Partnership-level examination required for barred-year NOL item

Number
201509036
Outcome
Advice
Document type
Chief Counsel Advice
IRS subject
Tax Treatment Determined At Partnership Level; Period of Limitations for Making Assessments
Code sections
§ 6221, § 6229
Ruling dated
September 2, 2014
Publicly released
February 27, 2015

Apply this to your situation

This page covers legal advice the IRS Office of Chief Counsel wrote for IRS staff, issued in 2015, 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 2015
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 addressed a partner's net operating loss carryforward that arose from a TEFRA partnership or affected item in an earlier year. Although the assessment limitations period had expired for that earlier year, the IRS still needed to examine the TEFRA partnership for the barred year before disallowing the carryforward. The email identified the cited Fears case as involving a TEFRA partnership, but the public text does not reproduce the citation or further analysis.

Ruling snapshot

  • Question: Can the IRS disallow the carryforward without examining the TEFRA partnership for the barred year?
  • Outcome: Advice given, the partnership-level examination is required
  • Key authorities: IRC §§ 6221 and 6229

Full text (IRS public release)

ID: CCA-09022014-14 [Third Party Communication:

UILC: 6221.00-00, 6229.00-00 Date of Communication: Month DD, YYYY]

Number: 201509036
Release Date: 2/27/2015
From: --------------------
Sent: Tuesday, September 02, 2014 8:48 AM
To: ---------------------
Cc: --------------------
Bcc:
Subject: FW: Form Returned: Downloads_GetFile.aspx

---------,

Even though the statute of limitations for assessing tax has expired for the year in question, you will
need to examine the TEFRA partnership for the barred year before you can disallow a partner’s net
operating loss carryforward that resulted from a partnership or affected item in the barred year. The
Fears case that is cited below involved a TEFRA partnership. Please call me if you have any questions.

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