The IRC, at 26 U.S.C. 7121, authorizes
the Secretary of the Treasury to enter into a written agreement
with any person relating to the liability of such person (or of the
person or estate for whom he or she acts) in respect to any
internal revenue tax for any taxable period. That IRC section also
states that such agreements, once approved, are final and
conclusive, unless it is shown that the taxpayer exhibited fraud or
malfeasance, or misrepresented a material fact. Under its delegated
authority, TTB has issued regulations at 27 CFR 70.485 pertaining
to such “closing agreements.” Specific to this information
collection, the regulation requires a taxpayer or their agent to
submit a written request to TTB to enter into a closing agreement
to resolve certain Federal excise tax matters. TTB uses the
information collected in such a request and any attached supporting
documentation to determine whether the Bureau should pursue a
closing agreement with the taxpayer. Closing agreements allow TTB
and a taxpayer to resolve tax liability matters prior to any
adversarial legal or administrative proceedings.
US Code:
26
USC 7121 Name of Law: Internal Revenue Code
There are no program changes
associated with this collection. As for adjustments, due to a
change in agency estimates, TTB is increasing the annual number of
respondents and responses to this information collection from 1 to
5, and the resulting estimated annual burden associated with this
collection from 1 hour to 5 hours. This is due to an increase in
the estimated number of respondents who will file a request for a
closing agreement with TTB on an annual basis. In addition, to
clarify the subject of this information collection request, TTB is
revising its title from “Administrative Remedies — Closing
Agreements” to “Administrative Remedies — Requests for Closing
Agreements.”
On behalf of this Federal agency, I certify that
the collection of information encompassed by this request complies
with 5 CFR 1320.9 and the related provisions of 5 CFR
1320.8(b)(3).
The following is a summary of the topics, regarding
the proposed collection of information, that the certification
covers:
(i) Why the information is being collected;
(ii) Use of information;
(iii) Burden estimate;
(iv) Nature of response (voluntary, required for a
benefit, or mandatory);
(v) Nature and extent of confidentiality; and
(vi) Need to display currently valid OMB control
number;
If you are unable to certify compliance with any of
these provisions, identify the item by leaving the box unchecked
and explain the reason in the Supporting Statement.