Everyone has seen them. Those ubiquitous, obnoxious, and often unread “Circular 230 Disclaimers” that are at the end of every attorney’s email. Since around 2005, attorneys, despite their area of expertise, have felt obligated to include these disclaimers on all written communications (most notably email) in order to comply with provisions under Circular 230. In particular, Circular 230 had imposed so many strictures and requirements on written tax advice that attorneys concluded they had little choice but to include a standardized disclaimer on all of their written communications so that they would not inadvertently trigger all of the procedural and substantive requirements that would otherwise be imposed under Circular 230.
Fortunately, the IRS has determined that ostensibly forcing every attorney throughout the U.S., regardless of practice area, to include a standardized disclaimer on written advice was detrimental to attorneys and their clients–the classic case of good intentions resulting in bad, impractical policies. The good news for attorneys and clients alike is that the IRS has recently published final regulations that will significantly revise the requirements of Circular 230. Most notably, the standards for providing written tax advice have changed and it appears that in the future, those bulky Circular 230 standard disclaimers will be left in the dust bin of history.