SECTION 3. ON WHAT ISSUES

MAY TAXPAYERS REQUEST WRITTEN GUIDANCE UNDER THIS PROCEDURE?

Issues under the jurisdiction of the Associate Chief Counsel (Domestic)

Issues under the Assistant Chief Counsel (Corporate)

Issues under the Assistant Chief Counsel (Financial Institutions and Products)

Issues under the Assistant Chief Counsel (Income Tax and Accounting)

Issues under the Assistant Chief Counsel (Passthroughs and Special Industries)

Issues under the jurisdiction of the Associate Chief Counsel (Employee Benefits and Exempt Organizations)

If a tax issue is not under examination, in appeals, or in litigation, the tax issue may be discussed even though the issue is affected by a nontax issue pending in litigation.

A taxpayer may seek oral technical guidance from a taxpayer service representative in a district office or service center when preparing a return or report. Oral guidance is advisory only, and the Service is not bound to recognize it, for example, in the examination of the taxpayer’s return.

The Service does not respond to letters seeking to confirm the substance of oral discussions, and the absence of a response to such a letter is not confirmation of the substance of the letter.

Taxpayers may request letter rulings, information letters, and closing agreements under this revenue procedure on issues within the jurisdiction of the Associate Chief Counsel (Domestic), the Associate Chief Counsel (Employee Benefits and Exempt Organizations), the Associate Chief Counsel (Enforcement Litigation), and the Associate Chief Counsel (International). The national office issues letter rulings to answer written inquiries of individuals and organizations about their status for tax purposes and the tax effects of their acts or transactions when appropriate in the interest of sound tax administration.

Taxpayers also may request determination letters within the jurisdiction of the appropriate district director offices that relate to the Code sections under the jurisdiction of the Associate Chief Counsel (Domestic), the Associate Chief Counsel (Employee Benefits and Exempt Organizations), the Associate Chief Counsel (Enforcement Litigation), or the Associate Chief Counsel (International).

.01 Issues under the jurisdiction of the Associate Chief Counsel (Domestic) include all issues under the jurisdiction of the various Assistant Chief Counsels as explained below.

(1) Issues under the Assistant Chief Counsel (Corporate) include those that involve consolidated returns, corporate acquisitions, reorganizations, liquidations, redemptions, spinoffs, transfers to controlled corporations, distributions to shareholders, corporate bankruptcies, the effect of certain ownership changes on net operating loss carryovers and other tax attributes, debt vs. equity determinations, allocation of income and deductions among taxpayers, acquisitions made to evade or avoid income tax, and certain earnings and profits questions.

(2) Issues under the Assistant Chief Counsel (Financial Institutions and Products) include those that involve income taxes and accounting method changes of banks, savings and loan associations, real estate investment trusts (REITs), regulated investment companies (RICs), real estate mortgage investment conduits (REMICs), tax-exempt obligations, mortgage credit certificates (MCCs), insurance companies and products, and financial products.

(3) Issues under the Assistant Chief Counsel (Income Tax and Accounting) include those that involve recognition and timing of income and deductions of individuals and corporations, sales and exchanges, capital gains and losses, installment sales, equipment leasing, inventories, the alternative minimum tax, accounting method changes for these and other miscellaneous issues, various administrative provisions, and accounting periods.

(4) Issues under the Assistant Chief Counsel (Passthroughs and Special Industries) include those that involve income taxes of S corporations (except accounting periods and methods) and certain noncorporate taxpayers (including partnerships, common trust funds, and trusts); entity classification; estate, gift, generation-skipping transfer, and certain excise taxes; amortization, depreciation, depletion, and other engineering issues; accounting method changes for depreciation and amortization; cooperative housing corporations; farmers’ cooperatives (under § 521); the low-income housing, disabled access, and qualified electric vehicle credits; research and experimental expenditures; shipowners’ protection and indemnity associations (under § 526); and certain homeowners associations (under § 528).

.02 Issues under the jurisdiction of the Associate Chief Counsel (Employee Benefits and Exempt Organizations) include those that involve income tax and other tax aspects of executive compensation and employee benefit programs (other than those within the jurisdiction of the Assistant Commissioner (Employee Plans and Exempt Organizations)), employment taxes, and taxes on self-employment income.

Sec. 14

Issues under the jurisdiction of the Associate Chief Counsel (Enforcement Litigation)

Issues under the jurisdiction of the Associate Chief Counsel (International)