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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IRS denies minimum-funding waiver for financially distressed academic institution
The IRS denied a nonprofit academic institution’s request for a waiver of the minimum funding standard for its pension plan. The institution reported permanent financial distress, including…
PLR 201316024: IRS declines to waive rollover deadline after escrow use
An individual withdrew funds from an IRA and placed them in a non-IRA escrow account to help a daughter qualify to purchase a foreclosed home. The taxpayer intended to return the funds to an IRA…
IRS approves private foundation’s K-12 arts grant procedures
The IRS approved a private foundation’s procedures for educational grants to students in kindergarten through grade twelve. The program will pay up to half of qualifying tuition, training, or lesson…
IRS approves private foundation scholarship procedures
The IRS approved a private foundation’s procedures for scholarships supporting youth and young adults in undergraduate or graduate education. The program is intended for applicants who demonstrate…
PLR 201316021: IRS approves estate settlement involving a private foundation
A private foundation was named to receive partnership interests and the residue of an estate, but the bequests and related purchase options became the subject of lengthy litigation and arbitration.…
Advice on offsetting tax overpayments against other liabilities
Chief Counsel’s office advised that a taxpayer does not need a statutory overpayment under § 6401(a) to have an overpayment for a tax year. The Service may examine the entire return to determine the…
Advice on levying military retirement benefits
Chief Counsel's office gave informal advice about whether federal tax levies may reach military retirement benefits. The advice states that property and property rights generally may be levied…
Advice on who may sign an LLC's Form 2848
Chief Counsel's office advised that the person signing a power of attorney for an LLC must have authority under state law to bind the LLC. In the described TEFRA proceeding, the tax matters partner,…
Advice on closing agreements after a foreign F reorganization
Chief Counsel's office advised that two foreign corporations converted into Societas Europaea entities could likely qualify as F reorganizations. The conclusion depended on the taxpayer's…
Advice on the limitations period for an NOL carryback refund claim
Chief Counsel's office advised that the limitations period in IRC § 6511(d)(2)(A) for net operating loss carrybacks is an additional period for filing a refund claim, not a replacement for the…
Advice on when an IRC § 6603 deposit becomes a tax payment
Chief Counsel's office advised that the refund limitations period begins when an IRC § 6603 deposit is converted and applied to pay an assessed tax liability. Before that application, the deposit is…
IRS grants more time to amend consent-dividend elections
The IRS granted a REIT an additional 45 days to amend consent-dividend elections after it mistakenly attributed all of the consent dividends to common stock instead of allocating some to…
Two classes of REIT shares with different fees will not create preferential dividends
The IRS ruled for a planned nonlisted REIT that would issue two classes of common stock with different selling commissions, distribution fees, and other class-specific expenses. The differences in…
IRS grants late S corporation election relief
The IRS granted a corporation relief for failing to timely file Form 2553 to elect S corporation status. The corporation showed reasonable cause for the late election. The IRS will recognize the…
IRS grants time for trust severance and reverse QTIP election
The IRS granted an estate 120 days to sever a marital trust into exempt and non-exempt trusts and make a reverse QTIP election for generation-skipping transfer tax purposes. The estate had timely…
IRS grants extra time to make a qualified real property debt election
The IRS granted an individual an additional 45 days to make an election to exclude cancellation-of-debt income from qualified real property business indebtedness and reduce the basis of depreciable…
IRS grants extra time to make a qualified real property debt election
The IRS granted an individual an additional 45 days to make an election to exclude cancellation-of-debt income from qualified real property business indebtedness and reduce the basis of depreciable…
IRS grants extra time to waive a life subgroup loss carryback
The IRS granted a parent company 60 days to file an election relinquishing the carryback period for a consolidated loss from operations of a life insurance subgroup. The election was not timely…
IRS grants extra time for a tax-exempt controlled entity election
The IRS granted a tax-exempt controlled corporation 60 days to make an election under section 168(h)(6)(F)(ii). The election allows the corporation to be treated as not tax-exempt for purposes of…
IRS grants extra time for a tax-exempt controlled entity election
The IRS granted a tax-exempt controlled corporation 60 days to make an election under section 168(h)(6)(F)(ii). The election allows the corporation to be treated as not tax-exempt for purposes of…
IRS modifies a prior ruling for a partnership structure
