SECTION 10. HOW ARE

REQUESTS FOR TAMs AND TEAMs HANDLED?

Determines whether request has been properly made

.01 A request for a TAM or a TEAM generally is given priority and processed expeditiously. As soon as the request for a TAM or a TEAM is assigned, the Associate office attorney analyzes the file to see whether it meets all requirements of sections 7, 8, and 9 of this revenue procedure.

If the request does not comply with the requirements of section 9.02 of this revenue procedure relating to the deletion statement, the Service will follow the procedure in the last paragraph of section 10.09 of this revenue procedure.

Field and field counsel notified .02 Within five calendar days after the assigned branch in the Associate office receives the TAM or the TEAM request, the assigned Associate office attorney will contact the field and the field counsel to confirm the receipt of the request for advice. The assigned Associate office attorney will notify the examining agent or appeals officer and the field counsel of any deficiencies in the request for a TAM or a TEAM and will work with the examining agent, appeals officer, and the field counsel to resolve those deficiencies expeditiously.

Considers whether the issue(s) is appropriate for a TEAM

Considers whether published general guidance is appropriate

.03 The assigned Associate office attorney and reviewer should also evaluate the issue(s) presented in any TEAM request to confirm that the issue(s) is appropriate for the TEAM procedures. If the attorney and reviewer have reservations about whether the TEAM procedures should apply, the attorney and reviewer should discuss those reservations with both the field and the taxpayer and, if necessary, the Associate Chief Counsel. If they agree that the TEAM procedures should not apply because the issue is too complex or cannot, for practical reasons, be resolved within 60 calendar days, the Associate Chief Counsel should prepare a memorandum to the Chief Counsel stating that the case has been excluded from the TEAM procedures and will be treated as a TAM. A memorandum to the Chief Counsel is not required if the parties agree during the pre-submission conference that the TEAM procedures are not appropriate or if the parties have not timely submitted all materials necessary to process a TEAM request.

.04 If the assigned reviewer in the Associate office thinks that general guidance should be published regarding the issue presented, the reviewer will immediately notify the Associate

Sec. 10.04 2004-1 I.R.B. 97 January 5, 2004

Chief Counsel. The reviewer should make this determination and recommendation as soon as possible, which may occur during the pre-submission conference. As criteria for this determination, the reviewer should consider whether the issue has a broad application to similarly situated taxpayers or an industry, or resolution of the issue is important to a clear understanding of the tax laws. If the Associate Chief Counsel, in consultation with Division Counsel Headquarters and Treasury, agrees that general guidance is desirable, an expedited guidance project will be initiated. The Associate Chief Counsel, in consultation with Division Counsel and the Operating Division, also will coordinate the appropriate resolution of the TAM or the TEAM request with the general guidance project. In general, except where policy issues and concerns regarding proper administration of the tax laws require otherwise, the TAM or the TEAM will be issued in advance of the published guidance.

Taxpayer notified .05 Regardless of whether the taxpayer or the Service initiated the request for a TAM or a TEAM, the examining agent or appeals officer in the field or area office will: (1) notify the taxpayer that a TAM or a TEAM request is being submitted; and (2) at or before the time the request is submitted to the Associate office, give to the taxpayer a copy of the request, including the statement of the pertinent facts, and the issues and arguments being submitted to the Associate office. As discussed in section 10.07 of this revenue procedure, the taxpayer will be given an opportunity to submit a statement and information after the request for a TAM is forwarded to the Associate office.

This section 10.05 does not apply to a TAM or a TEAM described in section 10.11 of this revenue procedure (civil fraud or criminal investigation cases).

Conference offered .06 When notifying the taxpayer that a TAM or a TEAM is being requested, the examining agent or appeals officer will also tell the taxpayer about the right to a conference with the Associate office if an adverse decision is indicated, and will ask the taxpayer whether such a conference is desired.

If the TAM or the TEAM request does not include a submission from the taxpayer

If the interpretation of a foreign law or foreign document is a material fact

If the taxpayer has not submitted the required deletion statement

.07 If the request for a TAM is prepared without participation on the part of the taxpayer, the Associate office will nonetheless process the request, as neither factual agreement nor participation by the taxpayer are required. If a request for a TAM is forwarded to the Associate office without the taxpayer’s statement and information, the field or area office must inform the taxpayer of the date on which the request for a TAM was forwarded to the Associate office. If the taxpayer chooses to submit a statement and information, the taxpayer must submit the statement and information to the Associate office within 21 calendar days after the request for a TAM has been forwarded. The taxpayer must also send a copy of the statement and information to the director or the appeals area director. The procedures for requesting an extension of the 21-day period and receiving approval of such extension are the same as those in section 12.09 of this revenue procedure for responding to a request for additional information. If the Associate office does not receive the taxpayer’s statement and information within the 21-day period, plus any extensions granted by the Associate office, the Associate office, at its discretion, may base its advice on the facts provided by the field or area office.

