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 rejects requested limits on minimum pension contributions
A sponsoring employer asked the IRS to limit its pension contributions to amounts specified in collective bargaining agreements, despite potentially higher minimum funding contributions under the…
IRS approves a five-year extension for multiemployer plan liabilities
The IRS approved a plan's request for a five-year automatic extension to amortize unfunded liabilities arising as of January 1, 2008. The extension applied to specified amortization charge bases and…
IRS approves return of certain pension contributions
The IRS approved treating specified contributions to a defined benefit pension plan as disallowed contributions solely for purposes of applying Revenue Ruling 91-4. This allowed the plan to return…
IRS approves a five-year extension for unfunded pension liabilities
The IRS approved a plan's request for a five-year automatic extension to amortize unfunded liabilities arising as of July 1, 2009. The extension applied to eligible amortization charge bases…
IRS approves a five-year extension to amortize a plan's unfunded liabilities
The IRS approved a request from a multiemployer plan for a five-year automatic extension to amortize unfunded liabilities existing as of January 1, 2011. The approval applies to eligible…
IRS approves a five-year extension to amortize a plan's unfunded liabilities
The IRS approved a request from a multiemployer plan for a five-year automatic extension to amortize unfunded liabilities existing as of July 1, 2009. The approval applies to eligible amortization…
IRS approves a five-year extension for amortizing a pension plan's unfunded liabilities
The IRS approved a plan's request for a five-year automatic extension to amortize unfunded liabilities as of September 1, 2008. The extension applied to the plan year beginning September 1 of a…
IRS recognizes a nonprofit corporation's 401(k) arrangement as a church plan
The IRS concluded that a defined contribution plan sponsored by a church-controlled nonprofit corporation was a church plan under IRC § 414(e). The corporation was tax-exempt, controlled through an…
IRS grants a conditional minimum funding waiver to an aerospace company pension plan
The IRS granted a pension plan a conditional waiver of the minimum funding standard for a redacted plan year. The employer had experienced a sharp decline in its aircraft maintenance business, was…
IRS waives the 60-day IRA rollover deadline after a financial institution error
The IRS waived the 60-day rollover deadline for a 75-year-old taxpayer whose financial institution deposited part of an IRA distribution into a non-IRA account despite her instructions. She…
IRS waives the 60-day IRA rollover deadline because of a medical condition
The IRS waived the 60-day deadline for a taxpayer to roll a distribution from an IRA into another IRA. The taxpayer, who was age 73, said medical treatment caused short-term memory loss and impaired…
IRS approves limited reversion treatment for defined benefit plan contributions
The IRS approved a request involving employer contributions to a qualified defined benefit pension plan. It determined that contributions totaling a redacted amount may be treated as disallowed…
IRS waives the 60-day rollover deadline after a financial institution's error
The IRS waived the 60-day rollover deadline for an estate after a financial institution sent a pension distribution to a nonqualified account instead of the decedent's IRA. The decedent had…
IRS waives the 60-day deadline for a partial pension rollover
The IRS waived the 60-day rollover deadline for part of a pension distribution received by a medically disabled taxpayer. The taxpayer said a medical condition, continuous anxiety, a lost check, and…
IRS approves a private foundation's scholarship and grant program
The IRS approved a private foundation's proposed scholarship and project-grant procedures under IRC § 4945(g)(1) and (3). The foundation planned to award scholarships for academic, artistic,…
IRS approves a private foundation's five-year research set-aside
The IRS approved a private foundation's request to set aside funds for a multi-year biomedical research project to develop a cure for a redacted disease. The foundation planned to fund a national,…
IRS finalizes denial of exemption for an organization formed to fund a private business
The IRS finalized its adverse determination that an organization did not qualify for exemption under IRC § 501(c)(3). The organization was formed by the owners of a for-profit business and planned…
Other 1233017: IRS denies exemption to a proposed pharmaceutical manufacturer over commercial purpose and insider compensation
The IRS denied a proposed pharmaceutical manufacturer's application for exemption under IRC § 501(c)(3). The organization had not identified the drugs it would make, its manufacturing site, its…
PLR 1233016: IRS approves a three-stage corporate separation under the tax-free reorganization rules
The IRS ruled on a proposed series of transactions separating one business from two other business lines within a multinational corporate group. The plan used contributions of assets and stock…
CCA 1233015: IRS distinguishes taxable Alaska bush flights from exempt sightseeing and rural-airport segments
Chief Counsel advised on the federal excise-tax treatment of six types of Alaska air services using small float planes. It concluded that flightseeing tours and two bear-viewing tours were not…
PLR 1233014: IRS approves a modified trust as a qualified Subchapter S trust