The IRS modified an earlier private letter ruling about income from mining and marketing silica for use in oil and gas production. The modification reflects a change in the planned initial public…
Estate settlement avoids GST tax and preserves a charitable deduction
The IRS ruled on an estate settlement resolving competing interpretations of a decedent’s will. The decedent had been adjudged incompetent before September 25, 1985, and did not regain competency…
Taxpayer granted extra time to elect treatment of capital gains as investment income
An individual asked for more time to elect to treat net capital gains as investment income for purposes of the investment interest deduction. The election had been missed because the taxpayer's…
Extra time granted to opt out of automatic GST exemption allocation
Spouses asked for more time to elect out of the automatic allocation of generation-skipping transfer tax exemption to several trusts. Their accountant had not advised them that the election was…
Extra time granted to opt out of automatic GST exemption allocation
Spouses asked for more time to elect out of the automatic allocation of generation-skipping transfer tax exemption to several trusts. Their accountant had not advised them that the election was…
Determination 201315037: IRS revokes a feline organization’s tax exemption for private benefit and inadequate records
The IRS revoked a feline organization's section 501(c)(3) tax exemption, effective January 1, 2007. The organization educated the public about feline retroviruses and sheltered infected cats, but…
PLR 201315036: IRS waives the 60-day IRA rollover deadline
The IRS granted a waiver of the 60-day rollover requirement for an IRA distribution. The taxpayer completed the rollover late after medical conditions impaired her ability to manage financial…
PLR 201315035: IRS waives the 60-day rollover deadline after a spouse's death
The IRS granted a waiver of the 60-day rollover requirement for a surviving spouse's distribution from a qualified retirement plan. The taxpayer delayed the rollover while dealing with emotional…
PLR 201315034: IRS waives the 60-day IRA rollover deadline after erroneous advice
The IRS waived the 60-day rollover requirement for an IRA distribution after the taxpayer relied on erroneous information from an investment-service representative. The taxpayer believed the amount…
Determination 201315033 approves a private foundation scholarship procedure
The IRS approved a private foundation's procedures for awarding scholarships to qualifying students. The proposed program would provide educational grants to indigent individuals, with selection…
Determination 201315032 approves an employer-related scholarship procedure
The IRS approved an employer-related scholarship program operated by a private foundation. The program was designed to support qualifying dependents of associates and employees connected with the…
PLR 201315031: Ranch property is used directly for exempt purposes
The IRS ruled that a private foundation's ranch was used and held for use directly in carrying out charitable, educational, and scientific purposes. The ranch supported a religious retreat and a…
PLR 201315030: IRS approves a tax-exempt country club's liquidation of its property subsidiary
A tax-exempt country club asked whether it could completely liquidate its tax-exempt subsidiary and receive the subsidiary's assets and liabilities without recognizing gain or loss. The subsidiary…
Determination 201315029 denies exemption to a video-education organization
The IRS issued a final adverse determination denying exemption under IRC § 501(c)(3) to an organization that edited, packaged, and sold educational video books. The organization did not have a…
Determination 201315028 denies exemption to a medical-practice network
The IRS issued a final adverse determination denying exemption under IRC § 501(c)(3) to a nonprofit medical-practice network. The organization planned to collect and analyze practice data, provide…
Determination 201315027 denies exemption to an administrative-services organization
The IRS denied exemption under IRC § 501(c)(3) to an organization formed to provide management, human resources, finance, health-record, information-technology, property, transportation, and…
CCA 201315026: New partnership continues the old partnership after a merger
Chief Counsel advice addresses whether a new partnership continued an original partnership for purposes of appointing a tax matters partner. The transaction involved a merger with a disregarded…
CCA 201315025: Remailing a notice to a requested address
Chief Counsel advice considers how the Service should handle a notice that was sent to the taxpayer's last known address and later needs to be remailed to another requested address. Assuming the…
CCA 201315024: Section 6229 extends, but does not shorten, the assessment period
Chief Counsel advice explains the relationship between the TEFRA partnership audit rules and the general assessment limitation period. The memo states that section 6501(a) supplies the period for…
CCA 201315023: Employment-tax refund offsets are limited to the employee share
Chief Counsel advice considers refunds for taxpayers who originally reported wages as self-employment income and paid self-employment tax. The memo concludes that section 6521 permits the Service to…
CCA 201315022: Interpreting the two-year Chapter 13 discharge rule
