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Pension Resource

Circular 230 § 10.37

Requirements for written advice.
eCFR editorial change effective 2016-12-30 · current · last amended by T.D. 9668, 79 FR 33693, June 12, 2014
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Amended effective Jul 1, 2014 by T.D. 9668, 79 FR 33693, June 12, 2014. See what changed
(a) Requirements.
(1) A practitioner may give written advice (including by means of electronic communication) concerning one or more Federal tax matters subject to the requirements in paragraph (a)(2) of this section. Government submissions on matters of general policy are not considered written advice on a Federal tax matter for purposes of this section. Continuing education presentations provided to an audience solely for the purpose of enhancing practitioners' professional knowledge on Federal tax matters are not considered written advice on a Federal tax matter for purposes of this section. The preceding sentence does not apply to presentations marketing or promoting transactions.
(2) The practitioner must—
(i) Base the written advice on reasonable factual and legal assumptions (including assumptions as to future events);
(ii) Reasonably consider all relevant facts and circumstances that the practitioner knows or reasonably should know;
(iii) Use reasonable efforts to identify and ascertain the facts relevant to written advice on each Federal tax matter;
(iv) Not rely upon representations, statements, findings, or agreements (including projections, financial forecasts, or appraisals) of the taxpayer or any other person if reliance on them would be unreasonable;
(v) Relate applicable law and authorities to facts; and
(vi) Not, in evaluating a Federal tax matter, take into account the possibility that a tax return will not be audited or that a matter will not be raised on audit.
(3) Reliance on representations, statements, findings, or agreements is unreasonable if the practitioner knows or reasonably should know that one or more representations or assumptions on which any representation is based are incorrect, incomplete, or inconsistent.
(b) Reliance on advice of others. A practitioner may only rely on the advice of another person if the advice was reasonable and the reliance is in good faith considering all the facts and circumstances. Reliance is not reasonable when—
(1) The practitioner knows or reasonably should know that the opinion of the other person should not be relied on;
(2) The practitioner knows or reasonably should know that the other person is not competent or lacks the necessary qualifications to provide the advice; or
(3) The practitioner knows or reasonably should know that the other person has a conflict of interest in violation of the rules described in this part.
(c) Standard of review.
(1) In evaluating whether a practitioner giving written advice concerning one or more Federal tax matters complied with the requirements of this section, the Commissioner, or delegate, will apply a reasonable practitioner standard, considering all facts and circumstances, including, but not limited to, the scope of the engagement and the type and specificity of the advice sought by the client.
(2) In the case of an opinion the practitioner knows or has reason to know will be used or referred to by a person other than the practitioner (or a person who is a member of, associated with, or employed by the practitioner's firm) in promoting, marketing, or recommending to one or more taxpayers a partnership or other entity, investment plan or arrangement a significant purpose of which is the avoidance or evasion of any tax imposed by the Internal Revenue Code, the Commissioner, or delegate, will apply a reasonable practitioner standard, considering all facts and circumstances, with emphasis given to the additional risk caused by the practitioner's lack of knowledge of the taxpayer's particular circumstances, when determining whether a practitioner has failed to comply with this section.
(d) Federal tax matter. A Federal tax matter, as used in this section, is any matter concerning the application or interpretation of—
(1) A revenue provision as defined in section 6110(i)(1)(B) of the Internal Revenue Code;
(2) Any provision of law impacting a person's obligations under the internal revenue laws and regulations, including but not limited to the person's liability to pay tax or obligation to file returns; or
(3) Any other law or regulation administered by the Internal Revenue Service.
(e) Effective/applicability date. This section is applicable to written advice rendered after June 12, 2014.
Source credit, amendments & notes

[T.D. 9668, 79 FR 33693, June 12, 2014]

Circular 230 § 10.37 — Requirements for written advice. · eCFR editorial change effective 2016-12-30 · https://pensionresource.website/EAMain?content=EAMain.Law&id=cfr31-10.37 · printed Oct 16, 2026
On this page
  • (a) Requirements.
  • (b) Reliance on advice of others.
  • (c) Standard of review.
  • (d) Federal tax matter.
  • (e) Effective/applicability date.
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Each row is a version of the text as published by the official source. Code dates are the edition/release point that first reflected the change; regulation dates are eCFR effective dates. The library checks the official sources automatically, so new versions appear here on their own; “run” opens the sync that recorded a version.

EffectiveThroughSourceAmended by
Jul 1, 2005Jun 30, 2014CFR 2013 annual edition (revised as of 2013-07-01) run 12770 FR 20805, Apr. 21, 2005View
Jul 1, 2014currenteCFR editorial change effective 2016-12-30 run 5T.D. 9668, 79 FR 33693, June 12, 2014View · Redline (sign in)
Provision-level history (blame)