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IRS Written Advice – Legal Test | International Tax Lawyer & Attorney

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IRS written advice can constitute a reasonable cause defense against an imposition of pretty much any tax penalty related to noncompliance that stemmed from that advice. This essay begins a series of articles with respect to various aspects of the IRS Written Advice Defense. Today, I will outline the statutory authority and the main legal test for the IRS Written Advice Defense as well as describe the penalties against which this Defense can be used.

IRS Written Advice Defense: Statutory Authority and Treasury Regulations

Pursuant to the Internal Revenue Code (“IRC”) Section 6404(f) and Treasury Regulations §301.6404-3, the IRS is required to abate any portion of any penalty attributable to erroneous IRS written advice furnished to the taxpayer by an officer or employee of the IRS acting in such officer’s or employee’s official capacity.

IRS Written Advice Defense: Penalties That Can Be Abated

I already mentioned above that the IRS Written Advice Defense may be applicable to pretty much any penalty that was imposed from that advice – this is obviously a simplification, but it is very close to reality. The regulations specify that the IRS Written Advice Defense applies to any penalty or addition to tax “imposed under subtitle F, chapter 68, subchapter A and subchapter B of the Internal Revenue Code, and the liabilities imposed by sections 6038(b), 6038(c), 6038A(d), 6038B(b), 6039E(c), and 6332(d)(2).” Treas. Reg. § 301.6404-3(c)(2).

Moreover, the IRS Written Advice Defense also applies to any liability “resulting from the application of other provisions of the Code where the Commissioner of Internal Revenue has designated by regulation, revenue ruling, or other guidance published in the Internal Revenue Bulletin that such provision shall be considered a penalty or addition to tax for purposes of section 6404(f).” Id.

Finally, the Defense will further apply to any “interest imposed with respect to any penalty or addition to tax.” Id.

It is important to point out that the IRS written advice may be a very important reasonable cause defense against FBAR, Form 5471 and Form 5472 penalties.

IRS Written Advice Defense: Legal Test

The Treasury Regulations describe all three prongs of the legal test that must be satisfied before relief from tax penalties is granted based on the IRS Written Advice Defense:

(i) The written advice was reasonably relied upon by the taxpayer;

(ii) The advice was issued in response to a specific written request for advice by the taxpayer; and

(iii) The taxpayer requesting advice provided adequate and accurate information.

In subsequent articles I will explore each prong of this legal test in more detail.

Contact Sherayzen Law Office for Professional Help With Your IRS Written Advice Defense And Any Other Reasonable Cause Defense

If the IRS has imposed penalties as a result of an audit of your tax return or FBAR, contact Sherayzen Law Office for professional help. Taxpayers around the world have learned to trust Sherayzen Law Office to bring their US tax affairs in order and rigorously defend them against the imposition of FBAR penalties. We can help You!

Contact Us Today to Schedule Your Confidential Consultation!

Ignorance of the Law and Reasonable Cause Exception

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Ignorance of the Law forms part of a much broader Reasonable Cause Exception which is almost a universal defense against the imposition of IRS civil penalties. Ignorance of the Law is often utilized as a defense against the US international tax information return penalties, including penalties envisioned under FBAR, Form 8938, Form 5471, Form 8865, et cetera. In this article, I would like provide a general description for the Ignorance of the Law defense.

It is important to remember that the application of the Ignorance of the Law defense depends on the specific circumstances of your case and nothing in this article should be interpreted as a legal advice. Rather, you need the help of an experienced tax attorney to determine whether the Ignorance of Law defense applies to your case.

Ignorance of the Law Defense Legal Test

Ignorance of the Law may provide the basis for an effective reasonable cause defense in situations where a taxpayer does no know about his obligations to comply with a tax requirement in question and/or pay taxes. However, the ignorance by itself is not sufficient to establish a reasonable cause; other circumstances must be reviewed in order to determine whether all or the requirements of this defense’s legal test are satisfied.

The legal test for the Ignorance of the Law defense requires that three requirements are satisfied in order the for taxpayer’s conduct to satisfy the reasonable cause exception:

1). The taxpayer was not aware of the tax requirement in question;

2). The taxpayer could not reasonably be expected to know of the requirement; and

3). The taxpayer’s conduct satisfied the “ordinary business care and prudence” standard.

Oftentimes, the second and the third requirement are blended into the same analysis. This is why I now turn to the examination of the ordinary business care and prudence standard for the purposes of the Ignorance of the Law defense.

Ignorance of the Law and Ordinary Business Care and Prudence Standard

Ordinary Business Care and Prudence Standard is a requirement present in all reasonable cause defenses. With respect to the Ignorance of the Law defense, the ordinary business care and prudence standard requires that a taxpayer acts in good faith, reasonably and attempts to determine his tax obligations. This means all of the relevant circumstances must be reviewed before the determination is made whether the taxpayer’s conduct satisfied the ordinary business care and prudence standard.

The precise circumstances that need to be considered depend on the particular facts of a case. Some of the common factors include: the taxpayer’s education, his tax advisors (including what information the taxpayer supplied to his tax advisors, whether he has been previously subject the tax at issue, whether he has filed the tax forms in question before, whether he has been penalized before with respect to the issue at hand, whether there any changes to the tax forms or tax law (which the taxpayer could not reasonably be expected to know), the level of complexity of the issue in question, et cetera.

Contact Sherayzen Law Office for Professional Help with Your Ignorance of the Law Reasonable Cause Defense

If you were penalized by the IRS with respect to a tax requirement and you did not know about this requirement, contact Sherayzen Law Office for professional and experienced legal help. We have helped taxpayers around the world to successfully reduce and even entirely eliminate penalties based on the reasonable cause defense that often stemmed from our clients’ ignorance of relevant tax requirements. We can also help You!

Contact Us Today to Schedule Your Confidential Consultation!