SECTION 3. BACKGROUND

.01 Legislation authorizing user fees . Section 10511 of the Revenue Act of 1987, Pub. L. 100–203, 101 Stat. 1330382, 1330–446, enacted December 22, 1987, directed the Secretary of the Treasury or delegate (the “Secretary”) to establish a program requiring the payment of user fees for requests to the Service for letter rulings, opinion letters, determination letters, and similar requests. The fees charged under the program (1) were to vary according to categories or subcategories established by the Secretary; (2) were to be determined after taking into account the average time for, and difficulty of, complying with requests in each category and subcategory; and (3) were to be payable in advance. The Secretary was to provide for exemptions and reduced fees under the program as the Secretary determined to be appropriate, but the av

erage fee applicable to each category must not be less than the amount specified in the statute. The fees were to apply to requests made on or after February 1, 1988, and before September 30, 1990. Section 11319 of the Omnibus Budget Reconciliation Act of 1990, Pub. L. 101508, 1991-2 C.B. 481, 511, extended the time during which the user fees would be applicable through September 30, 1995. Section 743 of the Uruguay Round Agreements Act, Pub. L. 103–465, 1995–1 C.B. 230, 239, extended the time during which the user fees will be applicable through September 30, 2000. Section 2 of Pub. L. 104–117, Tax Relief to Operation Joint Endeavor Participants Act, 1996–34 I.R.B. 19, extended the time during which the user fees will be applicable through September 30, 2003.

.02 Related revenue procedures. The various revenue procedures that require payment of a user fee, a voluntary compliance fee under the VCR program or the SVP, a voluntary correction fee under the TVC program, or an administrative scrutiny determination user fee are described in the appendix to this revenue procedure.