IRS Written Determinations
Free IRS private letter rulings, technical advice memoranda, and Chief Counsel advice with plain-English summaries and the official IRS release on every page.
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IRS permits a retroactive qualified electing fund election after tax adviser error
The IRS consented to a taxpayer's retroactive qualified electing fund election for an investment in a passive foreign investment company. The taxpayer said a tax professional knew about the…
IRS permits a retroactive QEF election for a PFIC investment
The IRS consented to a taxpayer's retroactive qualified electing fund election for stock in a passive foreign investment company. The taxpayer had relied on a CPA who knew about the investment but…
IRS rules on a stock sale and subsidiary liquidation in a consolidated group
The IRS supplemented an earlier private letter ruling on a consolidated group's planned sale of part of a subsidiary's stock followed by the subsidiary's possible complete liquidation. The ruling…
IRS grants more time to make a 2010 decedent basis election
The IRS granted an estate 120 additional days to file Form 8939 and make the section 1022 election for a decedent who died in 2010. The election allows an executor to use the special…
CCA distinguishes the sale reason from the replacement reason under IRC § 1033
Chief Counsel Advice explains that IRC § 1033(e) and § 1033(f) ask different questions in an involuntary-conversion analysis involving livestock. Section 1033(e) concerns why the livestock was sold.…
CCA addresses replacement property for involuntarily converted livestock
Chief Counsel Advice states that a taxpayer may replace livestock with other property used for farming under IRC § 1033(f) when replacing it with property similar or related in use is not feasible…
PLR 1333007: IRS approves a series of redacted corporate reorganizations and distributions
A corporate group requested rulings on a multi-step plan involving mergers, liquidations, contributions, stock distributions, and related transactions among several redacted entities. The IRS ruled…
PLR 1333004: IRS allows a retroactive qualified electing fund election for a PFIC investment
The IRS consented to a shareholder's retroactive qualified electing fund election for an investment in a passive foreign investment company. The shareholder had relied on tax professionals and…
PLR 1330021 grants a retroactive qualified electing fund election
The IRS consents to an individual's retroactive qualified electing fund election for an investment in a passive foreign investment company. The taxpayer became a U.S. resident, did not know the…
PLR 1330020 grants a retroactive qualified electing fund election
The IRS consents to an individual's retroactive qualified electing fund election for shares of a passive foreign investment company. The taxpayer became a U.S. resident, did not know the foreign…
PLR 1330019 grants a retroactive qualified electing fund election
The IRS consents to an individual's retroactive qualified electing fund election for shares of a passive foreign investment company. The taxpayer became a U.S. resident, later sold the shares, and…
PLR 1327007: IRS grants a taxpayer more time to make a mixed straddle account election
The IRS granted a corporate taxpayer an extension of time to make a mixed straddle account election for a tax year. The taxpayer's employee responsible for the federal consolidated tax return left…
CCA 1326014: A planned transaction converts QSubs and disregarded entities and creates gain or loss on later stock sales
The Chief Counsel's Office analyzed a planned restructuring involving an S corporation, its qualified subchapter S subsidiaries, disregarded entities, partnerships, and buyers. It concluded that…
CCA 1325011: Debt pay-down does not create receipt of like-kind exchange proceeds
Chief Counsel Advice addresses whether a taxpayer had actual or constructive receipt of relinquished-property proceeds when a qualified intermediary used those proceeds to pay down credit lines…
IRS modifies rulings for a corporate reorganization
The IRS supplemented earlier private letter rulings for a corporate reorganization after several proposed transactions were carried out in modified form. The changes involved cash distributions…
PLR 1324009: IRS modifies rulings on cash distributions in a corporate reorganization
The IRS supplemented and modified earlier private letter rulings concerning a planned corporate reorganization. The taxpayer changed two contributions to include cash distributions, and the IRS…
PLR 1322039: IRS grants an estate 120 more days to make the 2010 basis election
The IRS granted the personal representative of an estate 120 additional days to file Form 8939 and make the section 1022 election. The decedent died in 2010, and the representative had retained tax…
PLR 1322033: IRS recognizes a foreign electronic exchange as a qualified board or exchange
The IRS determined that a foreign electronic futures and options exchange was a qualified board or exchange under section 1256(g)(7)(C). The exchange represented that its contracts were marked to…
PLR 1322020: IRS allows current treatment for payments under a product-distribution agreement
The IRS ruled that a distributor does not have to capitalize specified payments made to a supplier under an agreement to distribute and sell a product. The agreement included payments tied to sales,…
PLR 1322019: IRS grants more time for a 2010 estate to make a basis election
The IRS granted a decedent's personal representative an additional 120 days to file Form 8939 and make the section 1022 election. That election allows certain basis increases for property acquired…
PLR 1322018: IRS consents to a retroactive qualified electing fund election
