564
Opinion of the Court
one deviation should force the Government, or this Court, to create another. Nor have the Hills explained why this regulation in fact represents a deviation.12
The judgment of the Court of Appeals is Reversed.
12 The taxpayers also cite Internal Revenue Service Technical Advice Memorandum 8314011 (Dec. 22, 1982), which holds that unamortized deferred development expenditures under § 616 of the Code are included in the basis of a mineral deposit for purposes of § 57(a)(8). As respondents acknowledge, the Code specifically provides that such memoranda "may not be used or cited as precedent." 26 U. S. C. § 6110(j)(3) (1976 ed.). In any case, § 616 sets up a system for the treatment of development expenditures entirely different from the system at issue here; in particular, § 616(c) specifically mandates that expenses deferred under § 616(b) "shall be taken into account in computing the adjusted basis of the mine or deposit." Thus, Technical Advice Memorandum 8314011 simply is not relevant to the question presented in this case.
Last modified: October 4, 2007