US IRS announces that it will “not ordinarily” issue private rulings on FATCA issues, updates procedures to obtain rulings

The US IRS has released its annual “no rule” list, adding FATCA issues to the list of issues that the agency will “not ordinarily” address in private letter rulings or determination letters.

The guidance, Rev. Proc. 2015–7, released January 2, states that the IRS will not ordinarily address in private letter rulings issues involving “whether a taxpayer, withholding agent, or intermediary has properly applied the requirements of chapter 4 of the Internal Revenue Code (sections 1471 through 1474, also known as “FATCA”) or of an applicable intergovernmental agreement to implement FATCA.”

The decision to not rule on FATCA issues was the only international tax change made to the no rule list as compared to last year’s list, contained in Rev. Proc. 2014–7. The IRS also released no-rule lists covering domestic issues in Rev. Proc. 2015–3 and  Rev. Proc. 2015–4.

In addition, the IRS in Rev. Proc. 2015–1 updated its procedures for issuing private letter rulings, information letters, and determination letters. The IRS also released Rev. Proc. 2015–2,  outlining its procedure for issuing technical advice memorandum to a director or an appeals area director and explaining the rights that a taxpayer has when a field office requests a TAM regarding a tax matter.

See:

• Rev. Proc. 2015–1

• Rev. Proc. 2015–2

• Rev. Proc. 2015–3

• Rev. Proc. 2015–4

• Rev. Proc. 2015–7