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 1325010: Voting trust does not prevent target from joining parent's consolidated group
The IRS ruled that a parent corporation was treated as the direct owner of all outstanding stock of a target after acquiring the target through a merger subsidiary. Regulatory approval required the…
PLR 1325009: IRS approves tax treatment for a corporation's separation into two public companies
A publicly traded parent corporation proposed transferring one business to a newly formed subsidiary, taking the subsidiary public, and then distributing the subsidiary's stock to the parent's…
PLR 1325008: IRS grants more time to make a qualified subchapter S subsidiary election
An S corporation acquired all of the stock of another corporation but did not timely file Form 8869 to elect qualified subchapter S subsidiary status for the subsidiary. The IRS concluded that the…
PLR 1325007: Licensing fees from active research activities are excluded from the royalty test for an ordinary loss
A parent corporation expected the stock of its wholly owned research subsidiary to become worthless. The parent asked whether licensing fees received by the subsidiary should be treated as royalties…
PLR 1325006: IRS grants relief for an inadvertent S corporation election failure
An S corporation owned two subsidiaries and had elected to treat them as qualified subchapter S subsidiaries. The corporation later discovered that the trust holding its stock had not made the…
PLR 1325005: Branch manufacturing contribution excludes payments from foreign base company sales income
A U.S. multinational's foreign partnership received payments connected with the manufacture, marketing, and sale of products in a foreign country. A branch of the partnership performed substantial…
PLR 1325004: IRS grants extra time to elect qualified real property indebtedness treatment
An individual received discharge-of-indebtedness income through a partnership after a lender forgave debt used to acquire an interest in real property. The taxpayer did not report the income or…
PLR 1325003: IRS restores S corporation status after an inadvertent transfer to an ineligible shareholder
An LLC that had elected S corporation status issued interests to a shareholder who was not eligible to own S corporation stock. The IRS concluded that the S corporation election terminated when the…
PLR 1325002: IRS treats qualifying income from inflation-indexed swaps as RIC income
An investment fund that sought to protect its debt investments from inflation asked whether income from CPI-based swaps would count as qualifying income for regulated investment company purposes.…
PLR 1325001: IRS grants late S corporation election relief
The shareholders of a corporation intended to elect S corporation treatment when the corporation was formed, but the Form 2553 election was not filed on time. The IRS determined that the corporation…
IRS grants relief for a late S corporation election
The IRS granted a corporation relief for failing to timely file Form 2553 to elect S corporation status. The corporation intended to make the election effective on a specified date, but the filing…
IRS preserves S corporation status after an inadvertent election problem
A corporation made an S corporation election before it had shareholders, assets, or business activity. The IRS concluded that the election may have been ineffective at that early date, but that any…
Subsidiaries treated as joining a consolidated return
A parent corporation filed a consolidated federal income tax return that included three subsidiaries, but the subsidiaries did not timely file the required Forms 1122. The subsidiaries were listed…
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…
IRS grants extra time for a research-cost election
A consolidated corporate group missed the deadline to elect under IRC § 59(e) to amortize certain research and experimental expenditures over ten years. The taxpayer said its tax preparer did not…
IRS grants relief for a late S corporation election
A corporation intended to be treated as an S corporation from its incorporation date, but its Form 2553 was not filed on time. The IRS concluded that the taxpayer established reasonable cause for…
Solar project property qualifies for a possession exception
A domestic limited liability company treated as a partnership planned to develop a solar project in a United States possession. Its two members were domestic corporations, neither of which had a…
Solar project property qualifies for a possession exception
A domestic limited liability company treated as a partnership planned to develop a solar project in a United States possession. Its two members were domestic corporations, neither of which had a…
IRS denies a waiver allowing a former consolidated group to refile a consolidated return
A parent corporation had previously filed consolidated federal income tax returns, then elected S corporation status and made QSub elections for its subsidiaries. After the parent revoked its S…
IRS rules that a settlement payment will not spoil a Type C reorganization
A foreign corporation acquired a U.S. company in a transaction treated by the parties as a Type C reorganization. Some of the acquiring corporation's stock was placed in escrow to protect the…
