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Statement of Principles
of Internal Revenue
Tax Administration

The function of the Internal Revenue Service is to
administer the Internal Revenue Code. Tax policy
for raising revenue is determined by Congress.
With this in mind, it is the duty of the Service to
carry out that policy by correctly applying the
laws enacted by Congress; to determine the rea-
sonable meaning of various Code provisions in
light of the Congressional purpose in enacting
them; and to perform this work in a fair and im-
partial manner, with neither a government nor
a taxpayer point of view.

At the heart of administration is interpretation of
the Code. It is the responsibility of each person
in the Service, charged with the duty of interpret-
ing the law, to try to find the true meaning of the
statutory provision and not to adopt a strained
construction in the belief that he is "protecting
the revenue." The revenue is properly protected
only when we ascertain and apply the true mean-
ing of the statute.

The Service also has the responsibility of apply-
ing and administering the law in a reasonable,
practical manner. Issues should only be raised by
examining officers when they have merit, never
arbitrarily or for trading purposes. At the same
time, the examining officer should never hesitate
to raise a meritorious issue. It is also important
that care be exercised not to raise an issue or to
ask a court to adopt a position inconsistent with
an established Service position.

Administration should be both reasonable and
vigorous. It should be conducted with as little
delay as possible and with great courtesy and
considerateness. It should never try to overreach,
and should be reasonable within the bounds of
law and sound administration. It should, however,
be vigorous in requiring compliance with law and
it should be relentless in its attack on unreal tax
devices and fraud.

The Internal Revenue Bulletin is the authoritative instrument of the Commissioner of Internal Revenue for announcing official rulings and procedures of the Internal Revenue Service and for publishing Treasury Decisions, Executive Orders, Tax Conventions, legislation, court decisions, and other items of general interest.

It is the policy of the Service to publish in the Bulletin all substantive rulings necessary to promote a uniform application of the tax laws, including all rulings that supersede, revoke, modify, or amend any of those previously published in the Bulletin. All published rulings apply retroactively unless otherwise indicated. Procedures relating solely to matters of internal management are not published; however, statements of internal practices and procedures that affect the rights and duties of taxpayers are published.

Revenue Rulings represent the conclusions of the Service on the application of the law to the entire state of facts involved. In those that are based on positions taken in rulings to taxpayers or technical advice to Service field offices, identifying details and confidential information are deleted to comply with statutory requirements. Rulings and procedures reported in the Bulletin do not have the force and effect of Treasury Department Regulations, but they may be used as precedents. Unpublished rulings will not be relied on, used, or cited as precedents by Service personnel in the disposition of other cases. In applying published rulings and procedures, the effect of subsequent legislation, regulations, court

decisions, rulings, and procedures must be considered, and Service personnel and others concerned are cautioned against reaching the same conclusions in other cases unless the facts and circumstances are substantially the same.

The regulations, rulings, decisions, procedures, Public Laws, etc., published in the weekly Internal Revenue Bulletins 1974-26 through 1974-52 have been consolidated and are published in Internal Revenue Cumulative Bulletin 1974-2. Public Law 93-406 the Employee Retirement Income Security Act of 1974 and related Committee Reports, which were not published in a weekly Internal Revenue Bulletin, are published in Cumulative Bulletin 1974-3.

Cumulative Bulletin 1974-3 Supplement contains additional Committee Reports and excerpts from the Congressional Record relating to Public Law 93-406.

The Bulletin Index-Digest System, a research and reference service supplementing the Bulletin, may be obtained from the Superintendent of Documents on a subscription basis. It consists of four Services: Service No. 1, Income Tax; Service No. 2, Estate and Gift Taxes; Service No. 3, Employment Taxes; Service No. 4, Excise Taxes. Each Service consists of a basic volume and a cumulative supplement that provide (1) finding lists of items published in the Bulletin, (2) digests of Revenue Rulings, Revenue Procedures, and other published items, and (3) topical indexes of Public Laws, Treasury Decisions, and Tax Conventions.

The contents of this publication are not copyrighted and may be reprinted freely; a citation of the Cumulative Bulletin as the source would be appropriate.

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