Ezel / IRS Rulings / 200911014

CCA 200911014: IRS manual guidance needed to address limits on disclosures to the Railroad Retirement Board

Number
200911014
Outcome
Advice
Document type
Chief Counsel Advice
IRS subject
Rate of Tax; Rate and Measure of Employee Tax; Income Tax Collected at Source
Topics
Employment taxes
Code sections
§ 3101, § 3301, § 3402
Ruling dated
January 14, 2009
Publicly released
March 13, 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

The email identified chapter 21 as FICA, chapter 23 as FUTA, and chapter 24 as income tax withholding. It noted that a taxpayer could owe FICA for some employees and railroad retirement tax for others, and that chapter 23A was inactive. The writer's understanding was that information under chapters 21, 23, and 24 could not be disclosed to the Railroad Retirement Board. The writer said that point needed to be confirmed for the Appeals portion of the Internal Revenue Manual.

Ruling snapshot

  • Question: What should IRS manual guidance say about disclosing employment-tax information to the Railroad Retirement Board?
  • Outcome: Advice given: the writer understood that chapters 21, 23, and 24 could not be disclosed, but said the issue still needed confirmation.
  • Key authorities: IRC chapters 21, 23, and 24; Internal Revenue Manual 4.23.8.

Full text (IRS public release)

ID: CCA_2009011412334741 Number: 200911014
Release Date: 3/13/2009
Office: -----------------------------
UILC: 3301.00-00, 3101.00-00, 3402.00- 00

From: ---------------
Sent: Wednesday, January 14, 2009 12:33:49 PM
To: ---------------------------------------------------------------
Cc: --------------------
Subject: RE: IRM re RRB language

I'm late in responding to this one...

Chapter 21 is FICA (TP could owe FICA on some EEs and RRTA on others)
Chapter 23 is FUTA (23A is RURT that is inactive).
Chapter 24 is ITW

It is my understanding we cannot disclose chapter 21, 23, or 24 to RRB. We need to nail this down for
Appeals IRM. According to -------, the 4.23.8 IRM already says you can't send this info--

Draft IRM 4.23.8.6.5(5)states:

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-------- - what did you hear back from -----? I will also run by ---------.

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