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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CCA 1310040: IRS advises that it knows of no prohibition on sending a levy to the Federal Reserve
In a brief email-style Chief Counsel Advice, the IRS addressed whether a levy could be sent to the Federal Reserve. The advice states that the author could not think of any prohibition on doing so.…
CCA 1310038: Section 7212(a) is not an appropriate way to gain access to a restricted community
Chief Counsel advised that a revenue officer should not cite IRC § 7212(a) to help gain entry to a restricted-access community. The provision requires corrupt conduct, an endeavor, and an intent to…
CCA 1310037: Counsel found no exception to the refund limitation rule
In a brief response concerning IRC § 6511, Chief Counsel stated that the issue had been considered and that no exception to the applicable limitation rule could be found. The release does not…
CCA 1310036: How to identify a consolidated group on Form 870-PT
Chief Counsel addressed how a taxpayer's name should appear on Form 870-PT for a consolidated group. The form generally should use the name shown on the consolidated return, such as the common…
CCA 1310033: Supporting records can validate an assessment with the wrong tax period in the system
Chief Counsel advised that an assessment remained adequately supported even though the Service's computer system recorded the wrong tax year. The assessment amount matched the taxpayer's…
CCA 1310030: IRS advanced a case based on evidence later viewed as tainted
In a brief internal message, Chief Counsel stated that the Service could no longer describe the situation as “no harm, no foul” because it had taken action and advanced the case based on tainted…
PLR 1309010: IRS requires utility to aggregate related cash payments for Form 8300
A regulated natural gas and electric utility asked how IRC § 6050I applies to cash payments from customers. Customers were billed periodically, and some paid in cash at payment centers or by mail.…
PLR 1309009: IRS requires utility to aggregate related cash payments for Form 8300
A regulated natural gas and electric utility asked how IRC § 6050I applies to cash payments from customers. Customers were billed periodically, and some paid in cash at payment centers or by mail.…
PLR 1309008: IRS requires utility to aggregate related cash payments for Form 8300
A regulated natural gas and electric utility asked how IRC § 6050I applies to cash payments from customers. Customers were billed periodically, and some paid in cash at payment centers or by mail.…
PLR 1309007: IRS requires utility to aggregate related cash payments for Form 8300
A regulated natural gas and electric utility asked how IRC § 6050I applies to cash payments from customers. Customers were billed periodically, and some paid in cash at payment centers or by mail.…
PLR 1309006: Utility must aggregate customer cash payments for energy supplied
The IRS considered a regulated utility's cash collections from customers who pay periodic energy bills. It ruled that the underlying transaction is the supply of energy, not each separate billing or…
PLR 1309005: Utility must aggregate customer cash payments for energy supplied
The IRS considered a regulated utility's cash collections from customers who pay periodic energy bills. It ruled that the underlying transaction is the supply of energy, not each separate billing or…
PLR 1308004: IRS treats specified fertilizer-related product income as qualifying income
The IRS ruled for a publicly traded partnership that produces and markets nitrogen-based products. It concluded that income from producing and marketing ammonia, urea, UAN fertilizer, nitric acid,…
CCA 1307007: Passive-loss characterization is determined at the partnership level
Chief Counsel Advice addresses how passive-loss issues should be handled when a partnership is examined. The advice states that the partnership-level proceeding determines whether the partnership…
CCA 1307006: IRS may not offset employees' FICA refund shares against an employer's liabilities
Chief Counsel Advice addresses refunds of overpaid FICA taxes in medical-resident cases where a hospital or other employer claims both its own share and consenting employees' shares. The advice…
CCA 1306022: IRS advice compares nominee and alter-ego theories for federal tax liens
Chief Counsel advice addressed whether a person can potentially be treated as the alter ego of a business for federal tax lien purposes even without a legal ownership interest. The advice states…
CCA 1306017: CCA addresses the timing and form of a disaster-loss election
Chief Counsel advice considered whether a corporation could elect under § 165(i) to deduct disaster casualty losses in the preceding tax year through an informal refund claim. The advice states that…
Chief Counsel updates guidance on who may sign for a TEFRA partnership
Chief Counsel advice states that an older Internal Revenue Manual provision was outdated about who may sign documents for a TEFRA partnership. The advice explains that, before limited liability…
Chief Counsel approves an IRS procedure for extending the erroneous-refund suit period
Chief Counsel advice discusses an IRS procedure under which a taxpayer may waive a defense based on the period in IRC § 6532(b) for the government to sue to recover an erroneous refund. The advice…
A later estate tax deficiency does not expand a partial § 6166 election
