SECTION 11. HOW ARE

CONFERENCES FOR TAMs AND TEAMs SCHEDULED?

If requested, offered to the taxpayer when an adverse TAM or TEAM proposed

.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 the 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 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 the TEAM with the taxpayer or the taxpayer’s representative.

The Associate office attorney or reviewer assigned to the TAM or the TEAM request will give status updates by telephone once a month to the examining agent or appeals officer, and field counsel. If at the beginning of the month, the Associate office attorney or reviewer expects that the TAM request will be pending more than 120 days during that month, he or she must email the examining agent or appeals officer within the first five calendar days of the month with a status update and estimated completion date. A copy of the email should be sent to TSS4510. 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 office and field counsel. 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.

.13 The Service is not barred from sending the taxpayer a letter (Letter 950 (DO), also known as a 30-day letter) notifying the taxpayer of the right to appeal the proposed changes within 30 days, while a TAM or a TEAM request is pending.

.01 If, after the TAM or the TEAM request is analyzed, it appears that a TAM or a TEAM adverse to the taxpayer will be given and if a conference has been requested, the taxpayer will be informed, by telephone if possible, of the time and place of the conference. As discussed

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below in section 11.11 of this revenue procedure, the conference will normally be conducted by telephone.

Timeline .02 The conference for a TAM must be held within 21 calendar days after the taxpayer is informed that an adverse TAM is proposed. Within 20 calendar days of receipt of the TEAM request, the assigned branch in the Associate office will analyze the facts and offer the taxpayer and the field a conference of right, which will be scheduled for a date within ten calendar days of the date of the offer for the conference.

If conferences are being arranged for more than one request for a TAM or a TEAM for the same taxpayer, they will be scheduled to cause the least inconvenience to the taxpayer. The Associate office will notify the examining agent or appeals officer and field counsel of the scheduled conference and will offer the examining agent or appeals officer and field counsel the opportunity to participate in the conference. The director, territory manager, or appeals area director with supervisory authority over the assigned examining agent or appeals officer may designate other Service representatives to participate in the conference in lieu of, or in addition to, the examining agent or appeals officer.

Extensions .03 In the case of a TAM, only an Associate Chief Counsel may approve an extension of the 21-day period for holding a conference. The taxpayer (or an authorized representative) must direct a written request for the extension, with an appropriate justification, to the Associate Chief Counsel of the office to which the case is assigned. The taxpayer (or an authorized representative) must notify the examining agent or appeals officer of the request for an extension. The examining agent or appeals officer must then notify field counsel of the request for an extension. Except in rare and unusual circumstances, the Associate office will not agree to an extension of more than ten working days beyond the end of the 21-day period.

For a TAM, the taxpayer’s request for extension must be submitted before the end of the 21-day period, and should be submitted sufficiently before the end of this period to allow the Associate Chief Counsel to consider, and either approve or deny, the request before the end of the 21-day period. If unusual circumstances near the end of the 21-day period make a timely written request impractical, the taxpayer (or an authorized representative) should orally inform the assigned Associate office attorney or reviewer before the end of the period about the problem and promptly submit the written request for extension. The Associate Chief Counsel or a delegate will promptly tell the taxpayer by telephone (with written confirmation) of the approval or denial of a requested extension.

No extension of the ten-day period for TEAMs will be allowed.

Denial of extension cannot be appealed

.04 There is no right to appeal the denial of a request for extension. If the taxpayer does not notify the Associate office of problems with meeting the 21-day period within the 21-day period or promptly confirm any oral request in writing, the case will be processed on the basis of the existing record.

Entitled to one conference of right .05 A taxpayer is entitled by right to only one conference with the Associate office, except as provided in section 11.09 of this revenue procedure. The conference is normally held at the branch level and a person who has authority to sign the transmittal memorandum (discussed in section 12.12 of this revenue procedure) in his or her own name or on behalf of the branch chief will participate.

When more than one branch of an Associate office has taken an adverse position on an issue in the request or when the position ultimately adopted by one branch will affect another branch’s determination, a representative from each branch with authority to sign in his or her own name or for the branch chief will participate in the conference. If more than one subject is discussed at the conference, the discussion will constitute the taxpayer’s conference of right for each subject.

To have a thorough and informed discussion of the issues, the conference usually will be held after the branch has had an opportunity to study the case. The taxpayer may request that

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the conference of right be held earlier in the consideration of the case than the Service would ordinarily designate.

The taxpayer has no right to appeal the action of a branch to an Associate Chief Counsel, or to any other Service official.

Conference may not be taped .06 Because conference procedures are informal, no tape, stenographic, or other verbatim recording of a conference may be made by any party.

