Revenue Ruling 2006-15, March 27, 2006

LIFO; price indexes; department stores. The January 2006 Bureau of Labor Statistics price indexes are accepted for use by department stores employing the retail inventory and last-in, first-out inventory methods for valuing inventories for tax years ended on, or with reference to, January 31, 2006.

The following Department Store Inventory Price Indexes for January 2006 were issued by the Bureau of Labor Statistics. The indexes are accepted by the Internal Revenue Service, under § 1.472-1(k) of the Income Tax Regulations and Rev. Proc. 86-46, 1986-2 C.B. 739, for appropriate application to inventories of department stores employing the retail inventory and last-in, first-out inventory methods for tax years ended on, or with reference to, January 31, 2006.

The Department Store Inventory Price Indexes are prepared on a national basis and include (a) 23 major groups of departments, (b) three special combinations of the major groups — soft goods, durable goods, and miscellaneous goods, and (c) a store total, which covers all departments, including some not listed separately, except for the following: candy, food, liquor, tobacco, and contract departments.

BUREAU OF LABOR STATISTICS, DEPARTMENT STORE INVENTORY PRICE INDEXES BY DEPARTMENT GROUPS (January 1941 = 100, unless otherwise noted)
Groups		Jan. 2005	Jan. 2006	Percent Change from Jan. 2005 to Jan. 2006¹
1.	Piece Goods	494.0	436.7	-11.6
2.	Domestics and Draperies	536.5	506.9	-5.5
3.	Women’s and Children’s Shoes	643.3	671.3	4.4
4.	Men’s Shoes	840.6	868.1	3.3
5.	Infants’ Wear	578.4	555.2	-4.0
6.	Women’s Underwear	515.2	545.6	5.9
7.	Women’s Hosiery	338.9	341.3	0.7
8.	Women’s and Girls’ Accessories	560.4	555.4	-0.9
9.	Women’s Outerwear and Girls’ Wear	333.3	325.7	-2.3
10.	Men’s Clothing	534.9	516.8	-3.4
11.	Men’s Furnishings	561.9	555.5	-1.1
12.	Boys’ Clothing and Furnishings	414.9	396.5	-4.4
13.	Jewelry	879.0	868.9	-1.1
14.	Notions	784.4	794.2	1.2
15.	Toilet Articles and Drugs	994.7	1010.7	1.6
16.	Furniture and Bedding	604.9	603.9	-0.2
17.	Floor Coverings	598.2	611.0	2.1
18.	Housewares	711.8	699.4	-1.7
19.	Major Appliances	202.6	204.3	0.8
20.	Radio and Television	40.0	37.4	-6.5
21.	Recreation and Education²	78.3	77.3	-1.3
22.	Home Improvements²	135.6	138.0	1.8
23.	Automotive Accessories²	113.8	117.2	3.0

Groups 1-15: Soft Goods		546.2	540.9	-1.0
Groups 16-20: Durable Goods		380.7	375.6	-1.3
Groups 21-23: Misc. Goods²		92.8	93.1	0.3

	Store Total³	487.2	482.8	-0.9

¹Absence of a minus sign before the percentage change in this column signifies a price increase.
²Indexes on a January 1986 = 100 base.
³The store total index covers all departments, including some not listed separately, except for the following: candy, food, liquor, tobacco and contract departments.

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The principal author of this revenue ruling is Michael Burkom of the Office of Associate Chief Counsel (Income Tax and Accounting). For further information regarding this revenue ruling, contact Mr. Burkom at (202) 622-7924 (not a toll-free call).

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Lifo; Price Indexes; Department Stores

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