Chief Counsel considered whether an estate that elected to defer estate tax on only part of its interest in a closely held business could later expand that election after an estate tax deficiency…
Untimely partnership adjustment requests do not start an extendable petition period
Chief Counsel advised that the three-year period in IRC § 6227(a) applies to a partnership’s Administrative Adjustment Request. An AAR filed more than three years after the partnership return…
Bankruptcy filing date controls conversion of partnership items
Chief Counsel advised when partnership items convert in a bankruptcy case. For the year in which the bankruptcy proceeding is filed, conversion occurs on the filing date. For later years, conversion…
TEFRA treatment depends on the partnership’s status and the method of proof
Chief Counsel advised that a sham partnership that files no partnership return is not subject to TEFRA because it does not meet the partnership definition. A legitimate partnership with a trust as a…
Small-partnership exception makes section 6229 inapplicable
Chief Counsel advised that IRC § 6229 does not apply when a partnership falls within the small-partnership exception in § 6231(a)(1)(B). The advice suggests considering other mechanisms to extend…
Reasonable cause may be considered at the partnership level
Chief Counsel confirmed that the IRS considers a partnership’s reasonable-cause defense to be an issue that may be raised in a partnership-level proceeding. The relevant facts include the state of…
TEFRA partial-agreement status depends on the partnership year
Chief Counsel advice explained that whether an agreement is partial must be determined separately for each partnership year. If an agreement resolves all partnership items for a year, it is not…
Section 6166 does not reopen a missed installment election for prior estate tax
Chief Counsel advice addressed an estate that paid its reported estate tax in full and did not make a section 6166 election when it filed its return. The advice concluded that a later deficiency…
Overstated withholding can produce a penalty underpayment without a deficiency
Chief Counsel advice explained that overstated withholding can create an underpayment subject to the accuracy-related or fraud penalties under sections 6662 or 6663 even when there is no deficiency.…
A scanned signature can be treated as an original signature on Form 870-PT
Chief Counsel advice stated that a scanned signature should be treated as an original signature on Form 870-PT and that a court would likely admit the scanned copy as evidence. It relied on Federal…
A tax matters partner remains designated until a termination event
Chief Counsel advice stated that a properly designated tax matters partner remains the tax matters partner until a termination event occurs under Treas. Reg. § 301.6231(a)(7)-1(l). Leaving the…
Advising a person about their own tax responsibilities may be authorized disclosure
Chief Counsel advice stated that advising a person that the IRS believes the person has specified Title 26 responsibilities can constitute disclosure of that person's own return information. The…
A defaulted accepted offer in compromise generally cannot be reopened
Chief Counsel advice addressed whether the IRS could reopen a tax year after accepting an offer in compromise. The cited regulation allows reopening only for false information or documents,…
A refund claim cannot be reconsidered after the suit period expires
Chief Counsel advice concluded that the IRS could not issue a refund after it had disallowed a claim as untimely and the period for filing a refund suit had expired. The advice relied on section…
CCA 1302029: Advice on levying future Medicare provider payments
Chief Counsel Advice addresses levies on future payments under contracts with Medicare providers. It distinguishes those payments from Social Security payments because the provider has not yet…
CCA 1302028: Notice of determination remained valid despite an incorrect representative address
Chief Counsel Advice considered whether a collection due process notice of determination was valid when the taxpayers received it at their correct last-known address, but the representative's copy…
CCA 1302027: Advice on treating an executor as a deceased taxpayer's fiduciary
Chief Counsel Advice addresses an executor's status as the fiduciary of a deceased taxpayer's estate. The advice states that the IRS need not require a court order appointing the executor before…
CCA 1302025: Appeals may clarify an erroneous collection notice by letter after the petition period
Chief Counsel Advice addresses a collection due process notice of determination that incorrectly identified which of two assessments would be abated. The 30-day period for petitioning the Tax Court…
CCA 1302022: Terminating a section 444 election requires a required tax year
Chief Counsel Advice addresses termination of a section 444 tax-year election by a partnership, S corporation, or personal service corporation. It states that once a section 444 election is…
Written Determination 1301013: IRS revokes an earlier ruling on cancellation-of-debt reporting
The IRS revoked an earlier private letter ruling that concluded certain debt discharges were triggered by state law and therefore were not reportable under IRC § 6050P. The IRS's current view was…
PLR 1301010: Oil and lubricant business income qualifies under section 7704
A publicly traded limited partnership asked whether income from its oil and lubricant operations was qualifying income under IRC § 7704. The partnership refined, blended, processed, packaged,…
