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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Amended Form 1065 is a nullity when an AAR is required
Chief Counsel Advice addressed an amended Form 1065 that sought to change the treatment of partnership items. It stated that the amended return was a nullity and that the partnership would need to…
CCA 1147030: IRS explains how amended section 6501(c)(8) extends assessment periods
The Chief Counsel advice discusses how amended IRC § 6501(c)(8) affects the period for assessing tax when a taxpayer fails to provide specified international-information forms. The advice explains…
CCA 1147028: A tax matters partner's authorized representative may sign statute extensions
Chief Counsel advice addresses whether a tax matters partner's power of attorney may sign an extension of the assessment statute for the tax matters partner. The advice says the authorized…
CCA 1147027: A tax matters partner cannot bind the entity solely by holding that role
Chief Counsel advice addresses whether a tax matters partner can bind the entity for which the partner serves as the tax matters partner. The advice says the role itself does not give the partner…
CCA 1147026: IRS says TEFRA subtrust information may be disclosed in an administrative audit
Chief Counsel advice addresses whether information about subtrusts may be disclosed during a TEFRA administrative audit. It says the subtrusts are indirect partners potentially subject to assessment…
PLR 1147014: IRS requires Form 1099 reporting for supplemental unemployment benefits
An insurance company asked whether it had to report supplemental unemployment insurance benefits paid to insured individuals. The IRS concluded that the benefits were accessions to wealth, were not…
CCA 1146017: IRS may summon original electronic records and metadata
Chief Counsel advised that the IRS may summon a taxpayer's original electronic data files, including unaltered metadata, when the information may be relevant to a proper tax inquiry under IRC §…
Levy amount includes money later refunded as an overpayment
Chief Counsel's Office advice addressed the meaning of the phrase “an amount of money equal to the amount of money levied upon.” The advice concluded that the phrase refers to the full amount…
IRS should return proceeds from an illegal levy absent written permission
Chief Counsel's Office advice addressed the return of funds from an illegal levy. Under the cited regulation, the IRS should return the funds when doing so is in the taxpayer's and the government's…
IRS cannot redesignate a payment made under taxpayer instructions
Chief Counsel's Office advice addressed whether the IRS could transfer or redesignate a payment. The advice concluded that the Service could not do so when it applied the payment in accordance with…
IRS should return proceeds from illegal levies when the limitations period allows
Chief Counsel's Office advice addressed levies made without the required pre-levy CDP notices. It concluded that the IRS must return proceeds from illegal levies when the applicable limitations…
Claims for illegally levied proceeds depend on the nine-month period and provable damages
Chief Counsel's Office advice addressed the IRS's authority after an allegedly illegal levy. It stated that the Service could not return levied proceeds under IRC § 6343 once the nine-month period…
Releasing a lien does not prevent an offset against the underlying tax liability
Chief Counsel's Office advice addressed whether the IRS could offset an overpayment against a tax liability for a year in which a lien had been released. It concluded that releasing a lien does not…
Third-party address information is not enough to establish a taxpayer's last known address
Chief Counsel's Office advice addressed how the IRS should determine a taxpayer's last known address when issuing a notice of deficiency. It stated that the Service should not rely on address…
Hurricane Irene relief extends the assessment limitations period
This Chief Counsel Advice addresses how Hurricane Irene relief affected the period for assessing tax. The IRS explained that when § 7508A postpones an affected taxpayer's deadline to petition the…
Late NOL carryback election does not support a refund claim
This Chief Counsel Advice addresses a taxpayer's late election to carry back a net operating loss for five years instead of the normal two-year period. Counsel concluded that the election was not…
CCA 1144027: Chief Counsel viewed the section 6166(b)(8) election as applying to the entire estate tax
Chief Counsel considered whether an estate's election under IRC § 6166(b)(8) applies to the entire estate tax or only to the portion that qualifies under that provision. The advice stated that a…
CCA 1144024: Renewable diesel taxed as diesel, producers must register as refinery operators
Chief Counsel advised that renewable diesel is taxed on the removals, entries, and sales covered by IRC § 4081(a)(1)(A). A facility that produces renewable diesel and from which the fuel may be…
CCA 1142025: A gift of most section 6166 property accelerates the estate-tax election
Chief Counsel advised that a gift of 51% of section 6166 property to other family members would be an accelerating event under section 6166(g). The statute ends the election when 50% or more of the…
CCA 1142024: Changing the business form does not accelerate the section 6166 election
Chief Counsel advised that changing the form of the business holding a closely held interest would not accelerate the section 6166 election. Although section 6166(g) covers interests that are…
CCA 1142023: Combat-zone service time is disregarded for assessments
