Ezel / IRS Rulings / 200909041

CCA 200909041: Liability was an underpayment rather than an understatement

Number
200909041
Outcome
Advice
Document type
Chief Counsel Advice
IRS subject
Innocent spouse (including Sections 66, 6013)
Topics
Procedure, penalties, and administration
Code sections
§ 6015
Ruling dated
November 19, 2008
Publicly released
February 27, 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 classified a liability for innocent-spouse purposes. The released email contains no underlying facts or legal analysis. It states only that, under the facts provided to the author, the liability should definitely be treated as an underpayment rather than an understatement.

Ruling snapshot

  • Question: Was the unspecified liability an underpayment or an understatement?
  • Outcome: Advice given: treat it as an underpayment.
  • Key authorities: IRC § 6015, as identified by the document's UILC classification.

Full text (IRS public release)

ID: CCA-111912-08 Number: 200909041
Release Date: 2/27/2009
Office: --------------
UILC: 6015.00-00

From: -----------------
Sent: Wednesday, November 19, 2008 12:00 PM
To: --------------------
Subject: RE: Underpayment vs. Understatement

Under your facts I think the liability should definitely be treated as an underpayment.

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