If requested and approved, conference will be delayed to address a request for relief under § 7805(b)

Service makes only tentative recommendations

When additional conferences may be offered

Additional information submitted after the conference

.07 In the event of a tentatively adverse determination, the taxpayer may request, in writing, a delay of the conference so that the taxpayer can prepare and submit a brief requesting relief under § 7805(b) (regarding limitation of retroactive effect, discussed in section 15 of this revenue procedure). The Associate Chief Counsel of the office to which the case is assigned will determine whether to grant or deny the request for delaying the conference. If such request is granted, the Service will schedule a conference on the tentatively adverse decision and the § 7805(b) relief request within ten calendar days of receiving the taxpayer’s § 7805(b) request. There is no right to appeal the denial of a request to delay the conference. See section 16.04 of this revenue procedure for the conference procedures if the § 7805(b) request is made after the conference on the substantive issues has been held.

.08 The senior Service representative at the conference ensures that the taxpayer has a full opportunity to present views on all the issues in question. The Service representatives explain the tentative decision on the substantive issues.

If the taxpayer requests relief under § 7805(b), the Service representatives will discuss the tentative recommendation concerning the request for relief and the reason for the tentative recommendation.

No commitment will be made as to the conclusion that the Service will finally adopt regarding any issue, including the outcome of the § 7805(b) request for relief.

.09 In the case of a TAM, the Service will offer the taxpayer an additional conference if, after the conference of right, an adverse holding is proposed on a new issue or on the same issue but on grounds different from those discussed at the first conference. In the case of a TEAM, once the conference of right is held, no further conferences will be offered unless the case is first excluded from the TEAM procedures and treated as a TAM, as set forth in section 10.03.

When a proposed holding is reversed at a higher level with a result less favorable to the taxpayer, the taxpayer has no right to another conference if the grounds or arguments on which the reversal is based were discussed at the conference of right.

The limitation on the number of conferences to which a taxpayer is entitled does not prevent the Associate office from inviting a taxpayer to participate in additional conferences, including conferences with an official higher than the branch level, if Associate office personnel think they are necessary. Such conferences are not offered routinely following an adverse decision. In general, conferences with higher level officials are offered only if the Service determines that the case presents significant issues of tax policy or tax administration and that the consideration of these issues would be enhanced by additional conferences with the taxpayer.

Exam or appeals personnel and field counsel will be offered the opportunity to participate in any additional taxpayer conference, including a conference with an official higher than the branch level. As provided in section 11.02 of this revenue procedure, other Service representatives are also permitted to participate in the conference.

.10 After the conference of right, the taxpayer must furnish to the Associate office any additional data, lines of reasoning, precedents, etc., that the taxpayer proposed and discussed at the conference, but did not previously or adequately present in writing. This additional information must be submitted to the appropriate Associate office branch by letter with a “penalties of perjury” statement in the form described in section 9.01 of this revenue procedure. In the

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case of a TAM, the additional information must be submitted within 21 calendar days after the conference. The Associate office will notify the field both when a taxpayer has requested an extension of the 21-day period and when the Associate office grants or denies the request. In the case of a TEAM, the additional information must be submitted within 15 calendar days after the conference.

For TAMs and TEAMs, the taxpayer must also send a copy of the additional information to the director or the appeals area director for comment. The director or appeals area director must provide a copy to the field counsel assigned to the TAM or the TEAM. Any comments by the director or the appeals area director must be furnished promptly to the appropriate branch in the Associate office. If the director or the appeals area director does not have any comments, he or she must notify the Associate office attorney promptly.

If the additional information has a significant impact on the facts in the request for a TAM or a TEAM, the Associate office will ask the director or the appeals area director for comment on the facts contained in the additional information submitted. The director or the appeals area director will respond within the agreed period of time.

In the case of a TAM, if the additional information is not received from the taxpayer within 21 calendar days plus any extensions granted by an Associate Chief Counsel, the TAM will be issued on the basis of the existing record. In the case of a TEAM, if the additional information is not received within 15 calendar days, the TEAM will be issued on the basis of the existing record.

An extension of the 21-day period for TAMs may be granted only if the taxpayer justifies it in writing and the Associate Chief Counsel of the office to which the case is assigned approves the extension. Such extension will not be routinely granted. The procedures for requesting an extension of the 21-day period and notifying the taxpayer of the Service’s decision are the same as those in section 11.03 of this revenue procedure. There is no extension of the 15-day period for TEAMs.

Normally conducted by telephone .11 The conference will be conducted by telephone, unless the taxpayer or the field requests that the conference be held in-person. The taxpayer will be advised when to call the Service representatives (not a toll-free call). In no event will the conference be delayed to provide an in-person conference rather than a telephone conference.

In accordance with section 11.02 of this revenue procedure, the examining agent or appeals officer, field counsel, and any other authorized service representative will be offered the opportunity to participate in any TAM or TEAM conference.