Chapter 4

An interpretation or clarification of the provisions of a portion of the Internal Revenue Code, issued by the Department of the Treasury under authority granted by Congress. Legislative ... directly create the details of a tax law. Both general and legislative ... carry the force of the statute unless they are held to be invalid in a judicial hearing.

Once a regulation is drafted, an ... is issued announcing the proposed regulation. The ... includes a preamble explaining the purpose of the regulations, asks for public input, announces a public hearing (if one is to be held), and contains the text of the porposed regulations themselves. Before and during the hearings process, the ... are referred to as proposed regulations and, unlike final regulations, do not have the effect of law.

An interpretation or clarification of the provisions of a portion of the Internal Revenue Code, issued by the Department of the Treasury and available for comment (and possible revision) in a public hearing.

A regulation that has not yet been formally integrated into the published tax regulation collection. Often issued in the Internal Revenue Bulletin. Typically provides digest-style summaries of current court decisions, administrative pronouncements, and pending or approved tax legislation cross-referenced to the organization system of the tax service. Helps the practitioner to keep current relative to breaking tax developments.

Regulations are issued by the Treasury Department and constitute official interpretation of the IRC. ... are initially issued in proposed form and after public comment are issued in ... form.

An administrative pronouncement of the IRS, typically concerning the application of a recently enacted or detailed provision of the tax law, especially in situations in which there is insufficient time to carry out the public-hearings process that usually accompanies the enactment of regulations. ... ... carry the force of law, although citations differ from those for permanent regulations with regard to the prefix.

A regulation issued under the general authority granted to the IRS to interpret the language of the Internal Revenue Code, usually under a specific code directive of Congress and with specific congressional authority.

A regulation by which the IRS is directed by Congress to fulfill a lawmaking function and to specify the substantive requirements of a tax provision.

A pronouncement of the IRS concerning its interpretation of the application of the Internal Revenue Code (typically) to a specific taxpayer-submitted fact situation. Published in the Internal Revenue Bulletin. Can be relied on as precedent by other taxpayers who encounter similar fact patterns.

An official IRS publication consolidating the material that first was published in the Internal Revenue Bulletin. ... ... were discontinued after 2008, but older rulings will use the ... citation format instead of the more recent IRB format.

A pronouncement of the IRS concerning the implementation details of a specific code provision. Published in the Internal Revenue Bulletin.

A written determination published by the IRS relative to its position concerning the tax treatment of a prospective transaction. It cannot be applied to any taxpayer other than the one who requested the ruling. Text or summaries thereof are included in various commercial tax services.

A pronouncement of the national office of the IRS stating the agency's position relative to the tax treatment of a taxpayer whose return is under audit. Text or discussion thereof may be included in the body of a commercial tax service.

An IRS pronouncement issued by the local IRS office relative to the agency's position concerning a straightforward issue of tax law in the context of a completed transaction.

An official weekly publication of the IRS that includes announcements, Treasury decisions, revenue rulings, revenue procedures, and other information of interest to the tax researcher.

A pronouncement by the IRS that it will follow the decision of a court case to the extent the court held in favor of the taxpayer. Announced in the Internal Revenue Bulletin. Modifies the citation for the identified case.

An announcement by the IRS that it will not follow the decision of a court in a tax decision that was adverse to the agency. Notation is included in the proper citation of the disputed case. Announced in the Internal Revenue Bulletin.

A memorandum prepared when the IRS loses a court case and that recommends the action, if any, that the IRS should take in response to the adverse decision.

The IRS issues ... and ... concerning items of general importance to taxpayers.

Documents published by the IRS arranged by topic and include an easy-to-read description of how the tax law works on that topic. ... ... 17, Your Federal Income Tax, is a large ... that covers almost all facets of completing the individual income tax return and contains many examples and worksheets to assist taxpayers with individual tax compliance.