Technical Advice Memoranda

Overview

A technical advice memorandum, or TAM, is guidance furnished by the Office of Chief Counsel upon the request of an IRS director or an area director, appeals, in response to technical or procedural questions that develop during a proceeding. A request for a TAM generally stems from an examination of a taxpayer’s return, a consideration of a taxpayer’s claim for a refund or credit, or any other matter involving a specific taxpayer under the jurisdiction of the territory manager or the area director, appeals. Technical Advice Memoranda are issued only on closed transactions and provide the interpretation of proper application of tax laws, tax treaties, regulations, revenue rulings or other precedents. The advice rendered represents a final determination of the position of the IRS, but only with respect to the specific issue in the specific case in which the advice is issued. Technical Advice Memoranda are generally made public after all information has been removed that could identify the taxpayer whose circumstances triggered a specific memorandum.

Technical Memoranda are documents prepared by the Office of the Chief Counsel that “explain the reasons behind the adoption of [a] Treasury Decision” and “are used by IRS personnel in determining the tax status of taxpayers.” Taxation With Representation Fund v. IRS, 485 F.Supp. 263 at 266 (D.D.C. 1980)

Locating IRS Technical Advice Memoranda

When IRS Technical Memoranda are not yet available on the American Tax Encyclopedia can be found on the following external site(s):

• IRS Technical Memoranda on the IRS website. This website, within IRS’s Electronic Reading Room, contains the text of Technical Advice Memoranda from 1997 to the present
• IRS Technical Memoranda on Legalbitstream
• Westlaw: (Formerly: FTX-TAM; FTX-WD database)
• Lexis: (Formerly: FEDTAX;PLR database)

These Westlaw and Lexis databases contain Technical Advice Memoranda from 1954 to the present.

Print and Online Sources:

• CCH’s Standard Federal Tax Reporter contains annotations to Technical Advice Memoranda in its compilation volumes following each IRC section. CCH’s online product, CCH Tax Research NetWork, contains the text of Technical Advice Memoranda in the Federal Tab in the “Letter Rulings & IRS Positions (including TAMs and FSAs)” section under Primary Sources.
• RIA’s United States Tax Reporter contains annotations to Technical Advice Memoranda in its compilation volumes following each IRC section. RIA’s online product, RIA Checkpoint, contains the text of Technical Advice Memoranda, which can be accessed via the “Rulings/IRB” section on the left side of the screen under Find By Citation or by searching in the “IRS Rulings and Releases” database under the Primary Source Materials heading, which contains Technical Advice Memoranda from 1953 to the present.
• Print: CCH IRS Letter Rulings Reporter (KF6289.A353)

Citing Technical Advice Memoranda in Bluebook

See Bluebook Rule 14.5.2(c). Example: Tech. Adv. Mem. 85-04-005 (Sept. 28, 1984).

IRS Technical Advice Memoranda Examples

• Technical Memorandum TM 1983-503 Internal Revenue Service NRPM published in F.R. 1-5-83. Internal Control No.: CC:LR-2117; Br4:CLClark [Final Draft of 10/25/82] MEMORANDUM FOR: Roscoe Egger Commissioner
• Technical Memorandum TM 1982-042 Internal Revenue Service T.D. 7842, published in F.R. 11-3-82. Internal Control No.: CC:LR-71-79; JRFelton [Final Draft of 7-23-82] MEMORANDUM FOR: Honorable John E. Chapoton Assistant Secretary of the Treasury
• Technical Memorandum TM 1985-033 Internal Revenue Service T.D. 8036, published in F.R. 7-23-85. Internal Control No.: CC:LR-205-78; Br1:RHGinsburgh [Final Draft of 8-27-84] MEMORANDUM FOR: Honorable Ronald A. Pearlman Acting Assistant Secretary of the Treasury SUBJECT: Treasury decision–Amendment of Excise Tax Regulations
• Technical Memorandum TM 1984-039 Internal Revenue Service T.D. 7970, published in F.R. 8-31-84. Internal Control No.: CC:LR-33-84; Br4:WAJackson [Final draft of 8-3-84] MEMORANDUM FOR: Honorable Ronald A. Pearlman Acting Assistant Secretary of the Treasury
• Technical Memorandum TM 1984-024 Internal Revenue Service Statement of Procedural Rule, published in F.R. 5-9-84. Internal Control No.: CC:LR-91-82; Br2:DHPellervo [Final draft of 10-25-83] TO: Roscoe L. Egger, Jr. Commissioner FROM: Acting Chief Counsel
• Technical Memorandum TM 1984-021 Internal Revenue Service T.D. 7953, published in F.R. 5-9-84. Internal Control No.: CC:LR-118-83 ; Br6:MHRapaport [Final draft of 1/24/84] MEMORANDUM FOR: Honorable John E. Chapoton
• Technical Memorandum TM 1983-029 Internal Revenue Service T.D. 7894, published in F.R. 5-19-83. Internal Control No.: CC:LR-68-75; Br5:KKlein [Final draft of 1/31/83] MEMORANDUM FOR: Honorable John E. Chapoton Assistant Secretary of the Treasury SUBJECT: Treasury decision–Amendment of the Income Tax Regulations
• Technical Memorandum TM 1982-026 Internal Revenue Service T.D. 7826, published in F.R. 9-2-82. Internal Control No.: CC:LR-280-81; Br6:BLWold [Final draft of 5-10-82] MEMORANDUM FOR: Honorable John E. Chapoton Assistant Secretary of the Treasury
• Technical Memorandum TM 1987-514 Internal Revenue Service NPRM, published in F.R. 9-21-87. Internal Control No.: CC:LR-183-82; Br1:GHMorse MEMORANDUM FOR: J. Roger Mentz Assistant Secretary of the Treasury SUBJECT: Notice of proposed rulemaking–Amendment of Income Tax Regulations under sections 48, 196, 312 and 705 of the Internal Revenue Code of 1954
• Technical Memorandum TM 1990-048 Internal Revenue Service T.D. 8326, published in F.R. 12-28-90. Internal Control No.: CC:IA-3-85; CC:IA-83-90; Br4:DLMeyer [Final draft of 12-10-90] MEMORANDUM FOR: Kenneth W. Gideon Assistant Secretary (Tax Policy) FROM: Fred T. Goldberg, Jr.