SECTION 6. NOTIFICATION OF

RECEIPT AND DENIAL OF ASSISTANCE

.01 Notification of Receipt . The U.S. competent authority will notify the taxpayer in writing that it has received the MAP request and that the correct user fee has been paid (if applicable). The letter will also provide the name and contact information of the APMA team leader, TAIT analyst, or the members of the combined APMA-TAIT team to which the request has been assigned. In addition, the letter will also state either: (1) that the request is complete and that the MAP process will proceed, together with any administrative or procedural steps the taxpayer must take pertaining to the MAP request; (2) that the request is provisionally accepted but that the MAP process will not proceed until specified deficiencies in the request have been addressed; or (3) that the request is rejected and the circumstances, if any, in which the request might be accepted. The U.S. competent authority will also instruct the taxpayer as to other offices within the IRS to which full or partial copies of the MAP request must be provided.

.02 Denial of Assistance . The U.S. competent authority may deny assistance, in whole or in part, at any point in the MAP process, either at the outset by rejecting the MAP request or by terminating or suspending the MAP process after it has accepted the MAP request. The U.S. competent authority will generally take such action if any of the following circumstances are present:

(1) Based on all of the facts and circumstances known to the U.S. competent authority, providing assistance to the taxpayer would be inconsistent with the U.S. tax treaty under which such assistance is sought;

(2) The taxpayer has expressed that it is willing to accept a MAP resolution only under conditions that are unreasonable or

prejudicial to the interests of the U.S. government, including its refusal to accept a MAP resolution that would encompass ACAP years when the U.S. competent authority has determined that including such years is in the interest of sound tax administration;

(3) The issue on which competent authority assistance is sought is the same as or similar to an issue considered in evaluating a prior MAP or bilateral or multilateral APA request, where the taxpayer rejected the resulting resolution of the issue by the U.S. competent authority and has not changed its position;

(4) The taxpayer agreed to or acquiesced in a foreign-initiated adjustment involving significant legal or factual issues without previously having consulted the U.S. competent authority;

(5) The taxpayer’s conduct before filing its MAP request or after the MAP process has been initiated has significantly impeded the ability of the IRS to adequately examine and address the MAP issues for which assistance has been requested or the ability of the U.S. competent authority to resolve the MAP case;

(6) The subject matter of the MAP request: (a) includes an issue pending in litigation where a court has declined to sever MAP issues, delay trial, or stay proceedings ( see section 9.03(1)); (b) is pending in a foreign court and such proceeding is likely to impede the conclusion or implementation of a MAP resolution; (c) includes an issue and taxable period designated for litigation ( see section 9.03(1)); (d) includes an issue and taxable period pending in a U.S. federal court that was previously considered by IRS Appeals ( see section 9.03(1)); (e) is a listed transaction under Treas. Reg. §§1.6011–4(b)(2) and 301.6111–2(b)(2); (f) is a transaction of interest under Treas. Reg. §1.6011-4(b)(6); or (g) involves fraudulent activity by the taxpayer or a member of the controlled group;

(7) The taxpayer rejected a request to extend the period of limitations for assessment of tax for the taxable periods covered by the MAP request and any ACAP years;

(8) The MAP issue was included in a protest to IRS Appeals and was not properly severed from such protest and transitioned into a MAP request within 30 days after the opening conference with IRS Appeals ( see section 9.02);

(9) The MAP issue has been settled pursuant to an examination resolution without prior concurrence of the U.S. competent authority ( see section 9.01);

(10) The MAP issues covered by the MAP request cannot be adequately resolved without the involvement of one or more additional foreign competent authorities and either the taxpayer fails to cooperate in seeking the involvement of such additional foreign competent authorities or such competent authorities refuse to participate in multilateral consultations on the MAP case;

(11) An adequate resolution of the MAP case would require consideration of issues directly or indirectly involving the taxpayer and members of the controlled group located in non-treaty jurisdictions and the taxpayer fails to disclose such issues in the MAP process (such as in diagrams required of MAP requests filed with APMA; see the appendix); or

(12) In MAP cases involving taxpayerinitiated positions, the request evinces after-the-fact tax planning or fiscal evasion or is otherwise inconsistent with sound tax administration.

.03 No Review of Denial of MAP Re- quest for Assistance . The U.S. competent authority’s decision as to whether a MAP request is complete or to deny, suspend, or terminate assistance is not subject to administrative review.