Estate Tax Closing Letters New User Fee

Starting October 28, a new $67 user fee will apply to any estate that requests a closing letter for its federal estate tax return. By law, federal agencies are required to charge a user fee to cover the cost of providing certain services to the public that confer a special benefit to the recipient. Agencies must review these fees every two years to determine whether they are recovering the cost of these services.
 
IRS has determined that issuing closing letters is a service that confers a special benefit warranting a user fee. That's because, although obtaining a closing letter from IRS can be helpful to an executor of an estate, it is not required by law. In addition, the estate has the option of obtaining a free account transcript from IRS, showing certain information from the estate tax return that is comparable to that found in a closing letter. Get details here.