Ezel / IRS Rulings / 201202028

CCA 201202028: CCA explains payroll-tax recapture coverage

Number
201202028
Outcome
Advice
Document type
Chief Counsel Advice
IRS subject
Rate and Measure of Employee Tax
Topics
Employment taxes
Code sections
§ 3101, § 3121, § 3201, § 3211, § 1401
Ruling dated
December 30, 2011
Publicly released
January 13, 2012
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 2012, 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 2012
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 advice addressed the recapture provisions in the temporary payroll tax cut law referenced in H.R. 3765 and Public Law 112-78. The advice states that recapture applies to reduced FICA tax on employees and reduced Railroad Retirement Tax Act tax on employees, but apparently not to reduced Railroad Retirement Tax Act tax on employee representatives. It also states that the note's reference to IRC section 1401 does not control the statutory-language analysis.

Ruling snapshot

  • Question: Which reduced payroll-tax categories are subject to the recapture provision?
  • Outcome: Advice given
  • Key authorities: IRC §§ 3101, 3121, 3201, 3211, and 1401

Full text (IRS public release)

ID: CCA-123010-11 Number: 201202028
Release Date: 1/13/2012
Office: -----------------------
UILC: 3101.00-00

From: ---------------
Sent: Friday, December 30, 2011 1:08 PM
To: -----------------------------------------
Cc: ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Subject: RE: H.R. 3765, Temporary Payroll Tax Cut Continuation Act of 2011- signed by the President on December 23, 2011 (P.L. 112-78)

-------the recapture applies to both the reduced FICA tax on employees and the reduced RRTA tax on employees (see references to both wages under 3121 and compensation subject to 3201), but apparently not the reduced RRTA tax on employee representatives under 3211. The note reference to 26 USC 1401 is not relevant in determining the application of the statutory language.

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