Notice2026-00229
Privacy Act of 1974; Matching Program
Primary source
Metadata and text below are from the Federal Register, a public-domain U.S. government work. Always verify the official published version before relying on it for any legal matter.
Published
January 9, 2026
Issuing agencies
Veterans Affairs Department
Abstract
This computer matching agreement sets forth the terms, conditions, and safeguards under which the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) will disclose tax return information to the Department of Veterans Affairs, Veterans Health Administration (VA/VHA). VA/VHA will use the tax return information to verify veterans' employment status and earnings to determine eligibility for its health benefit programs.
Full Text
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<title>Federal Register, Volume 91 Issue 6 (Friday, January 9, 2026)</title>
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[Federal Register Volume 91, Number 6 (Friday, January 9, 2026)]
[Notices]
[Pages 1035-1036]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [<a href="http://www.gpo.gov">www.gpo.gov</a>]
[FR Doc No: 2026-00229]
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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 computer matching agreement sets forth the terms,
conditions, and safeguards under which the Internal Revenue Service
(IRS) will disclose tax return information to the Department of
Veterans Affairs, Veterans Health Administration (VA/VHA). VA/VHA will
use the tax return information to verify veterans' employment status
and earnings to determine eligibility for its health benefit programs.
DATES: Comments on this matching program must be received no later than
[[Page 1036]]
30 days after the Date of Publication in the Federal Register. If no
public comment is received during the period allowed for comment or
unless otherwise published in the Federal Register by VA, the new
agreement will become effective a minimum of 30 days after date of
publication in the Federal Register. If VA receives public comments, VA
shall review the comments to determine whether any changes to the
notice are necessary. This matching program will be valid for 18 months
from the effective date of this notice.
ADDRESSES: Comments may be submitted through <a href="http://www.Regulations.gov">www.Regulations.gov</a> or
mailed to VA Privacy Service, 810 Vermont Avenue NW, (005X6F),
Washington, DC 20420. Comments should indicate that they are submitted
in response to the Computer Matching Agreement Between the Department
of Treasury Internal Revenue Service and the Department of Veterans
Affairs Veterans Health Administration for the Disclosure of
Information to Federal, State and Local Agencies (DIFSLA) Program.
Comments received will be available at <a href="http://regulations.gov">regulations.gov</a> for public
viewing, inspection or copies.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Ryan Heiman, Acting Executive
Director, Member Services, Veterans Health Administration, 3401 SW 21st
St, Bldg. 9, Topeka, KS 66604, Telephone: 785-409-2318, Email:
<a href="/cdn-cgi/l/email-protection#92e0ebf3fcbcfaf7fbfff3fcd2e4f3bcf5fde4"><span class="__cf_email__" data-cfemail="24565d454a0a4c414d49454a6452450a434b52">[email protected]</span></a>.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: This Computer Matching Agreement (CMA) re-
establishes the terms, conditions, and safeguards under which the
Internal Revenue Service (IRS) will disclose to the Department of
Veterans Affairs (VA), Veterans Health Administration (VHA) certain tax
return information. The purpose of this CMA is to make available to VA
certain tax return information of VA applicants and beneficiaries of
need-based benefits and to adjust income-dependent benefit payments as
prescribed by law. VA/VHA will use the tax return information to verify
veterans' employment status and earnings to determine eligibility for
its health benefit programs.
Participating Agencies
Department of Veterans Affairs, Veterans Health Administration (VA/
VHA) and the Internal Revenue Service (IRS).
Authority for Conducting the Matching Program
The legal authorities for IRS to conduct this computer matching are
sections 38 U.S.C. 5106, 5317, 1710, and 26 U.S.C. 6103(l)(7)(B). 38
U.S.C. 5106 and 5317 requires Federal agencies to furnish VA with
information the VA Secretary may request for determining eligibility
for or the amount of VA benefits.
38 U.S.C. 1710 requires VA/VHA to collect income information from
certain applicants for medical care and to use that income data to
determine the appropriate eligibility category for the applicant's
medical care.
26 U.S.C. 6103(l)(7)(B) authorizes the disclosure of tax return
information with respect to net earnings from self-employment and
wages, as defined by relevant Internal Revenue Code (IRC) sections, to
Federal, state, and local agencies administering certain benefit
programs under Title 38 of the U.S.C.
Section 7213 of the Intelligence Reform and Terrorism Prevention
Act of 2004 provides IRS authority to add a death indicator to
verification routines that the agency determines to be appropriate.
Purpose(s)
This computer matching agreement re-establishes the terms,
conditions, and safeguards under which the Internal Revenue Service
(IRS) will disclose to the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA),
Veterans Health Administration (VHA), and certain tax return
information. The purpose of this matching program is to make available
to VA certain tax return information of VA applicants and beneficiaries
of need-based benefits and to adjust income-dependent benefit payments
as prescribed by law.
Categories of Individuals
Veterans applying for VA Health Care Benefits as well as their
spouses and any disabled dependents under the age of 18 for total
household income information.
Categories of Records
VA provides the IRS with a list of Veterans who have self-reported
their household income as being below the income national threshold
established yearly by the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban
Development.
VA/VHA will provide the IRS with Social Security number (SSN) and
name control (first four characters of the surname) for each individual
for whom unearned income information is requested. VA/VHA will provide
the requested tax report year for which data is being requested.
IRS provides return information with respect to unearned income
extracted from the Information Return Master File (IRMF), Treas/IRS
22.061, through the DIFSLA program. When there is a match, IRS will
disclose to VA/VHA: (a) Payee account number; (b) Payee name and
mailing address; (c) Payee taxpayer identification number (TIN); (d)
Payer name and address; (e) Payer TIN; and (f) Income type and amount.
The total number of records will be equal to or greater than the number
of records submitted by VA. In some instances, an individual may have
more than one record on file.
System(s) of Records
IRS will extract tax return information with respect to unearned
income from the Information Return Master File (IRMF), Treas/IRS
22.061, as published at 80 FR 54081 (September 8, 2015), through the
Disclosure of Information to Federal, State and Local Agencies (DIFSLA)
Program. IRC/26 U.S.C. 6103 provides the authority for return/return-
information disclosures. VA will match IRS information with information
extracted from its ``Income Verification Records--VA'' system of
records, 88 FR 17639 (March 23, 2023). Routine use #13 Federal
Agencies, for Computer Matches is the applicable routine use that
allows for this disclosure to determine or verify eligibility of
Veterans receiving VA benefits or medical care under title 38, U.S.C.
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. Merissa
Larson, Chief Privacy Officer and Chair of the Data Integrity Board,
Department of Veterans Affairs approved this document on November 18,
2025 for publication.
Dated: January 6, 2026.
Saurav Devkota,
Government Information Specialist, VA Privacy Service, Office of
Compliance, Risk and Remediation, Office of Information and Technology,
Department of Veterans Affairs.
[FR Doc. 2026-00229 Filed 1-8-26; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE P
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