Washington, D.C.
The Internal Revenue Service is asking the public for recommendations on items that should be included on its 2011-2012 Guidance Priority List.
The Treasury's Office of Tax Policy and the IRS use the Guidance Priority List each year to identify and prioritize the tax issues that should be addressed through regulations, revenue rulings, revenue procedures, notices and other published administrative guidance.
Notice 2011-39, which asks for suggestions for the list, will be published in Internal Revenue Bulletin 2011-20 on May 16, 2011.
In reviewing recommendations and selecting projects for inclusion, the Treasury and the IRS said that they would consider the following:
Whether the recommended guidance resolves significant issues relevant to many taxpayers;
Whether the recommended guidance promotes sound tax administration;
Whether the recommended guidance can be drafted in a manner that will enable taxpayers to easily understand and apply the guidance;
Whether the recommended guidance involves regulations that are outmoded, ineffective, insufficient or excessively burdensome and that should be modified, streamlined, expanded or repealed;
Whether the service can administer the recommended guidance on a uniform basis; and,
Whether the recommended guidance reduces controversy and lessens the burden on taxpayers or the service.
Taxpayers may submit recommendations for guidance at any time during the year, but for the initial list, recommendations should be submitted by June 1, 2011. Taxpayers are not required to submit recommendations for guidance in any particular format. They should, however, briefly describe the recommended guidance and explain the need for it. In addition, they may include an analysis of how the issue should be resolved. It would be helpful if taxpayers suggesting more than one guidance project prioritize the projects by order of importance, the IRS noted. If a large number of projects are being suggested, it also would be helpful if the projects were grouped in terms of high, medium or low priority.
Written comments can be sent to:
Internal Revenue Service
Attn: CC:PA:LPD:PR (Notice 2011-39), Room 5203
P.O. Box 7604
Ben Franklin Station
Washington, D.C. 20044
