SECTION 8. WHEN SHOULD

TECHNICAL ADVICE BE REQUESTED?

Requests involving employee plans matters:

Internal Revenue Service Assistant Commissioner (EP/EO) Attn: CP:E:EP:T P.O. Box 14073 Ben Franklin Station Washington, D.C. 20044

Requests involving exempt organization matters:

Internal Revenue Service Assistant Commissioner (EP/EO) Attn: CP:E:EO P.O. Box 120 Ben Franklin Station Washington, D.C. 20044

The package should be marked: RULING REQUEST SUBMISSION. A § 301.9100–1 request may also be hand delivered to the drop box at the 12th Street entrance of 1111 Constitution Ave., N.W., Washington, DC. No receipt will be given at the drop box. See Rev. Proc. 96–8 for the appropriate user fee.

.04 If the taxpayer’s return covering the issue presented in the § 301.9100–1 request is being examined by a key district office or the issues in the return are being considered by an appeals office, the taxpayer must notify the national office. See, section 6.04 of Rev. Proc. 96–4. The national office will notify the appropriate key district office or appeals office considering the return that a request for § 301.9100–1 relief has been submitted to the national office. The EP/EO specialist or the appeals officer is not authorized to deny consideration of a request for § 301.9100–1 relief. The letter ruling will be mailed to the taxpayer and a copy will be sent to the appropriate key district office or appeals office.

.01 The key district director or chief, appeals office determines whether to request technical advice on any issue being considered. Each request must be submitted through proper channels and signed by a person who is authorized to sign for the key district director or chief, appeals office. The mandatory technical advice described in section 4.04(3) of this revenue procedure, for cases concerning amendments to defined contribution plans in connection with a waiver of the minimum funding standard and a request for a determination letter, is treated as if it had been a request for technical advice submitted by the key district director. See section 16 of Rev. Proc. 96–6 and section 3.04 of Rev. Proc. 94–41 for the procedural rules applicable to this particular mandatory technical advice.

.02 While a case is under the jurisdiction of a key district director or chief, appeals office, a taxpayer may request that an issue be referred to the national office for technical advice.

Uniformity of position lacking .01 Technical advice should be requested when there is a lack of uniformity regarding the disposition of an issue or when an issue is unusual or complex enough to warrant consideration by the national office.

When technical advice can be requested

.02 The provisions of this revenue procedure apply only to a case under the jurisdiction of a key district director or chief, appeals office. Technical advice may also be requested on issues considered in a prior appeals disposition, not based on mutual concessions for the same tax period of the same taxpayer, if the appeals office that had the case concurs in the request. A key district director may not request technical advice on an issue if an appeals office is currently considering an identical issue of the same taxpayer (or of a related taxpayer within the meaning of § 267 or a member of an affiliated group of which the taxpayer is also a member within the meaning of § 1504). A case remains under the jurisdiction of the key district director even though an appeals office has the identical issue under consideration in the case

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of another taxpayer (not related within the meaning of § 267 or § 1504) in an entirely different transaction. With respect to the same taxpayer or the same transaction, when the issue is under the jurisdiction of an appeals office, and the applicability of more than one kind of federal tax is dependent upon the resolution of that issue, a key district director may not request technical advice on the applicability of any of the taxes involved.

A key district director or chief, appeals office also may not request technical advice on an issue if the same issue of the same taxpayer (or of a related taxpayer within the meaning of § 267 or a member of an affiliated group of which the taxpayer is also a member within the meaning of § 1504) is in a docketed case for the same taxpayer (or for a related taxpayer or a member of an affiliated group of which the taxpayer is also a member) for any taxable year.

At the earliest possible stage .03 Once an issue is identified, all requests for technical advice should be made at the earliest possible stage in any proceeding. The fact that the issue is raised late in the examination or appeals process should not influence, however, the key district or appeals office’s decision to request technical advice.