IRS Holding Off On Issuing Guidance

In response to President Trump's executive order requiring two regulations to be repealed for every new regulation issued and the regulatory freeze memorandum issued on Inauguration Day, an IRS official has stated that the IRS is stepping back from issuing regulatory guidenace on anything but the most routine items (such as interest rate announcements). This freeze on issuing regulatory guidance will include a freeze on issuing revenue procedures and revenue rulings.

Hopefully, the recent confirmation of Steven Mnuchin as Treasury Secretary will allow the IRS to move past this guidance freeze, as there are areas for which guidance is desperately needed, especially with respect to the new partnership audit regime that will go into effect on January 1st.