Ezel / IRS Rulings / 200912015

CCA 200912015: Spouses filing jointly faced one shared nondisclosure penalty

Number
200912015
Outcome
Advice
Document type
Chief Counsel Advice
IRS subject
Disclosure of Reportable Transactions
Topics
Procedure, penalties, and administration
Code sections
§ 6011
Ruling dated
February 17, 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 the penalty for spouses who filed a joint return and failed to disclose a reportable transaction. The spouses should face one penalty rather than separate penalties. Both spouses would be jointly and severally liable for that penalty. The author did not know the mechanics for making the assessment and referred the recipient to another person who had examined that issue.

Ruling snapshot

  • Question: Should spouses receive separate penalties for failing to disclose a reportable transaction with a joint return?
  • Outcome: Advice given: no, there should be one penalty for which both spouses were jointly and severally liable.
  • Key authorities: Reportable-transaction disclosure rules under IRC § 6011.

Full text (IRS public release)

ID: CCA_2009021710051864 Number: 200912015
Release Date: 3/20/2009
Office: --------------
UILC: 6011.01-00

From: ------------------
Sent: Tuesday, February 17, 2009 10:05:20 AM
To: ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Cc: ----------------------------------------------------------------- Subject: FW: Separate penalty assessments against spouses?

There should be only one penalty for which the spouses should be jointly and severally liable when there is a failure to disclose a reportable transaction with a joint return. I don't know the mechanics of making the assessment, but I do know that ----------------was looking into the matter last September. Perhaps she knows more.

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