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 1350010: IRS declines to rule on a captive insurer's reinsurance pool arrangement
Chief Counsel considered a foreign insurance company that elected to be taxed as a domestic corporation and participated in a reinsurance pool. The company requested rulings that it qualified as an…
CCA 1350009: IRS declines to rule on a captive insurer's reinsurance pool arrangement
Chief Counsel considered a foreign insurance company that elected to be taxed as a domestic corporation and participated in a reinsurance pool. The company requested rulings that it qualified as an…
CCA 1350008: IRS declines to rule on a captive insurer's reinsurance pool arrangement
Chief Counsel considered a foreign insurance company that elected to be taxed as a domestic corporation and participated in a reinsurance pool. The company requested rulings that it qualified as an…
PLR 1349002: Trust division does not trigger additional transfer or income tax consequences
Trustees proposed dividing an old irrevocable trust into three separate trusts, one for each of a beneficiary's family lines, so the shares could be managed under different investment approaches.…
CCA 1348012: Counsel outlines profits-interest and partnership-interest issues
Chief Counsel provided initial reactions to a case involving profits interests and partnership interests transferred for services. The message explains the safe harbor in Rev. Proc. 93-27, as…
PLR 1348006: IRS approves a tax-deferred transfer of structured settlement assets to a new corporation
A group of insurance companies planned to move structured settlement annuities and related payment obligations from a subsidiary being liquidated into a new corporation. The IRS ruled that the…
IRS advises that a professional employer organization was not entitled to the section 45B tip credit
The IRS analyzed whether a professional employer organization could claim the federal income tax credit for employer FICA taxes paid on employee tips. The organization agreed that it was not the…
IRS grants more time for a tax-exempt controlled entity election
The IRS granted a 60-day extension for a taxpayer to make an election under section 168(h)(6)(F)(ii), which concerns whether a tax-exempt controlled entity will be treated as tax-exempt for…
PLR 1347012: Duty-related disability and survivor benefits qualify for limited exclusion under section 104(a)(1)
A public retirement-system administrator asked how section 104(a)(1) applies to disability retirement, death, survivor, and cost-of-living benefits paid under a state retirement statute. The IRS…
PLR 1347002: Retail-lending fees are not interest for the affiliated-corporation ordinary-loss test
A parent company asked whether fees earned by its wholly owned subsidiary from short-term, secured retail loans counted as interest under the gross-receipts test for the affiliated-corporation…
CCA 1346010: Compensatory damages for physical injury or sickness
The IRS advised that compensatory damages received because of personal physical injury or sickness are excludable from gross income under IRC § 104(a)(2). The advice expressly included lost wages…
CCA 1346009: Casualty-loss deduction for unpermitted structures destroyed by fire
Chief Counsel Advice considered whether taxpayers could claim a casualty-loss deduction for two uninsured structures built without required permits and destroyed by fire. The advice concluded that…
PLR 1346006: Port operator income remains excludable after LLC conversion
The IRS ruled that a state-created company’s income would remain excludable from gross income after the company converted from a nonprofit corporation to a single-member LLC treated as a corporation…
PLR 1346002: Lease arrangement does not create private security for bond-financed facility
An authority created by a state issued bonds to finance public buildings, including a facility leased to the state. The authority planned to enter into management contracts with nongovernmental…
PLR 1345020: Mandatory retiree-health contributions are excluded from employee income and wages
A municipal corporation asked how mandatory employee contributions to retiree healthcare trusts should be treated for federal tax purposes. The contributions were required by city provisions and…
PLR 1345003: Refined coal process qualifies for the refined coal credit under stated conditions
An energy company asked whether coal treated with chemical additives would qualify as refined coal for the section 45 credit. The IRS ruled that the process qualified if the refined coal used…
PLR 1344004: IRS approves refined-coal credit treatment for additive technology and emissions testing
A company asked how its refined-coal facility and emissions testing would qualify for the refined-coal production credit under IRC § 45. The IRS ruled that coal treated with the described chemical…
Grantor trusts are disregarded for attribution and loss limitation analysis
Chief Counsel addressed the federal tax treatment of grantor trusts in a structure involving a limited liability company, related partnerships, and multiple trusts. The advice concluded that grantor…
CCA 1343019: Cypriot holding company can support qualified dividend treatment
Chief Counsel Advice considers whether dividends from a Cypriot holding company can receive the reduced tax rate for qualified dividend income when the company is not owned by Cypriot residents. It…
