We agree with NTA Collins that “[i]f the Taxpayer Bill of Rights is to be given meaning, this scenario violates ‘The Right to Informed’ and ‘The Right to a Fair and Just Tax System.’”  We also emphatically agree that “[i]t is neither fair nor reasonable for the government to impose a penalty against a taxpayer who follows information the government provides on its website.” But we think that by focusing on the penalty, NTA Collins understates the unfairness faced by the taxpayer in this scenario.  Of course it is unfair for a taxpayer to be penalized for doing what the IRS itself said she could do, in a document specifically intended to guide taxpayer actions. And it is also unfair for the IRS to take down the document so that the taxpayer cannot offer it in support of a claim that she had “reasonable cause” for the position that resulted in the alleged underpayment, as provided by IRC § 6664(c)(1), which should allow her to avoid the penalty without reaching the question of whether the FAQ constitutes substantial authority for the taxpayer’s position. Indeed, removing an FAQ from the IRS website after a taxpayer has relied on it may also violate the taxpayer’s “Right to Challenge the IRS’s Position and Be Heard” because the IRS is thereby interfering with the taxpayer’s ability to provide adequate documentation for her position.  We therefore heartily endorse the NTA’s recommendation that the IRS create and maintain an archive of all FAQs issued.

But the unfairness depicted in the opening scenario of the NTA’s blogpost is far deeper than the post acknowledges. The core unfairness is that by refusing to stand by the positions it takes in written guidance intended for the specific purpose of informing taxpayers, the IRS is disrespecting the taxpayer’s reasonable reliance. And respect for the reliance interest is at the core of justice. Outside of the tax law, respect for reliance has led to the development of entirely new theories of obligation, such as promissory estoppel.  As we have previously noted, by refusing to stand by its written statements the IRS is behaving like the Peanuts character Lucy:  Lucy tormented Charlie Brown by repeatedly offering to hold a football for him to kick, only to pull it away just as he was going to kick it, which sent him up in the air and caused him to end up lying flat on his back. The IRS should not behave like Lucy, and taxpayers deserve to be treated better than Charlie Brown.

We therefore believe that the IRS, which itself adopted the Taxpayer Bill of Rights even before Congress made it a part of IRC § 7803(a)(3) in 2015, should change its position and respect taxpayer reliance on written guidance, whether that guidance is included in the Internal Revenue Bulletin or in publications, instructions to forms, FAQs, or other written guidance.  Respecting reliance operationalizes the taxpayer’s right to be informed as well as the right to a fair and just tax system because respecting reliance is at the core of justice and due process.

We understand the IRS’s need for nimbleness in issuing guidance in the face of recently enacted and immediately effective legislation, and we agree with NTA Collins that “[b]ecause FAQ’s aren’t subject to thorough review, Treasury and the IRS may later decide some of them are wrong and change them.” Indeed, we believe that similar concerns apply to much subregulatory guidance, and we think it salutary for the IRS to remain open to alternative interpretations of legislative language and to change its position in light of further reflection and discussion. As Stanley Fish noted over three decades ago, “No text reads itself.” Stanley Fish, Consequences, 11 Critical Inquiry 433, 446 (1985) (“The semantic meaning of the text does not announce itself; it must be decided upon, that is, interpreted . . . . In short, no text reads itself . . . .”). The susceptibility of provisions of the Internal Revenue Code to reinterpretation is ongoing.

But neither the IRS’s need for nimbleness in issuing guidance nor its understandable desire for precision, which NTA Collins noted, require that it refuse to stand by the positions it takes in published documents it issues for the specific purpose of guiding taxpayer behavior. The IRS is entitled to change its position, but until it announces that it has done so it should stand by that position, and not assert a different position against taxpayers who have reasonably relied on its publicly issued written statement. While we agree with NTA Collins that FAQs and other written documents intended for taxpayer guidance should constitute substantial authority for penalty relief purposes, we don’t think her recommendation to classify FAQs as “’Internal Revenue Service information’” under Treasury Regulation § 1.6662-4(d)(3)(iii),” goes far enough. The IRS should stand by its all of its written, publicly announced, positions until it announces that it has changed positions, and it should do so for all purposes, not just for penalty protection. In other words, the IRS should apply the changed position prospectively only and not apply it to any taxpayer who has reasonably relied.

Moreover, the IRS’s inclusion of a non-reliance disclaimer in some FAQs, like many courts’ assertion that “[i]t is hornbook law that informal publications all the way up to revenue rulings are simply guides to taxpayers, and a taxpayer relies on them at his peril,” Caterpillar Tractor Co. v. United States, 218 Ct. Cl. 517 (1978) (citing, Carpenter v. United States, 495 F.2d 175 (5th Cir. 1974)), while arguably well intentioned, only serves to undermine the agency’s legitimacy.  As NTA Collins pithily observed, “Why should taxpayers even bother reading and following FAQs if they can’t rely on them and if the IRS can change its position at any time and assess both tax and penalties?” The same question can be asked with respect to publications and instructions to forms.

We publicly expressed our views on taxpayers’ right to rely on statements in IRS written guidance in May, 2019, at the 4^th International Taxpayer Rights Conference in Minneapolis when we participated in a panel discussion at a session on “The Virtues of Tax Authority Advice.” A recording of that panel discussion is available here and archived materials from the Conference can be found here. (Information on future International Taxpayer Rights Conferences to be held in Pretoria, South Africa, and Athens Greece, can be found here.) Our Conference presentation is now a draft article which we expect to be able to post on SSRN in a few weeks; its working title is Stand by your Words: Operationalizing Taxpayer Right to be Informed. In addition to fleshing out the positions articulated here and explaining why the change in the IRS’s stance on taxpayer reliance should not result in weaponizing IRS written guidance, we also argue that if the IRS persists in behaving as depicted by the opening scenario of the NTA’s blog, courts should apply the doctrine of equitable estoppel to protect taxpayers from harm.  We recognize that asserting equitable estoppel against the government is extraordinarily difficult, but, again, we believe that enactment of the TBOR and its adoption by the IRS provide a basis for a change in the status quo.