Ezel / IRS Rulings / 201811015

Section 6901 generally does not reach employment taxes or trust fund recovery penalties

Number
201811015
Outcome
Advice
Document type
Chief Counsel Advice
IRS subject
Method of Collection
Topics
Procedure, penalties, and administration
Code sections
§ 6901, § 7501
Ruling dated
February 15, 2018
Publicly released
March 16, 2018
Source
View Official PDF

Apply this to your situation

This page covers legal advice the IRS Office of Chief Counsel wrote for IRS staff, issued in 2018, 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 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 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 advised that section 6901(a)(1) and (2) generally does not provide a collection route for employment taxes or the trust fund recovery penalty. Employment taxes arise under subtitle C, while the trust fund recovery penalty is an assessable penalty under subtitle F and is collected like the underlying tax under section 7501. Neither is a tax under subtitle A or B. The advice states that section 6901 therefore will not apply unless the matter involves the liquidation of a partnership or corporation, or a reorganization.

Ruling snapshot

  • Question: Does section 6901 apply to employment taxes or the trust fund recovery penalty?
  • Outcome: Advice given: generally no, absent a partnership or corporate liquidation or a reorganization.
  • Key authorities: IRC §§ 6901 and 7501; subtitles A, B, C, and F.

Full text (IRS public release)

ID: CCA_2018021515063020
UILC: 6901.01-00

Number: 201811015
Release Date: 3/16/2018
From:
Sent: Thursday, February 15, 2018 3:06:30 PM
To:
Cc:
Bcc:
Subject: RE: Section 6901

Good afternoon.

Your reading of section 6901 (a)(1) and (2) is correct.

Employment taxes are subtitle C, not A or B. TFRP is an assessable penalty under subtitle F (and under section 7501 TFRP is “assessed, collected, and paid in the same manner and subject to the same provisions and limitations (including penalties)” as the underlying tax. It is not a tax under subtitle A or B. Therefore, in the absence of the liquidation of a partnership or corporation, or on a reorganization section 6901 will not apply.

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