IRS treats income from processing natural gas products as qualifying income
A corporation planned to form a publicly traded partnership that would process natural gas into methanol and synthesis gas, and then into gasoline and liquefied petroleum gas. The partnership would…
IRS grants relief for a late S corporation election
A corporation's shareholders intended for it to be treated as an S corporation, but the corporation did not timely file Form 2553. The IRS found that the corporation had reasonable cause for the…
PLR 1324026: IRS waives the 60-day IRA rollover deadline after a bank error
An IRA owner received a distribution and intended to deposit it into a rollover IRA, but a bank employee placed the funds in a money-market account instead. The mistake was discovered after the…
PLR 1324025: IRS waives rollover deadlines after incorrect financial-institution advice
Two employees received taxable distributions when their employer moved from one retirement plan to another. They intended direct transfers, but taxes were withheld, and a representative of the new…
PLR 1324024: IRS waives an IRA rollover deadline after a decedent's medical incapacity
An executor asked to roll over the remaining portion of IRA distributions received by a decedent. The decedent had completed a partial rollover but did not complete the remainder within 60 days…
PLR 1324023: IRS waives an IRA rollover deadline after medical treatment
An IRA owner withdrew funds to move them to a self-directed IRA but did not complete the rollover within 60 days. The taxpayer's medical conditions and related treatments impaired the ability to…
PLR 1324022: IRS waives an IRA rollover deadline after a fraudulent spousal withdrawal
An individual's spouse withdrew money from the individual's IRA without knowledge or consent, claiming to act under a power of attorney. The spouse used the money for gambling, and the IRA owner…
PLR 1324021: IRS waives an IRA rollover deadline after advisors used a non-IRA account
An IRA owner instructed financial advisors to cash out and reinvest retirement funds, understanding that a rollover had to occur within 60 days. The advisors deposited the distribution into a…
IRS determination 1324020: IRS denies section 501(c)(3) exemption to a rural broadband organization
The IRS issued a final adverse determination after an organization seeking section 501(c)(3) status did not protest a proposed denial within 30 days. The organization said it would represent rural…
PLR 1324019: IRS approves a private foundation's scholarship procedures
A private foundation asked the IRS to approve its procedures for awarding scholarships to qualifying college students. The proposed program uses financial need, academic performance, aptitude,…
Partnership reporting controls passive-loss refund claims
Chief Counsel Advice addresses how partnership reporting affects passive-loss refund claims. It says the character of partnership income or loss is a partnership item, so changing the character…
Federal tax lien attaches to property in a revocable trust
Chief Counsel Advice considers a taxpayer who transferred property to a revocable trust before the IRS made an assessment. The memo explains that a federal tax lien under section 6321 attaches to…
Advice on fiduciary authority for deceased taxpayers
Chief Counsel Advice addresses who may act for deceased taxpayers in two fact patterns. For Case A, involving a deceased non-filer and a daughter who appeared to be a distributee, the memo says the…
Advice on signing a consolidated return statute extension
Chief Counsel Advice addresses who must sign a new Form 872-P in a consolidated-return situation. The memo says that the parent of the tax-matters person does not need to sign the form for the…
PLR 1324014: IRS grants more time to elect a multi-building low-income housing project
A taxpayer asked the IRS for more time to identify all buildings in a low-income housing project as part of a single, multiple-building project for section 42 purposes. The taxpayer said the…
IRS recommends sale treatment for a leveraged partnership transaction
Chief Counsel Advice analyzes a leveraged partnership transaction involving an S corporation, contributed assets, intercompany notes, a bank loan, guarantees, and an indemnity. The memo recommends…
PLR 1324012: IRS grants relief for a late S corporation election
The IRS granted a corporation relief for failing to timely file its S corporation election. The corporation intended to be treated as an S corporation effective on the specified date, but Form 2553…
PLR 1324011: IRS treats a corporation as an S corporation after an inadvertent election problem
The IRS considered whether a corporation's S corporation election was ineffective at the start because the corporation had no shareholders, assets, or business activity. The corporation later issued…
PLR 1324010: IRS treats subsidiaries as joining a consolidated return
The IRS determined that three subsidiaries had joined their parent corporation's initial consolidated federal income tax return even though Forms 1122 were not filed with the return. The…
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 1324008: IRS grants extra time for a research-cost amortization election
The IRS granted a taxpayer 60 additional days to make an election under IRC § 59(e) to amortize certain research and experimental expenditures. The taxpayer missed the election because its tax…
