The Office of Chief Counsel responds to written requests from taxpayers or their authorized representatives for letter rulings, information letters, and closing agreements under the jurisdiction of the following offices:

Appropriate Service officials in the operating divisions respond to requests for determination letters on matters that relate to Code sections under the jurisdiction of the Associate Chief Counsel and Division Counsel/Associate Chief Counsel (TEGE).

The first revenue procedure published each year in the Internal Revenue Bulletin provides detailed information on letter rulings, determination letters, information letters, and closing agreements and describes matters within the jurisdiction of the Associate Chief Counsel and Division Counsel/Associate Chief Counsel (TEGE).

Separate revenue procedures provide guidance on the procedures for obtaining letter rulings, determination letters, etc., on employee plans and exempt organizations that are under the jurisdiction of the Commissioner, Tax Exempt and Government Entities Division; and the procedures for issuing determination letters on the qualified status of pension, profit-sharing, stock bonus, annuity, and employee stock ownership plans under sections 401, 403(a), 409, and 4975(e)(7), and the status for exemption of any related trusts or custodial accounts under section 501(a).

For procedures that apply to inquiries received from taxpayers, tax practitioners, Members of Congress, and others that relate to the position of the Service on broad problems or that constitute general inquiries see CCDM 33.1.1, Roles and Responsibilities for Providing Legal Advice.

For procedures relating to Advanced Pricing Agreements, see CCDM 32.4.1, Advance Pricing Agreements.

The Associate Chief Counsel and Division Counsel/Associate Chief Counsel (TEGE) issue letter rulings. Appropriate Service personnel in the operating divisions issue determination letters. The Associate Chief Counsel, Division Counsel/Associate Chief Counsel (TEGE), and Service personnel in the operating divisions issue information letters.

In income and gift tax matters, the Associate office generally issues a letter ruling on a proposed transaction and on a completed transaction if the letter ruling request is submitted before the return is filed for the year in which the transaction that is the subject of the request was completed.

In general, the Associate office issues prospective letter rulings on transactions affecting the estate tax on the prospective estate of a living person and affecting the estate tax on the estate of a decedent before the decedent’s estate tax return is filed. The Associate office will not issue letter rulings for prospective estates on computations of tax, actuarial factors, and factual matters.

If the taxpayer is requesting a letter ruling regarding a decedent’s estate tax and the estate tax return is due to be filed before the letter ruling is expected to be issued, the taxpayer should obtain an extension of time for filing the return and should notify the branch considering the letter ruling request that an extension has been obtained.

If the return is filed before the letter ruling is received from the Associate office, the taxpayer must disclose on the return that a letter ruling has been requested, and the taxpayer should attach a copy of the pending letter ruling request to the return, and notify the Associate office that the return has been filed. The Associate office should make every effort to issue the letter ruling within 3 months of the date the return was filed.

If the taxpayer requests a letter ruling after the return is filed, but before the return is examined, the taxpayer must notify the director having jurisdiction over the return that a letter ruling has been requested, attach a copy of the pending letter ruling request, and notify the Associate office that a return has been filed. The Associate office should make every effort to issue the letter ruling within 3 months of the date the return has been filed.

If the letter ruling cannot be issued within that 3-month period, the Associate office will notify the field office having jurisdiction over the return, who may, by memorandum to the Associate office, grant an additional period for the issuance of the letter ruling.

In general, the Associate office issues letter rulings on proposed transactions that affect the generation-skipping transfer tax and on completed transactions that occurred before the return is filed. In the case of a generation-skipping trust or trust equivalent, letter rulings are issued either before or after the trust or trust equivalent has been established.

In matters involving additional estate tax under section 2032A(c), the Associate office issues letter rulings on proposed transactions and on completed transactions that occurred before the return is filed.

In matters involving qualified domestic trusts under section 2056A, the Associate office issues letter rulings on proposed transactions and on completed transactions that occurred before the return is filed.

In employment and excise tax matters, the Associate office issues letter rulings on proposed transactions and on completed transactions either before or after the return is filed for those transactions. Generally, the employer is the taxpayer and requests the letter ruling. If the worker asks for the letter ruling, both the worker and the employer are considered to be the taxpayer and both are entitled to the letter ruling.

The Associate office may issue letter rulings on matters arising under the Code and related statutes and regulations that involve the following:

Unless the issue is otherwise covered by a no rule area, an Associate Chief Counsel and Division Counsel/Associate Chief Counsel (TEGE) will issue a letter ruling before the issuance of temporary or final regulations or other published guidance under the following conditions:

A letter ruling will not be issued if the letter ruling request presents an issue that cannot be readily resolved before a regulation or other published guidance is issued.

