CCA 1320020: Internal communication about a court opinion may comply with ex parte rules

Plain-English summary

The memorandum addresses whether an IRS originating function may alert Appeals to a public court opinion. It concludes that a generic, non-taxpayer-specific discussion of the issue is permissible under the cited revenue procedure. It also concludes that discussing a particular case that is closed falls within exceptions for ministerial, administrative, or procedural matters. The memorandum recommends routing the communication through the Appeals employee responsible for coordinating the issue or program, rather than directly to a first-line employee handling live cases.

Ruling snapshot

• Question: May an IRS originating function communicate a public court opinion to Appeals without violating ex parte communication rules?
• Outcome: Advice given
• Key authorities: Rev. Proc. 2012-18, §§ 2.02(6) and 2.03(2)(a)(vi)-(vii)

Full text (IRS public release)

ID: CCA_2013050719154266
Office: -----------------------------
UILC: 9999.92-00
Number: 201320020
Release Date: 5/17/2013
From: ----------------------------
Sent: Tuesday, May 07, 2013 7:15:54 PM
To: --------------------
Cc: -------------------------------------------
Subject: RE: Procedural question regarding ex parte communications

Yes, an originating function (such as Exempt Organizations) may alert
Appeals to a court opinion. The court's opinion is in the public domain and
the case to which the opinion relates is no longer open in Appeals. In fact,
at the present time it does not appear as if there are any open cases in
Appeals involving the issue in question, although one or more cases
involving that issue are working their way through the administrative
pipeline and it is anticipated that Appeals may see the issue in the near
future. The contemplated communication will be a generic, nontaxpayer-
specific discussion of an issue, which is permissible under section 2.02(6) of
Rev. Proc. 2012-18. Additionally, to the extent that the communication
discusses the particular case, the discussion will be about a closed case,
which is permissible under the ministerial, administrative, or procedural
matters exception to the ex parte communication rules. See sections
2.03(2)(a)(vi) and (vii) of Rev. Proc. 2012-18. Hence, the communication
will not violate the ex parte communication rules. In this regard, there is no
taxpayer or representative with whom the communication will have to be
shared.

In terms of logistics, if the issue in question is an Appeals coordinated issue,
it is recommended that the communication from the originating function be
sent to the Appeals person who is responsible for coordinating that issue
within Appeals. If it is not an Appeals coordinated issue, then it is
recommended that the communication from the originating function be sent
to an Appeals person who has program responsibilities relating to that
issue. That Appeals program person could then decide whether or how
to disseminate the information within Appeals. It is preferable that the
communication from the originating function not be sent directly to a first-
line Appeals employee who directly handles live cases.

Moreover, if an Appeals employee chooses to rely on the court opinion, in
whole or in part, as part of their consideration of a live case down the road,
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the Appeals employee should include a reference to that opinion in their
discussion of the issue with the taxpayer/representative. It is not necessary,
however, for the Appeals employee to share the communication from the
originating function discussed above or other internal communication
regarding the opinion, with the taxpayer/representative.