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 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…
PLR 1144006: IRS treats a state economic-development grant as a capital contribution
A corporation asked whether a state economic-development grant used for construction, renovation, and business expansion was a nonshareholder contribution to capital. The IRS concluded that the…
CCA 1143018: Chief Counsel revises advice on charitable deductions, REMIC income, and NOLs
The Office of Chief Counsel reconsidered how excess inclusion income from a REMIC residual interest affects a corporation's charitable-contribution limitation and net operating loss. It concluded…
PLR 1142022: Partnership owners may claim shares of the energy credit for a solar project in a U.S. possession
The taxpayer planned to own and operate a 20-megawatt solar energy facility in a U.S. possession through a subsidiary. The taxpayer expected to become a partnership when a taxable new member…
PLR 1142016: Public utility authority treated as tax-exempt political subdivision
The IRS considered a public utility authority in a U.S. possession that generated and transmitted electricity and had been granted eminent-domain authority. The IRS ruled that the authority was a…
PLR 1142006: IRS approves tax treatment for a public retiree health benefits trust
The IRS ruled that a trust established by a state to fund health benefits for retired state and education-board employees performs an essential governmental function. Its income therefore accrues to…
PLR 1142005: IRS treats wind-farm battery storage as energy property
The IRS ruled that a battery storage device used with a wind farm is part of the qualified property of a qualified investment credit facility under IRC § 48(a)(5). The taxpayer may therefore claim…
PLR 1140013: Tax-exempt controlled entity granted more time to make depreciation election
A for-profit corporation owned by an exempt organization asked for extra time to elect not to be treated as tax-exempt for purposes of the tax-exempt-use-property rules. The election affected the…
PLR 1140006: Trust income for public retiree health benefits excluded under IRC § 115
A city asked whether income earned by a trust that funds health insurance premiums for eligible retired public employees would be excluded from gross income. The IRS concluded that providing these…
PLR 1140002: Hydrogen pipeline qualifies for additional first-year depreciation
An industrial gas business asked whether a newly constructed hydrogen pipeline could qualify for the additional first-year depreciation deduction under IRC § 168(k). The IRS determined that the…
CCA 1139006: IRS denied a section 199 deduction that would create an election-year NOL
Chief Counsel Advice considered the interaction of the domestic production deduction under IRC § 199, net operating losses under § 172, and the one-time dividends-received deduction election under §…
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 1138048: Employee must include guests' flight costs in income even if the employee does not fly
Chief Counsel Advice addressed whether an employee must include the flight costs of guests in income when the employee does not take the flight. The advice stated that each passenger's flight must…
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 1138046: SUV excluded from passenger-automobile depreciation limits based on weight rating
Chief Counsel Advice considered whether a taxpayer's SUV was subject to the depreciation limits for passenger automobiles. The advice concluded that the SUV was not a passenger automobile under IRC…
PLR 1138031: IRS grants late-election relief for a tax-exempt controlled entity
The IRS granted a corporation's request for more time to make an election under IRC § 168(h)(6)(F)(ii) to be treated as a taxable entity. The corporation was a tax-exempt controlled entity and…
PLR 1138029: Cooperative crop payments qualify as per-unit retain allocations paid in money
The IRS ruled for a farmers' marketing cooperative on two questions about payments made to members for crops. The cash crop payments qualified as per-unit retain allocations paid in money under IRC…
PLR 1138022: IRS rules on four expense categories in a bankruptcy liquidation
A consolidated group filed for bankruptcy, sold substantially all of its assets to a new parent, and then liquidated. The taxpayer asked how to treat four categories of costs: ordinary operating…
PLR 1138016: IRS grants extra time to elect the 60 percent low-income housing set-aside
A taxpayer failed to make the intended IRC § 42(g)(1)(B) election for a low-income housing project. The election uses a 40 percent minimum set-aside for units occupied by residents whose income is…
PLR 1138015: IRS rules that bankruptcy asset-sale losses are deductible and the transfers are not G reorganizations
A privately held corporation and certain affiliates planned to transfer assets as part of a Chapter 11 reorganization. The taxpayer asked whether the transfers would qualify as section 368(a)(1)(G)…
PLR 1138014: IRS excludes a public entity's retiree-benefit trust income under section 115
A local-government entity established a trust to fund health and welfare benefits for its retired employees and their spouses and dependents. The entity asked whether the trust's investment income…
