous Foreign Earned Income Exclusion Claims

Abbreviations

e-file(d); e-filing Electronically file(d); electronic filing

I.R.C. Internal Revenue Code
IRS Internal Revenue Service
LMSB Division Large and Mid-Size Business Division
U.S. United States
 Improvements Are Needed to Reduce
Erroneous Foreign Earned Income Exclusion Claims

Background

If an individual is a United States (U.S.) citizen or resident alien, 1 the individual’s worldwide
income generally is subject to U.S. income tax, regardless of where the individual lives. The
individual is subject to the same income tax filing requirements that apply to U.S. citizens or
resident aliens living in the U.S. However, if an individual meets certain requirements while
living abroad, the individual may qualify to treat up to
$91,500 of foreign earned income 2 (Tax Year 2010), not
In Calendar Year 2010, U.S.
including the housing exclusion and housing deduction, taxpayers living abroad can
as not taxable by the U.S. This is called the foreign exclude up to $91,500 of foreign
earned income exclusion. earned income, not including
the housing exclusion and
Internal Revenue Code (I.R.C.) Section (§) 911(d)(1)(A) housing deduction, from taxable
outlines qualifications that must be met for U.S. citizens income.
or resident aliens to claim the foreign earned income
exclusion. To qualify for the foreign earned income
exclusion, the taxpayer must have foreign earned income and the taxpayer’s tax home must be in
a foreign country. 3 To claim the exclusion, the taxpayer is required to attach a completed
Foreign Earned Income (Form 2555) 4 to his or her U.S. Individual Income Tax Return
(Form 1040). The tax returns, whether paper or electronically filed (e-filed), are considered
International tax returns and are all processed at the Austin Submission Processing Site. 5
Figure 1 shows the number of tax returns filed with a Form 2555 during Processing Years 6 2007
through 2009 and the total foreign earned income that was excluded.

1
A resident alien is someone who is not a U.S. citizen who meets either the green card test of holding an immigrant
visa or the physical presence test of being in the U.S. for at least 31 days during the current calendar year and
183 days during the 3 years that includes the current calendar year and the 2 preceding years.
2
Earned income includes all the taxable income and wages you get from working.
3
A tax home is the area of a person’s main place of business, employment, or post of duty, regardless of where the
person maintains his or her family home.
4
See Appendix VI for an example of a Form 2555.
5
The Submission Processing sites process paper and electronic submissions, correct errors, and forward data to the
Computing Centers for analysis and posting to taxpayer accounts.
6
A processing year is the calendar year in which the tax return was processed by the Internal Revenue Service.
Page 1
 Improvements Are Needed to Reduce
Erroneous Foreign Earned Income Exclusion Claims

Figure 1: Total Returns and Exclusion Amounts

Processing Number of Total Amount
Year Tax Returns of Exclusion
2007 271,926 $15.3 billion
2008 291,724 $17.3 billion
2009 317,778 $19.2 billion
Totals 881,428 $51.8 billion
Source: Our analysis of Forms 1040 and 2555.

Approximately 73 percent (646,423 of 881,428) of the tax returns claiming the foreign earned
income exclusion are filed on paper; the remaining tax returns are e-filed. Figure 2 provides
totals by filing type of tax return for Processing Years 2007 through 2009.
Figure 2: Type of Tax Return Filed
Processing Year
Source Total
2007 2008 2009
E-filed 60,384 76,761 97,860 235,005
Paper 211,542 214,963 219,918 646,423
Source: Our analysis of Forms 1040 and 2555.

Figure 3 is an excerpt from the Tax Guide for U.S Citizens and Resident Aliens Abroad
(Publication 54) to assist individuals in determining whether they are eligible to claim the foreign
earned income exclusion.

Page 2
 Improvements Are Needed to Reduce
Erroneous Foreign Earned Income Exclusion Claims

Figure 3: Excerpt From Internal Revenue Service (IRS) Publication 54

Source: IRS Publication 54.

The IRS launched a new initiative to focus on international tax issues

Earlier in Calendar Year 2009, the President expressed an urgent need to increase focus on
international tax administration. In response, the Large and Mid-Size Business (LMSB) Division
launched a new initiative in October 2009 called “Large Business and International Expansion.”
The IRS noted that this new initiative will significantly increase the IRS’ focus on international
tax administration. The IRS determined that much more attention needed to be placed on the
increasing levels of compliance risk among global entities, such as multinational corporations,
high-wealth individuals, and U.S. citizens living outside the U.S.
The new initiative will ultimately integrate all of the IRS’ offshore and international compliance
units under one organization, to be centralized in the LMSB Division. The IRS submitted a
request for $121 million and 781 positions to support the President’s priority of focusing on
Page 3
 Improvements Are Needed to Reduce
Erroneous Foreign Earned Income Exclusion Claims

international tax administration. This will provide the IRS with the tools necessary to reduce
international tax evasion and abuse. The LMSB Division established a team to oversee the
transition of the IRS’ international programs.
This review was performed at the IRS National Headquarters and the LMSB Division’s
International organization in Washington, D.C., and at the Wage and Investment Division’s
Austin Submission Processing Site in Austin, Texas, during the period October 2009 through
May 2010. We conducted this performance audit in accordance with generally accepted
government auditing standards. Those standards require that we plan and perform the audit to
obtain sufficient, appropriate evidence to provide a reasonable basis for our findings and
conclusions based on our audit objective. We believe that the evidence obtained provides a
reasonable basis for our findings and conclusions based on our audit objective. Detailed
information on our audit objective, scope, and methodology is presented in Appendix I. Major
contributors to the report are listed in Appendix II.