Chief Counsel advised that section 7508(a)(1)(G) includes assessments among the matters for which combat-zone service time is disregarded. The advice addresses the scope of the combat-zone…
CCA 1142001: Chief Counsel addresses federal tax lien priority over assigned mortgages
Chief Counsel advised that a properly recorded mortgage retains priority over a later-filed federal tax lien even when a subsequent assignment of the mortgage was not recorded before the lien…
CCA 1141020: Form 872 must expressly extend the limitations period for a section 6707A penalty
This Chief Counsel Advice addresses how IRS personnel should extend the period of limitations for assessing the section 6707A penalty. It states that a Form 872 for the underlying income tax does…
CCA 1141019: TEFRA treatment of unreported partnership asset characterizations
This Chief Counsel Advice discusses how section 6222 applies when a partner reports an item inconsistently with a TEFRA partnership return or fails to file a notice of inconsistent treatment. It…
CCA 1141017: IRS advice on summonses for ISP email contents and subscriber records
The Office of Chief Counsel considered whether the IRS could use an administrative summons to obtain email contents and related records from an internet service provider while pursuing tax…
PLR 1141013: Transportation income qualifies under the publicly traded partnership rules
A publicly traded partnership asked whether income from transporting materials from and to refineries would be qualifying income under the publicly traded partnership rules. The partnership and its…
CCA 1140025: FPAA adjustments and consistent settlement agreements
Chief Counsel Advice addressed how adjustments in a partnership-level notice, called an FPAA, interact with settlements and requests for consistent agreements by partners who did not settle. The…
CCA 1140024: Partnership filing penalties are not partnership items
Chief Counsel Advice considered whether a penalty for a partnership’s failure to file would be a partnership item under the TEFRA partnership procedures. The advice concludes that the penalty is not…
CCA 1140023: An AAR does not alter an FPAA’s final partnership-item determination
Chief Counsel Advice explains how an administrative adjustment request, or AAR, affects a final partnership administrative adjustment, or FPAA. The advice states that the FPAA should use the…
CCA 1139009: IRS treated the section 183 issue as a partnership item
Chief Counsel Advice concluded that applying IRC § 183 was a partnership item under Treas. Reg. § 301.6231(a)(3)-1(b). The advice viewed the result as favorable to the taxpayer because, without §…
CCA 1139008: IRS described the deadline for a refund after a Tax Court decision
Chief Counsel Advice stated that the IRS had two years from the date a Tax Court decision became final to issue a resulting refund. The advice explained that a decision becomes final 90 days after…
CCA 1139007: IRS advised against using IDRS for a non-tax-administration purpose
Chief Counsel Advice stated that the Integrated Data Retrieval System should not be used for a purpose that is not tax administration. It directed the recipient to IRC § 6103(h)(1) and invited…
PLR 1139003: IRS approved mortgage-interest subsidies for servicemembers and their reporting treatment
The IRS considered a mortgage servicer group's plan to subsidize interest for servicemembers covered by the Servicemembers' Civil Relief Act. The subsidy would reduce the servicemember's effective…
CCA 1138047: Domestic production receipts and income are partnership items
Chief Counsel Advice addressed how the domestic production deduction rules apply to a partnership. It stated that domestic production activity gross receipts and the resulting gross income are…
CCA 1138045: IRS may abate excessive unpaid liability but cannot refund a paid amount
Chief Counsel Advice addressed whether the IRS could reduce an unpaid liability after a Tax Court case. The advice stated that the IRS retains authority under IRC § 6404(a)(1) to abate an unpaid…
CCA 1138043: Section 6708 applies to list-maintenance failures before and after the 2004 amendments
Chief Counsel Advice addressed the effective scope of the penalty under IRC § 6708 for failing to maintain lists required by IRC § 6112(a). The advice concluded that section 6708 applies to every…
CCA 1138042: Incomplete filing can qualify as a timely informal refund claim
Chief Counsel Advice addressed whether an incomplete filing could preserve a refund claim. The advice stated that although the filing was not a valid formal claim, it was a valid and timely informal…
CCA 1138041: Separate excise-tax overpayment could not offset an expired unassessed liability
Chief Counsel Advice addressed whether an overpayment of one excise tax could be applied against an unassessed underpayment of a different excise tax for another period when the assessment period…
CCA 1138040: Recharacterizing qualified nonrecourse financing is a partnership item
Chief Counsel Advice addressed whether the characterization of financing as qualified nonrecourse financing is determined at the partnership level. The advice concluded that determining or…
CCA 1138039: One section 6707A penalty applies to an after-listed transaction
Chief Counsel Advice addressed the penalty under IRC § 6707A for an after-listed transaction. The advice stated that there is one reporting obligation and therefore one penalty for the transaction.…
CCA 1138037: NFTL caption may identify a person as transferee, alter ego, and nominee
