Summaries Released of Select Informal Conference Decisions: The Tennessee Department of Revenue (Department) recently posted certain selected informal conference summaries, which provide taxpayers with insight into how the Department's Administrative Hearing Office (Hearing Office) will address various issues arising under certain topic areas. The topics of the post, released on December 23, 2025, include personal liability for taxes; successor liability; lack of records; consumer use tax; sales and use tax; business tax; franchise and excise taxes; and miscellaneous other taxes. Each topic includes several summaries of related conference decisions rendered by the Hearing Office during the State's fiscal year ending June 30, 2025. Similar summaries were last posted by the Department for the fiscal year ending June 30, 2023. These informal conference summaries can be found here.
A taxpayer receiving a Notice of Proposed Assessment (NOPA) must request an informal conference with the Department's Hearing Office within 30 days. Timely requesting such an informal conference is not the sole approach for disputing such a NOPA, since the taxpayer, for example, has the right to forego the Hearing Office and contest the NOPA by timely filing a complaint in the appropriate court. Nevertheless, requesting an informal conference can provide certain benefits to the taxpayer such as reduced costs for disputing the NOPA and the possibility of resolving the matter with the Department's Audit Division in the informal conference setting.
The Department is authorized by Tenn. Code Ann. § 67-l-1438(h) to publish guidance to taxpayers and practitioners resulting from these conference decisions. However, nothing in that Section authorizes the disclosure of return or tax information. Further, a conference decision is not to be referenced or cited as precedence in any instance or as guidance unless such guidance has been published or publicized consistent with that Section. In that regard, Section 67-1-108 defines "published guidance" as meaning tax manuals, important notices, statements presented in a question-and-answer format, or other substantive statements from the Department regarding the taxability of a privilege published on the Department's website.
While the informal conference summaries can offer some insights into particular issues, each taxpayer's situation must be considered based on its own facts and circumstances.
