Internal Revenue Manual Part 13. Taxpayer Advocate Service

Official source: Internal Revenue Manual (https://www.irs.gov/irm/part13/irm_13-001-014), retrieved 2026-10-03. U.S. Government work (17 U.S.C. § 105).

---

(1) This transmits a revised IRM 13.1.14, Taxpayer Advocate Case Procedures, Suspension of the Statutes of Limitation Under IRC 7811(d) .

(1) IRM 13.1.14, the procedures described therein are not needed since TAS has not implemented IRC 7811(d) statute suspensions.

(2) IRM 13.1.14.1.1, updated title of 13.1.20.

(3) IRM 13.1.14.1.5, updated title of 13.1.20.

Elizabeth R. Blazey-Pennel, Acting Executive Director Case Advocacy, Intake and Technical Support

Purpose: This section explains the TAS policy and procedures related to statute suspension under IRC 7811(d).

Audience: These procedures apply to all TAS employees, but employees throughout the IRS may find understanding the policy and procedures useful.

Policy Owner: The National Taxpayer Advocate (NTA) is the owner of the policies contained in this IRM.

Program Owner: The Executive Director Case Advocacy, Intake and Technical Support is responsible for the administration, procedures, and updates related to this program.

IRC 7811 authorizes the NTA to issue a Taxpayer Assistance Order (TAO) when a taxpayer is suffering or is about to suffer a significant hardship as a result of the manner in which the internal revenue laws are being administered. See IRM 13.1.20, TAS Taxpayer Assistance Orders (TAOs).

IRC 7811(d), Suspension of running of period of limitation, states, “The running of any period of limitation with respect to any action described in subsection (b) shall be suspended for - (1) the period beginning on the date of the taxpayer’s application under subsection (a) and ending on the date of the National Taxpayer Advocate’s decision with respect to such application, and (2) any period specified by the National Taxpayer Advocate in a Taxpayer Assistance Order issued pursuant to such application.”

to suspend certain statutes of limitation comes from IRC 7811(d).

26 CFR 301.7811-1(e), Taxpayer assistance orders, Suspension of statutes of limitations, describes the applications for TAS assistance that can trigger the suspension, explains which statutory periods are subject to suspension, clarifies the period of suspension, and includes statute suspension examples.

IRC 7811(d) suspends the running of the statute of limitations only for actions listed in subsection (b) that the IRS performs. IRC 7811(d) does not suspend the running of the statute of limitations for actions the taxpayer takes.

A November 10, 2003, memorandum from the IRS Commissioner, Taxpayer Advocate Service Statute Suspension Provisions under IRC 7811(d), explains the programming limitations preventing TAS from consistently and correctly applying suspensions to the applicable statutes of limitation and directs TAS employees not to implement the provisions of IRC 7811(d) until the IRS can affect programming enhancements .

Because the November 10, 2003, IRS Commissioner memorandum directs TAS employees to not implement the provisions of IRC 7811(d), currently there is no responsibility for suspending certain statutes of limitation under IRC 7811(d).

Because TAS is not suspending statutes of limitation under IRC 7811(d), TAS does not need any program reports for internal control purposes.

The table below contains a list of terms used in this IRM.

Term

Definition

Statutes of Limitation

The limitations period for assessment under IRC 6501 and the limitations period for collection under IRC 6502.

Taxpayer Assistance Order (TAO)

A statutory tool used by TAS to order the IRS to take certain actions, cease certain actions, or refrain from taking certain actions. See IRC 7811 and IRM 13.1.20, TAS Taxpayer Assistance Orders (TAOs).

The following table contains a list of acronyms and their definitions used in this IRM.

Acronym

Definition

CFR

Code of Federal Regulations

IRC

Internal Revenue Code

IRM

Internal Revenue Manual

IRS

Internal Revenue Service

NTA

National Taxpayer Advocate

TAO

Taxpayer Assistance Order

TAS

Taxpayer Advocate Service

Resources relevant to this chapter include IRC 7811(d) and 26 CFR 301.7811-1(e).

A November 10, 2003, memorandum from the IRS Commissioner, Taxpayer Advocate Service Statute Suspension Provisions Under IRC Section 7811(d), explains the programming limitations preventing TAS from consistently and correctly applying suspensions to the applicable statutes of limitation and directs TAS employees not to implement the provisions of IRC 7811(d). TAS does not suspend statutes of limitation under IRC 7811(d).

More Internal Revenue Manual

Share

Facebook

Twitter

Linkedin

Print