Ezel / IRS Rulings / 200914056

CCA 200914056: Revocation of a tax-lien subordination agreement was confidential

Number
200914056
Outcome
Advice
Document type
Chief Counsel Advice
IRS subject
Disclosure to Taxpayer's Designee
Topics
Procedure, penalties, and administration
Code sections
§ 6103
Ruling dated
March 18, 2009
Publicly released
April 3, 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 considered whether the IRS could tell a factor that it had revoked a taxpayer's subordination agreement after the taxpayer defaulted on an installment agreement or otherwise stopped paying the relevant taxes. The advice treated the agreement as the taxpayer's return information. Under section 6103(a), that information was confidential unless a statutory disclosure rule applied. The protected information included both the reason for revocation and the fact that the agreement had been revoked.

Ruling snapshot

  • Question: Could the IRS inform a factor that it had revoked a taxpayer's Form 669-D subordination agreement?
  • Outcome: Advice given: both the revocation and its reason are confidential return information and may be disclosed only as section 6103 permits.
  • Key authorities: IRC § 6103(a).

Full text (IRS public release)

ID: CCA_2009031815470345 Number: 200914056
Release Date: 4/3/2009
Office: ----------
UILC: 6103.03-00

From: --------------------
Sent: Wednesday, March 18, 2009 3:47:14 PM
To: -------------------
Cc: ---------------------------------------------------
Subject: Disclosure to Factors in Subordination Agreements

Thank you for your question about the IRS's ability to inform factors about the revocation of a subordination agreement (Form 669-D) when a taxpayer defaults on an installment agreement or otherwise stops paying the taxes at issue. The subordination agreement is the return information of the taxpayer. As such, it is confidential and can only be disclosed as permitted by IRC 6103(a). This confidential information includes not only the reason for the revocation, but the fact of revocation.

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