Taxpayer enthusiasm for the APA process may abate following a recent decision by the Internal Revenue Service to release redacted APAs to the public, despite a history of assurances of nondisclosure.
In a reversal of the position that it had taken since the inception of its advance pricing agreement ("APA") program, the Internal Revenue Service (the "Service") recently conceded, during litigation brought by a legal publisher under the US Freedom of Information Act ("FOIA")1 and Section 6110 of the Internal Revenue Code,2 that APAs (and supporting documentation) must be disclosed to the public. Speculation abounds as to the real reasons for the Service's concession.
Even though the Service's position concerning the confidentiality of APAs and supporting documentation had been questioned by practitioners from the outset of the program, taxpayers who participated in the APA program probably felt betrayed by the Service's recent concession. The Service apparently made the concession
