Revenue Ruling 2006-23, April 24, 2006

LIFO; price indexes; department stores. The February 2006 Bureau of Labor Statistics price indexes are accepted for use by department stores employing the retail inventory and last-in, first-out inventory methods for valuing inventories for tax years ended on, or with reference to, February 28, 2006.

The following Department Store Inventory Price Indexes for February 2006 were issued by the Bureau of Labor Statistics. The indexes are accepted by the Internal Revenue Service, under § 1.472-1(k) of the Income Tax Regulations and Rev. Proc. 86-46, 1986-2 C.B. 739, for appropriate application to inventories of department stores employing the retail inventory and last-in, first-out inventory methods for tax years ended on, or with reference to, February 28, 2006.

The Department Store Inventory Price Indexes are prepared on a national basis and include (a) 23 major groups of departments, (b) three special combinations of the major groups — soft goods, durable goods, and miscellaneous goods, and (c) a store total, which covers all departments, including some not listed separately, except for the following: candy, food, liquor, tobacco, and contract departments.

BUREAU OF LABOR STATISTICS, DEPARTMENT STORE INVENTORY PRICE INDEXES BY DEPARTMENT GROUPS (January 1941 = 100, unless otherwise noted)
Groups		Feb. 2005	Feb. 2006	Percent Change from Feb. 2005 to Feb. 2006¹
1.	Piece Goods	479.3	437.4	-8.7
2.	Domestics and Draperies	533.5	499.5	-6.4
3.	Women’s and Children’s Shoes	663.6	678.8	2.3
4.	Men’s Shoes	852.2	869.8	2.1
5.	Infants’ Wear	575.5	563.8	-2.0
6.	Women’s Underwear	527.1	538.4	2.1
7.	Women’s Hosiery	349.2	346.1	-0.9
8.	Women’s and Girls’ Accessories	592.0	570.3	-3.7
9.	Women’s Outerwear and Girls’ Wear	346.8	334.1	-3.7
10.	Men’s Clothing	550.9	519.4	-5.7
11.	Men’s Furnishings	574.2	556.4	-3.1
12.	Boys’ Clothing and Furnishings	423.5	400.2	-5.5
13.	Jewelry	878.8	857.6	-2.4
14.	Notions	780.0	793.6	1.7
15.	Toilet Articles and Drugs	998.7	1010.6	1.2
16.	Furniture and Bedding	601.8	602.0	0.0
17.	Floor Coverings	602.4	614.1	1.9
18.	Housewares	713.8	698.0	-2.2
19.	Major Appliances	203.7	204.3	0.3
20.	Radio and Television	39.7	37.3	-6.0
21.	Recreation and Education²	79.7	77.3	-3.0
22.	Home Improvements²	136.1	139.2	2.3
23.	Automotive Accessories²	113.9	117.4	3.1

Groups 1-15: Soft Goods		556.7	543.7	-2.3
Groups 16-20: Durable Goods		381.0	375.1	-1.5
Groups 21-23: Misc. Goods²		93.8	93.3	-0.5

	Store Total³	494.3	484.5	-2.0

¹Absence of a minus sign before the percentage change in this column signifies a price increase.
²Indexes on a January 1986 = 100 base.
³The store total index covers all departments, including some not listed separately, except for the following: candy, food, liquor, tobacco, and contract departments.

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The principal author of this revenue ruling is Michael Burkom of the Office of Associate Chief Counsel (Income Tax and Accounting). For further information regarding this revenue ruling, contact Mr. Burkom at (202) 622-7924 (not a toll-free call).

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LIFO; Price Indexes; Department Stores

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