The IRS ruled that a trust created under a deceased shareholder's will would qualify as a qualified Subchapter S trust (QSST) after a court modified the trust. The modification removed the trustee's…
PLR 1233013: IRS grants more time to allocate generation-skipping transfer tax exemption
The IRS granted a taxpayer 120 additional days to allocate generation-skipping transfer (GST) tax exemption to a transfer to an irrevocable trust. The taxpayer had relied on a qualified tax…
PLR 1233012: IRS grants relief for a late S corporation election
The IRS granted a corporation relief for failing to file Form 2553 on time to elect S corporation status. The corporation had intended for the election to take effect on a specified date, but its…
PLR 1233011: IRS limits the retroactive effect of a prior ruling's revocation
The IRS granted relief under IRC § 7805(b) so that the revocation of an earlier private letter ruling would apply prospectively rather than retroactively. The earlier ruling had improperly granted…
PLR 1233010: IRS approves natural gas gathering and processing income as qualifying partnership income
The IRS ruled that income from several natural gas gathering and processing activities would be qualifying income for a proposed publicly traded partnership. The partnership would gather gas through…
PLR 1233009: IRS approves oil and gas activities as generating qualifying partnership income
An LLC planned to become, or contribute its interests to, a publicly traded partnership that would develop reserves and sell crude oil and natural gas. The partnership's activities would include…
PLR 1233008: IRS approves partial trust termination and modification for estate, gift, and GST tax purposes
The IRS considered a proposed partial termination and modification of an irrevocable trust for descendants. Part of the trust would be distributed to grandchildren, while the remaining share would…
PLR 1233007: IRS treats an LLC's corporate election as an initial classification election
An LLC was formed under state law and remained dormant until another entity merged into it. The LLC then filed Form 8832 to elect classification as an association taxable as a corporation. The IRS…
PLR 1233006: IRS grants more time for an extended net operating loss carryback election
The IRS granted a consolidated corporate group an extension of time to make an election for an extended carryback period for a consolidated net operating loss. The group intended to make the…
PLR 1233005: IRS grants more time to file a LIFO inventory method election
The IRS granted a taxpayer an extension of time to file Form 970, the application to use the last-in, first-out inventory method. The taxpayer had implemented the LIFO method but failed to file the…
PLR 1233004: IRS allows late S corporation election after reasonable cause
The IRS ruled that a newly incorporated company had reasonable cause for failing to timely file its S corporation election. The company intended the election to be effective on its incorporation…
PLR 1233003: IRS grants more time to elect qualified subchapter S subsidiary status
An S corporation acquired all of the stock of a subsidiary and intended to elect qualified subchapter S subsidiary status for the subsidiary. The election was not timely filed because of…
PLR 1233002: IRS allows late S corporation election after reasonable cause
The IRS ruled that a newly incorporated company could be treated as an S corporation from its incorporation date even though it did not timely file Form 2553. The company established reasonable…
PLR 1233001: IRS preserves S corporation status after inadvertent ESBT election failure
An S corporation had two trusts as shareholders, but the trustees did not timely file the electing small business trust elections needed for the trusts to be permissible shareholders. The IRS…
PLR 1232038: IRS grants a private foundation five more years to dispose of excess business holdings
A private foundation received an interest in a limited liability company as a gift and treated the interest as excess business holdings. It asked the IRS for more time to dispose of that interest…
PLR 1232037: IRS approves an employer-related scholarship program
A private foundation requested advance approval for a scholarship program for children of an employer's employees. The program would provide grants for college costs, use an independent awards…
IRS determination 1232036: final denial of tax-exempt status for an insurance administration organization
The IRS finalized its proposed adverse determination that an organization did not qualify for exemption under IRC § 501(c)(3). The organization provided third-party administration, insurance, and…
IRS determination 1232035: final denial of tax-exempt status for a credit counseling organization
The IRS finalized its proposed adverse determination that a credit counseling organization did not qualify for exemption under IRC § 501(c)(3). The organization offered debt management, credit…
IRS determination 1232034: final denial of church and tax-exempt status for an online ministry
The IRS finalized its proposed adverse determination that an online ministry did not qualify for exemption under IRC § 501(c)(3) or public charity treatment as a church. The organization offered…
PLR 1232033: IRS approves a complex corporate separation and reorganization
A publicly traded holding company proposed a series of contributions, distributions, redemptions, mergers, and spin-offs to separate two businesses across a large affiliated group. The IRS issued…
PLR 1232032: IRS approves REIT restructuring for state licensing requirements
