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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Section 6166 does not reopen a missed installment election for prior estate tax
Chief Counsel advice addressed an estate that paid its reported estate tax in full and did not make a section 6166 election when it filed its return. The advice concluded that a later deficiency…
Overstated withholding can produce a penalty underpayment without a deficiency
Chief Counsel advice explained that overstated withholding can create an underpayment subject to the accuracy-related or fraud penalties under sections 6662 or 6663 even when there is no deficiency.…
A scanned signature can be treated as an original signature on Form 870-PT
Chief Counsel advice stated that a scanned signature should be treated as an original signature on Form 870-PT and that a court would likely admit the scanned copy as evidence. It relied on Federal…
A tax matters partner remains designated until a termination event
Chief Counsel advice stated that a properly designated tax matters partner remains the tax matters partner until a termination event occurs under Treas. Reg. § 301.6231(a)(7)-1(l). Leaving the…
Advising a person about their own tax responsibilities may be authorized disclosure
Chief Counsel advice stated that advising a person that the IRS believes the person has specified Title 26 responsibilities can constitute disclosure of that person's own return information. The…
A defaulted accepted offer in compromise generally cannot be reopened
Chief Counsel advice addressed whether the IRS could reopen a tax year after accepting an offer in compromise. The cited regulation allows reopening only for false information or documents,…
Deferred accumulated leave payments are subject to FICA when the employee commits to the program
Chief Counsel advice addressed an early-retirement program that deferred accumulated vacation-leave payments over five years. The advice concluded that the deferral is not a window benefit because…
A refund claim cannot be reconsidered after the suit period expires
Chief Counsel advice concluded that the IRS could not issue a refund after it had disallowed a claim as untimely and the period for filing a refund suit had expired. The advice relied on section…
CCA 201302029: Advice on levying future Medicare provider payments
Chief Counsel Advice addresses levies on future payments under contracts with Medicare providers. It distinguishes those payments from Social Security payments because the provider has not yet…
CCA 201302028: Notice of determination remained valid despite an incorrect representative address
Chief Counsel Advice considered whether a collection due process notice of determination was valid when the taxpayers received it at their correct last-known address, but the representative's copy…
CCA 201302027: Advice on treating an executor as a deceased taxpayer's fiduciary
Chief Counsel Advice addresses an executor's status as the fiduciary of a deceased taxpayer's estate. The advice states that the IRS need not require a court order appointing the executor before…
CCA 201302026: Executor should be treated as a federal tax fiduciary
Chief Counsel Advice considers whether a person named as executor of an estate should be treated as a fiduciary for federal income tax purposes. The advice concludes that the executor should be…
CCA 201302025: Appeals may clarify an erroneous collection notice by letter after the petition period
Chief Counsel Advice addresses a collection due process notice of determination that incorrectly identified which of two assessments would be abated. The 30-day period for petitioning the Tax Court…
CCA 201302024: Advice on bank charge-offs of partially worthless debts
Chief Counsel Advice considers whether a bank's placement of partially worthless debts into a specific valuation allowance qualifies as a charge-off under IRC § 166(a)(2). The IRS examiner had…
CCA 201302023: Work-college tuition payments remain excludible scholarships
Chief Counsel Advice addresses the continued validity of Rev. Rul. 64-54 for learning-through-working programs at work colleges. The advice states that the revenue ruling remains the IRS's published…
CCA 201302022: Terminating a section 444 election requires a required tax year
Chief Counsel Advice addresses termination of a section 444 tax-year election by a partnership, S corporation, or personal service corporation. It states that once a section 444 election is…
CCA 201302021: Non-prescription drugs are not qualified Indian health care benefits
Chief Counsel Advice considers whether payments from an Indian tribe to a tribal member for non-prescription drugs qualify for the gross-income exclusion for qualified Indian health care benefits…
PLR 201302020: IRS grants a retroactive qualified electing fund election
A family investment fund asked for permission to make a retroactive qualified electing fund election for an investment in a foreign corporation treated as a passive foreign investment company. The…
PLR 201302019: IRS grants a retroactive qualified electing fund election for an earlier year
A family investment fund requested permission to make a retroactive qualified electing fund election for an investment in a foreign corporation treated as a passive foreign investment company. The…
CCA 201302018: A retail sale is on-site if the customer is present at any point
Chief Counsel Advice interprets the on-site sale rules for resellers under Treas. Reg. § 1.263A-3(c)(5)(ii)(D). It concludes that a sale is on-site when the retail customer is physically present at…