Page 4
 Improvements Are Needed to Reduce
Erroneous Foreign Earned Income Exclusion Claims

Results of Review

Improvements Are Needed to Reduce Erroneous Foreign Earned

Income Tax Exclusion Claims
The IRS has developed processes in an attempt to identify erroneous foreign earned income tax
exclusions. These include:
• Filters for e-filed tax returns with Forms 2555. Prior to IRS acceptance, e-filed tax
returns go through 22 validity checks 7 relating to the Forms 2555. These validity checks
ensure, among other things, the completeness of the Forms 2555 (i.e., that entries are
included in all required fields). For Tax Year 2008, the IRS rejected 14,531 tax returns
as a result of errors with the Forms 2555.
• Processes to review paper-filed tax returns with Forms 2555. Paper-filed tax returns are
perfected by tax examiners in the Code and Edit function. Similar to the e-file filters, this
process is designed to ensure the information on the paper tax return and Form 2555 is
complete. Depending on the nature of the errors identified, the IRS may correspond with
the taxpayer. For example, the IRS may send notices to the taxpayers advising that their
foreign earned income exclusion claims were disallowed because they did not qualify as
a bona fide resident of a foreign country or meet the physical presence test. For Tax
Year 2008, the IRS sent 2,376 notices to taxpayers regarding errors on the Forms 2555.
• Compliance Projects to identify high-risk filers for examination selection. To identify
potential cases of noncompliance, the IRS selects for review a specific group of workers
within a certain industry that have a high potential for noncompliance with requirements
for claiming the exclusion. *********************2(f)************************
**********************************************************************
**********************************************************************.
Currently, the IRS has initiated 5 compliance projects that have identified more than
9,631 taxpayers who may have incorrectly claimed almost $107 million in foreign earned
income exclusions.
Despite the above efforts, our review of the 231,277 Tax Year 2008 tax returns 8 with claims for
foreign earned income tax exclusions identified 23,334 (10 percent) tax returns with erroneous
foreign earned income tax exclusions totaling $675 million with an estimated revenue loss

7
See Appendix V for a description of the specific validity checks performed for e-filed tax returns relating to the
Forms 2555.
8
This represents the number of Tax Year 2008 tax returns processed as of August 2009.
Page 5
 Improvements Are Needed to Reduce
Erroneous Foreign Earned Income Exclusion Claims

totaling $90 million. Over 5 years, the estimated revenue loss could total more than
$450 million. Information on the Forms 2555 identified individuals who incorrectly calculated
the exclusion or did not qualify for the exclusion. Specifically:
• 17,787 (8 percent) individuals overstated their foreign earned income exclusion by
$410 million.
• 5,547 (2 percent) tax returns with $265 million in exclusions had incomplete information
or inaccuracies on the Forms 2555.
****************************************2(f)*********************************
****************************************************************************
****************************************************************************
***************************
In addition, based on our review of travel information for a statistically valid sample of 150 Tax
Year 2008 tax returns with a foreign earned income exclusion claim, we estimate that potentially
13,877 individuals claiming the exclusion may not have met the physical presence requirement.
Travel information showed that not all taxpayers were in a foreign country for at least 330 full
days during a period of 12 consecutive months including all or part of the filing tax year.
Management advised us that some of these erroneous claims may be the result of transcription
errors - IRS employees incorrectly entering date field information from paper tax returns into
IRS computers. However, our statistically valid sample identified that the dates were correctly
entered for 97 percent of the 150 tax returns we selected in our sample.

********************************2(f)******************************************************
********************************************************************************
**********************2(f)***************************************************
****************************************************************************
I.R.C. § 911(d)(1)(A) and § 911(d)(2) require individuals to have foreign earned income and a
tax home in a foreign country to qualify for the foreign earned income tax exclusion. Although
both foreign earned income and foreign residency (via either the bona fide residency or physical
presence test) is needed to claim the exclusion, ********************2(f)****************
*****************************************************************************
****************************************************************************
*****************************************************************************
***************************************.
We reviewed a statistically valid sample of 150 Tax Year 2008 tax returns with claims for the
foreign earned income exclusion to determine if the individuals met foreign earnings
requirements. Our review identified:

Page 6
 Improvements Are Needed to Reduce
Erroneous Foreign Earned Income Exclusion Claims

