SECTION 6. UNDER

WHAT CIRCUMSTANCES DOES TE/GE ISSUE LETTER RULINGS?

.05 The procedures for obtaining letter rulings, etc., that apply to federal alcohol, tobacco, and firearms taxes under subtitle E of the Internal Revenue Code are under the jurisdiction of the Alcohol and Tobacco Tax and Trade Bureau within the Treasury Department.

In employee plans matters .01 In employee plans matters, the Employee Plans Rulings and Agreements office issues letter rulings on proposed transactions and on completed transactions either before or after the return is filed. Employee Plans Rulings and Agreements issues letter rulings involving:

(1) § 72 (involving computation of the exclusion ratio only);

(2) Changes in funding methods and actuarial assumptions under §§ 412, 430, 431, or 433;

(3) Waiver of the liquidity shortfall (as that term is defined in § 430(j)(4)) excise tax under § 4971(f)(4);

(4) Waiver of the 60-day rollover requirement under sections 402(c)(3) and 408(d)(3) ( See Rev. Proc. 2003–16, 2003–4 I.R.B. 359);

(5) A change in the plan year of an employee retirement plan and the trust year of a tax-exempt employees’ trust ( See Rev. Proc. 87–27, 1987–1 C.B. 769);

(6) The tax consequences of prohibited transactions under §§ 503 and 4975;

(7) Whether individual retirement accounts established by employers or associations of employees meet the requirements of § 408(c). ( See Rev. Proc. 87–50; Rev. Proc. 92–38; Rev. Proc. 98–59; Rev. Proc. 2002–10, and Rev. Proc. 2010–48, as modified by Rev. Proc. 2015–8);

(8) Requests for relief under § 301.9100 to recharacterize a Roth IRA ( See section 6.04 below with respect to elections under § 301.9100–1 of the Procedure and Administration Regulations);

(9) Requests by the plan sponsor of a multiemployer pension plan for approval of an extension of an amortization period in accordance with § 431(d) of the Code ( See Rev. Proc. 2010–52, 2010–52 I.R.B. 927.);

(10) Requests for the return to the employer of certain nondeductible contributions ( See Rev. Proc. 90–49, 1990–2 C.B. 620, as modified by Rev. Proc. 2015–8, this Bulletin); and

(11) Requests for approval of the use of a substitute mortality table in accordance with § 430(h)(3)(C) ( See Rev. Proc. 2008–62, 2008–42 I.R.B. 935).

Procedures for requesting letter rulings under the jurisdiction of the Chief Counsel are contained in Rev. Proc. 2015–1, this Bulletin,

In exempt organizations matters

In employee plans qualification matters

.02 Except as otherwise provided, in exempt organizations matters, the Exempt Organizations office issues no letter rulings. All letter rulings formerly issued by the Exempt Organizations Office are issued by the Office of Associate Chief Counsel (Tax Exempt and Government Entities). See Rev. Proc. 2015–1, this Bulletin. The Exempt Organizations office, however, does respond to requests for a change in method of accounting involving exempt organizations. See Rev. Proc. 97–27, 1997–1 C.B. 680 and Rev. Proc. 2011–14, 2011–4 I.R.B. 330.

.03 The Employee Plans Rulings and Agreements office ordinarily will not issue letter rulings on matters involving a plan’s qualified status under §§ 401 through 420 and § 4975(e)(7). These

Sec. 6.03 Bulletin No. 2015–1 153 January 2, 2015

Request to Employee Plans for extension of time for making an election or for other relief under § 301.9100–1 of the Procedure and Administration Regulations

Issuance of an employee plans letter ruling before the issuance of a regulation or other published guidance

matters are generally handled by the Employee Plans Determinations program as provided in Rev. Proc. 2015–6, this Bulletin, Rev. Proc. 93–10 and Rev. Proc. 93–12.

.04 With respect to recharacterization of a Roth IRA, Employee Plans Rulings and Agreements will consider a request for an extension of time for making an election or other application for relief under § 301.9100–1 of the Procedure and Administration Regulations even if submitted after the return covering the issue presented in the § 301.9100–1 request has been filed and even if submitted after an examination of the return has begun or after the issues in the return are being considered by an appeals office or a federal court. In such a case, EP Rulings and Agreements will notify the Director, EP Examinations.

Section 301.9100–1 requests, even those submitted after the examination of the taxpayer’s return has begun, are letter ruling requests and therefore should be submitted pursuant to this revenue procedure, and require payment of the applicable user fee, referenced in section 9.02(14) of this revenue procedure. In addition, the taxpayer must include the information required by § 301.9100–3(e).

However, an election made pursuant to § 301.9100–2 is not a letter ruling and does not require payment of any user fee. See § 301.9100–2(d). Such an election pertains to an automatic extension of time under § 301.9100–1.

.05 Unless the issue is covered by section 8 of this procedure, a letter ruling may be issued before the issuance of a temporary or final regulation or other published guidance that interprets the provisions of any act under the following conditions:

(1) Answer is clear or is reasonably certain. If the letter ruling request presents an issue for which the answer seems clear by applying the statute to the facts or for which the answer seems reasonably certain but not entirely free from doubt, a letter ruling will be issued.

(2) Answer is not reasonably certain. The Service will consider all letter ruling requests and use its best efforts to issue a letter ruling even if the answer does not seem reasonably certain where the issuance of a letter ruling is in the best interest of tax administration.

(3) Issue cannot be readily resolved before a regulation or any other published guidance is issued. A letter ruling will not be issued if the letter ruling request presents an issue that cannot be readily resolved before a regulation or any other published guidance is issued.

Issues in prior return .06 The Service ordinarily does not issue letter rulings if, at the time the ruling is requested, the identical issue is involved in the taxpayer’s return for an earlier period, and that issue:

(1) is being examined by the Director, EP Examinations;

(2) is being considered by an appeals office;

(3) is pending in litigation in a case involving the taxpayer or related taxpayer; or

(4) has been examined by the Director, EP Examinations or considered by an appeals office, and the statutory period of limitation has not expired for either assessment or filing a claim for a refund or a closing agreement covering the issue of liability has not been entered into by the Director, EP Rulings and Agreements or by an appeals office.

If a return dealing with an issue for a particular year is filed while a request for a ruling on that issue is pending, EP Rulings and Agreements will issue the ruling unless it is notified by the taxpayer that an examination of that issue or the identical issue on an earlier year’s return has been started by the Director, EP Examinations. See section 9.05. However, even if an examination has begun, EP Rulings and Agreements ordinarily will issue the letter ruling if the Director, EP Examinations agrees, by memorandum, to permit the ruling to be issued.

Sec. 6.06 January 2, 2015 154 Bulletin No. 2015–1

Generally not to business associations or groups

Generally not to foreign governments

Generally not on federal tax consequences of proposed legislation