Reg. § 301.7603-2 Third-party recordkeepers.
(a) Definitions
(1) Accountant A person is an accountant under section for purposes of determining whether that person is a third-party recordkeeper if, on the date the records described in the summons were created, the person was registered, licensed, or certified as an accountant under the authority of any state, commonwealth, territory, or possession of the United States, or of the District of Columbia.
(2) Attorney A person is an attorney under section for purposes of determining whether that person is a third-party recordkeeper if, on the date the records described in the summons were created, the person was registered, licensed, or certified as an attorney under the authority of any state, commonwealth, territory, or possession of the United States, or of the District of Columbia.
(3) Credit cards
(i) Person extending credit through credit cards The term person extending credit through the use of credit cards or similar devices under section generally includes any person who issues a credit card. The term does not include a seller of goods or services who honors credit cards issued by other parties but who does not extend credit through the use of credit cards or similar devices.
(ii) Devices similar to credit cards An object is a device similar to a credit card under section only if it is physical in nature, such as a charge plate or similar device that may be tendered to obtain an extension of credit. Thus, a person who extends credit by requiring customers to sign sales slips without requiring the use of, or reference to, a physical object issued by that person is not a third-party recordkeeper under section .
(iii) Debit cards A debit card is not a credit card or similar device because a debit card is not tendered to obtain an extension of credit.
(4) Enrolled agent A person is an enrolled agent under section for purposes of determining whether that person is a third-party recordkeeper if the person is enrolled as an agent authorized to practice before the Internal Revenue Service pursuant to Circular 230, 31 CFR Part 10.
(5) Owner or developer of certain computer code and data An owner or developer of computer software source code under section is a third-party recordkeeper when summoned to produce a computer software source code (as defined in section ), or an executable code and associated data described in section , even if that person did not make or keep records of another person's business transactions or affairs.
(b) When third-party recordkeeper status arises
(1) In general Except as provided in of this section, a person listed in section is a third-party recordkeeper for purposes of section and only if the summons served on that person seeks records (or testimony regarding such records) of a third party's business transactions or affairs and such recordkeeper made or kept the records in the capacity of a third-party recordkeeper. For instance, an accountant is not a third-party recordkeeper (by reason of being an accountant) with respect to the accountant's records of a sale of property by the accountant to another person. Similarly, a credit card issuer is not a third-party recordkeeper (by reason of being a person extending credit through the use of credit cards or similar devices) with respect to—
(i) Records relating to non-credit card transactions, such as a cash sale by the issuer to a holder of the issuer's credit card; or
(ii) Records relating to transactions involving the use of another issuer's credit card.
(2) Examples The rules of of this section are illustrated by the following examples:
Example 1. V issues a credit card (the V card) that is honored by R, a retailer. When using the V card, C, a customer, signs a sales slip in triplicate. C, R, and V each retain one copy. Only the copy held by V is held by a third-party recordkeeper under section , even though R may issue its own credit card.
Example 2. R, a retailer, issues its own credit card (the R card) to C, a customer. When C makes a credit purchase from R using the R card, C signs a sales slip in duplicate. C and R each retain one copy. Because R keeps the copy in its capacity as credit card issuer, as well as in its capacity as a retailer, it is a third-party recordkeeper under section with respect to its copy of the sales slip.
(c) Effective/applicability date This section is applicable on April 30, 2008.
[T.D. 9395, 73 FR 23345, Apr. 30, 2008]