Skip to Content

Home | Library | Tax Rulings | Letter and Revenue Rulings

Letter and Revenue Rulings

Statutory Authority
Tenn. Code Ann. § 67-1-109 gives the Commissioner the power to issue revenue and letter rulings at his discretion.

Letter rulings
A letter ruling is an interpretation and application of the tax law as it relates to a specific set of facts furnished to the Department by the taxpayer.  Assuming the facts are correctly represented by the taxpayer requesting a ruling, the Department is bound to follow its decision with respect to that taxpayer.  The taxpayer’s identity must be disclosed to the department in their letter ruling request.

Revenue rulings
Revenue rulings are statements regarding the substantive application of law and statements of procedure that affect the rights and duties of taxpayers and other members of the public.  Revenue rulings are advisory in nature and are not binding on the Department.  The taxpayer’s identity is not required for a nonbinding revenue ruling.

How to request a ruling
To request a ruling, the taxpayer or its representative should send a letter and $200 fee to the Commissioner of Revenue, 500 Deaderick Street, Nashville, TN  37242.  The letter should include the taxpayer’s question or questions, as well as a description of all relevant facts. The letter may also include the taxpayer’s analysis of the law; however, this is not required.  The department will contact the taxpayer for more information if needed.

Rulings on the Department of Revenue's Web site
Letter and revenue rulings are typically made available to the general public on the department’s Web site.  All rulings will be redacted to remove identifying taxpayer information before being made public.  If a taxpayer prefers that the ruling not be made public, even in redacted form, the taxpayer should indicate this preference in the ruling request.

Revocation of a ruling
A letter ruling may be revoked or modified by the Commissioner at any time.  Such revocation or modification shall be effective retroactively unless the following conditions are met, in which case the revocation shall be prospective only:

  1. The taxpayer must not have misstated or omitted material facts involved in the transaction;
  2. Facts that develop later must not be materially different from the facts upon which the ruling was based;
  3. The applicable law must not have been changed or amended;
  4. The ruling must have been issued originally with respect to a prospective or proposed transaction; and
  5. The taxpayer directly involved must have acted in good faith in relying upon the ruling and a retroactive revocation of the ruling must inure to his detriment.

Questions
If you have questions regarding letter or revenue rulings, you may contact the Department of Revenue's Legal Office.

Legal Office
Tennessee Department of Revenue
500 Deaderick Street
Andrew Jackson State Office Building
Nashville, TN 37242
Phone (615) 741-2348; FAX (615) 532-7346