• 108 individuals that had no Form W-2 attached to the tax return. As a result, we were
unable to perform any additional work to confirm earnings.
• 42 individuals that had earnings reported to the IRS from a U.S. company. We contacted
these companies to confirm that these were foreign earnings and that the individuals lived
outside the U.S. As of April 21, 2010, we received 17 responses, and our results showed
that 13 (76 percent) of the 17 individuals did have foreign earned income while living an
entire tax year in a foreign country. The other four responses were inconsistent with the
IRS data. For example, ********************1******************************
**********************************************************************
*********************************************************.
In addition, we reviewed the statistically valid sample of 150 accounts to determine if the
individuals met the physical presence test (330 calendar days in a foreign country). Our review
identified that 82 individuals were bona fide residents of a foreign country. A bona fide resident
is an individual that lives in a foreign country or countries for an uninterrupted period that
includes an entire tax year. An entire tax year is from January 1 through December 31 for
taxpayers who file their tax returns on a calendar year basis. For these individuals, we accepted
the individual’s identification on their tax return that they were a bona fide residence of a foreign
country.
For the remaining 68 individuals, we requested data from the U.S. Department of Homeland
Security that details time periods of the individuals leaving and entering the U.S. Our review of
this data identified 9 (13 percent) of the 68 individuals did not meet the physical presence
requirements and therefore did not qualify for the exclusion they claimed. The number of days
short of the 330 calendar day requirement averaged 109 calendar days (the range was from 10 to
287 calendar days short of the requirement). We determined the number of days in a foreign
country by subtracting the number of calendar days in the U.S. from the number of calendar days
in the year.
Based on the results of our sample review of 150 individuals, we estimate that 13,877 9 of the
individuals claiming the exclusion in Tax Year 2008 may not have met the physical presence
requirement. *************************2(f)**************************************
****************************************************************************
***********************************. While the foreign earned income is not a tax credit,
individuals can exclude earned income amounts ($91,500 for Tax Year 2010) that are
considerably larger than *********************2(f)********************************
**************************—the Health Coverage Tax Credit ($6,900) and the First-Time
Homebuyer Credit ($8,000).

9
The 13,877 is an estimate based on our sample review of 150 individuals 9/150 = 6 percent x 231,277 Tax Year
2008 tax returns.
Page 7
 Improvements Are Needed to Reduce
Erroneous Foreign Earned Income Exclusion Claims

Individuals are not accurately computing the foreign earned income exclusion
Our review of 231,277 Tax Year 2008 tax returns with a foreign earned income exclusion
claimed identified 17,787 (8 percent) individuals incorrectly computed the foreign earned
income exclusion, overstating their exclusion by $410 million. These included:
• 11,953 individuals that excluded an amount which exceeded the total of their foreign
earned income, housing costs, and/or allowances (meals and lodging) by $254 million.
Example: 10 Taxpayer A showed only an entry of $87,000 on line 42 (Foreign Earned
Income Exclusion) of Form 2555 and a zero housing exclusion but incorrectly entered
$105,000 on line 45 of Form 2555, which was carried forward to line 21 of Form 1040,
resulting in a overstated Foreign Earned Income Exclusion of $18,000.
• 5,834 individuals that did not accurately transfer the amounts of the foreign earned
income exclusion from the Forms 2555 to the appropriate line on the Forms 1040. The
amounts reflected on the Forms 1040 exceeded the foreign earned income exclusion on
the Forms 2555 by $156 million.
Example: Taxpayer B reported a total Foreign Earned Income Exclusion of $85,000 on
Form 2555 but entered the exclusion as $139,000 on line 21 of Form 1040, possibly
resulting in an overstated Foreign Earned Income Exclusion of $54,000.
********************************2(f)*****************************************
****************************************************************************
****************************************************************************
**************************************************************************

Information provided on Forms 2555 showed individuals did not qualify for the
foreign earned income exclusion
Our review of the 231,277 Tax Year 2008 tax returns with foreign earned income tax exclusions
identified 5,547 (2 percent) tax returns with $265 million in exclusions for which the information
provided on the Forms 2555 showed that the individuals did not qualify for an exclusion. For
example:
• 3,843 taxpayers indicating bona fide foreign residency listed overseas time periods that
did not meet the bona fide resident requirement. Bona fide residency requires an
individual to be a resident of a foreign country or countries for an uninterrupted period
that includes an entire tax year. An entire tax year is from January 1 through December
31 for taxpayers who file their tax returns on a calendar year basis. To qualify as a bona
fide resident, taxpayers must show the IRS that they resided overseas for an uninterrupted

10
All examples in italics are hypothetical.
Page 8
 Improvements Are Needed to Reduce
Erroneous Foreign Earned Income Exclusion Claims

period that included at least one entire tax year with part of the time period being in the
tax year they are currently filing.
Example: Taxpayer C claimed a total Foreign Earned Income Exclusion of $86,000 on
Form 2555 but reported being overseas for only 9 months (August 2008–April 2009)
instead of the entire Tax Year 2008 as required to qualify as a bona fide resident.
• 1,704 individuals listed time periods for residing in a foreign country that did not meet
the physical presence test for Tax Year 2008. Physical presence requires an individual to
be physically present in a foreign country or countries for at least 330 full days during
any period of 12 consecutive months, providing that the period includes all or part of the
filing tax year.
Example: Taxpayer D claimed a total Foreign Earned Income Exclusion of $84,000 on
Form 2555 but reported being overseas for only 2 months (December 2008 –
January 2009) instead of the 330 full days in foreign countries required to meet the
physical presence test.
*************************************2(f)***********************************
*****************************************************************************
****************************************************************************
********************************************************************.

