Rev. Proc. 79-4

Sec. 1. Purpose.

.01 The purpose of this Revenue Procedure is to set forth procedures for submission of requests for rulings to the Internal Revenue Service to which sections 103 and 7478 of the Internal Revenue Code of 1954 apply. Section 7478, "Declaratory Judgments Relating to Status of Certain Governmental Obligations," was added by the Revenue Act of 1978, section 336, Pub. L. No. 95-600, 95th Cong., 2d Sess. (November 6, 1978).

Sec. 2. Background.

.01 Section 7478 of the Code allows, under the conditions specified therein, the issuer (and only the issuer) of prospective obligations to petition the United States Tax Court for a declaratory judgment in a case of actual controversy involving a determination by the Service, or a failure by the Service to make a determination, with respect to whether prospective obligations are described in section 103(a).

.02 The Tax Court may not issue a declaratory judgment or decree under section 7478 of the Code in any proceeding unless it determines that the issuer of the prospective obligations has exhausted all available administrative remedies within the Service.

Sec. 3. Requests For Rulings Under Section 103.

.01 A request for ruling under section 103 of the Code is to be submitted and signed, under the penalty of perjury, 1) by an authorized officer of the issuer, or 2) in the case of a joint submission, a) by both an authorized officer of the issuer and the taxpayer (prospective holder of the obligations) or b) by both an authorized officer of the issuer and the corporation that is the beneficiary of the governmental financing (beneficiary).

.02 In those instances in which an authorized representative is retained, the request for ruling must be submitted with powers of attorney that are properly executed and that are signed 1) by an authorized officer of the issuer, or 2) in the case of a joint submission a) by both an authorized officer of the issuer and the taxpayer or b) by both an authorized officer of the issuer and the beneficiary.

.03 Each request for ruling must contain a complete and detailed statement of all facts relating to the prospective obligations, and must comply with the requirements of Revenue Procedure 72-3, 1972-1 C.B. 698, to the extent that Rev. Proc. 72-3 is not inconsistent with this Revenue Procedure. Each request for ruling must be submitted in duplicate and must be accompanied by two copies of all relevant documents, including copies of state statutes, bond resolutions, bond indentures, leases, management contracts and other agreements. However, relevant facts reflected in the documents submitted must be included in the body of the ruling request and not merely incorporated by reference, and must be accompanied by an analysis of their bearing on the issue or issues specifying pertinent provisions. In addition, in order to assist the Internal Revenue Service in making the deletions required by section 6110(c) of the Code, each request for ruling must be accompanied by a deletion statement submitted in accordance with section 601.201 of the Statement of Procedural Rules (26 CFR Part 601).

.04 Each request for ruling must contain a statement of all reasons and legal authority that are pertinent in determining whether prospective obligations are described in section 103(a) of the Code. Thus, for example, a request for ruling that interest on prospective obligations to build a sports facility will be excludable from gross income under section 103(a) must contain a statement of facts, reasons, and legal authority that will enable the Service to determine whether the prospective obligations will be 1) issued by or on behalf of a state or local governmental unit, 2) industrial development bonds within the meaning of section 103(b)(2), 3) obligations which are issued as part of an issue substantially all of the proceeds of which will be used to provide facilities described in section 103(b)(4)(B), 4) obligations not held by persons described in section 103(b)(8), and 5) obligations that are not arbitrage bonds within the meaning of section 103(c)(2).

Sec. 4. Issuing Ruling Letters.

.01 The 180-day period referred to in section 7478(b)(2) of the Code will be considered by the Service to begin on the date that a ruling request that complies with section 3 of this Revenue Procedure is sent to the National Office of the Internal Revenue Service. If a request for ruling does not comply with all the requirements of section 3, it will not be processed further and the requester will be sent a letter that will point out the requirements that have not been met. The 180-day period will not be considered as starting until the date an amended request for ruling containing the additional information requested by the Service is sent to the National Office of the Internal Revenue Service.

.02 Although the Service may initially determine that a request for ruling complies with section 3 of this Revenue Procedure, the Service may, nevertheless, request additional information in support of a request for ruling. A failure to timely submit additional information requested by the Service will be considered a failure to exhaust administrative remedies within the meaning of section 7478(b)(2) of the Code. Additional information or statements of legal authority will be considered timely submitted if the letter containing such information is sent to the National Office of the Internal Revenue Service within 30 days after the date the additional information is requested. The additional information or statements of legal authority must be signed and submitted in the manner set forth in section 3.01 of this Revenue Procedure.

.03 Any oral representation of additional facts or modification of the facts as represented or alleged in the request for ruling must be sent to the National Office of the Internal Revenue Service in writing, under the penalty of perjury, within 7 days after the oral representation or modification, by the issuer, and in the case of a joint submission, by the beneficiary or the taxpayer (prospective holder of the obligations) and the issuer. Failure to submit a written statement of the oral representation of additional facts or modification of the facts within the time set forth in this subsection will be considered a failure to exhaust administrative remedies within the meaning of section 7478(b)(2) of the Code.

.04 Requests for rulings and additional correspondence or documents (including withdrawals of requests for rulings) submitted with respect to requests for rulings will be considered to be sent to the National Office of the Internal Revenue Service only if they are addressed to the Commissioner of Internal Revenue, Attention: T:FP:T--SECTION 103 REQUEST, 1111 Constitution Avenue, N.W., Washington, DC 20224.

Sec. 5. Withdrawal of Requests for Rulings.

.01 All withdrawals of requests for rulings must be sent in writing to the National Office of the Internal Revenue Service by the issuer or its authorized representative. A withdrawal will not be considered by the Service as either a failure to make a determination within the meaning of section 7478(a)(2) of the Code or as an exhaustion of administrative remedies within the meaning of section 7478(b)(2).

Sec. 6. Exhaustion of Administrative Remedies.

.01 Section 7478 of the Code requires that an issuer must exhaust its administrative remedies by taking, in a timely manner, all reasonable steps to secure a determination. Those steps and administrative remedies required to be exhausted within the Service are:

1 The filing of a request for ruling that complies with section 3 of this Revenue Procedure; and

2 The timely submission, in writing, of all additional information or representation of additional facts or modification of facts requested by the Service to process a request for ruling.

.02 An issuer will in no event be deemed to have exhausted its administrative remedies prior to the earlier of:

1 The date that the Internal Revenue Service sends by certified or registered mail notice of an unfavorable determination that the prospective obligations are not described in section 103(a) of the Code; or

2 The expiration of the 180-day period described in section 7478(b)(2) of the Code, in a case in which the Service has not made a determination whether the prospective obligations are described in section 103(a), and the issuer has completed the steps in section 6.01 of this Revenue Procedure.

Sec. 7. Notice of Determination.

.01 A notice of determination to which section 7478 of the Code applies is an unfavorable ruling letter, sent by certified or registered mail, which holds that prospective obligations are not described in section 103(a) of the Code.

Sec. 8. Inquiries.

.01 Inquiries with respect to this Revenue Procedure should refer to its number and should be addressed to the Commissioner of Internal Revenue, Attention :T:I:I, 1111 Constitution Avenue, N.W., Washington, DC 20224.

Sec. 9. Effect on Other Documents.

This Revenue Procedure supplements Rev. Proc. 72-3, 1972-1 C.B. 698.

Sec. 10. Effective Date.

This Revenue Procedure is effective for all requests submitted after December 31, 1978.

¹ Also released as News Release IR-2064, dated December 21, 1978.