PLR 1343013: service-connected disability portion of retirement income is excluded
The IRS considered a former police sergeant who received retirement income after a service-connected disability. The ruling concludes that the portion equal to the disability allowance, one-half of…
PLR 1343003: insurer's contributions to insolvency relief fund are deductible
The IRS ruled that a life insurance company could generally deduct contributions to a nonprofit fund created to assist policyholders affected by another insurer's insolvency. The contributions were…
PLR 1342011: A bequest qualifies as an unusual grant for a camp serving seriously ill children
A publicly supported organization that operates a camp for seriously ill children asked whether a proposed charitable bequest would qualify as an unusual grant. The IRS concluded that it could be…
CCA 1342010: Biodiesel mixture credits and payments are not gross income
Chief Counsel advised that biodiesel mixture excise-tax credits under IRC § 6426(c) and payments under § 6427(e) are not gross income under § 61. The advice distinguishes those benefits from the §…
PLR 1342007: No-fault automobile benefits for an injured adult are excluded from income
A court-appointed guardian asked whether no-fault automobile insurance benefits received for an injured adult daughter's care would be taxable income. The benefits covered reasonable medical,…
PLR 1342003: IRS grants more time to make a low-income housing credit election
A taxpayer that owned and operated a newly constructed low-income housing project failed to make an effective election under IRC § 42(g)(1)(B). The taxpayer showed that its contemporaneous records…
PLR 1342001: IRS approves tax treatment of a court-approved trust division
A family asked the IRS about the tax consequences of a court-approved settlement dividing an old irrevocable trust into four separate trusts, with each child's trust divided again into Trust A and…
PLR 1341031: IRS allows a utility to deduct renewable-energy incentive payments
The IRS ruled that an electric utility may currently deduct payments it makes to customers to encourage them to install eligible renewable-energy systems. The payments help the utility comply with…
PLR 1341029: IRS allows a utility to deduct renewable-energy incentive payments
The IRS ruled that an electric utility may currently deduct payments it makes to customers to encourage them to install eligible renewable-energy systems. The payments help the utility comply with…
PLR 1340006: IRS grants more time for a tax-exempt controlled entity election
The IRS granted a corporation 60 days to make a late election under section 168(h)(6)(F)(ii) to avoid being treated as a tax-exempt entity for certain depreciation rules. The corporation was owned…
PLR 1340005: IRS classifies disability and death benefits from seven public plans
The IRS classified the federal income tax treatment of disability, death, and cost-of-living benefits paid under seven public retirement plans. It concluded that some duty-related disability and…
PLR 1338034: IRS excludes a state student-loan agency's income under section 115
A state nonprofit corporation that administered a guaranteed student-loan program asked whether its income would be excluded from federal gross income under IRC § 115(1). The entity no longer…
PLR 1338031: IRS approves hotel management fees without private bond use
A hotel issuer asked whether an amended management contract would create private business use of a hotel financed in part with tax-exempt bonds. The contract would pay a manager a base fee that was…
PLR 1338026: IRS finds a hospital management contract will not create private business use
An issuer planned to use tax-exempt bond proceeds to finance clinical facilities operated by a tax-exempt hospital, which would pay a medical group under a management contract. The contract included…
PLR 1338010: IRS grants more time to elect a later low-income housing credit period
A taxpayer intended to begin the low-income housing credit period for a newly constructed building in the year after the building was placed in service. An accountant mistakenly selected the earlier…
PLR 1338007: IRS grants more time to elect discharge-of-indebtedness relief
A married couple received cancellation-of-debt income through a partnership and intended to elect an exclusion for qualified real property business indebtedness. Their tax preparer overlooked the…
PLR 1338005: Variable contract holders do not own underlying public fund shares
A regulated investment company offered its shares through insurance company separate accounts and related variable funds. It planned to broaden its strategy by investing in public funds, including…
PLR 1337013: IRS permits revocation of elections not to claim bonus depreciation
An S corporation that operated ice vending machines asked to revoke elections not to deduct additional first-year depreciation for qualifying property placed in service in two redacted tax years.…
CCA 1336018: Loan interest payable in related-party stock does not reduce foreign-share basis
Chief Counsel advised that a loan’s principal amount should not reduce the taxpayer’s adjusted basis in shares of a related foreign corporation when the loan interest is optionally payable in that…
IRS grants more time for a consolidated NOL carryback election
The IRS granted a consolidated group an extension of time to elect an extended carryback period for a consolidated net operating loss. The group had failed to make a valid election to carry back a…
