Ezel / IRS Rulings / 200906050

CCA 200906050: Pre-October 1990 gifts could not be assessed after the six-year period

Number
200906050
Outcome
Advice
Document type
Chief Counsel Advice
IRS subject
Effect of Change in Law
Topics
Procedure, penalties, and administration
Code sections
§ 6501
Ruling dated
October 2, 2008
Publicly released
February 6, 2009
Source
View Official PDF

Apply this to your situation

This page covers legal advice the IRS Office of Chief Counsel wrote for IRS staff, issued in 2009, which can't be cited as precedent. Ask about your situation and see what the current Code and IRS guidance say, with citations.

Currency note: this determination was released in 2009
Statutory amendments, regulation changes, court decisions, or later IRS guidance may have changed the analysis since then. Treat this page as historical context, not current tax advice. Verify current law before relying on any specific rule, threshold, or position mentioned here.
Not precedent. Under 26 U.S.C. § 6110(k)(3), this written determination may not be used or cited as precedent. It is advice from the IRS Office of Chief Counsel to IRS personnel on the facts they presented, and identifying details were redacted by the IRS before release. The official IRS release (linked on this page as a PDF) is the authoritative source.
About this page: The plain-English summary and ruling snapshot below were written by Ezel based on the official IRS release. The full text is the IRS's own document.
View official IRS release (PDF)

Plain-English summary

Chief Counsel addressed the limitations period for assessing gift tax on older gifts. Section 6501(c)(9), which permits assessment at any time when a gift was not adequately disclosed on a return, was added in 1991 and expressly applies only to gifts made after October 8, 1990. Earlier gifts were subject to the six-year period in section 6501(e)(2). Because that period was presumed to have expired for the gifts at issue, Chief Counsel concluded that they could not be assessed.

Ruling snapshot

  • Question: Could the IRS assess gift tax on inadequately disclosed gifts made before October 9, 1990?
  • Outcome: Advice given: no, because the later unlimited period did not apply and the earlier six-year period had apparently expired.
  • Key authorities: IRC §§ 6501(c)(9), 6501(e)(2).

Full text (IRS public release)

ID: CCA-102110-08 Number: 200906050
Release Date: 2/6/2009
Office: -------------
UILC: 6501.01-04

From: ---------------------------------
Sent: Thursday, October 02, 2008 11:00 AM
To: -----------------------
Cc: ---------------------------
-------------------------
Subject: FW: Gift Tax Question ----------

Section 6501(c)(9), the unlimited statute of limitations for gifts that are not adequately disclosed on a return, was added to the Code in 1991 and is expressly applicable only to gifts after October 8, 1990. Prior to the enactment of section 6501(c)(9), section 6501(e)(2) applied a six-year statute of limitations for substantially omissions relating to gift and estate taxes, but I presume that statute has long run for the gifts described below. So, unfortunately, I don't think the ------- and ------- gifts discovered by -----------------
-can be assessed.

Please let me know if you have any questions.

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