The IRS has a program for assisting taxpayers who have technical problems with tax laws and regulations. The IRS will answer inquiries from individuals and organizations about the tax effect of their acts or transactions. The National Office of the IRS issues rulings on those matters.

A ruling is a written statement to a taxpayer that interprets and applies tax laws to the taxpayer's specific set of facts. There are also determination letters issued by IRS directors and information letters issued by IRS directors or the National Office.

There is a fee for most types of determination letters and rulings. For complete information on the rulings program, see Internal Revenue Bulletin 2008-01 at www.irs.gov/pub/irs-irbs/irb08-01.pdf.