Chief Counsel advice interprets the phrase “such order” in Bankruptcy Code section 1328(f)(2). The memo reads that phrase as referring to the order for relief under the bankruptcy chapter, because…
CCA 201315021: Suggested legal analysis for a recapitalization
Chief Counsel advice supplies suggested language for the law section of a recapitalization analysis. It identifies the general income rule and the nonrecognition rules for exchanges of stock or…
CCA 201315020: Insolvency does not by itself disqualify a tax-free merger
Chief Counsel advice states that a merger otherwise qualifying for tax-free treatment is not disqualified merely because one corporation is insolvent. The memo separately explains that stock…
PLR 201315019: Controlled may head a consolidated group after a spin-off
The IRS ruled on a supplement to an earlier private letter ruling involving a corporate spin-off. A distributing corporation formed Controlled, transferred subsidiaries to it, and distributed…
CCA 201315018: Freeze-control mixture sprayed on coal does not qualify for the fuel credit
Chief Counsel advice considers whether a mixture of glycerin, diesel fuel, and water qualifies for the alternative fuel mixture credit when sprayed on coal as a freeze-control agent. The mixture…
CCA 201315017: Information-return penalties are divisible by failure
Chief Counsel advice addresses whether penalties under sections 6721 and 6722 are divisible for refund-suit jurisdiction. The advice concludes that both penalties are based on separate underlying…
PLR 201315016: IRS approves a multi-step corporate spin-off and related reorganizations
The IRS approved a complex series of contributions, reorganizations, and spin-offs involving several distributing and controlled corporations. The ruling treats the described contribution and…
PLR 201315015: Gasoline and LPG processing income is qualifying partnership income
The IRS ruled that income from processing natural gas into gasoline and liquefied petroleum gas, and from marketing those products, would be qualifying income for a publicly traded partnership under…
PLR 201315014: Taxpayers receive more time to allocate GST exemption
The IRS granted an extension of time for two taxpayers to allocate generation-skipping transfer tax exemption to transfers made to an irrevocable trust. An accountant prepared the taxpayers' gift…
PLR 201315013: Estate receives 120 more days to make the section 1022 election
The IRS granted an estate an additional 120 days to file Form 8939, make the section 1022 election, and allocate basis increases to eligible property acquired from a decedent who died in 2010. The…
PLR 201315012: S corporation election remains effective after an inadvertent termination
The IRS granted relief to a corporation whose S corporation election terminated when a trust became a shareholder without making the required qualified subchapter S trust election. The trust had…
PLR 201315011: Estate receives more time to make the section 1022 election
The IRS granted the co-trustees of an estate an additional 120 days to file Form 8939, make the section 1022 election, and allocate basis increases to eligible property acquired from a decedent who…
PLR 201315010: Entity receives relief for late corporation and S corporation elections
The IRS granted an entity 120 days to make a late election to be treated as a corporation for federal tax purposes and to file a late S corporation election. The entity had intended both elections…
PLR 201315009: Recapitalization and spin-off qualify for stated tax treatment
The IRS ruled on a proposed transaction in which a publicly traded parent would recapitalize a subsidiary and distribute the subsidiary's common stock pro rata to the parent's shareholders. The…
PLR 201315008: Interest-rate hedging income qualifies as publicly traded partnership income
The IRS ruled that income earned by a publicly traded limited partnership from treasury locks, interest rate swaps, forward-start interest rate swaps, and interest rate caps was qualifying income…
PLR 201315007: Certain REIT loans are not securities for the 25-percent TRS asset test
The IRS ruled that mortgage loans secured by real property and qualifying mezzanine loans held by a real estate investment trust would not be treated as securities for the 25-percent value test…
PLR 201315006: Taxpayer receives more time to allocate GST exemption to a trust transfer
The IRS granted a taxpayer an additional 120 days to allocate generation-skipping transfer tax exemption to a lifetime transfer of limited partnership interests to an irrevocable trust. The taxpayer…
PLR 201315005: Estate receives more time to allocate GST exemption to trust transfers
The IRS granted a 120-day extension to allocate a deceased spouse's available generation-skipping transfer tax exemption to transfers made to a trust over 21 years. The couple had hired an…
PLR 201315004: REIT's planned property sales are not prohibited transactions
The IRS considered a real estate investment trust's planned sales and other dispositions of properties during a debt restructuring and portfolio liquidation. The taxpayer represented that it…
PLR 201315003: S corporation election reinstated after missed QSST elections
The IRS ruled on an S corporation whose shares had been transferred to five trusts. The trust beneficiaries had failed to make timely qualified subchapter S trust (QSST) elections, which caused the…
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.