83 FR 18395 - Privacy Act of 1974; Matching Program

DEPARTMENT OF VETERANS AFFAIRS

Federal Register Volume 83, Issue 81 (April 26, 2018)

This re-established computer matching agreement (CMA) sets forth the terms, conditions, and safeguards under which the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) will disclose return information, relating to unearned income, to the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA), Veterans Benefits Administration (VBA) for the Disclosure of Information to Federal, State and Local Agencies (DIFSLA). The purpose of this CMA is to make available to VBA certain return information needed to determine eligibility for, and amount of benefits for, VBA applicants and beneficiaries of needs-based benefits, and to adjust income-dependent benefit payments, as prescribed by law. Currently, the most cost effective and efficient way to verify annual income of applicants, and recipients of these benefits, is through a computer match.

[Federal Register Volume 83, Number 81 (Thursday, April 26, 2018)]
[Notices]
[Pages 18395-18396]
From the Federal Register Online  [www.thefederalregister.org]
[FR Doc No: 2018-08745]


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DEPARTMENT OF VETERANS AFFAIRS


Privacy Act of 1974; Matching Program

AGENCY: Department of Veterans Affairs (VA).

ACTION: Notice of a new matching program.

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SUMMARY: This re-established computer matching agreement (CMA) sets 
forth the terms, conditions, and safeguards under which the Internal 
Revenue Service (IRS) will disclose return information, relating to 
unearned income, to the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA), Veterans 
Benefits Administration (VBA) for the Disclosure of Information to 
Federal, State and Local Agencies (DIFSLA). The purpose of this CMA is 
to make available to VBA certain return information needed to determine 
eligibility for, and amount of benefits for, VBA applicants and 
beneficiaries of needs-based benefits, and to adjust income-dependent 
benefit payments, as prescribed by law. Currently, the most cost 
effective and efficient way to verify annual income of applicants, and 
recipients of these benefits, is through a computer match.

DATES: Comments on this matching notice must be received no later than 
30 days after date of publication in the Federal Register. If no public 
comments are received during the period allowed for comment, the re-
established agreement will become effective July 1, 2018, provided it 
is a minimum of 30 days after the publication date. If VA receives 
public comments, VA shall review the substance of the comments to 
determine whether or not VA needs to take other actions. The CMA will 
be effective 30 days after the publication date even, if public 
comments are received. This matching program will be valid for 18 
months from the effective date of this notice.

ADDRESSES: Written comments may be submitted through 
www.Regulations.gov; by mail or hand-delivery to Director, Regulation 
Policy and Management (00REG), Department of Veterans Affairs, 810 
Vermont Ave. NW, Room 1064, Washington, DC 20420; or by fax to (202) 
273-9026 (not a toll-free number). Comments should indicate that they 
are submitted in response to a CMA between the IRS and VBA for DIFSLA. 
Copies of comments received will be available for public inspection in 
the Office of Regulation Policy and Management, Room 1063B, between the 
hours of 8:00 a.m. and 4:30 p.m., Monday through Friday (except 
holidays). Please call (202) 461-4902 for an appointment. (This is not 
a toll-free number.) In addition, comments may be viewed online at 
www.Regulations.gov.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Nancy C. Williams, Pension Analyst, 
Pension and Fiduciary Service (21P), Department of Veterans Affairs, 
810 Vermont Ave. NW, Washington, DC 20420, (202) 461-8394.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: CMA between VA and IRS DIFSLA, expires June 
30, 2018. VBA has a legal obligation to reduce the amount of pension 
and of parents' dependency and indemnity compensation by the amount of 
annual income received by the VBA beneficiary. VA will use this 
information to verify the income information submitted by beneficiaries 
in VA's needs-based benefit programs and adjust VA benefit payments as 
prescribed by law. By comparing the information received through the 
matching program between VBA and IRS, VBA will be able to timely and 
accurately adjust benefit amounts. The match information will help VBA 
minimize overpayments and deter fraud and abuse.
    The legal authority to conduct this match is 38 U.S.C. 5106, which 
requires any Federal department or agency to provide VA such 
information as VA requests for the purposes of determining eligibility 
for benefits, or verifying other information with respect to payment of 
benefits.
    The VA records involved in the match are in ``Compensation, 
Pension, Education, and Vocational and Rehabilitation and Employment 
Records--VA (58 VA 21/22/28),'' a system of records which was first 
published at 41 FR 9294 (March 3, 1976), amended and republished in its 
entirety at 77 FR 42593 (July 19, 2012).
    The IRS records consist of information from the system records 
identified as will extract return information with respect to unearned 
income of the VBA applicant or beneficiary and (when applicable) of 
such individual's spouse from the

[[Page 18396]]

Information Return Master File (IRMF), Treasury/IRS 22.061, at 80 FR 
54081-082 (September 8, 2015).
    In accordance with the Privacy Act, 5 U.S.C. 552a(o)(2) and (r), 
copies of the agreement are being sent to both Houses of Congress and 
to the Office of Management and Budget. This notice is provided in 
accordance with the provisions of Privacy Act of 1974 as amended by 
Public Law 100-503.

Participating Agencies:
    The Internal Revenue Service (IRS).

Authority for Conducting the Matching Program:
    The Privacy Act, 5 U.S.C. Sec.  552a, and 38 U.S.C. Sec.  6103 
authorize VA to enter into this CMA with IRS.

Purpose(s):
    To re-establish a CMA with IRS to provide VBA with certain return 
information needed to determine eligibility for and amount of benefits 
for VBA applicants and beneficiaries of needs-based benefits and to 
adjust income-dependent benefit payments as prescribed by law.

Categories of Individuals:
    Veterans and beneficiaries who apply for VA income benefits.

Categories of Records:
    VBA will furnish the IRS with records in accordance with the 
current IRS Publication 3373, DIFSLA Handbook. The requests from VBA 
will include: The Social Security Number (SSN) and name Control (first 
four characters of the surname) for each individual for whom unearned 
income information is requested. IRS will provide a response record for 
each individual identified by VBA. The total number of records will be 
equal to or greater than the number of records submitted by VBA. In 
some instances, an individual may have more than one record on file. 
When there is a match of individual SSN and name control, IRS will 
disclose the following to VBA: Payee account number; payee name and 
mailing address; payee TIN; payer name and address; payer TIN; and 
income type and amount.

System(s) Of Records:
    VBA records involved in this match are in ``VA Compensation, 
Pension, Education, and Vocational Rehabilitation and Employment 
Records--VA'' (58 VA 21/22/28), a system of records that was first 
published at 41 FR 9294 (March 3, 1976), amended and republished in its 
entirety at 77 FR 42593 (July 19, 2012).
    IRS will extract return information with respect to unearned income 
of the VBA applicant or beneficiary and (when applicable) of such 
individual's spouse from the Information Return Master File (IRMF), 
Treasury/IRS 22.061, as published at 80 FR 54081-082 (September 
8,2015).

Signing Authority:
    The Senior Agency Official for Privacy, or designee, approved this 
document and authorized the undersigned to sign and submit the document 
to the Office of the Federal Register for publication electronically as 
an official document of the Department of Veterans Affairs. John 
Oswalt, Executive Director for Privacy, Department of Veterans Affairs 
approved this document on March 7, 2018 for publication.

    Dated: April 23, 2018.
Kathleen M. Manwell,
Program Analyst, VA Privacy Service, Office of Privacy Information and 
Identity Protection, Office of Quality, Privacy and Risk, Office of 
Information and Technology, Department of Veterans Affairs.
[FR Doc. 2018-08745 Filed 4-25-18; 8:45 am]
 BILLING CODE 8320-01-P