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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PLR 1226003: IRS confirms refined-coal credit treatment for an additive process
A partnership asked whether coal treated with chemical additives qualified as refined coal for the section 45 tax credit. It also asked whether coal from the same source region and rank as tested…
PLR 1226002: IRS confirms refined-coal credit treatment for an additive process
A limited liability company asked whether coal treated with chemical additives qualified as refined coal for the section 45 tax credit. It also asked whether coal from the same source region and…
CCA 1225012: IRS classifies a permanently moored floating casino as nonresidential real property
Chief Counsel Advice addressed the depreciation classification of a permanently moored floating gaming facility. The IRS concluded that the facility was not a vessel for depreciation because it was…
PLR 1225007: IRS excludes municipal retiree health fund income under IRC section 115
A municipal retiree health fund asked whether its investment and other income would be excluded from gross income. The IRS concluded that providing health benefits to former city employees and their…
PLR 1224028: IRS allows late revocation of an investment-income election
The IRS granted an individual taxpayer 60 days to revoke an election that treated qualified dividends and net capital gains as investment income under IRC § 163(d)(4)(B). The taxpayer's former…
PLR 1224027: IRS allows late revocation of an investment-income election
The IRS granted an individual taxpayer 60 days to revoke an election that treated qualified dividends and net capital gains as investment income under IRC § 163(d)(4)(B). The taxpayer's former…
PLR 1224018: IRS approves captive insurer's pooled reinsurance arrangement
The IRS ruled that a captive insurer's contracts with affiliated businesses, combined with participation in a reinsurance pool of unrelated insurers and insureds, constituted insurance for federal…
PLR 1224001: IRS approves refined-coal process and emissions testing
The IRS ruled that a process adding proprietary chemicals to feedstock coal before combustion produces refined coal under IRC § 45(c)(7), provided the coal comes from the same source or rank as the…
PLR 1223014: IRS approves utility normalization treatment for excess project costs
The IRS ruled that a public utility's treatment of project costs above a regulatory cost cap satisfied the normalization requirements for accelerated depreciation. The utility included the full…
PLR 1223012: IRS approves a tax-neutral trust division and modification
The IRS approved corrections to two scrivener's errors in an irrevocable trust and a pro rata division of the trust into two successor trusts for separate family lines. The IRS ruled that the…
PLR 1223005: IRS allows a late low-income housing credit election
The IRS granted a taxpayer 120 days to correct Forms 8609 and elect to begin the low-income housing credit period in the year after a building was placed in service. An accountant had inadvertently…
PLR 1223002: IRS approves refined coal credit production and testing methods
The IRS approved three requested positions concerning a refined-coal facility that used chemical additives to reduce nitrogen oxide and mercury emissions. It concluded that coal produced through the…
CCA addresses partnership proceedings after insufficient income reporting
Chief Counsel Advice addressed the IRS response when a partnership did not report enough income. The IRS would issue an FPAA to increase the partnership's income and restore any basis adjustment…
PLR 1222018: IRS excludes a governmental benefits trust's income under section 115
The IRS ruled that a trust pooling contributions from governmental employers to provide employee health and welfare benefits has income excluded from gross income under section 115(1). The trust…
PLR 1222011: IRS approves pooled income fund terms and related tax treatment
The IRS ruled on six questions concerning a tax-exempt organization’s proposed pooled income fund. It concluded that several provisions in the fund’s governing instrument would not prevent pooled…
PLR 1222010: IRS approves pooled income fund terms and related tax treatment
The IRS ruled on six questions concerning a tax-exempt organization’s proposed pooled income fund. It concluded that several provisions in the fund’s governing instrument would not prevent pooled…
PLR 1222009: IRS approves pooled income fund terms and related tax treatment
The IRS ruled on six questions concerning a tax-exempt organization’s proposed pooled income fund. It concluded that several provisions in the fund’s governing instrument would not prevent pooled…
PLR 1222008: IRS approves pooled income fund terms and related tax treatment
The IRS ruled on six questions concerning a tax-exempt organization’s proposed pooled income fund. It concluded that several provisions in the fund’s governing instrument would not prevent pooled…
PLR 1222007: IRS approves pooled income fund terms and related tax treatment
The IRS ruled on six questions concerning a tax-exempt organization’s proposed pooled income fund. It concluded that several provisions in the fund’s governing instrument would not prevent pooled…
PLR 1222006: IRS approves pooled income fund terms and related tax treatment
The IRS ruled on six questions concerning a tax-exempt organization’s proposed pooled income fund. It concluded that several provisions in the fund’s governing instrument would not prevent pooled…