CCA 201302017: Guidance on when outdoor advertising displays are inherently permanent structures
Chief Counsel Advice addresses when an outdoor advertising display is an inherently permanent structure and therefore real property for purposes of the domestic production activities deduction. The…
PLR 201302016: IRS approves an annuity's after-death distribution option
The IRS approved a new after-death distribution option for a non-qualified variable annuity with a guaranteed lifetime withdrawal benefit covering an owner and a non-spouse beneficiary. When the…
PLR 201302015: IRS approves an annuity's after-death distribution option
The IRS approved a new after-death distribution option for a non-qualified variable annuity with a guaranteed lifetime withdrawal benefit covering an owner and a non-spouse beneficiary. When the…
PLR 201302014: IRS grants more time to elect the low-income housing credit set-aside
The IRS granted a taxpayer more time to make the election under IRC § 42(g)(1)(B) for a low-income housing project. The taxpayer placed the project in service but inadvertently failed to make the…
PLR 201302013: IRS grants relief for a late S corporation election
The IRS granted relief to a corporation that intended to elect S corporation status but did not timely file Form 2553. The IRS found reasonable cause for the late election under IRC § 1362(b)(5).…
PLR 201302012: IRS grants late partnership classification election relief
The IRS granted a foreign eligible entity more time to elect partnership classification for federal tax purposes. The entity had failed to timely file Form 8832 for the intended effective date. The…
PLR 201302011: IRS grants a retroactive qualified electing fund election
A family investment fund requested permission to make a retroactive qualified electing fund election for an investment in a foreign corporation treated as a passive foreign investment company. The…
PLR 201302010: IRS permits a retroactive qualified electing fund election
A partnership asked the IRS for consent to make a retroactive qualified electing fund election for an investment in a foreign corporation that was later determined to be a passive foreign investment…
PLR 201302009: IRS approves a debt-subject like-kind exchange structure
A partnership-owned real estate business asked whether assigning its rights in an agreement to transfer property subject to debt could qualify as a transfer of relinquished property in a like-kind…
PLR 201302008: IRS grants more time to make a section 1022 basis election
The personal representatives of an estate asked for more time to file Form 8939 and make the section 1022 election for a decedent who died in 2010. The estate's accountant prepared the form but did…
PLR 201302007: IRS approves placed-in-service treatment for wind turbines
A utility holding company asked when wind turbine generators in a new wind project would be considered placed in service for depreciation. The project could begin commercial operations before a…
PLR 201302006: IRS restores S corporation status after an inadvertent trust failure
An S corporation asked the IRS for relief after shares were held by a trust that was not eligible to make a qualified subchapter S trust election, causing the corporation's S election to terminate.…
PLR 201302005: IRS restores S corporation status after an inadvertent trust failure
An S corporation asked the IRS for relief after shares were held by a trust that was not eligible to make a qualified subchapter S trust election, causing the corporation's S election to terminate.…
PLR 201302004: IRS restores S corporation status after an inadvertent trust failure
An S corporation asked the IRS for relief after shares were held by a trust that was not eligible to make a qualified subchapter S trust election, causing the corporation's S election to terminate.…
PLR 201302003: IRS grants more time to allocate generation-skipping transfer tax exemption
A donor asked the IRS for more time to allocate generation-skipping transfer tax exemption to gifts placed in three irrevocable trusts. The donor's accountant prepared and timely filed the gift tax…
PLR 201302002: IRS grants more time to allocate GST exemption to trust gifts
The executors of an estate asked for more time to allocate generation-skipping transfer tax exemption to gifts made to an irrevocable trust over several years. The donor's tax professionals either…
PLR 201302001: IRS grants more time to allocate GST exemption to family trusts
A married couple asked for more time to allocate generation-skipping transfer tax exemption to gifts made to two family trusts. The couple's attorney did not tell them that the allocations were…
IRS denies exemption to a foundation benefiting its founder and related businesses
The IRS denied recognition of tax-exempt status under IRC § 501(c)(3) to a foundation whose trustee and founder controlled or was connected to businesses receiving foundation funds. The…
IRS grants more time to recharacterize Roth IRA conversions
A married couple asked for extra time to recharacterize Roth IRA conversions back to traditional IRAs after receiving poor financial and tax advice. The IRS found that the taxpayers reasonably…
IRS waives the 60-day rollover deadline after bank misinformation
The IRS granted a taxpayer a waiver of the 60-day rollover requirement after a bank representative incorrectly treated a new account as an IRA. The taxpayer transferred funds from an existing IRA…
