SECTION 2. BACKGROUND

Since 1991, with the issuance of Rev. Proc. 91–22, 1991–1 C.B. 526, the Internal Revenue Service (“Service”) has offered taxpayers, through the APA Program, the opportunity to reach agreement in advance of filing a tax return on the appropriate transfer pricing method to be applied to related party transactions. In 1996, the Service updated and superseded Rev. Proc. 91–22 with the release of Rev. Proc. 96–53, 1996–2 C.B. 375. On July 1, 2004, the Service updated and superseded Rev. Proc. 96–53 by issuing Rev. Proc. 2004–40, 2004–2 C.B. 50. On December 19, 2005, the Service again updated the procedural rules for processing and administering APAs with the release of

2008–23 I.R.B. 1133 June 9, 2008