REVENUE RULE 90-30

1990-1 C.B. 113, 1990-15 I.R.B. 18.

Internal Revenue Service
Revenue Ruling

LIFO; PRICE INDEXES; DEPARTMENT STORES

Published: April 9, 1990

Section 472. - Last-in, First-out Inventories, 26 CFR 1.472-1: Last-in, first- out inventories.
LIFO; price indexes; department stores. The December 1989 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, December 31, 1989.

The following price indexes for December 1989 were issued by the Bureau of Labor Statistics on January 22, 1990, for use by department stores, and are accepted by the Internal Revenue Service, under section 1.4721(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, December 31, 1989.

Indexes are prepared on a national basis for the store total, for 23 major groups of departments, and for three special combinations - soft goods, durable goods and miscellaneous goods. The store total index covers all departments, including some not listed separately, with the following exceptions: candy, foods, liquor, tobacco, as well as contract departments.

BUREAU OF LABOR STATISTICS, DEPARTMENT STORE INVENTORY PRICE INDEXES BY DEPARTMENT GROUPS
(January 1941 = 100 unless otherwise noted)

Groups December 1988/December 1989/Percent Change from Dec. 1988 to Dec. 1989 [Fn1]
1. Piece Goods 411.9 443.3 7.6
2. Domestics and Draperies 595.0 594.4 -0.1
3. Women's and Children's Shoes 584.5 583.0 -0.3
4. Men's Shoes 823.8 839.0 1.8
5. Infants' Wear 558.0 558.2 0.0
6. Women's Underwear 473.7 479.0 1.1
7. Women's Hosiery 246.6 250.1 1.4
8. Women's and Girls' Accessories 505.3 534.7 5.8
9. Women's Outerwear and Girls' Wear 387.4 383.3 -1.1
10. Men's Clothing 537.3 550.4 2.4
11. Men's Furnishings 525.2 532.3 1.4
12. Boys' Clothing and Furnishings 469.8 462.7 -1.5
13. Jewelry 779.1 811.5 4.2
14. Notions 518.2 534.2 3.1
15. Toilet Articles and Drugs 723.1 744.7 3.0
16. Furniture and Bedding 587.4 577.1 -1.8
17. Floor Coverings 488.5 508.2 4.0
18. Housewares 732.9 733.4 0.1
19. Major Appliances 250.1 244.0 -2.4
20. Radio and Television 93.6 93.3 -0.3
21. Recreation and Education [fn2] 107.5 109.2 1.6
22. Home Improvements [fn2] 105.6 110.7 4.8
23. Auto Accessories [fn2] 103.6 105.5 1.8
Groups 1 - 15: Soft Goods 531.0 535.9 0.9
Groups 16 - 20: Durable Goods 452.0 449.5 -0.6
Groups 21 - 23: Misc. Goods [fn2] 106.4 108.7 2.2
Store Total [fn3] 505.0 509.1 0.8

FN1. Absence of a minus sign before percentage change in this column signifies price increase.
FN2. Indexes on a January 1986 = 100 base.
FN3. The store total index covers all departments, with the following exceptions: Candy, foods, liquor, tobacco, as well as contract departments.

Rev. Rul. 90-30, 1990-1 C.B. 113, 1990-15 I.R.B. 18.