IRS Seeks Recommendations for 2017-2018 Priority Guidance Plan

Public Comment Invited on Recommendations for 2017-2018 Priority Guidance Plan

The Department of the Treasury (Treasury Department) and the Internal Revenue Service (Service) invite public comment on recommendations for items that should be included on the 2017-2018 Priority Guidance Plan.

The Treasury Department's Office of Tax Policy and the Service use the Priority Guidance Plan each year to identify and prioritize the tax issues that should be addressed through regulations, revenue rulings, revenue procedures, notices, and other published administrative guidance. The 2017-2018 Priority Guidance Plan will identify guidance projects that the Treasury Department and the Service intend to work on as priorities during the period from July 1, 2017, through June 30, 2018.

The Treasury Department and the Service recognize the importance of public input in formulating a Priority Guidance Plan that focuses resources on guidance items that are most important to taxpayers and tax administration. Published guidance plays an important role in increasing voluntary compliance by helping to clarify ambiguous areas of the tax law. The published guidance process is most successful if the Treasury Department and the Service have the benefit of the experience and knowledge of taxpayers and practitioners who must apply the rules implementing the internal revenue laws. This input is of particular importance in light of Executive Order 13771 (82 FR 9339) and other recent executive orders that may affect the number or type of guidance projects that can be issued during the 2017-2018 plan year.

As is the case whenever significant tax legislation is enacted, the Treasury Department and the Service will dedicate substantial resources during the current plan year to published guidance projects necessary to implement various provisions of tax legislation enacted over the past several years or that may be enacted during the plan year. The Treasury Department and the Service will continue to evaluate the priority of each guidance project taking into account this tax legislation, as well as other developments occurring during the 2017-2018 plan year.

In reviewing recommendations and selecting projects for inclusion on the 2017-2018 Priority Guidance Plan, the Treasury Department and the Service will consider the following:

Please submit recommendations by June 1, 2017, for possible inclusion on the original 2017-2018 Priority Guidance Plan. Taxpayers may, however, submit recommendations for guidance at any time during the year. The Treasury Department and the Service may update the 2017-2018 Priority Guidance Plan periodically to reflect additional guidance that the Treasury Department and the Service intend to publish during the plan year. The periodic updates allow the Treasury Department and the Service to respond to the need for additional guidance that may arise during the plan year.

Taxpayers are not required to submit recommendations for guidance in any particular format. Taxpayers should, however, briefly describe the recommended guidance and explain the need for the guidance. In addition, taxpayers may include an analysis of how the issue should be resolved. For recommendations to modify, streamline, or withdraw existing regulations or other guidance, taxpayers should explain how the changes would reduce taxpayer cost and/or burden or benefit tax administration. It would be helpful if taxpayers suggesting more than one guidance project prioritize the projects by order of importance. If a large number of projects are being suggested, it would be helpful if the projects were grouped in terms of high, medium, or low priority. Requests for guidance in the form of petitions for rulemaking will be considered with other recommendations for guidance in accordance with the considerations described in this notice.

Taxpayers may mail comments to:

or hand deliver comments Monday through Friday between the hours of 8 a.m. and 4 p.m. to:

Alternatively, taxpayers may submit comments electronically via the Federal eRulemaking Portal at www.regulations.gov (type IRS-2017-0008 in the search field on the regulations.gov homepage to find this notice and submit comments). All recommendations for guidance submitted by the public in response to this notice will be available for public inspection and copying in their entirety. For further information regarding this notice, contact Emily M. Lesniak of the Office of Associate Chief Counsel (Procedure and Administration) at (202) 317-3400 (not a toll-free call).