Ezel / IRS Rulings / 201550038
Chief Counsel Advice 201550038 Released December 11, 2015 Advice

IRS employees may receive unredacted ruling for tax administration

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This page covers one taxpayer's ruling from 2015, which can't be cited as precedent. Ezel answers your situation under the current Code and IRS guidance, 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 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 advised that IRC § 6103(h)(1) permitted disclosure of an unredacted private letter ruling to a Treasury attorney and revenue agent who needed it for tax administration. The requester should ordinarily follow the prescribed records-request procedure so the request and its context are logged. The ruling could not be passed to a promoter or taxpayer under that provision, and it had to be marked as third-party return information and kept separate from the taxpayer's case file.

Ruling snapshot

  • Question: Could an unredacted private letter ruling be disclosed to Treasury employees who needed it for a tax administration function?
  • Outcome: Advice given
  • Key authorities: IRC § 6103(h)(1); CCDM 37.1.1.6(3)

Full text (IRS public release)

ID: CCA_2015110614390447
UILC: 6103.08-00

Number: 201550038
Release Date: 12/11/2015
From:
Sent: Friday, November 06, 2015 2:39:04 PM
To:
Cc:
Bcc:
Subject: RE: Question regarding use of plr for self-created goodwill?

-------,

Our advice is provided below, explaining that ------ should request an un-redacted copy
of the PLR from the ---------, ---------------------------- Branch.

There is no section 6103 problem with disclosure in this instance. -----------------(-----
attorney) and -------------------(revenue agent) have demonstrated they have a need to
know the information in order to perform a tax administration function. Therefore,
disclosure to them is permissible under section 6103(h)(1).

There is no legal problem with you providing the un-redacted copy directly to ------ or ----
-------. However, the CCDM should be followed when possible. CCDM 37.1.1.6(3) states
that ------ should request a copy from the --------------------------------------- Branch by
submitting a memorandum, specifying the records needed. This process is used to keep
a log of requests for the record and the context of those requests.

It should be noted that 6103(h)(1) only permits disclosure to officers or employees of the
Department of the Treasury and does not provide a basis for the un-redacted copy to be
passed along to the promoter or a taxpayer. Also, the un-redacted copy of the PLR
would be considered third party return information and therefore it should be maintained
separately from the taxpayer’s case file and be clearly marked as third-party return
information.

If you have any further questions, please contact me. Thanks.

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