Recommendations
Recommendation 1: The Commissioner, LMSB Division, and the Commissioner, Wage and
Investment Division, should ************2(f)***************************************
****************************************************************************
*********************************************************
Management’s Response: IRS management disagreed with this recommendation.
Because of substantial barriers to implementing this recommendation, IRS management
does not plan to take action at this time. There are two barriers. ****2(f)************
***********************************************************************
***********************************************************************
**********************************************************************
***************************.
Office of Audit Comment: We acknowledge that **********2(f)****************
**********************************************************************.
**********************************************************************
***********************************************************************
***********************************************************************
***********************************************************************

Page 9
 Improvements Are Needed to Reduce
Erroneous Foreign Earned Income Exclusion Claims

************************************2(f)*******************************
**********************************************************************
**********************************************************************
*********************************************************************
*******************
Recommendation 2: *****************2(f)*************************************
*****************************************************************************
*****************************************************************************
*********************.
Management’s Response: IRS management disagreed with this recommendation.
IRS management does not plan to take action on this recommendation at this time, as the
recommendation is closely related to Recommendation 1.
Office of Audit Comment: See the Office of Audit Comment related to
management’s response to Recommendation 1.
Recommendation 3: The Commissioner, LMSB Division, should ensure the
23,334 individuals who the Treasury Inspector General for Tax Administration identified as
incorrectly claiming the foreign earned income exclusion were entitled to the exclusion. Review
of these tax returns could be inventory for those employees acquired for the IRS’ new “Large
Business and International Expansion” Initiative.
Management’s Response: IRS management agreed with this recommendation.
They reviewed the data presented in our report and believe that some of the identified
errors were made by taxpayers in filling out the Form 2555. Other errors could be due to
IRS errors in transcribing data provided on paper returns. Based on their review of the
data, 5 filters were used to identify the 23,334 returns reported as having errors. Another
filter, not mentioned in the report, led to the identification of another 7,724 possible
errors. IRS management plans to do a statistically valid review of the taxpayers
identified by each of the filters to determine the cause of the errors. Based on that
review, IRS management will determine the appropriate treatments, which will be
dependent on the cause of the errors. These treatments could include examinations, soft
letters, and/or changes in the IRS process.
Recommendation 4: The Commissioner, Wage and Investment Division, should include
programming to forward tax returns (both e-filed and paper) to the Error Resolution System for
correction if the individual incorrectly computes the foreign earned income.
Management’s Response: IRS management agreed with this recommendation and
will submit a Unified Work Request by January 15, 2011, to forward tax returns (both
e-filed and paper) to the Error Resolution System for correction if the taxpayer
incorrectly computes the foreign earned income. Form 2555 and Foreign Earned Income

Page 10
 Improvements Are Needed to Reduce
Erroneous Foreign Earned Income Exclusion Claims

Exclusion (Form 2555-EZ) are not processed by the Modernized e-File system at this
time; however, the implementation plan has these forms scheduled for processing in
Release 7 with a target deployment date of January 2012. A Unified Work Request will
be submitted to include this recommendation in the scope of Release 7. Because the
requested action will be subject to funding and resource prioritization by the Modernized
and Information Technology Services organization, submission of the Unified Work
Request will complete the corrective action.
Recommendation 5: The Commissioner, Wage and Investment Division, should include
programming to forward tax returns (both e-filed and paper) to the Error Resolution System for
correction for individuals who do not qualify as bona fide residents or do not appear to meet the
physical presence test based on incomplete or inaccurate date information on Forms 2555.
Management’s Response: IRS management agreed with this recommendation.
Existing procedures ensure that paper returns that include Forms 2555 and 2555-EZ are
reviewed by the Code and Edit function in Submission Processing. If the exclusion is
disallowed, the Error Resolution System performs a second review. If the exclusion is
still disallowed after the second review, the IRS notifies the taxpayer of that
determination.

The Internal Revenue Service Identifies Noncompliant Individuals

Through Its Compliance Initiatives
The IRS has developed a number of successful compliance initiatives to identify individuals
erroneously claiming the foreign earned income exclusion. Figure 4 identifies the number of
noncompliant taxpayers identified compared with the number of examinations initiated.
Figure 4: Tax Returns Identified From Compliance Projects
Tax Returns Tax Returns
Fiscal Year Identified Examined Tax Assessed
2007 2,036 1,785 $12,695,223
2008 1,770 1,149 $24,770,637
2009 1,770 1,277 $13,355,094
Source: LMSB Division analysis of five compliance projects.

Since Fiscal Year 2004, the IRS has started 5 compliance initiatives that identified more than
9,631 taxpayers who have incorrectly claimed almost $107 million in foreign earned income
exclusions. For these projects, the IRS is currently examining 914 tax returns, and 176
examinations were closed as of March 2010 with assessed amounts of $630,597. The criteria the
IRS uses to identify noncompliant taxpayers as part of its compliance initiatives results in a high
rate of examined returns that are assessed additional tax (rather than being closed with no change

Page 11
 Improvements Are Needed to Reduce
Erroneous Foreign Earned Income Exclusion Claims

to the tax return). Of the 4,211 examinations initiated in the last 3 processing years,
3,476 (83 percent) resulted in an assessment. Figure 5 provides a list and a brief description of
the five compliance projects.
Figure 5: List of Five Compliance Initiatives

*********************2(f)**********************************

***2(f)***

**********************2(f)***********************************
***2(f)****

.
*********************2(f)************************************
****2(f)****

***2(f)*** ********************2(f)*************************************

***2(f)*** **************************2(f)********************************

Source: LMSB Division analysis of five compliance initiatives.