CCA 1221013: Chief Counsel says extrapolation under Revenue Procedure 2011-43 is elective
Chief Counsel Advice addressed whether extrapolation was required when using the safe-harbor method in Rev. Proc. 2011-43. The advice agreed that extrapolation was not required to use the safe…
PLR 1221004: IRS includes two payments in the amount realized on a home sale
The IRS ruled that a married couple's amount realized on the sale of their former principal residence included both the payment received from the purchaser and a separate payment received from a…
PLR 1221002: IRS gives mixed rulings on utility pilot-program equipment
The IRS issued mixed rulings on equipment installed by utility subsidiaries in customer pilot programs. It concluded that the equipment used in the pilots was seven-year property for depreciation,…
Retroactive PBGC payments may support an HCTC credit
Chief Counsel's advice considers whether a retroactive payment from the Pension Benefit Guaranty Corporation can count toward the health coverage tax credit for a particular month. The advice states…
Lessee must capitalize costs for improvements owned by lessor
Chief Counsel's advice considers a lessee that used its own funds, together with an allowance from the lessor, to construct improvements on leased real property. The agreement gave the lessor…
CAPCO tax credits create income when used to pay note obligations
Chief Counsel's advice considers a state-certified capital company whose investors received premium tax credits and used them to offset principal and interest owed on notes issued by the company.…
PLR 1220021: Refined coal process qualifies for section 45 treatment
The IRS approved a refined-coal production process that mixes proprietary additives with feedstock coal before combustion. The ruling concludes that the process can produce refined coal for purposes…
PLR 1220013: Taxpayer may revoke an election to forgo bonus depreciation
The IRS granted a corporation permission to revoke its election not to claim 50-percent additional first-year depreciation for eligible property. The corporation had also elected the related credit…
CCA 1219021: IRS advice on excluding accountable-plan meal reimbursements from a statistical sample
Chief Counsel Advice considers whether meals bought by employees and reimbursed under an accountable plan should be included in a target population and statistical sample used to test de minimis…
PLR 1219015: Refined coal process may qualify for the section 45 credit
The IRS ruled for a taxpayer producing refined coal by mixing proprietary additives with feedstock coal before combustion. The process may produce refined coal for purposes of the section 45 credit…
PLR 1219012: Trust income for a public entity's retiree benefits is excluded under IRC § 115(1)
A political subdivision asked whether income earned by a trust funding post-employment benefits for its eligible employees and dependents could be excluded from gross income. The IRS ruled that the…
PLR 1219006: Retiree health-benefit trust income is excluded under IRC § 115(1)
A retirement system asked whether income of its trust, which prefunded post-retirement hospital and medical benefits, was excludable from gross income. The IRS concluded that paying these benefits…
PLR 1219001: Cooperative may treat c-Check payments as per-unit retains for its section 199 deduction
An agricultural cooperative asked whether payments it made to members before the end of its annual pool qualified as per-unit retain allocations paid in money. The cooperative called these payments…
Chief Counsel advice allows a late section 108(i) election by amended return
Chief Counsel advice addressed whether a partnership could make a section 108(i) election on an amended return. The response said the election could be filed with an amended return if the amended…
CCA says a pre-1980 coke facility may qualify for the section 45K(g) credit
Chief Counsel advice concluded that a facility producing fuel from coke or coke gas other than petroleum-based products does not need to have been placed in service after December 31, 1979, to…
IRS grants more time to elect the start of a low-income housing credit period
The IRS granted a taxpayer 120 days to make a late election under IRC § 42(f)(1) specifying when the credit period for a multifamily residential building would begin. The taxpayer had intended to…
PLR 1217015: IRS grants more time for pollution-control-facility elections
An electric utility asked for more time to make regulatory elections under IRC section 169 for certified pollution control facilities. The utility had claimed amortization for several facilities but…
PLR 1217004: IRS permits partial revocation of inadvertent investment-income elections
A trust inadvertently elected to treat more capital gain and qualified dividend income as investment income than was needed to support its investment-interest deduction. The error resulted from a…
PLR 1217003: IRS permits partial revocation of an inadvertent investment-income election
A trust inadvertently elected to treat qualified dividend income and net capital gain as investment income, even though the amount exceeded its investment-interest expense. The error resulted from a…
PLR 1216029: IRS classifies cellular antenna towers as land improvements
A communications company asked how its cellular antenna towers and supporting foundations should be classified for depreciation. The IRS concluded that the land towers, rooftop towers, horizontal…
PLR 1216017: IRS approves an additive process and testing method for the refined coal credit
