Ezel / IRS Rulings / 200912011

CCA 200912011: Volunteers subject to direction and control were employees

Number
200912011
Outcome
Advice
Document type
Chief Counsel Advice
IRS subject
Employees
Topics
Employment taxes
Code sections
§ 3121
Ruling dated
February 11, 2009
Publicly released
March 20, 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 whether people described as volunteers should be treated as employees. Volunteers subject to a right of direction and control were employees, and benefits provided to them had to be analyzed on that basis. The released facts were insufficient to determine whether the particular volunteers met that test.

Ruling snapshot

  • Question: When should volunteers be treated as employees for purposes of analyzing their benefits?
  • Outcome: Advice given: direction and control would make them employees, but the status of the particular volunteers was unclear.
  • Key authorities: Employee-status rules under IRC § 3121.

Full text (IRS public release)

ID: CCA_2009021114271241 Number: 200912011
Release Date: 3/20/2009
Office: -----------------------------
UILC: 3121.04-00

From: ---------------
Sent: Wednesday, February 11, 2009 2:27:15 PM
To: ----------------------
Cc: ------------------------------------
Subject: RE: more facts please

Doing some research here, but volunteers that are subject to right to direct and control are EEs and the
benefits provided to them should be analyzed accordingly. Whether these "volunteers" are EEs,
however, is unclear.

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