IRS has indicated that resources are not sufficient to adequately address noncompliant
dividuals identified via compliance initiatives. Currently, tax compliance officers and revenue

Page 12
 Improvements Are Needed to Reduce
Erroneous Foreign Earned Income Exclusion Claims

agents review cases that are considered international tax returns. In Processing Year 2009, the
IRS received more than 1.4 million international tax returns, of which 317,778 included the
foreign income exclusion. However, as we previously detailed, the IRS submitted a request for
$121 million and 781 positions to support the Presidential priority of focusing on international
tax administration. This will provide the IRS with the tools necessary to reduce international tax
evasion and abuse.
The IRS recognizes the need for additional resources as well as the complexity of international
tax issues, which necessitates the use of technically trained employees to review international tax
returns for compliance with tax laws. To address these issues, the IRS has proposed establishing
an International Campus Compliance Unit in the Austin Campus 11 in Austin, Texas. The goal of
this new unit would be to identify and resolve the incorrect tax returns during processing. The
IRS initially planned to implement the International Campus Compliance Unit in March 2010.
However, this initiative has been delayed and the new implementation date is scheduled for
September 30, 2010.

Recommendations
Recommendation 6: The Commissioner, LMSB Division, should establish the International
Campus Compliance Unit to address those taxpayers identified by compliance initiatives as
erroneously claiming the foreign earned income exclusion.
Management’s Response: IRS management agreed with this recommendation. The
Director, Internal Compliance Strategy and Policy, will ensure that the actions to
establish the International Campus Compliance Unit that are in process will be completed
by September 30, 2010.
Recommendation 7: The Commissioner, LMSB Division, should assess whether compliance
project criteria can be used to forward tax returns (both e-filed and paper) to the Error Resolution
System for correction at the time the filed tax returns are processed. For example, information is
provided on the tax returns as to the foreign country where individuals are residing. The IRS
could use this information to identify individuals living in Antarctica who are erroneously
claiming the foreign earned income exclusion and forward those tax returns to the Error
Resolution System.
Management’s Response: IRS management disagreed with this recommendation.
Because of a substantial barrier to implementing this recommendation, IRS management
does not plan to take action at this time. The compliance projects that the IRS conducts
to identify individuals incorrectly claiming the foreign earned income exclusion relate to
examinations of filed tax returns. The examinations involve complex international

11
The data processing arm of the IRS. The campuses process paper and electronic submissions, correct errors, and
forward data to the Computing Centers for analysis and posting to taxpayer accounts.
Page 13
 Improvements Are Needed to Reduce
Erroneous Foreign Earned Income Exclusion Claims

compliance issues that are largely dependent on the facts and circumstances of each case.
As such, the compliance criteria used to select returns for examination do not convert to
objective criteria like those used to identify returns with either filing or math error
adjustments.
Office of Audit Comment: Taking no action will result in the IRS expending
significant resources on examinations or allowing improper claims because the IRS has
indicated that resources are not sufficient to adequately address noncompliant individuals
identified via compliance initiatives.

Page 14
 Improvements Are Needed to Reduce
Erroneous Foreign Earned Income Exclusion Claims

Appendix I

Detailed Objective, Scope, and Methodology

The overall objective of this review was to assess the IRS’ process to ensure the accuracy of
foreign earned income 1 tax exclusions. To accomplish our objective, we:
I. Identified the steps taken by the IRS to verify the accuracy of foreign earned income tax
exclusions at the time a tax return is processed.
A. Participated in a walkthrough at the Austin Submission Processing Site 2 and
determined efforts taken to verify the accuracy of foreign earned income tax
exclusions.
B. Held discussions with representatives from the Code and Edit function 3 and Error
Resolution function and identified any steps taken in an attempt to verify the accuracy
of foreign earned income tax exclusions.
C. Reviewed e-file documentation and identified specific items validated prior to tax
return processing when an individual claims the foreign earned income exclusion.
II. Identified the steps taken by the IRS to identify tax returns with questionable foreign
earned income tax exclusions subsequent to tax return processing.
A. Interviewed IRS personnel and identified any steps taken to identify questionable
foreign earned income tax exclusions.
B. Reviewed management information reports that outlined post-processing efforts and
results.
III. Determined if taxpayers accurately claimed the foreign earned income exclusion.
A. Selected a statistically valid sample of 150 tax returns filed in Tax Year 2008 from an
IRS Individual Return Transaction File 4 extract of 231,277 tax returns claiming the
foreign earned income exclusion and assessed the actions taken by the IRS to validate
the foreign earned income tax exclusion. To validate the extract, we matched our

1
Earned income includes all the taxable income and wages you get from working.
2
The Submission Processing sites process paper and electronic submissions, correct errors, and forward data to the
Computing Centers for analysis and posting to taxpayer accounts.
3
The Code and Edit function is responsible for reviewing all documents submitted with tax returns. Tax examiners
review the tax returns to ensure they are correct, complete, valid, and in the correct order for input to IRS computer
systems. They also review any attachments to the tax returns to determine if any additional actions are required.
4
The Return Transaction File contains all edited, transcribed, and error-corrected data from the U.S. Individual
Income Tax Returns (Form 1040 series) and related forms for the current processing year and 2 prior years.
Page 15
 Improvements Are Needed to Reduce
Erroneous Foreign Earned Income Exclusion Claims

