Obtaining Advisory Opinion Rulings

Many people have found that there is little consistency in the tax advice they receive from the government over the phone. If given erroneous advice over the phone, a business can later be charged the tax on that transaction, plus interest and penalties.

However, there is a procedure where a business or individual can get binding advice in writing from the government. This binding written advice is often called different things in different states including an advisory opinion, attorney general ruling, private letter ruling, opinion of counsel, or many other things.

We can assist you in expeditiously obtaining a written advisory opinion or other binding advice from the government. In addition, we will research the applicable law prior to submitting the advisory opinion ruling request, to help insure that the questions are phrased in such a manner that your are likely to obtain a beneficial ruling. With this binding advice your business can rely on the government's recommended tax treatment of a transaction. If the advisory opinion is wrong, you and your business can not be held liable for the tax, interest, or penalties relating to the transaction.

Note: Nothing on this website should be interpreted to be legal, tax, or accounting advice. Every business or person should obtain detailed advice as applied to a specific transaction or hypothetical fact pattern.