Ezel / IRS Rulings / 200922038

CCA 200922038: Welfare-benefit deduction rules applied regardless of VEBA status

Number
200922038
Outcome
Advice
Document type
Chief Counsel Advice
IRS subject
Welfare Benefit Fund
Topics
Retirement plans, IRAs, and annuities
Code sections
§ 419
Ruling dated
April 23, 2009
Publicly released
May 29, 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 explained that section 419 governed the deduction at issue whether or not the trust qualified as a voluntary employees' beneficiary association. The definition of a welfare benefit fund in section 419(e) included a nonexempt trust. The email advised referring to the trust by name rather than calling it a VEBA. It also cautioned against disclosing or implying the trust's tax status to a different taxpayer, since that status did not matter for the deduction issue being addressed.

Ruling snapshot

  • Question: Did application of section 419 depend on the trust qualifying as a VEBA?
  • Outcome: Advice given: section 419 applied regardless of VEBA status; communications should not disclose another taxpayer's status.
  • Key authorities: IRC § 419(e).

Full text (IRS public release)

ID: CCA_2009042309111441 Number: 200922038
Release Date: 5/29/2009
Office: ----------------------------
UILC: 419.03-00

From: ------------------
Sent: Thursday, April 23, 2009 9:11:16 AM
To: -----------------------------------------------
Cc: --------------------------
Subject: RE: VEBA

The deduction is under section 419 regardless of whether the trust is a VEBA. The def’n of Welfare Benefit Fund in 419(e) includes a non-exempt trust.

We sent ------- some language he can use – we would refer to the trust by name, and not refer to it as a VEBA. Remember that ------------- is a different taxpayer, and we cannot give them information on the status of the trust/purported VEBA –we cannot imply that the trust is not a VEBA; doesn’t matter for our purposes.

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