Ezel / IRS Rulings / 200936035

Return information may be shared to resolve related exam issues

Number
200936035
Outcome
Advice
Document type
Chief Counsel Advice
IRS subject
Disclosure in Judicial or Administrative Tax Administration Proceedings
Topics
Procedure, penalties, and administration
Code sections
§ 6103, § 6103(h)(1), § 6103(h)(4)(C)
Ruling dated
June 16, 2009
Publicly released
September 4, 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

This Chief Counsel Advice addressed sharing return information between examination teams working on related transactions. It stated that section 6103(h)(1) authorizes copies for revenue agents who need the material to perform their official duties. Because the document described a transactional relationship, it also concluded that section 6103(h)(4)(C) authorizes disclosure to the taxpayer under examination of information directly related to the transaction and directly affecting resolution of an issue. The advice cautioned the teams to disclose no more information than needed to resolve the exam issues.

Ruling snapshot

  • Question: Could return information be disclosed to a related examination team and taxpayer?
  • Outcome: Advice given.
  • Key authorities: IRC §§ 6103(h)(1) and 6103(h)(4)(C).

Full text (IRS public release)

ID: CCA-616110-09 Number: 200936035
Release Date: 9/4/2009
Office: --------------
UILC: 6103.08-04

From: ----------------
Sent: Tuesday, June 16, 2009 11:03 AM
To: ------------------------
Cc: -------------
Subject: RE: disclosure

Hello ----------------

The material your exam team has is return information of ---------------------. Providing copies from the ------
---------------exam to the RAs working the Bank exam is authorized under 6103(h)(1) as material that the Bank RAs need to properly perform their official duties in that exam. Based on the information you provided below, there is a transactional relationship between --------------------- and the Bank; thus, 6103(h)(4)(C) authorizes disclosure to the Bank (as TP under exam) of the return information of -------------
-------------- that is directly related to the transaction and that directly affects resolution of any issue in the Bank exam.

The RAs should be careful that they do not disclose to the Bank any more of ------------------------return information than they need to in order to resolve issues. 6103(h)(4)(C) does not authorize providing information to the Bank for any purpose other than resolving issues in this exam.

As for whether a list of ------------------involved in a certain transaction can be provided to the ------------------ CIP - that will depend on whether the CIP "needs" the information to properly perform its official tax administration duties. If so, then 6103(h)(1) authorizes the disclosure to the CIP. If not, then disclosure is not authorized.

If you have further questions, or want to discuss this, feel free to contact me.

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