I thought it was a requirement to send, at a minimum, an annual statement to IRA customers but am told that this is incorrect. Is it? If we are required to send one, please provide where I can locate this information. Thank you!

You are required to provide the IRA account holder a 5498 on an annual basis, other than that you would have to look at other regulations for statement requirements depending on the type of account in which the IRA is held and account activity, i.e., Regulation E.

I believe that IRA reporting requires sending information to the IRA holder twice during the year. A Fair Market Value report is to be sent by January 31 each year. Then by May 31 of the same calendar year, a 5498 or a substitute statement (annual status statement) must be sent.

The requirement for a Fair Market Value report comes from IRS Notice 87-44. Sorry but I do not have a copy and could not find a source online. Maybe someone else from the BOL community can help with this.

You are right, that would be true if you are not sending statements. If you are sending statements you can meet that requirement by including the "fair market value" on the year-end closing statement.