SECTION 11. HOW DOES EP

OR EO TECHNICAL HANDLE LETTER RULING REQUESTS?

In general .01 The Service will issue letter rulings on the matters and under the circumstances explained in sections 4 and 6 of this revenue procedure and in the manner explained in this section and section 13 of this revenue procedure.

Is not bound by informal opinion expressed

Tells taxpayer if request lacks essential information during initial contact

Information must be submitted within 30 calendar days

Letter ruling request mistakenly sent to EP or EO Determinations Processing

Requires prompt submission of additional information requested after initial contact

.02 The Service will not be bound by the informal opinion expressed by the group representative or any other authorized Service representative under this procedure, and such an opinion cannot be relied upon as a basis for obtaining retroactive relief under the provisions of § 7805(b).

.03 If a request for a letter ruling or determination letter does not comply with all the provisions of this revenue procedure, the request will be acknowledged and the Service representative will tell the taxpayer during the initial contact which requirements have not been met.

If the request lacks essential information, which may include additional information needed to satisfy the procedural requirements of this revenue procedure, as well as substantive changes to transactions or documents needed from the taxpayer, the Service representative will tell the taxpayer during the initial contact that the request will be closed if the Service does not receive the information within 30 calendar days unless an extension of time is granted. See section 11.04 of this revenue procedure for information on extension of time and instructions on submissions of additional information.

A request for a letter ruling sent to EP/EO Determinations Processing that does not comply with the provisions of this revenue procedure will be returned by EP/EO Determinations Processing so that the taxpayer can make corrections before sending it to EP or EO Technical.

.04 Material facts furnished to the Service by telephone or fax, or orally at a conference, must be promptly confirmed by letter to the Service. This confirmation and any additional information requested by the Service that is not part of the information requested during the initial contact must be furnished within 21 calendar days to be considered part of the request.

Additional information submitted to the Service must be accompanied by the following declaration: “Under penalties of perjury, I declare that I have examined this informa- tion, including accompanying documents, and, to the best of my knowledge and be- lief, the information contains all the relevant facts relating to the request for the information, and such facts are true, correct, and complete.” This declaration must be signed in accordance with the requirements in section 9.02(13)(b) of this revenue procedure. A taxpayer who submits additional factual information on several occasions may provide one declaration subsequent to all submissions that refers to all submissions.

Encourage use of fax (1) To facilitate prompt action on letter ruling requests, taxpayers are encouraged to submit additional information by fax as soon as the information is available. The Service representative who requests additional information can provide a telephone number to which the information can be faxed. A copy of this information and a signed perjury statement, however, must be mailed or delivered to the Service.

Address to send additional information

(2) Additional information should be sent to the same address as the original letter ruling request. See section 9.04. However, the additional information should include the name,

2003–1 I.R.B. 147 January 6, 2003

Number of copies of additional information to be submitted

30-day or 21-day period may be extended if justified and approved

If taxpayer does not submit additional information

Near the completion of the ruling process, advises taxpayer of conclusions and, if the Service will rule adversely, offers the taxpayer the opportunity to withdraw the letter ruling request

May request draft of proposed letter ruling near the completion of the ruling process

Taxpayer may also submit draft on a word processing disk

office symbols, and room number of the Service representative who requested the information and the taxpayer’s name and the case control number (which the Service representative can provide).

(3) Generally, a taxpayer needs only to submit one copy of the additional information. However, in appropriate cases, the Service may request additional copies of the information.

(4) An extension of the 30-day period under section 11.03 or the 21-day period under section 11.04, will be granted only if justified in writing by the taxpayer and approved by the manager of the group to which the case is assigned. A request for extension should be submitted before the end of the 30-day or 21-day period. If unusual circumstances close to the end of the 30-day or 21-day period make a written request impractical, the taxpayer should notify the Service within the 30-day or 21-day period that there is a problem and that the written request for extension will be coming soon. The taxpayer will be told promptly, and later in writing, of the approval or denial of the requested extension. If the extension request is denied, there is no right of appeal.

(5) If the taxpayer does not follow the instructions for submitting additional information or requesting an extension within the time provided, a letter ruling will be issued on the basis of the information on hand, or, if appropriate, no letter ruling will be issued. When the Service decides not to issue a letter ruling because essential information is lacking, the case will be closed and the taxpayer notified in writing. If the Service receives the informa- tion after the letter ruling request is closed, the request may be reopened and treated as a new request. However, the taxpayer must pay another user fee before the case can be reopened.

.05 Generally, after the conference of right is held before the letter ruling is issued, the Service representative will inform the taxpayer or the taxpayer’s authorized representative of the Service’s final conclusions. If the Service is going to rule adversely, the taxpayer will be offered the opportunity to withdraw the letter ruling request. If the taxpayer or the taxpayer’s representative does not promptly notify the Service representative of a decision to withdraw the ruling request, the adverse letter will be issued. The user fee will not be refunded for a letter ruling request that is withdrawn. See section 10 of Rev. Proc. 2003–8.

.06 To accelerate issuance of letter rulings, in appropriate cases near the completion of the ruling process, the Service representative may request that the taxpayer or the taxpayer’s representative submit a proposed draft of the letter ruling on the basis of discussions of the issues. The taxpayer, however, is not required to prepare a draft letter ruling in order to receive a letter ruling.

The format of the submission should be discussed with the Service representative who requests the draft letter ruling. The representative usually can provide a sample format of a letter ruling and will discuss the facts, analysis, and letter ruling language to be included.

In addition to a typed draft, taxpayers are encouraged to submit this draft on a disk in Rich Text Format. The typed draft will become part of the permanent files of the Service, and the word processing disk will not be returned. If the Service representative requesting the draft letter ruling cannot answer specific questions about the format of the word processing disk, the questions can be directed to Alan Pipkin at (202) 283–9647 (Employee Plans), or Wayne Hardesty at (202) 283–8976 (Exempt Organizations) (not toll-free calls).

The proposed letter ruling (both typed draft and word processing disk) should be sent to the same address as any additional information and contain in the transmittal the information that should be included with any additional information (for example, a penalties of perjury statement is required). See section 11.04 of this revenue procedure.

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