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ACA Penalty Notices May Not Meet Section 6751(b) Requirements

Posted on June 22, 2020

We welcome back guest blogger Rochelle Hodes. Rochelle is a Principal in Washington National Tax at Crowe LLP and was previously Associate Tax Legislative Counsel with Treasury. As we prepare to gear back up for IRS enforcement activity, she provides a timely discussion of the ever popular IRC 6751(b) and another way it may help your client when the IRS seeks to penalize. Keith

Section 6751(b)(1) generally provides that no penalty can be assessed unless the initial determination of such assessment is personally approved in writing by the immediate supervisor of the individual making such determination or such higher level official as the Secretary may designate. Written supervisory approval is not required to impose a penalty under Section 6651, 6654, or 6655. Written supervisory approval also is not required to impose a penalty that is automatically calculated through electronic means.

Section 6751(b) has been covered many times in the Procedurally Taxing blog. Generally, the Tax Court will not sustain the IRS’s assertion of a penalty if the IRS cannot demonstrate that written supervisory approval is not obtained prior to the initial determination of assessment of the penalty. The latest in this line of cases is Kroner v. Commissioner, T.C. Memo. 2020-73 (June 1, 2020), which further fine-tunes earlier holdings regarding when the initial determination of the penalty is made.

Prior to Kroner, the Tax Court ruled in Clay v. Commissioner, 152 T.C. 223, 249 (2019), blogged here, and Belair Woods, LLC v. Commissioner, 154 T.C. ___ (Jan. 6, 2020), blogged here, that the initial determination is the date on which the IRS formally communicates to the taxpayer Examination’s determination to assert a penalty and notifies the taxpayer of their right to appeal that determination. In Clay, that court held that the initial determination was the date that the IRS issued the revenue agent’s report (RAR) and the 30-day letter. In Belair, the court held that the initial determination was the date that the IRS issued the 60-day letter, which in the case of a TEFRA partnership is the notice that communicates Examination’s determination that penalties should be imposed and notifies the taxpayer of their right to go to Appeals.

In Kroner, the IRS issued a Letter 915, which is an examination report transmittal, to notify the taxpayer that Examination is proposing penalties and that the taxpayer has a right to go to Appeals. Later, the IRS sent the taxpayer an RAR and a 30-day letter. The written supervisory approval for penalties was issued after the Letter 915 was sent and before the RAR and 30-day letter were sent. The Tax Court held that regardless of what the IRS calls the notice that provides the taxpayer with its determination of penalties and notification of the right to go to Appeals and regardless of the IRS’s intent, the initial determination for purposes of section 6751(b) is the first time examination determines that it will assert the penalty and notifies the taxpayer that they have a right to appeal that determination. In Kroner, the court held that this occurred when the IRS issued the Letter 915. Accordingly, written supervisory approval was issued after the initial determination for purposes of section 6751(b), and the penalty was not sustained.

On May 20, 2020, the IRS issued an immediately effective interim IRM 20.1.1.2.3.1 on the timing of supervisory approval:

For all penalties subject to section 6751(b)(1), written supervisory approval required under section 6751(b)(1) must be obtained prior to issuing any written communication of penalties to a taxpayer that offers the taxpayer an opportunity to sign an agreement or consent to assessment or proposal of the penalty.

Not long before Kroner was decided and the interim IRM guidance above was released, I had a client who received an IRS form letter, Form 5005-A (Rev 7-2018), imposing immediately assessable information reporting penalties under section 6721 and section 6722 for 2017 for failure to timely file Forms 1094-C and 1095-C. This letter is one of several form letters that are being issued under the IRS’s ACA employer compliance initiative. Under section 6056, employers are required to file and furnish these ACA-related forms to report offers of health coverage.

The Form 5005-A states that the taxpayer can agree with the penalty and pay it. If the taxpayer disagrees, the letter states that the taxpayer will “have the opportunity to appeal the penalties after we send you a formal request for payment.” A Form 866-A, Explanation of Items, is attached explaining the basis for assertion of penalties. The conclusion section states: “Subject to managerial approval, because the Employer failed to file Form(s) 1094-C and 1095-C and furnish Forms 1095-C as required pursuant to section 6056, the employer is subject to the penalties under IRC 6721 and IRC 6722 calculated above.”

The Letter 5005-A and Form 866-A are striking in three regards: 1) The letters clearly communicate Examination’s determination to impose the penalty; 2) the Letter 5005-A is less clear about the opportunity to go to appeals because it delays the opportunity until a formal request for payment is made, but there is clear notification that the right to go to Appeals exists and can be exercised; and 3) the Form 866-A takes the guess work out of whether there was supervisory approval—it states affirmatively that there has not yet been supervisory approval.

Kroner makes it clear that the name or number of the form the IRS uses to communicate the determination and right to appeal is of no consequence. As applied to the Letter 5005-A, there is a determination and arguably there is notification of the right to appeal, therefore, the date of this notice is the initial determination of the penalty. Since according to the Form 866-A there was no supervisory approval before the date the Letter 5005-A was issued, the IRS has failed to satisfy section 6751(b) and the penalties should not apply.

Even if the “notice of the right to go to Appeals” prong of Kroner is not satisfied, the Letter 5005-A clearly meets the standard for when supervisory approval is required under the interim IRM provisions because the taxpayer is provided the opportunity to agree with and pay the penalty. While the interim IRM provisions were issued on May 20, 2020, they represent the IRS interpretation of how they should be complying with section 6751(b). Therefore, failure to comply with the interim IRM provisions in the past should be a failure to comply with section 6751(b).

IRS is currently sending penalty notices that were being held back due to the pandemic. For penalties other than sections 6651, 6654, and 6655, practitioners should carefully review notices to evaluate whether section 6751(b) applies and if so, whether the letter is an initial determination required to be preceded by written supervisory approval.

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