sample to the data captured on the Individual Return Transaction File and the data
that posted to the Individual Master File.
We used attribute sampling to calculate the minimum sample size (n), 5 which we
rounded to 150:
n = (Z2 p(1-p))/(A2)
Z = Confidence Level: 90 percent (expressed as 1.65 standard deviation)
p = Expected Rate of Occurrence: 5 percent
A = Precision Rate: ±3 percent
The test population was the 231,277 records from the Individual Return Transaction
File and the method used was selected to permit projections to the test population as
needed.
1. For e-filed tax returns, we identified specific validations performed for Foreign
Earned Income (Form 2555) to ensure that e-filed tax returns were properly
rejected.
2. For paper tax returns, we determined if e-filed reject conditions have a
corresponding Error Resolution System code for processing paper tax returns.
3. Identified individuals not eligible to claim the foreign earned income exclusion
and estimated potential lost revenue. We projected our sample results to the total
population of tax returns claiming the foreign earned income exclusion to
determine the total potential revenue loss.
4. Matched our statistically valid sample of 150 taxpayers (from Step III.A.1.) to
State Department passport files to identify taxpayers not listed on the passport file
and determined if they were eligible for the exclusions.
B. Queried the Individual Return Transaction File extract and identified 11,953 accounts
where the foreign earned income exclusion exceeded the totals shown on the
Form 2555 and the incorrect amount was carried forward to the Form 1040. (Totaled
line 36 – Housing + line 42 - foreign earned income exclusion and the sum did not
equal line 45 on Form 2555 and line 45 is carried forward to line 21 on Form 1040).
C. Queried the Individual Return Transaction File extract and identified 5,834 accounts
where the amount of the foreign earned income exclusion reported on the Form 1040
exceeded the amount reported on Form 2555.

5 2 2
The formula n = (Z p(1-p))/(A ) is from Sawyer’s Internal Auditing – The Practice of Modern Internal Auditing,
4th Edition, pp. 462-464.
Page 16
 Improvements Are Needed to Reduce
Erroneous Foreign Earned Income Exclusion Claims

D. Queried the Individual Return Transaction File extract using the bona fide date fields
and identified 3,843 accounts where the bona fide dates did not to qualify for the
exclusion.
E. Queried the Individual Return Transaction File extract using the physical presence
dates and identified 1,704 accounts where the physical presence dates were
10 months or less (310 calendar days) not qualifying for the exclusion.
F. Reviewed a judgmental sample of 50 tax returns filed in Tax Year 2008 from a
population of 5,322 individual tax returns in the 2008 tax year with no earned income
reported and determined that taxpayers were eligible to claim the exclusion. We used
judgmental sampling because our time resources were limited.
G. Reviewed a judgmental sample of 50 tax returns filed in Tax Year 2008 from a
population of 12,616 individual tax returns in the 2008 tax year where the taxpayer is
identified as being in the U.S. for more than 36 calendar days and determined whether
they met the physical presence test. We used judgmental sampling because our time
resources were limited.
1. Checked foreign earned income exclusion taxpayers to the State Department
passport file to determine whether the individuals could be living overseas.
2. Performed Integrated Data Retrieval System 6 research to determine whether
taxpayers with physical presence declaration qualified after returning (waiver
possible) to the U.S.
3. Identified individuals not eligible to claim the foreign earned income exclusion
and estimated potential lost revenue. We projected our sample results to the total
population of tax returns claiming the foreign earned income exclusion to
determine the total potential revenue loss.
H. Determined if IRS processes identified individuals claiming foreign earned income
exclusions using income from U.S. Government employment.
1. Matched Tax Year 2008 foreign earned income exclusion taxpayers to the
Individual Return Transaction File and determined whether any of the taxpayers
were U.S. Government employees.
2. Performed Integrated Data Retrieval System research and identified sources of
income that would qualify for the exclusion.

6
IRS computer system capable of retrieving or updating stored information. It works in conjunction with a
taxpayer’s account records.
Page 17
 Improvements Are Needed to Reduce
Erroneous Foreign Earned Income Exclusion Claims

Internal controls methodology

Internal controls relate to management’s plans, methods, and procedures used to meet their
mission, goals, and objectives. Internal controls include the processes and procedures for
planning, organizing, directing, and controlling program operations. They include the systems
for measuring, reporting, and monitoring program performance. We determined the following
internal controls were relevant to our audit objective: Austin Submission Processing Site
processing controls. Our analyses found that those processing controls were not working
effectively to identify and correct tax returns when captured tax return information did not
support the exclusion for the foreign earned income deduction. We evaluated these controls by
interviewing management and reviewing procedures and reviewing samples of tax returns.

Page 18
 Improvements Are Needed to Reduce
Erroneous Foreign Earned Income Exclusion Claims

Appendix II

Major Contributors to This Report

Michael E. McKenney, Assistant Inspector General for Audit (Returns Processing and Account
Services)
Russell P. Martin, Director
Edward Gorman, Audit Manager
Kathleen A. Hughes, Senior Auditor
Lawrence R. Smith, Senior Auditor
LaToya R. Penn, Auditor
Marcus D. Sloan, Auditor

Page 19
 Improvements Are Needed to Reduce
Erroneous Foreign Earned Income Exclusion Claims

Appendix III

Report Distribution List

Commissioner C
Office of the Commissioner – Attn: Chief of Staff C
Deputy Commissioner for Services and Enforcement SE
Deputy Commissioner (International) United States Competent Authority, Large and Mid-Size
Business Division SE:LM:IN
Director, Customer Account Services, Wage and Investment Division SE:W:CAS
Director, International Compliance and Strategy and Policy, Large and Mid-Size Business
Division SE:LM:IN
Director, Submission Processing, Wage and Investment Division SE:W:CAS:SP
Chief Counsel CC
National Taxpayer Advocate TA
Director, Office of Legislative Affairs CL:LA
Director, Office of Program Evaluation and Risk Analysis RAS:O
Office of Internal Control OS:CFO:CPIC:IC
Audit Liaisons:
Commissioner, Large and Mid-Size Business Division SE:LM
Chief, Program Evaluation and Improvement, Wage and Investment Division
SE:W:S:PRA:PEI

Page 20
 Improvements Are Needed to Reduce
Erroneous Foreign Earned Income Exclusion Claims

Appendix IV

Outcome Measures

This appendix presents detailed information on the measurable impact that our recommended
corrective actions will have on tax administration. These benefits will be incorporated into our
Semiannual Report to Congress.