The IRS consented to a shareholder's retroactive qualified electing fund election for an investment in a foreign corporation. The shareholder had relied on a qualified tax professional that failed…
PLR 1322017: IRS consents to a retroactive qualified electing fund election
The IRS consented to a shareholder's retroactive qualified electing fund election for an investment in a foreign corporation. The shareholder had relied on a qualified tax professional that failed…
PLR 1322009: IRS applies PFIC look-through rules to a foreign holding company structure
The IRS clarified how the passive foreign investment company, or PFIC, look-through rules applied to a foreign holding company that owned a domestic software company, which in turn owned a domestic…
PLR 1321010: IRS permits a retroactive qualified electing fund election
The IRS consented to an individual's retroactive election to treat a passive foreign investment company as a qualified electing fund. The individual had not known that the foreign company was a PFIC…
PLR 1321003: IRS grants extra time for a 2010 estate basis election
The IRS granted the personal representative of a 2010 decedent’s estate 120 additional days to file Form 8939, make the § 1022 election, and allocate additional basis to eligible property. The…
PLR 1320009: IRS approves converting grandfathered trusts to unitrusts
The IRS considered whether two irrevocable trusts created before September 25, 1985 could be converted to unitrusts under a state statute. The proposed conversion would define trust income as a…
CCA 1319018: Unincluded liabilities do not increase amount realized on receivables
Chief Counsel Advice addresses the amount realized when a taxpayer sells receivables. The advice states that the amount realized should not be increased by liabilities that the taxpayer did not…
PLR 1319007: Retroactive QEF election allowed after professional tax advice failed to identify a PFIC
The IRS consented to a shareholder's retroactive qualified electing fund election for an investment in a foreign corporation treated as a passive foreign investment company. The shareholder had…
PLR 1319006: Retroactive QEF election allowed for successor foreign corporation
The IRS consented to a shareholder's retroactive qualified electing fund election for an investment in a foreign corporation treated as a passive foreign investment company. The shareholder relied…
PLR 1318003: Charitable gift of section 1250 property is not reduced by the corporate depreciation adjustment
The IRS ruled that a corporation’s charitable deduction for contributing certain section 1250 property to section 501(c)(3) organizations would not be reduced by 20 percent of the property’s…
CCA concludes exchangeable debentures were not qualified covered call options
Chief Counsel Advice considered whether exchangeable debentures and their embedded exchange features qualified for the covered-call exception to the straddle rules. The IRS concluded that the…
PLR 1315013: Estate receives 120 more days to make the section 1022 election
The IRS granted an estate an additional 120 days to file Form 8939, make the section 1022 election, and allocate basis increases to eligible property acquired from a decedent who died in 2010. The…
PLR 1315011: Estate receives more time to make the section 1022 election
The IRS granted the co-trustees of an estate an additional 120 days to file Form 8939, make the section 1022 election, and allocate basis increases to eligible property acquired from a decedent who…
PLR 1314026: IRS permits a retroactive QEF election for a PFIC investment
A U.S. resident owned shares in a foreign corporation that was a passive foreign investment company. The shareholder did not know the corporation was a PFIC and did not make a timely qualified…
PLR 1314011: IRS grants an estate more time to make a Section 1022 basis election
An estate asked for more time to file Form 8939, make the Section 1022 Election, and allocate basis increases to eligible property transferred from a decedent. The estate's accountant failed to…
PLR 1314007: IRS grants an estate more time to make a section 1022 election
The personal representatives of an estate asked for more time to file Form 8939 and make the section 1022 election for property transferred after the decedent's death. The estate's tax professional…
CCA 1313024: IRS reviews factual issues in a proposed section 1031 exchange analysis
An IRS attorney reviewed a draft memo concerning whether a taxpayer's handling of sale proceeds and replacement property transactions satisfied the requirements for a section 1031 exchange. The…
PLR 1312029: IRS grants an estate more time to make the section 1022 election
The IRS granted the executors of an estate 120 additional days to file Form 8939, make the section 1022 election, and allocate basis increases to eligible property. The decedent died in 2010, and…
PLR 1311014: IRS grants extra time to make a PFIC mark-to-market election
The IRS granted a corporate taxpayer's U.S. subsidiary an additional 60 days to make a mark-to-market election for stock in a passive foreign investment company. The subsidiary had not received the…
CCA 1310027: Exchangeable debentures formed a straddle with the referenced stock
Chief Counsel analyzed a taxpayer's exchangeable debentures that referenced stock the taxpayer continued to hold. The advice concluded that the debentures were a position with respect to…
PLR 1310007: Estate receives more time to make the Section 1022 election
The IRS considered an estate whose decedent died in 2010 and whose executor missed the deadline to file Form 8939. Form 8939 was needed to make the Section 1022 Election and allocate basis increases…
PLR 1309002: Estate received extra time to make the section 1022 election
The IRS considered an estate representative's request for more time to file Form 8939 and make the section 1022 election for property acquired from a decedent who died in 2010. It concluded that the…
