Ezel / IRS Rulings / 201808017
Chief Counsel Advice 201808017 Released February 23, 2018 Advice

Send an estate's deficiency notice to authorized representatives as a safeguard

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This page covers one taxpayer's ruling from 2018, 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 2018
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, when an estate has authorized one or more representatives to receive tax information, the safest practice is to send each representative a copy of the statutory notice of deficiency in addition to sending the notice to the taxpayers. The purpose is to help ensure that the estate receives the notice and to reduce the risk of a later claim that the notice was invalid because the IRS did not send it to the last known address.

Ruling snapshot

  • Question: Should the IRS copy an estate's authorized representatives on a statutory notice of deficiency?
  • Outcome: Advice to send copies to the authorized representatives as well as to the taxpayers.
  • Key authorities: IRC § 6212

Full text (IRS public release)

ID: CCA_2018012409493746
UILC: 6212.00-00, 6212.02-00, 6212.02-
01, 6212.02-03
Number: 201808017
Release Date: 2/23/2018
From:
Sent: Wednesday, January 24, 2018 09:49:37
To:
Cc:
Bcc:
Subject: RE: POA for SNOD question in Estate & Gift

I don’t think this is driven by a particular case but rather by a desire to ensure the SNOD
gets to the estate and that the Service is not vulnerable later to a claim that the SNOD
was invalid because the Service failed to send it to the last known address. If you have
one or more POAs whom the estate authorized to receive tax information, then it’s
safest to send a copy of the SNOD not only to the taxpayers but also to their
representative(s).

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