SECTION 10. DRAFTING

INFORMATION

The principal author of this notice is Nicole R. Cimino of the Office of Associate Chief Counsel (Passthroughs and Special Industries). For further information regarding this notice, contact Ms. Cimino at (202) 622–3120 (not a toll-free call).

Department Store Inventory Price Indexes Published by the Bureau of Labor Statistics for Use With the Retail and LIFO Inventory Methods

Notice 2007–44

PURPOSE

This notice informs taxpayers that the Internal Revenue Service will no longer

publish the Department Store Inventory Price Indexes prepared by the United States Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) in the Internal Revenue Bulletin but will continue to accept the BLS Department Store Inventory Price Indexes for use by department stores employing the last-in, first-out (LIFO) inventory identification method in conjunction with the retail method of valuing inventories.

BACKGROUND

The BLS prepares and publishes monthly Department Store Inventory Price Indexes, designed to measure changes in the retail prices for merchandise carried by department stores. The indexes are determined on a national basis and include 23 major groups of departments, three special combinations of those major groups, and store totals. Each month, the Service reproduces the BLS Department Store Inventory Price Indexes and accepts those indexes in accordance with § 1.472–1(k) of the Income Tax Regulations and Rev. Proc. 86–46, 1986–2 C.B. 739, for use by department stores employing the LIFO inventory identification method in conjunction with the retail method of valuing inventories, in a revenue ruling published in the Internal Revenue Bulletin.

APPLICATION

The Internal Revenue Service will discontinue republishing the BLS Department Store Inventory Price Indexes in the Internal Revenue Bulletin after the publication of the March 2007 indexes in Rev. Rul. 2007–34, this Bulletin. Although the BLS Department Store Inventory Price Indexes will no longer be published in the Internal Revenue Bulletin, the monthly indexes that are applicable to the goods in question will continue to be accepted by the Service under § 1.472–1(k) and Rev. Proc. 86–46, for appropriate application to inventories of department stores employing the retail and LIFO inventory methods in valuing inventories for tax years ended with, or with reference to, the last day of the applicable month.

The most current monthly BLS Department Store Inventory Price Indexes are available on the BLS website at the Consumer Price Indexes (CPI) page at www.bls.gov/cpi, in the “Tables Created

2007–22 I.R.B. 1320 May 29, 2007

for willfully furnishing fraudulent or false information, may apply.