PLR 1138002: IRS treats cooperative grain payments as per-unit retain allocations for section 199 purposes
A farmers' cooperative asked how cash payments for grain purchased from its members should be treated under the cooperative tax rules and for the section 199 domestic production activities…
CCA 1136024: An NOL carryback waiver also waives extended loss carrybacks
This Chief Counsel Advice concludes that a taxpayer who elects under IRC section 172(b)(3) to waive the net operating loss carryback period cannot carry back any portion of that year’s NOL,…
CCA 1136023: IRS explains low-income housing credit recapture after a later basis adjustment
This Chief Counsel Advice addresses recapture of the low-income housing credit when the IRS reduces a building’s eligible basis during an audit of a later, open tax year. It concludes that recapture…
CCA 1136022: A construction financing commitment fee is included in production expenditures
This Chief Counsel Advice concludes that a commitment fee paid for construction financing creates an asset whose adjusted basis must be included in accumulated production expenditures under Treas.…
PLR 1136018: IRS approves a wind farm’s treatment as property used in a U.S. possession
The IRS ruled that a wind farm would not be treated as property used predominantly outside the United States under the alternative depreciation system rules. The taxpayer represented that the wind…
PLR 1136008: Public employer retiree-benefit trust receives favorable tax treatment
A city and a public authority proposed creating a trust to fund post-employment life insurance for retired employees and their beneficiaries. The IRS ruled that the trust's income would be excluded…
PLR 1136007: Public employer retiree-benefit trust receives favorable tax treatment
A public authority and a city proposed creating a trust to fund post-employment life insurance for retired employees and their beneficiaries. The IRS ruled that the trust's income would be excluded…
PLR 1135022: IRS revokes a prior de minimis fringe benefit ruling without retroactive effect
The IRS revoked an earlier private letter ruling that had treated certain clothing and accessories provided by an employer to employees as de minimis fringe benefits excluded from gross income.…
PLR 1134022: IRS grants more time to make a low-income housing credit election
A taxpayer asked for more time to make the § 42(g)(1) election for a low-income housing project. The taxpayer had placed the project in service but inadvertently failed to make a timely, correct…
PLR 1134017: Transfer of trust assets preserves GST status and avoids gift tax and gain
A taxpayer asked whether a special trustee could move assets from one family trust into a new trust for the same family beneficiary and descendants. The IRS ruled that the receiving trust would keep…
PLR 1134003: IRS grants more time to elect a current deduction for drilling costs
A privately owned corporation incurred intangible drilling and development costs in its oil and gas business but did not elect to deduct those costs currently on its first relevant tax return. Its…
PLR 1133009: Taxpayer granted more time to elect deductions for drilling costs
The IRS granted a taxpayer an extension of time to make an election under section 263(c) to deduct intangible drilling and development costs. The taxpayer had not made the election on time and…
PLR 1133007: Division of grandfathered trusts approved without adverse tax consequences
The IRS approved a proposal to divide two irrevocable trusts created before September 25, 1985 into separate subtrusts for different descendants. The IRS ruled that the division would preserve the…
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 1132011: Donation of broadcast licenses qualifies for a charitable deduction
The IRS ruled that a taxpayer's donation of five low-power television broadcast station licenses and related equipment to a private operating foundation was deductible under section 170(a). The…
PLR 1131031: Trust and affiliated corporation approved as one community trust
The IRS approved a community trust's plan to treat an affiliated nonprofit corporation as a component part of the trust for federal tax purposes. The trust and corporation had common governing…
PLR 1131030: Trust and affiliated corporation approved as one community trust
The IRS approved a community trust's plan to treat an affiliated nonprofit corporation as a component part of the trust for federal tax purposes. The trust and corporation had common governing…
PLR 1131014: IRS approved dividing an irrevocable trust into separate beneficiary subtrusts
A trustee proposed dividing an irrevocable trust created before September 25, 1985 into separate subtrusts, one for each of the grantor's three children and their descendants. The IRS concluded that…
PLR 1131010: IRS classified qualifying district-cooling equipment as 7-year property
A power-generation company asked how to depreciate tangible property used in a district-cooling system. The system circulated chilled water through underground pipes to customer buildings,…
PLR 1131007: IRS excluded adult foster-care payments from income
A corporation received state payments for adult foster care provided by its sole shareholder in the shareholder's home. The corporation paid the foster-care amounts to the shareholder after paying…
