Ezel / IRS Rulings / 1348015
Chief Counsel Advice 1348015 Released November 29, 2013 Advice

CCA 1348015: Counsel discusses the limitations period for section 6702 penalties

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This page covers one taxpayer's ruling from 2013, 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 2013
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 resolved one taxpayer's situation on its specific facts, 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 attorneys discussed whether a statute of limitations applies to assessments of penalties under IRC § 6702 for frivolous submissions. The message says the IRS argued in briefs that no limitations period applies when taxpayers raised the issue as a bar to assessment. It notes that the Tax Court did not need to decide the issue in the cited cases. The attorneys preferred to avoid the issue by assessing a penalty within three years of a frivolous submission when possible.

Ruling snapshot

  • Question: Does a statute of limitations bar assessment of an IRC § 6702 penalty?
  • Outcome: advice given
  • Key authorities: IRC §§ 6501 and 6702; Crites v. Commissioner, T.C. Memo. 2012-267; O'Brien v. Commissioner, T.C. Memo. 2012-326

Full text (IRS public release)

ID:      CCA_2013091913550728                        Third Party Communication: None

UILC:    6702.00-00, 6501.00-00                      Date of Communication: Not Applicable

Number: 201348015
Release Date: 11/29/2013
From:
Sent: Thursday, September 19, 2013 1:55:07 PM
To:
Cc:
Bcc:
Subject: RE: statute of limitations on assessment of section 6702 penalty


We made the argument that no SOL applies in briefs submitted in a couple of cases where taxpayers
raised the SOL as a bar to assessment of the penalty. The Tax Court did not need to decide the
issue. Crites v. Commissioner, T.C. Memo. 2012-267 and O’Brien, T.C. Memo. 2012-326 have a little
discussion of what we argued.

Obviously, we don’t want to get into this situation if we can make an assessment w/i three years
of a frivolous submission.

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