IRS waives the 60-day rollover deadline after an advisor's error
The IRS waived the 60-day rollover requirement for a taxpayer whose financial advisor failed to follow instructions to deposit a distribution into another IRA. The funds were instead placed in a…
PLR 201301017: IRS declines to waive the 60-day rollover deadline for two IRA distributions
An individual asked the IRS to waive the 60-day deadline for rolling two distributions from an IRA into another IRA. The individual said that a serious medical condition affected her ability to…
PLR 201301016: IRS waives the 60-day rollover deadline after a serious medical crisis
An employee received a distribution from an exempt employer trust and asked the IRS to waive the 60-day rollover deadline. The taxpayer said that serious, ongoing medical conditions, surgeries,…
PLR 201301015: IRS approves two fair-market-value parking arrangements
A private foundation asked whether two parking arrangements involving a related limited liability company would be self-dealing. In the first arrangement, tenants of a building on the foundation's…
PLR 201301014: IRS approves a financial education and savings program under section 501(q)
A public charity asked whether creating and operating a financial education, counseling, and savings program would affect its tax-exempt status. The program would provide financial literacy courses,…
Written Determination 201301013: IRS revokes an earlier ruling on cancellation-of-debt reporting
The IRS revoked an earlier private letter ruling that concluded certain debt discharges were triggered by state law and therefore were not reportable under IRC § 6050P. The IRS's current view was…
PLR 201301012: IRS grants late S corporation election relief
A corporation asked the IRS for relief after it failed to timely file an election to be treated as an S corporation. The IRS found that the corporation had reasonable cause for the late filing under…
PLR 201301011: IRS allows S corporation status after an inadvertent invalid election
A corporation discovered that its S corporation election was invalid because some shares were held through an ineligible shareholder. It later redeemed those shares, but another transfer to an…
PLR 201301010: Oil and lubricant business income qualifies under section 7704
A publicly traded limited partnership asked whether income from its oil and lubricant operations was qualifying income under IRC § 7704. The partnership refined, blended, processed, packaged,…
PLR 201301009: IRS grants extra time to elect an extended NOL carryback
A consolidated corporate group asked for more time to elect an extended carryback period for a consolidated net operating loss. The group missed the filing deadline after relying on a qualified tax…
PLR 201301008: IRS grants late S corporation election relief
A corporation asked the IRS to recognize it as an S corporation after it failed to timely file Form 2553. The corporation intended to be treated as an S corporation from a specified date and…
PLR 201301007: IRS approves several income treatments for a communications-site REIT
A communications infrastructure company asked about several income and asset issues connected with its planned election to be taxed as a real estate investment trust. The IRS ruled that charges for…
PLR 201301006: IRS grants extra time for a disregarded-entity election
A business entity asked for more time to file Form 8832 and elect to be classified as a disregarded entity for federal tax purposes. The entity intended to make the election effective on a specified…
PLR 201301005: IRS grants extra time for a disregarded-entity election
A business entity asked for more time to file Form 8832 and elect to be classified as a disregarded entity for federal tax purposes. The entity intended to make the election effective on a specified…
PLR 201301004: IRS allows an S corporation to continue after an inadvertent election termination
An S corporation's election terminated when shares were held by a trust that was not eligible to be a qualified subchapter S trust. The corporation represented that the termination was inadvertent…
PLR 201301003: IRS restores S corporation treatment after an inadvertent termination
An S corporation's election terminated after another S corporation acquired shares, creating an ineligible shareholder. The taxpayer represented that the termination was inadvertent and was not…
PLR 201301002: IRS allows a late S corporation election
A corporation intended to be treated as an S corporation from a specified date but did not timely file the election. The IRS found that the corporation had reasonable cause for the late filing and…
IRS revokes an earlier ruling on debt discharge reporting
The IRS revoked a 2007 private letter ruling about whether a financial entity's debt discharges were subject to the reporting requirements of section 6050P. The earlier ruling treated the discharges…
IRS revokes a homeowners association's tax exemption
The IRS revoked a homeowners association's exemption under section 501(c)(4), effective on the stated date. The determination concluded that the organization did not serve a community within the…
IRS revokes a nonprofit's section 501(c)(3) exemption
The IRS revoked a nonprofit organization's exemption under section 501(c)(3), effective on the stated date. The determination found that the organization did not operate exclusively for exempt…
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.