n-19-30.pdf

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Public Comment Invited on Recommendations for 2019-2020 Priority Guidance Plan

Notice 2019-30

The Department of the Treasury (Treasury Department) and the Internal
Revenue Service (Service) invite public comment on recommendations for items that
should be included on the 2019-2020 Priority Guidance Plan.
The Treasury Department's Office of Tax Policy and the Service use the Priority
Guidance Plan each year to identify and prioritize the tax issues that should be
addressed through regulations, revenue rulings, revenue procedures, notices, and other
published administrative guidance. The 2019-2020 Priority Guidance Plan will identify
guidance projects that the Treasury Department and the Service intend to actively work
on as priorities during the period from July 1, 2019, through June 30, 2020.
The Treasury Department and the Service recognize the importance of public
input in formulating a Priority Guidance Plan that focuses resources on guidance items
that are most important to taxpayers and tax administration. Published guidance plays
an important role in increasing voluntary compliance by helping to clarify ambiguous
areas of the tax law. The published guidance process is most successful if the Treasury
Department and the Service have the benefit of the experience and knowledge of
taxpayers and practitioners who must apply the rules implementing the tax laws.
On December 22, 2017, P.L. 115-97, “An Act to provide for the reconciliation
pursuant to titles II and V of the concurrent resolution on the budget for fiscal year

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2018,” commonly referred to as the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act (TCJA), was enacted. Since
that time, the Treasury Department and the Service have focused their efforts on
guidance projects necessary to implement the TCJA and published 111 items, including
30 regularly scheduled items, during the first two quarters of the 2018-2019 plan year.
The Treasury Department and the Service expect to continue to prioritize
guidance implementing the TCJA during the 2019-2020 plan year and that the plan will
reflect this priority. The Treasury Department and the Service expect that, even though
many important projects not related to the TCJA were published during the 2018-2019
plan year, a number of other non-TCJA guidance projects on the 2018-2019 Priority
Guidance Plan will not be completed by June 30, 2019. These projects may be carried
over to the 2019-2020 Priority Guidance Plan. Due to resource limitations, the Treasury
Department and the Service also expect that not all of the uncompleted projects will be
carried over to the 2019-2020 Priority Guidance Plan, and only a limited number of new
non-TCJA guidance projects will be added to the plan.
In reviewing recommendations and selecting additional projects for inclusion on
the 2019-2020 Priority Guidance Plan, the Treasury Department and the Service will
consider the following:
1. Whether the recommended guidance resolves significant issues relevant to
many taxpayers;
2. Whether the recommended guidance reduces controversy and lessens the
burden on taxpayers or the Service;
3. Whether the recommendation involves existing regulations or other guidance
that is outdated, unnecessary, ineffective, insufficient, or unnecessarily

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burdensome and that should be modified, streamlined, expanded, replaced,
or withdrawn;
4. Whether the recommended guidance would be in accordance with
Executive Order 13771 (82 FR 9339), Executive Order 13777 (82 FR 12285),
Executive Order 13789 (82 FR 19317), or other executive orders.
5. Whether the recommended guidance promotes sound tax administration;
6. Whether the Service can administer the recommended guidance on a uniform
basis; and
7. Whether the recommended guidance can be drafted in a manner that will
enable taxpayers to easily understand and apply the guidance.
Please submit recommendations by Friday, June 7, 2019, for possible inclusion
on the original 2019-2020 Priority Guidance Plan. Taxpayers may, however, submit
recommendations for guidance at any time during the year. The Treasury Department
and the Service will update the 2019-2020 Priority Guidance Plan periodically to reflect
additional guidance that the Treasury Department and the Service intend to publish
during the plan year. The periodic updates allow the Treasury Department and the
Service to respond in a timely manner to the need for additional guidance that may arise
during the plan year.
Taxpayers are not required to submit recommendations for guidance in any
particular format. Taxpayers should, however, briefly describe the recommended
guidance and explain the need for the guidance. In addition, taxpayers may include an
analysis of how the issue should be resolved. For recommendations to modify,
streamline, or withdraw existing regulations or other guidance, taxpayers should explain

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how the changes would reduce taxpayer cost and/or burden or benefit tax
administration. It would be helpful if taxpayers suggesting more than one guidance
project prioritize the projects by order of importance. If a large number of projects are
being suggested, it would be helpful if the projects were grouped by subject matter and
then in terms of high, medium, or low priority. Requests for guidance in the form of
petitions for rulemaking will be considered with other recommendations for guidance in
accordance with the considerations described in this notice.
Taxpayers may submit comments electronically via the Federal eRulemaking
Portal at www.regulations.gov
(type IRS-2019-0019 in the search field on the
regulations.gov homepage to find this notice and submit comments).
Alternatively, taxpayers may mail comments to:
Internal Revenue Service
Attn: CC:PA:LPD:PR (Notice 2019-30) Room 5203
P.O. Box 7604
Ben Franklin Station
Washington, D.C. 20044

All recommendations for guidance submitted by the public in response to this
notice will be available for public inspection and copying in their entirety. For further
information regarding this notice, contact Emily M. Lesniak of the Office of the Associate
Chief Counsel (Procedure and Administration) at (202) 317-3400 (not a toll-free call).