Type and Value of Outcome Measure:

• Revenue Protection – Potential; $231 million over 5 years. This estimate is based on
17,787 individuals overstating their foreign earned income exclusion by $410 million in
Tax Year 2008 (see page 5).

Methodology Used to Measure the Reported Benefit:

We identified 17,787 tax returns with foreign earned income exclusion where the individuals
incorrectly computed the foreign earned income exclusion, overstating their exclusion by
$410 million. These included:
• 11,953 individuals who excluded an amount which exceeded the total of their foreign
earned income, housing costs, and/or allowances (meals and lodging) by $254 million.
• 5,834 individuals who did not accurately transfer the amounts of the foreign earned
income exclusion from the Foreign Earned Income (Form 2555) to the appropriate line
on the U.S. Individual Income Tax Returns (Form 1040). The amounts reflected on the
Forms 1040 exceeded the foreign earned income exclusion by $156 million.
*************************************2(f)**********************************
***************************************************************************
****************************************************************************
********************************************.
To compute the loss of revenue, we:
• Recomputed the taxpayers’ Adjusted Gross Incomes 1 ($1.1 billion) by adding the
overstatement amounts for each of the 17,787 returns that resulted in a loss of revenue of
$46.1 million.

1
Adjusted Gross Income (Form 1040 line 37) is the total income (line 22) minus the allowable adjustments (lines
23-35).
Page 21
 Improvements Are Needed to Reduce
Erroneous Foreign Earned Income Exclusion Claims

• Recomputed the new taxable income ($862 million) by subtracting the itemized or
standard deductions and the exemption allowances from the Adjusted Gross Income.
• Applied the 2008 tax rates per filing status to the new taxable income to obtain the new
tentative tax figures.
• Computed lost revenues by subtracting the taxpayers’ total tax figures from the new total
tax figures.
• Calculated the loss of revenue total of $231 million over 5 years by multiplying the
annual loss of $46.1 x 5 years.
Type and Value of Outcome Measure:
• Revenue Protection – Potential; $219 million over 5 years. This estimate is based on
5,547 individuals who did not qualify for exclusions totaling $265 million in Tax Year 2008
based on information on their Forms 2555 (see page 5).

Methodology Used to Measure the Reported Benefit:

We identified 5,547 tax returns with $265 million in foreign earned income tax exclusions for
which the information provided on the Forms 2555 showed that the individuals did not qualify
for the exclusion. These included:
• 3,843 individuals who listed a bona fide residency time period for residing in a foreign
country that did not meet the bona fide residency or physical presence test requirements.
To meet the bona fide residency test, the taxpayer must show the IRS that they have been
a bona fide resident of a foreign country or countries for an uninterrupted period that
includes an entire tax year. An entire tax year is from January 1 through December 31
for taxpayers who file their tax returns on a calendar year basis. To meet the physical
presence requires an individual to reside in a foreign country or countries for at least 330
full days during any period of 12 consecutive months, providing that the period includes
all or part of the filing tax year.
• 1,704 individuals listed a time period for residing in a foreign country that did not meet
the physical presence requirement. Physical presence requires an individual to reside in a
foreign country or countries for at least 330 full days during any period of 12 consecutive
months, providing that the period includes all or part of the filing tax year.
********************************2(f)****************************************
**************************************************************************
***************************************************************************
*****************************************************
To compute the loss of revenue, we:

Page 22
 Improvements Are Needed to Reduce
Erroneous Foreign Earned Income Exclusion Claims

• Recomputed the taxpayers’ Adjusted Gross Income ($559 million) by adding the foreign
earned income exclusion for each of the 5,547 returns that resulted in a loss of revenue of
$43.9 million.
• Recomputed the new taxable income ($485 million) by subtracting the itemized or
standard deductions and the exemption allowances.
• Applied the 2008 tax rates per filing status to the new taxable income to obtain the new
tentative tax figures.
• Computed lost revenues by subtracting the taxpayers’ total tax figures from the new total
tax figures.
• Calculated the loss of revenue total of $219 million over 5 years by multiplying the
annual loss of $43.8 x 5 years.