Because taxpayer agreement and cooperation is required for most TEAMs, a TEAM request should not generally be submitted without the taxpayer’s statement and information. A TEAM request that requires, but does not include, the taxpayer’s statement and information, generally will be processed as a TAM; however, a TEAM request may be submitted to and processed by the Associate office without the taxpayer’s statement and information under the two exceptions set forth above in section 1.03 of this revenue procedure.

.08 If the interpretation of a foreign law or foreign document is a material fact, the Associate office, at its discretion, may refuse to issue a TAM or a TEAM. This section applies whether or not the field or area office and the taxpayer dispute the interpretation of a foreign law or foreign document. The interpretation of a foreign law or foreign document means making a judgment about the import or effect of the foreign law or document that goes beyond its plain meaning.

.09 When the field or area office initiates the request for a TAM or a TEAM, the taxpayer has ten calendar days after receiving the statement of facts and issues to be submitted to the

Sec. 10.04 January 5, 2004 98 2004-1 I.R.B.

Section 6104 of the Internal Revenue Code (Applications for exemption and letter rulings issued to certain exempt organizations open to public inspection)

Civil fraud or criminal investigation cases

Obtaining status of a TAM or a TEAM request

Associate office to provide the deletion statement required under § 6110(c). See section 9.02 of this revenue procedure for directives on making deletions.

Once a deletion statement is submitted, the taxpayer may submit additional deletion statements before the TAM or TEAM is issued. The taxpayer should follow the same procedures to propose deletions from any additional information submitted after the initial request for a TAM or a TEAM. An additional deletion statement is not required with each submission of additional information if the taxpayer’s initial deletion statement requests that only names, addresses, and identifying numbers are to be deleted and the taxpayer wants only the same information deleted from the additional information.

If the taxpayer does not submit a deletion statement when a TAM or a TEAM is requested, the Associate office will make those deletions that the Commissioner of Internal Revenue determines are required by § 6110(c).

.10 The public inspection provisions of § 6110, including taxpayer notification and deletion processes, do not apply to any document to which § 6104 applies.

.11 The provisions of this section (about referring issues upon the taxpayer’s request, telling the taxpayer about the referral of issues, giving the taxpayer a copy of the arguments submitted, submitting proposed deletions, and granting conferences in the Associate office) do not apply to a TAM or a TEAM described in § 6110(g)(5)(A) that involves any matter which is the subject of a civil fraud or criminal investigation or is otherwise closely related to a civil fraud or criminal investigation, or a jeopardy or termination assessment.

In these cases, a copy of the TAM or a TEAM is given to the taxpayer after all proceedings in the investigations or assessments are complete, but before the Commissioner mails the notice of intention to disclose the TAM or the TEAM under § 6110(f)(1). The taxpayer may then provide the statement of proposed deletions to the Associate office.

.12 The taxpayer or the taxpayer’s authorized representative may obtain information on the status of the request for a TAM or a TEAM by contacting the field or area office that requested the advice. See section 12.07 of this revenue procedure concerning discussing the tentative conclusion with the taxpayer or the taxpayer’s representative. See section 14.03 of this revenue procedure regarding discussions of the contents of the TAM or TEAM with the taxpayer or the taxpayer’s representative.

The Associate office attorney or reviewer assigned to the TAM or TEAM request will give status updates by telephone on the request once a month to the director or the appeals area director, and to the field counsel. In addition, a director or an appeals area director may get current information on the status of the request for a TAM or a TEAM by calling the Associate office attorney or reviewer assigned to the request for a TAM or a TEAM.

See section 12.08 of this revenue procedure about discussing the final conclusions with the field or area office. Further, the director or the appeals area director will be notified by telephone at the time the TAM or the TEAM is mailed.

The Associate office will attempt to issue all TEAMs to the field within 60 calendar days of receipt, provided that the field and the taxpayer submit all required information in a timely manner. The Associate office will provide the field with the TEAM at the earliest possible date (whether the proposed TEAM is favorable or adverse, in whole or in part, to the taxpayer). The Associate office will not advise the taxpayer of a proposed or final conclusion until the Associate office has considered a request for reconsideration under section 14.02 of this revenue procedure or, if no reconsideration is requested, after the expiration of the 30-day period to request reconsideration, whichever occurs later.

Sec. 10.12 2004-1 I.R.B. 99 January 5, 2004