The offical IRS manual on Passport Cases.

The TECS is a database maintained by the Department of Homeland Security (DHS), and it is used extensively by the law enforcement community. It contains information about individuals and businesses suspected of, or involved in, violations of federal law.

For IRS Collection, TECS provides two sources to help make contact with taxpayers or locate assets:

Revenue officers can request that delinquent balance due taxpayers be entered into TECS, and the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) will then advise IRS when those taxpayers travel into the United States for business, employment, or personal reasons.

The taxpayers entered into TECS for this purpose are on a TECS lookout indicators list. IRS employees must help maintain the TECS database by requesting that appropriate taxpayers be entered into TECS or be deleted from TECS. (See IRM 5.1.18.13.7.1 for criteria for including taxpayers in TECS database.)

Revenue officers can also request information housed in TECS on past travel that a taxpayer has made to and from the United States.

International and domestic taxpayers can be placed on the TECS lookout indicator list.

For domestic taxpayers consideration should be given if it is believed the domestic taxpayer travels frequently outside the U.S. or Commonwealth Territories and contact cannot otherwise be made. Information derived from DHS can facilitate contact with the taxpayer or discovery of asset information which may facilitate payment of the outstanding liability.

Consider using TECS to place the taxpayer on the TECS lookout indicator list early in the case. If the taxpayer does not provide the information requested by your deadline, and the case meets the criteria to be placed on TECS, enter the taxpayer on TECS for a lookout indicator.

The following example is an illustration of how using TECS early in the case could help in your casework.

Example

A domestic revenue officer has a balance due taxpayer (TP) located in Cleveland, OH in his inventory. TP owes a total of $141,000 for tax periods 30/201312 and 30/201412. During the interview, TP mentions that he is a truck driver and travels to Canada quite often for business purposes.

As the RO is securing a Form 433-A, Collection Information Statement for Wage Earners and Self-Employed Individuals, TP says he will never pay and hangs up the phone. The domestic RO then requests the TP be placed on TECS by submitting Form 6668, TECS Entry Request, to his GM and closes the case as CNC – Unable to Contact. One month later, TP is crossing the border from Canada. DHS informs the TECS coordinator of the following information: TP’s U.S. employer, TP’s U.S. address, and TP’s U.S. phone number. The TECS coordinator informs the originating GM and RO about the TECS lookout information. The TECS coordinator creates an OI to input the TECS lookout information and issues the OI to the GM and RO for further action. TP’s employer information received from the TECS lookout information is a new levy source. The RO levies TP’s U.S. employer and closes the case as continuous wage levy.

The GM or RO will inform the TECS coordinator that the TP will remain on the TECS lookout.
Some of the information from a TECS lookout is time sensitive and requires immediate action by the RO and/or GM. The following example is an illustration where the GM and the RO took immediate action.
Example:

An international revenue officer has a balance due TP located in Hong Kong. The international RO is unable to make contact with the TP, and TP has no assets in the United States. TP meets the requirements to be placed on TECS, and RO closes the case as International TC 530 CC 06. One year later, TP travels to the U.S. and arrives in Miami, FL. DHS informs the TECS coordinator that TP will be staying at the hotel in Miami for three days and will then depart to Mexico.

No additional information was given by DHS. The TECS coordinator informs the international GM about the TECS lookout information. The TECS coordinator creates an OI to input the TECS lookout information and issues an OI to the GM and RO for further action. The international GM issues an OI to a domestic RO in Miami to meet with TP and secure full pay and/or a Form 433-A, Collection Information Statement. The international GM contacts the domestic GM in Miami stating that TP will be departing Miami in three days. The domestic RO meets TP at the hotel and secures full payment for the balance due. The international GM or RO will inform the TECS coordinator to remove TP from the TECS lookout.

Taxpayer’s name, date of birth, place of crossing, date and time of crossing, and document number can be disclosed to the taxpayer and/or their representative.
Note:
Any additional information requires authorization from DHS.
Caution:
Do not disclose TECS information to third parties.

Access the TECS web page at http://mysbse.web.irs.gov/collection/international/tecs/default.aspx. You can also access the web page by going to the International Collection tab on the SB/SE Collecting web page and clicking on Treasury Enforcement Communications System (TECS).

The TECS Coordinator:
will coordinate the investigation of TECS cases,
is responsible for informing SB/SE Collection group managers and revenue officers upon receipt of notifications of imminent taxpayer arrival into the U.S. from DHS.
Note:
The TECS coordinator will open an OI or courtesy investigation on ICS to input the TECS lookout information. If the case is archived on ICS, the TECS coordinator will create a case on ICS and open an OI or courtesy investigation and input the TECS lookout information in the ICS case history.
They will review all cases referred from revenue officers requesting that a taxpayer be entered on TECS to ensure that they meet the TECS lookout indicator criteria,
maintain a spreadsheet of taxpayers placed on TECS, and
will handle the referred cases as displayed in the following table:

The table below describes the actions the TECS Coordinator takes for accepted referrals and referral that do not meet TECS criteria.

If Then
The case is accepted The TECS Coordinator will:
forward the taxpayer information to Criminal Investigation for input into TECS,
and document the ICS history.

The case does not meet TECS criteria The TECS Coordinator will:
document the ICS history with the reason
return the referral to the originator.
Contact the TECS coordinator via email at: *SBS