FAQs published by the IRS seem to increase exponentially each year. Just for the advance child tax credit of the American Rescue Plan Act (P.L. 117-2, 3/11/21), the IRS has over 80 FAQs and continue to update them even 10 months after enactment (but then, it is a multi-facited somewhat complex provision).
On October 15, 2021, the IRS announced a modification to its FAQ process for those issued on newly enacted legilation and emerging issues (IR-2021-202). Those FAQs will be released in a news release along with a Fact Sheet. Later updates should result in an updated Fact Sheet and we should be able to find any deleted or modified FAQs in prior fact sheets. As a news releases these FAQs are “authority” under Reg. 1.6662-4, although a low level of authority.
Fact Sheet FAQs will also include a disclaimer which includes:
“Because these FAQs have not been published in the Internal Revenue Bulletin, they will not be relied on or used by the IRS to resolve a case. Similarly, if an FAQ turns out to be an inaccurate statement of the law as applied to a particular taxpayer’s case, the law will control the taxpayer’s tax liability. Nonetheless, a taxpayer who reasonably and in good faith relies on these FAQs will not be subject to a penalty that provides a reasonable cause standard for relief, including a negligence penalty or other accuracy-related penalty, to the extent that reliance results in an underpayment of tax.”
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