Part I. Rulings and Decisions Under the Internal Revenue Code of 1986

Section 472.—Last-in, First-out Inventories

26 CFR 1.472–1: Last-in, first-out inventories.

LIFO; price indexes; department stores. The August 1998 Bureau of Labor Statistics price indexes are accepted for use by department stores employing the retail inventory and last-in, first-out inventory methods for valuing inventories for tax years ended on, or with reference to, August 31, 1998.

Rev. Rul. 98–51

The following Department Store Inventory Price Indexes for August 1998 were issued by the Bureau of Labor Statistics. The indexes are accepted by the Internal Revenue Service, under § 1.472–1(k) of the Income Tax Regulations and Rev. Proc. 86–46, 1986–2 C.B. 739, for appropriate application to inventories of department stores employing the retail inventory and last-in, first-out inventory methods for tax years ended on, or with reference to, August 31, 1998.

The Department Store Inventory Price Indexes are prepared on a national basis and include (a) 23 major groups of departments, (b) three special combinations of the major groups - soft goods, durable goods, and miscellaneous goods, and (c) a store total, which covers all departments, including some not listed separately, except for the following: candy, food, liquor, tobacco, and contract departments.

BUREAU OF LABOR STATISTICS, DEPARTMENT STORE INVENTORY PRICE INDEXES BY DEPARTMENT GROUPS

(January 1941 = 100, unless otherwise noted)

Percent Change Aug. Aug. from Aug. 1997 Groups 1997 1998 to Aug. 1998 ¹

1. Piece Goods . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 509.3 555.1 9.0
2. Domestics and Draperies . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 652.8 630.9 –3.4
3. Women’s and Children’s Shoes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 644.1 656.2 1.9
4. Men’s Shoes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 895.6 910.5 1.7
5. Infants’Wear . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 621.2 616.2 –0.8
6. Women’s Underwear . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 548.8 579.1 5.5
7. Women’s Hosiery . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 301.6 306.5 1.6
8. Women’s and Girls’Accessories . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 539.7 548.8 1.7
9. Women’s Outerwear and Girls’Wear . . . . . . . . . . . . . 397.4 399.0 0.4
10. Men’s Clothing . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 621.2 621.0 0.0
11. Men’s Furnishings . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 584.8 594.0 1.6
12. Boys’ Clothing and Furnishings . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 492.2 498.8 1.3
13. Jewelry . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1008.6 981.9 –2.6
14. Notions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 793.8 767.8 –3.3
15. Toilet Articles and Drugs . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 904.7 940.7 4.0
16. Furniture and Bedding . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 661.0 679.6 2.8
17. Floor Coverings . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 598.8 601.8 0.5
18. Housewares . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 806.1 809.9 0.5
19. Major Appliances . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 242.8 238.0 –2.0
20. Radio and Television . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 75.4 71.4 –5.3
21. Recreation and Education ² . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 110.1 103.5 –6.0
22. Home Improvements ² . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 132.3 131.1 –0.9
23. Auto Accessories ² . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 108.4 107.3 –1.0

Groups 1 – 15: Soft Goods . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 594.5 598.7 0.7

Groups 16 – 20: Durable Goods . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 463.1 460.2 –0.6

Groups 21 – 23: Misc. Goods ² . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 112.6 107.8 –4.3

Store Total ³ . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 549.3 548.4 –0.2

1Absence of a minus sign before percentage change in this column signifies price increase. 2Indexes on a January 1986=100 base. 3The store total index covers all departments, including some not listed separately, except for the following: candy, food, liquor, tobacco, and contract departments.

October 26, 1998 4 1998–43 I.R.B.

DRAFTING INFORMATION

The principal author of this revenue ruling is Stan Michaels of the Office of Assistant Chief Counsel (Income Tax and Accounting). For further information regarding this revenue ruling, contact Mr. Michaels on (202) 622-4970 (not a tollfree call).

Section 6212.—Notice of Deficiency

26 CFR 301.6212–1. Notice of deficiency.

For instructions on how to enter into an agreement with the Service to rescind a notice of deficiency, see Rev. Proc. 98–54, page 7.

1998–43 I.R.B. 5 October 26, 1998