In: Accounting
1. Fully explain the following types of regulations and their legal effect:
a. Legislative
b. Interpretive
c. Procedural
There are three types of tax regulations—legislative,
interpretive and procedural. Details on each type of regulation are
discussed below.
Legislative Regulations
The Internal Revenue Code authorizes the IRS to provide operational
rules for specific IRC provisions. Generally, legislative
regulations carry the same weight of authority as the law itself.
The regulation will typically refer to its statutory authority.
Interpretive Regulations
Interpretive regulations help to explain the IRS’s position on
various IRC sections. Interpretive regulations are issued under the
IRS’s general authority to interpret the language of the IRC, but
they are not specifically authorized by the law. They are subject
to challenge if they do not reflect Congressional intent.
Nevertheless, interpretive regulations often carry substantial
weight of authority.
Procedural Regulations
Procedural regulations address procedural rather than
interpretative matters, such as how to go about filing returns and
making elections. Generally, procedural regulations relating to
particular IRC Sections are considered to be binding. However, the
procedural regulations set forth in 26 CFR Part 601, known as the
Statement of Procedural Rules, are considered to be directive and
not mandatory. The Statement of Procedural Rules provides
guidelines for conducting the internal affairs of the IRS. They are
issued by the IRS Commissioner without the signature of the
Treasury Secretary. Nevertheless, the procedural rules are
published in the Federal Register and have the status of
regulations. Therefore, such rules have higher weight of authority
than other IRS pronouncements that are not published in the Federal
Register.