IRS revokes an earlier ruling on debt discharge reporting
The IRS revoked a 2007 private letter ruling about whether a financial entity's debt discharges were subject to the reporting requirements of section 6050P. The earlier ruling treated the discharges…
CCA 1252015: Chief Counsel advises on payments made before an assessment period expires
Chief Counsel advised that the Service assessed additional tax too late for two tax years, but should not refund the tax and interest the taxpayers paid before the assessment periods expired.…
PLR 1252005: IRS ruled that a public rehabilitation program did not create reportable income for property owners
The IRS ruled that a political subdivision did not have to file information returns for property owners whose privately owned infrastructure was rehabilitated through a government program. The…
CCA 1251017: Tenancy by the entirety does not defeat the small-partnership exception
Chief Counsel Advice addressed whether holding a partnership interest as a tenancy by the entirety affects the small-partnership exception. The advice concluded that a tenancy by the entirety is not…
CCA 1251014: CCA addresses who is automatically the tax matters partner
Chief Counsel advice addressed who becomes a partnership's tax matters partner when no valid designation has been made. The advice states that the general partner becomes the tax matters partner…
CCA 1251013: CCA addresses designation of an indirect partner as tax matters partner
Chief Counsel advice addressed whether an indirect partner may be designated as a partnership's tax matters partner. The advice states that the Service may designate an indirect partner as tax…
CCA 1250020: Chief Counsel addresses disclosure of captive insurance records
Chief Counsel advice addressed whether the IRS may use return information from one taxpayer's examination in examinations of unrelated taxpayers participating in a substantially similar captive…
PLR 1250014: IRS rules that specified partnership income is qualifying income
The IRS ruled that income a limited partnership expected to earn from marketing certain redacted mineral or natural-resource products would be qualifying income under IRC section 7704(d)(1)(E). The…
PLR 1250003: IRS treats offshore platform lease income as qualifying income
The IRS ruled that income from leasing an offshore oil and gas platform would qualify as rents from real property for purposes of the publicly traded partnership income exception. The platform and…
CCA 1249015: IRS says gift tax underpayment interest starts on the original due date
Chief Counsel advised that underpayment interest on an unreported gift tax deficiency begins on the original due date of the gift tax return. The taxpayer made an earlier taxable gift without filing…
CCA 1248022: Chief Counsel addresses backup withholding for slot-machine winnings
Chief Counsel advised that a gaming establishment generally is not subject to backup withholding merely because a Form W-2G reports a name and taxpayer identification number mismatch for…
CCA 1248021: Chief Counsel says a levy reaches vested pension benefits
Chief Counsel advised that a federal tax levy can reach a taxpayer's vested pension-plan rights, including present and future payment rights and the right to choose a distribution form. In the…
CCA 1248020: Chief Counsel says RFRA does not bar a tax levy on a parsonage allowance
Chief Counsel advised that the Religious Freedom Restoration Act does not generally bar the IRS from applying tax laws and collection remedies, including an administrative levy against a parsonage…
CCA 1248017: Chief Counsel explains which partnership partners are bound by a settlement
Chief Counsel advised that a tax matters partner could bind certain partners through a partnership settlement only within the limits of section 6224 and its regulations. Notice partners had to sign…
CCA 1248016: Chief Counsel addresses post-CSED payments after a levy
Chief Counsel advised that when the IRS levies fixed and determinable payment rights before the collection statute expiration date, payments received after that date can still be applied to the…
Entire PFIC stock gain counts toward the 25% omission calculation
Chief Counsel advised that the entire net gain on the disposition of PFIC stock is included in gross income when calculating the 25% omission threshold under IRC § 6501(e). The gain must be reported…
TEFRA may apply when a partnership return is filed
Chief Counsel clarified that TEFRA would apply if a partnership return was filed under IRC § 6233 and the small-partnership exception did not apply. The advice also noted that trusts can elect…
CCA 1247011: IRS advises that mitigation does not apply to refund claims raised during a CDP hearing
The IRS Office of Chief Counsel considered whether a taxpayer could raise mitigation and equitable recoupment arguments during a collection due process hearing. Counsel advised Appeals to consider…
Chief Counsel advises including all adjustments in an explanation of items
Chief Counsel advised that an IRS explanation of items should reflect all adjustments, including adjustments that formed the basis for a restitution calculation. Explaining every adjustment shows…
Collection may end currently-not-collectible status after changed circumstances
Chief Counsel advised that Collection may remove a taxpayer's accounts from currently-not-collectible status if it discovers assets from which the Service may collect, even when Appeals previously…
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.