Chief Counsel Advice considered whether a Texas Notice of Federal Tax Lien could identify an entity or person as the nominee, alter ego, and/or transferee of another entity or person when the facts…
CCA 1138036: LLC member may serve as TEFRA tax matters partner without becoming an LLC manager
Chief Counsel Advice addressed whether an LLC member could be designated as the tax matters partner (TMP) for a TEFRA partnership audit without becoming a manager of the LLC. The advice stated that,…
CCA 1138035: Section 465(e) recapture may be asserted without a prior TEFRA proceeding
Chief Counsel Advice addressed the timing of a recapture under IRC § 465(e) in a TEFRA partnership matter. Relying on Roberts v. Commissioner, the advice stated that the IRS may assert the recapture…
CCA 1138034: Revenue Procedure 94-69 submissions are qualified amended returns, not only disclosure statements
Chief Counsel Advice addressed how to describe submissions made under Rev. Proc. 94-69. The advice stated that the submissions should not be called disclosure statements because they are a form of…
CCA 1137011: IRS may accept electronically signed certificates as a business decision
Chief Counsel Advice addressed whether certificates used in fuel transactions must bear original ink signatures or may use faxed, scanned, digital, or electronic signatures. The advice concluded…
PLR 1137005: IRS rules that oilfield fluid services produce qualifying income
A limited partnership planned to provide fluids, storage, transportation, heating, and water treatment services for oil and natural gas wells. The partnership asked whether income from those…
CCA 1136021: A protective claim cannot extend the deadline for changing a foreign-tax election
This Chief Counsel Advice concludes that a taxpayer’s refund claim tied to cascading net operating loss and foreign tax credit carrybacks was untimely under the applicable limitation periods. It…
CCA 1136020: A surviving LLC should use Form 872, not Form 977, to extend assessment time
This Chief Counsel Advice concludes that a surviving LLC formed through a merger should use Form 872 to extend the assessment period for the merged entities’ tax liabilities. The surviving LLC is…
CCA 1134018: Chief Counsel advises that an amended-return abatement cannot be reinstated after the assessment period expires
Chief Counsel considered an assessment that the Service abated after taxpayers filed an amended return reporting a lower liability. The advice concluded that the abatement was a substantive…
Alternative fuel credits for anaerobic digestion products
Chief Counsel advised on whether substrate and raw biogas from an anaerobic digestion process qualify for alternative fuel or alternative fuel mixture credits. The advice concludes that substrate…
CCA 1132023: IRS advised that relevant fuel-use factors may determine a dyed-fuel penalty
Chief Counsel Advice addressed how the IRS may determine the amount of dyed fuel held for a taxable use when assessing a penalty under IRC § 6715(a)(2). The advice stated that the Service may…
PLR 1132020: Butane blending service income qualifies as income from processing and transporting natural resources
The IRS ruled that income earned by a publicly traded limited partnership from butane blending services was qualifying income under section 7704(d)(1)(E). The partnership stored, transported,…
PLR 1132018: Cash distributions to employees and survivors are subject to specified reporting and payroll rules
The IRS ruled on the federal tax treatment of a public institution's proposed cash distributions to current employees and the survivors of covered employees. Payments to current employees were…
PLR 1132012: Natural gas processing and storage income qualifies under section 7704
The IRS ruled that a publicly traded partnership's income from operating specified natural gas processing and natural resource storage facilities would qualify under section 7704(d)(1)(E). The…
Determination 1129054: IRS revokes an organization's section 501(c)(3) exemption for charitable gaming
The IRS revoked an organization's section 501(c)(3) exemption effective January 1, 2006. The organization operated recurring charitable gaming sessions and sold pull-tabs, but the IRS found that…
CCA 1129040: Section 6702(b) penalty may apply to a representative who submits a frivolous filing
Chief Counsel Advice considered whether the section 6702(b) penalty for a specified frivolous submission can apply to a representative who sends the submission to the IRS for another person. The…
CCA 1129039: TEFRA procedures apply despite later questions about partnership status
Chief Counsel Advice considered amended partnership returns filed after three years and concluded that the TEFRA partnership procedures still applied. The advice stated that section 6233 makes the…
CCA 1129038: Representatives may sign tax returns only under specified authorization rules
Chief Counsel Advice addressed when a representative may sign a tax return or refund claim for a taxpayer. It stated that the act must be permitted under the Code and regulations and specifically…
CCA 1129037: Estate tax liens and transferee liability for probate and non-probate assets
Chief Counsel Advice collected authorities on two estate-tax questions. It addressed whether personal liability under section 6324(a)(2) is limited to transferees of non-probate property and whether…
CCA 1129036: At-risk limits are determined separately for each partner
Chief Counsel Advice addressed whether a TEFRA partnership case's schedule of adjustments reflected only partnership-level at-risk limits. The advice stated that the at-risk rules under IRC § 465…
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.