IRS grants more time for a redacted § 48A election
The IRS granted a taxpayer an extension to make a redacted election associated with the qualifying advanced coal project credit under IRC § 48A. The taxpayer had relied on an independent law firm to…
IRS says temporary work-related spousal absence prevents head-of-household status
Chief Counsel Advice addressed whether a married taxpayer could file as head of household while the taxpayer's spouse lived apart because of employment. The spouses were not legally separated and…
IRS explains conservation easement valuation for contiguous and related parcels
Chief Counsel Advice addressed how to value charitable conservation easements when the donated property is contiguous to other property or when the easement increases the value of other property.…
IRS says privately controlled community development district is not a political subdivision
The Technical Advice Memorandum considered whether a community development district could issue bonds whose interest was exempt under IRC section 103. The IRS concluded that the issuer was not a…
IRS says related-party interest funded by new loans is not deductible when not actually paid
Chief Counsel Advice considered whether a corporation could deduct interest it claimed to pay to a related foreign parent through wire transfers and notes. The IRS concluded that the transfers were…
IRS approves correction of utility ITC and deferred-tax amortization errors
The IRS ruled for a regulated electric utility that had used outdated asset lives when calculating investment tax credit amortization and excess deferred income tax amortization for ratemaking. The…
IRS approves refined-coal tax-credit treatment and testing methods
The IRS ruled that a taxpayer's facility, which mixes chemical additives into utility-grade coal to reduce emissions, produces refined coal that may qualify for the section 45 tax credit when sold…
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…
CCA discusses potential future value when evaluating worthless stock
Chief Counsel Advice states that potential future value can be a component of valuing intangible assets. In that context, the advice says potential future value remains relevant when determining…
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 1333005: IRS allows deduction of certain REIT distribution fees after initial issuance
A real estate investment trust asked whether distribution fees and dealer manager fees for continuously offered share classes could be deducted under IRC § 162. The IRS treated the fees as…
CCA advises that infrastructure assets appear to be dedicated improvements
Chief Counsel Advice recommends that an examination team abandon its position that certain infrastructure assets are intangible assets with an indeterminate useful life. The advice says more facts…
PLR 1330005 approves testing and qualification methods for refined coal
The IRS rules that coal treated with a specified chemical process can qualify as refined coal under IRC § 45(c)(7), provided it is produced from feedstock coal meeting the stated source or rank…
PLR 1330004 approves tax treatment for a related-company stock sale and liquidation
The IRS rules on a proposed sale of stock within a consolidated corporate group followed by the liquidation of the sold subsidiary. The stock sale will be treated under IRC § 304 as a deemed stock…
PLR 1330003 extends the spending period for qualified school construction bond proceeds
The IRS grants a political subdivision an extension to spend available project proceeds from qualified school construction bonds. Construction delays caused by contractor defaults and the resulting…
PLR 1329002: IRS approves refined-coal testing for the section 45 credit
The IRS ruled that a taxpayer’s chemical treatment process could produce refined coal eligible for the enhanced credit described in IRC § 45. The process added chemical sorbents to coal before…
CCA 1328031: Advice on losses from unpaid promissory notes and NOL carrybacks
Chief Counsel advice addresses taxpayers who reported the full face value of two promissory notes as income and later did not receive the expected payments. The advice concludes that IRC § 1341 does…
PLR 1328028: IRS grants extra time to elect an extended NOL carryback
The IRS granted a consolidated group an extension of time to elect an extended carryback period for a consolidated net operating loss. The group represented that it had reasonably relied on a…
PLR 1328023: IRS treats part of a cooperative apartment loan as acquisition indebtedness
The IRS ruled that the outstanding principal amount of a loan used to buy an adjacent cooperative apartment and combine it with the taxpayer’s existing apartment was acquisition indebtedness. The…
PLR 1328022: IRS excludes damages attributable to physical injuries from gross income
The IRS ruled that an amount received under a settlement for psychological harms originating in personal physical injuries was excluded from gross income under IRC § 104(a)(2). The exclusion applied…
PLR 1328020: IRS says community service requirements do not make scholarships compensation
The IRS ruled that scholarship funds awarded through a charitable program would not constitute payment for services under IRC § 117(c). Participants had to complete academic and community-service…
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.