PLR 1131003: IRS approved refined-coal credit conclusions for additive-treated coal
A partnership produced refined coal by mixing feedstock coal with additives intended to reduce nitrogen oxide and mercury emissions. The partnership asked whether its process produced refined coal…
PLR 1130003: IRS approves credits for a solar energy system and modified air-conditioning unit
The IRS approved a methodology for allocating the cost of a solar energy system and a specially modified air-conditioning condensing unit between the residential energy credit under section 25C and…
PLR 1129029: Contract receives annuity treatment without offsetting account losses
An insurance issuer proposed a contract tied to a customer's investment account that would provide a benefit if the account fell below a specified minimum, while also allowing permitted withdrawals…
PLR 1128020: VEBA retiree health coverage qualified for the health coverage tax credit
An employer and a union asked whether a VEBA-funded retiree health plan created after the employer's bankruptcy and asset sale could qualify as health insurance for the health coverage tax credit…
PLR 1128010: IRS approves bond treatment for a public utility facility
A political subdivision asked how to apply the private activity bond rules to bonds financing improvements to an electric generation facility operated with a nongovernmental electric cooperative.…
PLR 1128005: IRS approves refined coal treatment and emissions testing methods
A partnership asked whether coal treated with chemical additives would qualify as refined coal for the federal refined coal production credit. It also asked whether pilot-scale combustion testing…
PLR 1127010: IRS excludes job-related disability benefits from employee income
An employer asked how disability benefits under its plan should be treated for federal income tax purposes. The plan paid employees who suffered job-related injuries, illnesses, or occupational…
PLR 1127007: IRS excludes job-training payments from employees' income
A company asked whether payments from a federal job-training grant, used for employee tuition, books, training expenses, career fairs, and job-search assistance, would be taxable to the employees.…
CCA 1126029: Refundable AMT credit was not limited by § 383 without regular tax liability
Chief Counsel advised that § 383 did not limit a taxpayer's refundable alternative minimum tax credit generated by a § 168(k)(4) election. The taxpayer had experienced a § 382 ownership change, had…
PLR 1126021: More time granted for a missed R&E expenditure election
The IRS granted a taxpayer more time to make a § 59(e) election to capitalize and deduct ratably certain research and experimentation expenditures incurred by a subsidiary. The taxpayer had prepared…
PLR 1126020: Redeeming bonds did not affect their tax-exempt interest
The IRS ruled that a corporation's proposed change from operating as a qualified scholarship funding corporation would not make interest on its bonds taxable. The corporation had redeemed all of the…
PLR 1126019: Extension granted for a tax-exempt controlled entity election
The IRS granted a corporation more time to elect not to be treated as a tax-exempt entity for purposes of the depreciation rules in § 168(h)(6). The corporation was owned by tax-exempt organizations…
PLR 1126012: Grain payments by a cooperative were treated as per-unit retains
A farmers’ cooperative asked whether cash payments it made to members and other participating patrons for grain qualified as per-unit retain allocations paid in money. The IRS concluded that the…
PLR 1126011: Settlement trust qualified for tax treatment and related deductions
A publicly traded corporation and related parties planned to resolve disputed tort and contract claims through a court-supervised trust. The IRS ruled that the trust would qualify as a qualified…
PLR 1126004: Public retirement system trust income excluded and annual return not required
A public retirement system established a trust to reimburse qualified medical expenses for certain retired employees and their beneficiaries. The IRS concluded that providing these benefits was an…
CCA 1125030: Bonus depreciation applied to eligible recapitalized costs
Chief Counsel Advice addressed whether a taxpayer could claim bonus depreciation for eligible property after costs were recapitalized. The advice stated that bonus depreciation was available if the…
CCA 1125017: In a merger, the Acquiror succeeds to the Target’s deduction
Chief Counsel Advice compared a technical advice memorandum with a revenue ruling involving property transferred after a merger for services performed before the merger. It stated that the default…
PLR 1125008: Cellulosic fuels qualified for the biofuel producer credit
The IRS ruled that a producer's cellulosic fuel, processed fuel oils, processed gasoline, and processed diesel fuel constituted qualified cellulosic biofuel production under IRC § 40(b)(6). The…
PLR 1124004: IRS approves proportional treatment of antitrust settlement deductions
The IRS ruled on how an antitrust settlement should be divided for purposes of the deduction limits in § 162(g). The taxpayer had pleaded guilty to a limited antitrust violation but later settled…
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.