Page 23
 Improvements Are Needed to Reduce
Erroneous Foreign Earned Income Exclusion Claims

Appendix V

Descriptions of Electronic Filing Error Reject Codes

Electronic return transmissions go through a series of filters that perform various format and
validity checks to produce an electronic file for further computer processing. The filters can
generate the following 22 reject codes for tax returns claiming the Foreign Earned Income
Exclusion.
0452 – Social Security Number on Foreign Earned Income (Form 2555) must equal Primary
Social Security Number or Secondary Social Security Number of U.S. Individual Income Tax
Return (Form 1040).
0453 – Total Foreign Earned Income cannot exceed $87,600 for 2008 individual income tax
returns.
0454 – Earned Income Credit cannot be significant if Form 2555 is present.
0455 – Foreign Earned Income Exclusion cannot exceed Foreign Earned Income.
0456 – Housing/Foreign Earned Income Exclusion must equal Form 2555.
0457 – Housing/Foreign Earned Income Exclusion Amount must equal the maximum of Housing
and Foreign Earned Income Exclusions from Forms 2555.
0458 – Other Adjustments on Form 1040 must equal Form 2555.
0459 – If Other Adjustments on Form 1040 equal Form 2555, then Other Adjustment Amount
must equal Total Housing Deduction from Form 2555.
0460 – Bona Fide Residence end date shows the last day of the tax year, and the start date must
equal either the first day of the same tax year or be prior to the current tax year.
0461 – Form 2555 – Statement to Authorities – Yes and Required to Pay Income Tax – No, both
cannot be significant.
0462 – Form 2555 – If No Travel Statement is present, then the Country Name, Arrival Date,
Departure Date, Full Days in Country, Number of Days in U.S. on Business, and Income Earned
in the U.S. on Business cannot be present.
0463 – Form 2555 – Taxpayer Foreign Street Address, Taxpayer Foreign City, and Taxpayer
Foreign Country must be present and contain a valid country code.
0464 – If Separate Foreign Residence is present, then foreign address must be properly
completed and show the number of days lived at that address.

Page 24
 Improvements Are Needed to Reduce
Erroneous Foreign Earned Income Exclusion Claims

0465 – Housing Exclusion cannot be greater than Employer-Provided Amounts.

0466 – Total Housing and Foreign Earned Income Exclusions must equal the total of Housing
Exclusion plus Foreign Earned Income Exclusion.
0467 – If Bona Fide Residence is significant, then the dates must be shown.
0468 – If Physical Present is significant, then the dates must be shown.
0469 – Tax Home Test must have an entry if the answer is “yes.”
0470 – Only one box (Yes or No) can be marked for the following:
• Bona Fide Residence
• Physically Present
• Revoked Exclusions
0471 – Form 2555 – Part II or Part III must be present, but not both.
0472 – Form 2555/2555EZ – Must be processed at the Austin Submission Processing Center.
0473 – Form 2555 – If Allocable Deductions are significant, then the Allocable Deductions
Computation must equal a specified format.

Page 25
 Improvements Are Needed to Reduce
Erroneous Foreign Earned Income Exclusion Claims

Appendix VI

Foreign Earned Income – Form 2555

Page 26
 Improvements Are Needed to Reduce
Erroneous Foreign Earned Income Exclusion Claims

Page 27
 Improvements Are Needed to Reduce
Erroneous Foreign Earned Income Exclusion Claims

Page 28
 Improvements Are Needed to Reduce
Erroneous Foreign Earned Income Exclusion Claims

Appendix VII

Management’s Response to the Draft Report

Page 29
 Improvements Are Needed to Reduce
Erroneous Foreign Earned Income Exclusion Claims

Attachment

RECOMMENDATION 1:
The Commissioner, Large and Mid-Size Business Division, and the Commissioner, Wage
and Investment Division *************************************************************************
************************************************************************2(f)*************************
*****************************************************************************************************
*****************************************************************************************************
*****************************************************************************************************
***********************************.

CORRECTIVE ACTIONS:
Because of substantial barriers to implementing this recommendation, we plan not to take
action at this time.

REASON FOR NO ACTION:

There are two barriers to taking action on this recommendation.
*****************************************************************************************************
*****************************************************************************************************
***************************2(f)**********************************************************************
*****************************************************************************************************
*****************************************************************************************************
******************************************************

*********************************************2(f)****************************************************
*****************************************************************************************************
*****************************************************************************************************
*****************************************************************************************************
*****************************************************************************************************
***********************************************

IMPLEMENTATION DATE:
N/A

Page 30
 Improvements Are Needed to Reduce
Erroneous Foreign Earned Income Exclusion Claims

RESPONSIBLE OFFICIAL(S):
N/A

CORRECTIVE ACTION(S) MONITORING PLAN:

N/A

RECOMMENDATION 2:
**********************************************2(f)***************************************************
*****************************************************************************************************
*****************************************************************************************************
********************************************.

CORRECTIVE ACTIONS:
We plan to take no action on this recommendation at this time, as the recommendation is
closely related to Recommendation 1.

REASON FOR NO ACTION:

This recommendation is closely related to Recommendation' and our reason for not
taking action is the same as described above.

IMPLEMENTATION DATE:
N/A

RESPONSIBLE OFFICIAL(S):
N/A

CORRECTIVE ACTION(S) MONITORING PLAN:

N/A

RECOMMENDATION 3:
The Commissioner, Large and Mid-Size Business Division, should ensure the 23,334
individuals who TIGTA identified as incorrectly claiming the foreign earned income
exclusion were entitled to the exclusion. Review of these tax returns could be inventory
for those employees acquired for the IRS' new "Large Business and International
Expansion" Initiative.

Page 31
 Improvements Are Needed to Reduce
Erroneous Foreign Earned Income Exclusion Claims

Page 32
 Improvements Are Needed to Reduce
Erroneous Foreign Earned Income Exclusion Claims

Page 33
 Improvements Are Needed to Reduce
Erroneous Foreign Earned Income Exclusion Claims

Page 34
 Improvements Are Needed to Reduce
Erroneous Foreign Earned Income Exclusion Claims

Page 35