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In Revenue Procedure 2020-29, the IRS said it will temporarily allow taxpayers to electronically submit requests for private letter rulings, closing agreements, determination letters, and information letters.

The IRS will allow both electronic and paper submissions until it announces further changes, although the IRS warned that paper submissions would likely delay the processing of such requests.

Revenue Procedure 2020-1 modified

Revenue Procedure 2020-29 modifies Revenue Procedure 2020-1, which lists the requirements for requesting advice from the IRS, and normally requires paper submissions with "wet" signatures. Under Revenue Procedure 2020-29, taxpayers can electronically submit requests for advice to the IRS Large Business and International Division (LB&I) and the following Associate Chief Counsel Offices: Corporate; Employee Benefits, Exempt Organizations, Employment Taxes; Financial Institutions and Products; Income Tax and Accounting; International; Passthroughs and Special Industries; and Procedure and Administration. Revenue Procedure 2020-29 does not modify the procedures for obtaining determination letters from the IRS's Small Business/Self Employed Division, Wage and Investment Division, or Tax Exempt and Government Entities Division.

Electronic submissions may be transmitted by fax or compressed and encrypted email attachments, and must be signed in accordance with the instructions in Revenue Procedure 2020-29. Any additional required information and signed consent agreements may also be submitted electronically.

Electronic submission

Requests under the jurisdiction of the named Associate Chief Counsel Offices may be faxed to (877) 773-4950 or emailed to Userfee@irscounsel.treas.gov. Requests directed to LB&I may be faxed to (844) 249-6231 or emailed to lbi.irt.info@irs.gov.

Taxpayers must first pay the applicable user fee through www.pay.gov before submitting a request for advice. In addition to the materials specified in Revenue Procedure 2020-1, the request package must also include a copy of the user fee receipt from www.pay.gov. Email submissions must include electronic images of the "Acknowledgement of Risks with Email" (which is attached to the revenue procedure) signed by the taxpayer or officer of the taxpayer.

Taxpayers that submit requests by email must use a compression and encryption utility compatible with SecureZIP and allow the password-enabled encryption of email attachments and other files. Passwords should be sent to the IRS in an email separate from the email submitting the request for advice. Taxpayer information should be included only in the encrypted attachments, not in the subject line or body of the email.

Previously filed paper requests that have not yet been processed by the IRS may be resubmitted by fax or email to expedite processing. Such submissions should indicate that they are duplicates of paper submissions.

Electronic signatures

Revenue Procedure 2020-29 modifies Revenue Procedure 2020-1 to allow electronic signatures on both paper and electronic submissions, in lieu of wet signatures. The IRS said it will accept digital or scanned/photographed images of signatures in tiff, jpg, jpeg, pdf, Microsoft Office suite or Zip format.

This electronic signature guidance applies only to documents submitted under Revenue Procedure 2020-1, and not to broader categories of documents such as tax returns.

Implications

The relief provided in Revenue Procedure 2020-29 is welcome news for taxpayers seeking timely advice from the IRS during the COVID-19 pandemic. Not only does this new guidance allow for expedited processing through fax or email, it also recognizes and accommodates the challenges of taxpayers working from home offices. Under the revenue procedure, everything from paying the user fee to drafting, signing and submitting the request package can be accomplished on a taxpayer's computer. Further, taxpayers who previously submitted requests in paper form may submit a duplicate copy via the outlined electronic means instead of waiting for IRS mail processing operations to resume.

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