Current through Register Vol. 43, No. 02, November 27, 2024
(1) The
Commissioner of Revenue may, at his or her discretion, issue Revenue Rulings as
authorized by Section
40-2A-5, Code of Ala.
1975. Revenue Rulings apply only to the recipient of the request
and have no precedential value to other taxpayers.
(2)
(a) Any
request for a revenue ruling must be written in letter form with a duplicate of
the request and supporting documents attached.
(b) A ruling request shall be addressed to
the Secretary, Department of Revenue, and must be signed by the taxpayer or the
taxpayer's authorized representative. The term "authorized representative" has
the meaning ascribed to it in Section
40-2A-3(2),
Code of Ala. 1975.
(c) Each question or subpart of a question
shall be considered a separate revenue ruling request and must be accompanied
by a $200.00 fee, in accordance with the provisions of §
40-2A-5,
Code of Ala.
1975.
(d) The ruling
request and applicable fee should then be mailed to the following address:
Secretary of the Department
Alabama Department of Revenue
P. O. Box 327001
Montgomery, Alabama 36132-7001.
(3) A ruling request must include the
following:
(a) A statement of all facts
relevant to the determination. The statement of relevant facts must include the
following:
1. names, addresses, telephone
numbers, and social security numbers of all relevant parties;
2. a full and precise statement of the
business reasons for the transaction; and
3. a complete, detailed description of the
transaction.
(b) A
statement of the taxpayer's views regarding the tax consequences of the
transaction.
1. A taxpayer may seek a certain
determination on the issues raised in the ruling request. In such instance, the
taxpayer must furnish an explanation of the grounds for that
determination.
2. Even if the
taxpayer does not request a specific determination on the issues raised in the
ruling request, the taxpayer still must submit an opinion on the tax
consequences of the proposed transaction.
(c) The authority upon which the taxpayer's
position regarding the proposed transaction is based.
1. The taxpayer should inform the Department
in its ruling request of any statute, regulation or court decision that the
taxpayer believes is contrary to the position taken by the Department on the
issue and discuss the implications of these authorities.
2. If no contrary authority is found, the
taxpayer should submit a statement to this effect to facilitate the ruling
request.
(d) Copies of
all documents relative to the transaction. The following list is illustrative,
but not exhaustive, of the types of documents that should be attached:
contracts, wills, deeds, agreements, and legal documents.
(e) A statement that to the best of the
taxpayer's knowledge, the identical issue or a similar issue has not been ruled
on by the Department with regard to the taxpayer or a predecessor. If such a
ruling request has been made, the taxpayer must furnish the date and result of
the revenue ruling. In addition, the taxpayer must include a statement as to
whether an identical issue was submitted previously by that taxpayer and was
later withdrawn prior to the issuance of a revenue ruling.
(f) A statement that the request is for a
proposed transaction or event, and that no taxes have accrued or will accrue
prior to the issuance of the ruling with respect to the transactions, events,
or facts contained in the request. If the transaction or event subject to the
ruling request is in the nature of a series of transactions or events whereby
some of the transactions or events have occurred in the past and some of the
transactions or events are prospective in nature, a ruling will not be
issued.
(g) The following perjury
declaration:
1. "Under penalties of perjury,
I declare that I have examined this request, including the accompanying
documents, and to the best of my knowledge and belief, the facts presented in
support of the requested ruling are true, correct, and complete."
2. The perjury declaration must be signed by
the taxpayer and the taxpayer's authorized representative. Changes in the
ruling request or additional factual information sent at a later time must also
include the perjury declaration.
(4)
(a) All
revenue rulings shall be maintained in the office of the Secretary of the
Department, and shall be available for public inspection and copying, within 60
days following their issuance (except as provided in subparagraph (c) of this
paragraph (4)), at a cost to be determined by the Secretary.
(b) "Issuance" of a revenue ruling occurs
upon the mailing of the revenue ruling to the taxpayer to whom it
pertains.
(c) Within thirty (30)
days after the revenue ruling was issued, a taxpayer may submit a request for
delay of public inspection. A request for delay shall contain the date on which
it is expected that the underlying transaction will be completed. The request
for delay shall contain a suggested issuance date and a statement from which
the Commissioner may determine that good cause exists to warrant such
delay.
(5)
(a) Prior to making any such publication, the
Department shall delete from the text of such revenue ruling all names,
addresses, titles, figures, dates, and other information which may identify the
particular taxpayer who requested the revenue ruling. If a revenue ruling
contains trade secrets or other confidential information, the Department shall,
upon written request of the taxpayer, delete such information prior to
publication.
(b) If information
other than names, addresses, and identifying information needs to be deleted,
the taxpayer must include with the ruling request a separate statement of
proposed deletions and the statutory basis for each deletion.
(c) The statement of proposed deletions must
accompany the ruling request, but should not be included in or referred to in
the request. The material to be deleted should be placed in brackets.
(d) The taxpayer may request additional
deletions after the ruling request is submitted by submitting an additional
statement of proposed deletions.
(6)
(a)
Either the taxpayer or the Department may request a conference regarding a
ruling request.
(b) The Department
may grant or deny the request by the taxpayer. Generally, the Department will
grant the request only if holding a conference will help the Department make a
determination with respect to the revenue ruling.
(7) It shall be the practice of the
Department to process ruling requests in the order received. Requests for
processing out of order, made in writing in a separate letter submitted with
the request or subsequent thereto and showing clear need for such treatment,
will be given consideration as the particular circumstances warrant.
(8)
(a)
Ruling requests that do not comply with the requirements set out in this rule
will be returned to the taxpayer. The requirements that have not been met or
additional information that is needed will be explained to the taxpayer so that
the request may be modified to meet the requirements of this rule.
(b) The taxpayer shall have thirty (30) days
from the date the ruling request was returned to modify the request or to
provide the additional information requested. If the taxpayer fails to do so in
the specified time period, the Department may close the file and reopen it
after the taxpayer modifies the request or the additional information has been
received. If the ruling request is closed and reopened, the ruling request will
be treated as a new request for purposes of determining when the ruling request
was received.
(9) If the
taxpayer withdraws a ruling request, all exhibits and correspondence submitted
with the request or pertaining to the request may be retained by the
Department. The Commissioner may furnish his or her views to the division which
has or will have audit jurisdiction of the taxpayer's return.
(10) Revenue rulings may be revoked or
modified by the commissioner at any time; but any revocation or modification
shall not be effective retroactively unless one of the following has occurred:
(a) The person making the request misstated
or omitted facts material to the ruling.
(b) The ruling was issued with respect to a
matter involving the computation or payment of a tax that was due and payable
at the time the ruling was requested.
(c) The law applied by the commissioner in
the revenue ruling is changed in a manner to alter the commissioner's
conclusions in the ruling and the change in the law is made effective as of the
date of the ruling.
(11)
Notice of the revocation or modification of a revenue ruling shall be mailed by
either first-class U.S. mail, U.S. mail with delivery confirmation, or
certified U.S. mail to the last known address of the taxpayer and the
taxpayer's authorized representative, if any.
Authors: Michael D. Gamble, Michael E.
Mason
Statutory Authority:
Code of Ala.
1975, §§
40-2A-5(b),
40-2A-7(a)(5).