The Associate Chief Counsel and Division Counsel/Associate Chief Counsel (TEGE) will consider a request for an extension of time for making an election or other application for relief under section 301.9100-3 of the Regulations on Procedure and Administration. Even if submitted after the return covering the issue presented in the section 301.9100 request has been filed and even if submitted after an examination of the return has begun or after the issues in the return are being considered by an area office or a federal court, a section 301.9100 request is a letter ruling request.

An election made pursuant to section 301.9100-2 is not a letter ruling request and does not require payment of any user fee. This election pertains to an automatic extension of time.

A section 301.9100 request (other than an election made pursuant to section 9100-2) must be in the general form of, and meet the general requirements for, a letter ruling request. In addition, the section 301.9100 request must include the information required by section 301.9100-3(e).

The running of any applicable period of limitations is not suspended for the period during which a section 301.9100 request has been filed. See section 301.9100-3(d)(2). If the period of limitation on assessment under section 6501(a) for the taxable year in which an election should have been made or any taxable year that would have been affected by the election had it been timely made will expire before receipt of a section 301.9100 letter ruling, the Service ordinarily will not issue a section 301.9100 ruling. See section 301.9100-3(c)(1)(ii). Therefore, the taxpayer must secure a consent under section 6501(c)(4) to extend the period of limitation on assessment. Note that the filing of a claim for refund under section 6511 does not extend the period of limitation on assessment. If section 301.9100 relief is granted, the Service may require the taxpayer to consent to an extension of the period of limitation on assessment. See section 301.9100-3(d)(2).

If the Service starts an examination of the taxpayer’s return for the taxable year in which an election should have been made or any taxable year that would have been affected by the election had it been timely made while a section 301.9100 request is pending, the taxpayer must notify the Associate office.

If the taxpayer’s return for the taxable year in which an election should have been made or any taxable year that would have been affected by the election had it been timely made is being examined by a field office or considered by an area office or a federal court, the Associate office will notify the appropriate examining agent, appeals officer, or government counsel that a section 301.9100 request has been submitted to the Associate office. The examining officer, appeals officer, or government counsel is not authorized to deny consideration of a section 301.9100 request. The letter ruling will be mailed to the taxpayer and a copy will be sent to the appropriate Service official in the operating division that has examination jurisdiction of the taxpayer’s tax return, appeals officer, or government counsel.

To ensure uniformity in responding to requests for relief under section 301.9100-3, each Associate Chief Counsel and Division Counsel/Associate Chief Counsel (TEGE) designates an official who is responsible for clearing actions taken in response to requests for relief and coordinating with other Associate Chief Counsel and Division Counsel/Associate Chief Counsel (TEGE) offices as needed.

The initiator to whom the section 301.9100-1 request is assigned may prepare a file memorandum with the proposed recommended action, which is forwarded to the reviewer and the coordinating official designated by the Associate Chief Counsel or Division Counsel/Associate Chief Counsel (TEGE) with the letter for approval. This memorandum also explains the basis for the recommendation. This file memorandum is prepared in the format shown in Exhibit 32.3.1-1.

The letter ruling granting or denying section 301.9100-1 relief is prepared for the signature of the appropriate official. See Delegation Order 30-3, Extension of Time for Making Certain Elections (IRM 1.2.53.4).

There are certain areas in which, because of the inherently factual nature of the problem involved, or for other reasons, the Service will not issue or ordinarily will not issue letter rulings. A list of these areas is set forth in separate revenue procedures issued annually. When there are additions to and deletions from these no-rule revenue procedures, they are announced in revenue procedures published during the year.

The Associate Chief Counsel and Division Counsel/Associate Chief Counsel (TEGE) may decline to rule on an issue even though the issue is not listed in a revenue procedure as a no-rule area. If the issue is recurring or otherwise part of a pattern, the office should consider submitting a proposal to establish a no-rule area for the issue.

The Service ordinarily does not issue a letter ruling if, at the time of the request the identical issue is involved in the taxpayer’s return for an earlier period and that issue:

An Associate office ordinarily will not issue a letter ruling on only part of an integrated transaction. If, however, a part of a transaction falls under a no-rule area, a letter ruling on other parts of the transaction may be issued.

The Service does not ordinarily issue a letter ruling on which of two entities, under common law rules applicable in determining the employer-employee relationship, is the employer, when one entity is treating the worker as an employee.

