A Revenue Ruling is an official interpretation by the IRS of the Code, related statutes, tax treaties, and regulations. It explains the IRS's position on how the law is applied to a specific set of facts.
Any taxpayer whose circumstances are substantially the same as those described in the Ruling can rely on it.
The Internal Revenue Service publishes the Internal Revenue Bulletin ("IRB") weekly. The Cumulative Bulletin ("CB") is a semi-annual compiliation of the IRB. The IRS publishes several different types of administrative guidence in the IRB, including:
In order to find IRB material, use CCH Standard Federal Tax Reporter, CCH or Thomson Reuters Checkpoint online, WESTLAW or Lexis.
In WESTLAW:
FTX-CB = Cumulative Bulletin
FTX-RELS = All IRS releases
FTX-RR = Revenue Rulings
FTX-RP = Revenue Procedures
FTX-ANN = Notices & Announcements
FTX-AOD = Actions on Decision
In Lexis:
IRS Cumulative Bulletin database
IRS Revenue Rulings database
In print:
Notices: Provide guidance before Revenue Rulings and Revenue Procedures have been finalized.
Announcements: A public pronouncement that has only immediate or short-term value. These tend to fall into several categories:
Actions on Decision: A memorandum by the IRS after losing in litigation stating whether or not it will appeal similar cases in the future. ("Acquiescence")