PLR 1324007: IRS grants relief for a late S corporation election
The IRS granted a corporation relief for failing to timely file Form 2553 to elect S corporation status. The corporation's sole shareholder intended the election to be effective from the…
PLR 1324006: IRS approves an exception for solar project property in a U.S. possession
The IRS ruled that depreciable property for a solar project in a U.S. possession could qualify for an exception to the alternative depreciation system. The taxpayer was a domestic limited liability…
PLR 1324005: IRS approves an exception for solar project property in a U.S. possession
The IRS ruled that depreciable property for a solar project in a U.S. possession could qualify for an exception to the alternative depreciation system. The taxpayer was a domestic limited liability…
PLR 1324004: IRS denies an early consolidated-return waiver after an S corporation election
The IRS denied a parent corporation's request to waive the waiting period before it and former subsidiaries could file a new consolidated federal income tax return. The parent had elected S…
PLR 1324003: IRS approves settlement treatment in a corporate reorganization
The IRS ruled that a cash settlement paid by an acquiring corporation to former target shareholders would not be treated as a payment of property other than voting stock for purposes of the…
PLR 1324002: IRS approves qualifying income from processing natural gas products
The IRS ruled that income earned by a publicly traded partnership from processing and marketing gasoline, liquefied petroleum gas, methanol, and synthesis gas made from natural gas would be…
PLR 1324001: IRS grants relief for a late S corporation election
The IRS granted a corporation relief for failing to timely file Form 2553 to elect S corporation status. The corporation's shareholders intended the election to be effective on the specified date,…
PLR 1323045: IRS treats an IRA transfer as modifying substantially equal payments
The IRS ruled that a partial trustee-to-trustee transfer from one IRA to another modified a series of substantially equal periodic payments. The taxpayer had been receiving payments intended to…
PLR 1323044: IRS waives the 60-day deadline for a retirement-plan rollover
The IRS considered a taxpayer who received a retirement-plan distribution but deposited it into a non-IRA account instead of completing a rollover within 60 days. The taxpayer said severe emotional…
PLR 1323043: IRS approves a church plan and related retiree benefit trust
The IRS considered a church convention's retiree health and life insurance plan and a trust intended to fund its premiums. The IRS ruled that the arrangement was a trust, that the convention would…
PLR 1323042: IRS denies church-plan status for a continuing multi-employer plan
The IRS considered whether a tax-exempt organization's retirement plan qualified as a church plan under IRC § 414(e). The organization was affiliated with a church, but the plan had originally…
PLR 1323041: IRS waives the rollover deadline after fraudulent IRA activity
The IRS considered a taxpayer whose IRA assets were transferred to an entity that falsely represented itself as a qualified IRA custodian. The taxpayer said the custodian's owner engaged in…
PLR 1323040: IRS waives the rollover deadline after incorrect tax advice
The IRS considered a taxpayer who received a distribution from a 403(b) annuity and did not timely roll over part of it after receiving incorrect information from the annuity company. The taxpayer…
Determination 1323039: IRS revokes exemption after private benefit and inurement findings
The IRS revoked an organization’s exemption under IRC § 501(c)(3) after finding that its partnership and donor program provided private benefits and inurement. The organization allowed donors to…
Determination 1323038: IRS revokes a veterans organization’s section 501(c)(4) exemption
The IRS revoked a central organization’s section 501(c)(4) exemption and its related group exemption. The organization provided administrative services to subordinate organizations that operated…
Determination 1323037: IRS finalizes denial of exemption for a fee-based charity website
The IRS issued a final adverse determination that an organization did not qualify for exemption under IRC § 501(c)(3). The organization operated a website connecting people who offered goods or…
Determination 1323036: IRS revokes exemption from a public-facing employee association store
The IRS revoked an employee association's exemption under IRC § 501(c)(4). The association operated a public-facing store selling public safety apparel and equipment, and the IRS found that store…
IRS denies exemption after finding private benefit and inurement
The IRS determined that a nonprofit did not qualify for exemption under section 501(c)(3), effective September 19, 2007. The organization’s founder controlled its finances and used personal credit…
IRS revokes exemption after finding commercial activity and officer inurement
The IRS revoked an organization’s section 501(c)(3) exemption, effective January 1, 2007. The examination found that the organization’s primary activity was providing immigration services for fees…
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.