The Service does not issue letter rulings to business, trade, or industrial associations or to similar groups concerning the application of the tax laws to members of the group. But groups and associations may submit suggestions of generic issues that would be appropriately addressed in revenue rulings. The Service may issue letter rulings to groups or associations on their own tax status or liability.

The Service does not issue letter rulings to foreign governments or their political subdivisions about the U.S. tax effects of their laws. The Associate office also does not issue letter rulings on the effect of a tax treaty on the tax laws of a treaty country for purposes of determining the tax of the treaty country. Treaty partners can continue to address matters such as these under the provisions of the applicable tax treaty. In addition, the Associate office may issue letter rulings to foreign governments or their political subdivisions on their own tax status or liability under U.S. law.

The Service ordinarily does not issue letter rulings on a matter involving the federal tax consequences of any proposed federal, state, local, municipal, or foreign legislation. The Office of Division Counsel/Associate Chief Counsel (Tax Exempt and Government Entities) may issue letter rulings regarding the effect of proposed state, local, or municipal legislation upon an eligible deferred compensation plan under section 457(b) provided that the letter ruling request relating to the plan complies with the other requirements of this revenue procedure. The Associate office also may provide general information in response to an inquiry.

The Service will not issue a letter ruling if the request presents an issue that cannot be readily resolved before a regulation or any other published guidance is issued. When the Service has closed a regulation project or any other published guidance project that might have answered the issue or decides not to open a regulation project or any other published guidance project, the Associate office may consider all letter ruling requests unless the issue is covered by a no-rule area.

The Service will not issue a letter ruling on frivolous issues. A "frivolous issue" is one without basis in fact or law, or that espouses a position which has been held by the courts to be frivolous or groundless. Examples of frivolous or groundless issues include, but are not limited to:

Further information on frivolous tax arguments can be found at http://www.irs.gov/pub/irs-utl/friv_tax.pdf.

In general, a letter ruling will not be issued with respect to an issue that is clearly and adequately addressed by statute, regulations, decisions of a court, revenue rulings, revenue procedures, notices, or other authority published in the Internal Revenue Bulletin. However, the Associate office may in its discretion determine to issue a letter ruling on such an issue if the Associate office is otherwise issuing a ruling on another issue arising in the same transaction.

The Associate office does not issue a letter ruling on the replacement of involuntarily converted property, whether or not the property has been replaced, if the taxpayer has already filed a return for the taxable year in which the property was converted.

The Service will not issue a letter ruling on alternative plans of proposed transactions or on hypothetical situations.

The Service will not issue a letter ruling on a matter upon which a court decision adverse to the Government has been handed down and the question of following the decision or litigating further has not yet been resolved.

Unless it was part of a closing agreement, a letter ruling found to be in error or not in accord with the current views of the Service may be revoked or modified. If a letter ruling is revoked or modified, the revocation or modification applies to all years open under the period of limitations unless the Service uses its discretionary authority under section 7805(b) to limit the retroactive effect of the revocation or modification.

A letter ruling may be revoked or modified by:

The publication of a notice of proposed rulemaking does not affect the application of any letter ruling.

If a letter ruling relates to a continuing action or a series of actions, it ordinarily will be applied until any one of the events described above occurs or until it is specifically revoked.

The revocation or modification of a letter ruling will be applied retroactively to the taxpayer for whom the letter ruling was issued or to a taxpayer whose tax liability was directly involved in the letter ruling if:

If a letter ruling is issued covering a particular transaction and the controlling facts on which the letter ruling is based are later changed, a taxpayer is not protected against retroactive revocation or modification of the letter ruling when the transaction is completed after the change in the controlling facts. Similarly, a taxpayer is not protected against retroactive revocation or modification of a letter ruling involving a continuing action or a series of actions occurring after the controlling facts on which the letter ruling is based have changed.

Except in rare or unusual circumstances, the revocation or modification of a letter ruling for reasons other than a change in facts as described in CCDM 32.3.1.6.2, Revoked or Modified Retroactively Based on Material Change in Facts, will not be applied retroactively to the taxpayer for whom the letter ruling was issued or to a taxpayer whose tax liability was directly involved in the letter ruling provided that:

If a letter ruling is revoked or modified by a letter with retroactive effect, the letter will, except in fraud cases, state the grounds on which the letter ruling is being revoked or modified and explain the reasons why it is being revoked or modified retroactively.