A publicly traded real estate investment trust needed to restructure how certain health care communities were licensed and managed under State B law. The IRS ruled that the proposed independent…
PLR 1232031: IRS grants late-election relief for partnership classification
A domestic limited liability company intended to be treated as a partnership but did not timely file Form 8832. The taxpayer represented that it had filed federal tax returns consistently with that…
PLR 1232030: IRS approves privatization transfer of a government insurance fund
A government-established insurance fund planned to transfer its insurance business and subsidiaries to a new mutual insurer as part of a state-law privatization. The new insurer would issue…
PLR 1232029: IRS restores S corporation status after an inadvertent transfer to an ineligible shareholder
The taxpayer's S corporation election terminated when a partnership that could not be an S corporation shareholder acquired the corporation's stock. The taxpayer later transferred those shares to an…
PLR 1232028: IRS grants more time to allocate generation-skipping transfer tax exemption
The estate of a deceased taxpayer and the taxpayer's spouse had failed to allocate generation-skipping transfer tax exemption to an irrevocable trust. The failure occurred because their tax…
PLR 1232027: IRS restores S corporation status after late QSST elections
An S corporation's shareholder trust split into two trusts after the original trust owner died. The new trusts were eligible to qualify as Qualified Subchapter S Trusts, but their beneficiary did…
PLR 1232026: IRS restores S corporation status after a late QSST election
An S corporation's stock was transferred to a trust after the death of the trust's original owner. The trust met the requirements for a Qualified Subchapter S Trust, but its beneficiary did not…
PLR 1232025: IRS grants more time to elect treaty deferral for Canadian retirement plans
Two married taxpayers maintained Canadian Registered Retirement Savings Plans after moving to the United States. They had not filed the required Forms 8891 or otherwise elected under Article…
PLR 1232024: IRS rules that a contingent lawsuit assignment will not shift taxable income
The taxpayer held an interest in a trust lawsuit that was still subject to pending appeals. The taxpayer proposed assigning that interest and related recovery rights to a college before the lawsuit…
PLR 1232023: IRS finds active rental operations did not generate passive investment income
An S corporation owned and actively managed commercial real estate. Its shareholder and officers performed extensive maintenance, tenant-management, leasing, and marketing services, while the…
PLR 1232022: IRS approves transfer of excess welfare-fund assets for retiree medical benefits
An employer's welfare benefit fund held assets supporting post-retirement life insurance for collectively bargained employees. The fund planned to buy a guaranteed life insurance policy and transfer…
PLR 1232021: IRS allows a taxpayer to revoke its election out of installment reporting
A taxpayer sold several properties to related parties and received promissory notes that called for interest payments followed by lump-sum principal payments. The taxpayer's accountant reported the…
PLR 1232020: IRS treats a publicly traded partnership's excess RIN sales income as qualifying income
A publicly traded limited partnership operated pipelines, storage facilities, and terminals for refined petroleum products. It blended renewable fuel into gasoline and diesel fuel, which generated…
PLR 1232019: IRS grants more time to divide a reverse-QTIP trust for GST tax purposes
After a decedent's estate made a reverse QTIP election and allocated generation-skipping transfer tax exemption to a trust, the trustees sought to divide that trust into two separate trusts. One…
PLR 1232018: IRS allows deductions for certain real estate taxes on a cooperative building
A corporation held a long-term ground lease for property containing a newly constructed cooperative apartment building. The lease required the corporation to pay real estate taxes, and an appraisal…
PLR 1232017: IRS grants more time to restore value under the controlled-group loss rules
A parent corporation and certain subsidiaries were members of a controlled group when the parent underwent an ownership change. The group had failed to timely elect under the regulations to restore…
PLR 1232016: IRS grants more time to restore value under the controlled-group loss rules
A parent corporation and certain subsidiaries were members of a controlled group when the parent underwent an ownership change. The group had failed to timely elect under the regulations to restore…
PLR 1232015: IRS treats omitted subsidiaries as joining a consolidated return
A parent corporation filed an initial consolidated federal income tax return that included several subsidiaries, but the subsidiaries did not timely file the required Forms 1122. The parent…
PLR 1232014: IRS approves tax treatment for a corporate spin-off and related reorganization
A publicly traded corporation planned to separate two businesses by transferring one business to a controlled corporation and distributing the controlled corporation's stock to the parent's…
PLR 1232013: IRS grants more time to file a LIFO inventory election
A taxpayer discovered that it had failed to file Form 970 when it first adopted the last-in, first-out (LIFO) inventory method under IRC § 472. The taxpayer had used the LIFO method in its reports…
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.