A taxpayer planned to produce refined coal by mixing proprietary additives with feedstock coal before combustion at several power plants. The taxpayer asked whether the additive process produced…
PLR 1216011: IRS treats cooperative payments as per-unit retains for the § 199 deduction
A farmers' cooperative marketed agricultural products for its member associations and their patrons through both consignment sales and direct purchase arrangements. The cooperative asked whether…
PLR 1216009: IRS finds a hospital alliance does not create private business use of bond-financed facilities
A public hospital district and a public university planned a strategic alliance to coordinate healthcare services and manage hospital facilities financed with tax-exempt bonds. The IRS concluded…
PLR 1216008: IRS applies the possession exception to a domestic partnership's wind project
A domestic partnership planned to develop a wind project in a United States possession through a disregarded subsidiary. The partnership had two domestic corporate members, neither of which had an…
PLR 1214014: Partnership conversion receives section 351 treatment and preserves post-1993 intangible basis
The IRS considered the federal tax consequences of a partnership's conversion into a corporation in connection with an initial public offering. The ruling treated the conversion as a transfer of…
PLR 1214007: Facility-specific power purchase agreements are not separate assets
The IRS considered how to allocate the purchase price when a taxpayer acquired wind energy facilities together with facility-specific power purchase agreements. The agreements required the facility…
PLR 1214005: IRS permits revocation of an election foregoing bonus depreciation
The IRS considered a corporation's request to revoke its election not to claim 50 percent additional first-year depreciation for qualified property. The corporation had made the election after…
PLR 1214004: IRS permits partial revocation of an investment income election
The IRS considered a trust's request to partially revoke an election that treated net capital gain and qualified dividend income as investment income for purposes of the investment interest…
PLR 1214003: Self-constructed generating units qualify for bonus depreciation
The IRS considered whether two self-constructed electric generating units qualified for 50 percent additional first-year depreciation and whether components of one unit could qualify for 100 percent…
CCA 1213023: Slot-machine conversion costs are generally deductible maintenance expenses
Chief Counsel Advice considered whether a casino operator had to capitalize costs for converting reel and video slot machines to new games or configurations. The advice concluded that, on the facts…
CCA 1213022: Investment losses can be theft losses despite intermediary fund managers
Chief Counsel Advice considered whether taxpayers' losses from an investment scheme qualified as theft losses under IRC § 165, even though the taxpayers invested through fund managers and other…
PLR 1213010: Airport connector bond interest qualifies for tax exclusion
The IRS ruled that interest on bonds issued by political subdivisions to finance airport people-mover improvements and buses would be excludable from gross income under section 103(a). Although more…
PLR 1213008: IRS permits partial revocation of an investment-income election
The IRS consented to a trust's partial revocation of an election to treat net capital gain as investment income for purposes of the investment-interest deduction. A tax-preparation software error…
CCA 1212016: IRS advises that children must meet the relationship test to be qualifying children
The Office of Chief Counsel responded to a question about the earned income credit and qualifying children. It stated that the children would have to meet the relationship test under IRC § 152(c)(2)…
CCA 1212015: IRS explains how post-finality adoption expenses use later-year limits
The Office of Chief Counsel advised a married couple about the adoption tax credit for expenses paid before and after an international adoption was finalized. It explained that expenses paid before…
CCA 1212014: IRS advises that an identified currency hedge is outside section 263(g) capitalization
The Office of Chief Counsel considered whether section 263(g) required a taxpayer to capitalize otherwise deductible payments or accruals on indebtedness identified as the item hedged by a…
CCA 1212010: IRS discusses qualified conservation contributions involving water rights
The Office of Chief Counsel discussed an article addressing qualified conservation contributions involving partial interests in appropriative or riparian rights. The advice noted that a donation of…
CCA 1212009: IRS discusses the entire-interest requirement for a conservation contribution
The Office of Chief Counsel commented on an analysis involving a qualified conservation contribution. It stated that a redacted reader had interpreted a General Counsel Memorandum and a revenue…
PLR 1212007: IRS grants extra time to elect exclusion of qualified real property business indebtedness income
The IRS granted a taxpayer an additional 45 days to file an amended return and make an election under IRC § 108(c)(3)(C) to exclude income from the discharge of qualified real property business…
PLR 1212006: IRS grants extra time for a partner to make a section 108 election
The IRS granted the taxpayer an additional 45 days to file an amended return and make an election under IRC § 108(c)(3)(C) to exclude income from the discharge of qualified real property business…
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.