Reliance of IRS Publications

[morrisliberty]

hello,


According to internal revenue manual subsection 4.10.7.2.8{1} Jan 1, 2008 , Publications are nonbinding on the Service and do not necessarily cover all positions on a given issue. While a good source of general information, publications should not be cited to sustain a position.
The IRS lists over a thousand Publications, instructions, Forms, etc on its website and I have never read the above statement in any of them. Can you rely on the IRS publications and if not should some statement be included in the publications of this fact

[TheOtherMe]

The publications are the IRS interpretation of the code and regulations in somewhat plain language. They are not the code and regulations. They will not be cited in any audit report. For the most part, the publications are accurate.

You also can't cite a telephone call to Taxpayer Service as authority. When I worked at the IRS, it was known that people ask questions in different ways to get the answer they want.

If you want that printed in every publication, contact your congressman.

[rangerj]

The IRM is a guide for IRS employees. It is "internal" and provides IRS employees with suggestions relative to a variety of situations. As stated above the IRS publications are for the public and are generally very accurate, but they are neither statutory, nor comparable to the regulations or court decisions. They are a guide. Consider the fact that you can, and do, have two or more Tax Court circuits that have decided (interpreted) cases involving a like kind set of facts and circumstances differently. If you live within the circuit you can rely upon the decision.

[mwcpa]

I concur with theo and ranger....

IRS publications are merely the IRS interpretation of the rules drafted by Congress.... and the IRM is an internal IRS document for IRS staff, but is made public.

generally, the publications are well written and address many issues, but not all, they serve as a good starting point.