Ezel / IRS Rulings / 200913033

CCA 200913033: A $150 divisible penalty payment was thought sufficient to reach court

Number
200913033
Outcome
Advice
Document type
Chief Counsel Advice
IRS subject
Rules Applicable to Penalties Under Section 6700, 6701, and 6702 (See Also 6700, 6701, 6702)
Topics
Procedure, penalties, and administration
Code sections
§ 6703
Ruling dated
September 3, 2008
Publicly released
March 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 responded to a question about the rules for penalties covered by section 6703. The writer had no information about the Internal Revenue Manual point that was raised. On divisibility, the writer recalled prior advice that paying $150 was enough to obtain access to court. The email deferred to another official for greater expertise, so it presents a tentative answer rather than a full legal analysis.

Ruling snapshot

  • Question: How much of a divisible penalty had to be paid to obtain judicial review, and what did the Internal Revenue Manual provide?
  • Outcome: Advice given: the writer believed $150 was sufficient to reach court but had no answer on the manual.
  • Key authorities: IRC § 6703.

Full text (IRS public release)

ID: CCA-931055-08 Number: 200913033
Release Date: 3/27/2009
Office: --------------
UILC: 6703.00-00

From: -------------------------
Sent: [September 3, 2008]
To: ---------------------
Cc:
Subject: [6703 question]

I have no information about the IRM. Sorry.

As far as the divisibility question, I think we have said in the past it's just the $150 to get into court. --------
---------- knows more about these issues that I do. He's due back from leave next week. He might know
about the IRM.

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