PLR 1308020: IRS says exchange-management software does not disqualify a like-kind exchange intermediary
The IRS ruled that a company serving as a qualified intermediary for like-kind exchanges did not become a disqualified person merely by providing clients with proprietary software. The software…
PLR 1308016: IRS says adding discretionary trust beneficiaries does not trigger gain or loss
The IRS considered proposed modifications to two irrevocable trusts that made discretionary distributions to charitable organizations. The modifications would add the settlor's two children as…
PLR 1308015: IRS grants extra time for a 2010 estate's basis election
The IRS granted a personal representative an extension of time to file Form 8939 for an estate whose decedent died in 2010. The form was needed to make the section 1022 election and allocate basis…
PLR 1306011: IRS grants more time for a 2010 estate's Section 1022 election
The trustee of an estate for a person who died in 2010 asked for more time to file Form 8939, make the Section 1022 Election, and allocate basis increases to eligible property. The request explained…
PLR 1303004: Estate receives more time to make a section 1022 election
An estate representative asked for more time to file Form 8939, make the section 1022 election, and allocate basis increases to property transferred after the decedent's death. The representative…
PLR 1303003: IRS approves dividing a marital trust and renouncing one spouse's interest
A surviving spouse and the other trust beneficiaries asked whether a marital trust could be divided into two trusts and whether the spouse could renounce her interest in one of them. The IRS ruled…
PLR 1302020: IRS grants a retroactive qualified electing fund election
A family investment fund asked for permission to make a retroactive qualified electing fund election for an investment in a foreign corporation treated as a passive foreign investment company. The…
PLR 1302019: IRS grants a retroactive qualified electing fund election for an earlier year
A family investment fund requested permission to make a retroactive qualified electing fund election for an investment in a foreign corporation treated as a passive foreign investment company. The…
PLR 1302011: IRS grants a retroactive qualified electing fund election
A family investment fund requested permission to make a retroactive qualified electing fund election for an investment in a foreign corporation treated as a passive foreign investment company. The…
PLR 1302010: IRS permits a retroactive qualified electing fund election
A partnership asked the IRS for consent to make a retroactive qualified electing fund election for an investment in a foreign corporation that was later determined to be a passive foreign investment…
PLR 1302009: IRS approves a debt-subject like-kind exchange structure
A partnership-owned real estate business asked whether assigning its rights in an agreement to transfer property subject to debt could qualify as a transfer of relinquished property in a like-kind…
PLR 1302008: IRS grants more time to make a section 1022 basis election
The personal representatives of an estate asked for more time to file Form 8939 and make the section 1022 election for a decedent who died in 2010. The estate's accountant prepared the form but did…
PLR 1252018: IRS approves notice procedures for a vehicle leasing company's like-kind exchange program
The IRS ruled that a vehicle leasing company’s written notice procedures satisfied the requirements for assigning sale and purchase agreement rights to a qualified intermediary in a deferred…
PLR 1252010: IRS allows section 1033 deferral for utility relocation reimbursements
The IRS ruled that a public utility could elect to defer gain under section 1033 on payments it received for removing and relocating utility equipment at the direction of a condemning authority. The…
PLR 1250021: IRS approves supplemental stock-for-stock reorganization rulings
The IRS issued supplemental rulings for a proposed acquisition in which Target shareholders would exchange their stock solely for voting stock of Controlled 11. The ruling addressed related debt…
PLR 1249014: IRS permits a retroactive qualified electing fund election
The IRS consented to a domestic limited partnership's retroactive qualified electing fund, or QEF, election for an investment in a passive foreign investment company. The partnership had relied on…
PLR 1249011: IRS approves a stock acquisition after a corporate spin-off
The IRS supplemented an earlier private letter ruling involving a corporate separation followed by an acquisition of a target company. The planned acquisition used a merger subsidiary, with target…
PLR 1248010: IRS permits a retroactive QEF election for a PFIC investment
The IRS consented to a U.S. limited partnership making a retroactive qualified electing fund election for its investment in a foreign corporation that may have been a passive foreign investment…
What these documents are
- Private letter rulings (PLRs): A taxpayer asked the IRS to rule on a planned transaction before doing it. The ruling shows exactly how the IRS applied the Code to those facts.
- Technical advice memoranda (TAMs): The IRS National Office answering a question raised during an audit or other proceeding.
- Chief Counsel advice (CCAs): IRS lawyers advising their own field staff on how to apply the law.
- Determination letters: Rulings on exempt-organization matters, such as whether an organization qualifies under § 501(c)(3) or a foundation's grant procedures pass § 4945.
- Not precedent, still useful: Under 26 U.S.C. § 6110(k)(3) none of these can be cited as precedent. They remain the best public window into how the IRS actually rules on facts like yours, and practitioners read them for exactly that.