If a letter ruling is issued covering a continuing action or series of actions and the letter ruling is later found to be in error or no longer in accord with the position of the Service, the appropriate Associate Chief Counsel or Division Counsel/Associate Chief Counsel ordinarily will limit the retroactive effect of the revocation or modification to a date that is not earlier than that on which the letter ruling is revoked or modified.

A letter ruling holding that the sale or lease of a particular article is subject to the manufacturer’s excise tax or the retailer’s excise tax may not retroactively revoke or modify an earlier letter ruling holding that the sale or lease of such an article was not taxable if the taxpayer to whom the letter ruling was issued, in relying on the earlier letter ruling, gave up possession or ownership of the article without passing the tax on to the customer. (Section 1108(b), Revenue Act of 1926.)

A taxpayer is not protected against retroactive revocation or modification of a letter ruling involving a transaction completed before the issuance of the letter ruling or involving a continuing action or series of actions occurring before the issuance of the letter ruling because the taxpayer did not enter into the transaction relying on a letter ruling.

If a letter ruling is revoked or modified, the new letter ruling applies to all open years under the statutes, unless the Commissioner or the Commissioner’s delegate exercises the discretionary authority under section 7805(b) to limit the retroactive effect of the new letter ruling.

A taxpayer may request correction of obvious errors either orally or in writing. Requests for corrections of obvious errors in letter rulings are to be processed within 14 calendar days of the receipt of the request for correction.

The initiator should take the following preliminary steps to process the correction:

If the underlying letter ruling has not been released under section 6110, request that the Disclosure & Litigation Support Branch remove the letter ruling from those to be released pending the submission of the requested correction. Using the TECHMIS number of the letter ruling, provide the Disclosure & Litigation Support Branch with the following information:

Prepare a short cover letter addressed in the same manner as the original letter ruling to transmit the page or pages that are being corrected along with copies of the corrected pages deleted for section 6110 purposes. In addition, if the taxpayer’s representative received a copy of the original letter ruling, prepare another Letter 1690 (Exhibit 32.3.2-1 ) in order to transmit to the representative a copy of the cover letter and the corrected page or pages along with a section 6110 copy.

Place a copy of the taxpayer’s request and a copy of the corrected letter ruling in the official file of the original ruling.

Send the original of the corrected letter ruling, three sanitized copies of the corrected ruling for section 6110 purposes, the official file, and an explanatory Form 1725, Routing Slip, to the Docket, Record & User Fee Branch for mailing. The TECHMIS case closing sheet must contain the following notation: Correction of Obvious Error-Do Not Prepare Another Notice of Intention to Disclose. Email the redacted version of the corrected letter ruling to the mailbox 6110 Disclosure.

If the underlying letter ruling has been released under section 6110, the request for correction of the obvious error should be controlled as an initial request for ruling but processed within 14 days of receipt of the request for correction. When released, it will be cross-referenced to the previously released section 6110 document.

As an alternative procedure for the issuance of letter rulings, a taxpayer who is requesting a particular conclusion on a proposed transaction may request a two-part letter ruling request. The first part must include the complete statement of facts and related documents.

The second part must include a summary statement of the facts the taxpayer believes to be controlling in reaching the conclusion requested. If the Service accepts the taxpayer’s statement of controlling facts, it will base its letter ruling on these facts. Ordinarily, the statement of controlling facts will be incorporated into the letter ruling. The Service reserves the right to rule on the basis of a more complete statement of the facts and to seek more information in developing the facts and restating them.

Requests should be sent to the appropriate offices as provided in the annual revenue procedure for letter rulings and determination letters.

A request for a closing agreement from an Associate Chief Counsel or Division Counsel/Associate Chief Counsel (TEGE) should be addressed as if it were a letter ruling request.

If a request is not addressed to the proper official, the office that receives the request in error will acknowledge the request, forward the request to the appropriate office, and advise the requester of the office to which the request was forwarded.

Subject to the deletion of certain information, letter rulings are required to be open to public inspection under section 6110. The Service makes the deletions required by section 6110(c) before the text is made available to the public. See CCDM 37.1.1, Written Determinations Under Section 6110, and CCDM 37.1.2, Disclosure of Information, for the rules and procedures concerning disclosure under section 6110.

To help the Service make the required deletions, a request for a letter ruling must be accompanied by a deletions statement, which states the deletions desired. If the deletions statement is not submitted with the request, a Service representative will tell the taxpayer that the request will be closed if the Service does not receive the deletions statement within 21 calendar days.

Notations of third party communications should be included in any letter ruling or determination letter. See CCDM 37.1.2.9, Jurisdiction over Coordination of Litigation Involving Disclosure Issues.