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 201237003: IRS grants extra time to file a duplicate accounting-method application
The IRS granted a corporation an extension of time to file a signed duplicate copy of Form 3115, Application for Change in Accounting Method, with the IRS Ogden office. The corporation's accounting…
PLR 201237002: Married taxpayers receive more time to elect Canadian RRSP tax deferral
The IRS granted a married couple 60 days to elect treaty treatment that defers U.S. tax on income accrued in their Canadian registered retirement savings plans, or RRSPs. The couple had moved to the…
PLR 201237001: Administrative dissolution does not terminate an S corporation election
The IRS ruled that a corporation's administrative dissolution under state law did not terminate its S election, provided it had qualified as a small business corporation before the dissolution. The…
PLR 201236039: IRS waives the 60-day IRA rollover deadline after a medical hardship
The IRS waived the 60-day deadline for a 78-year-old taxpayer to roll an IRA distribution into another IRA. The taxpayer said that surgery, medication, and resulting confusion impaired her ability…
PLR 201236038: IRS waives the 60-day IRA rollover deadline after a postal delay
The IRS waived the 60-day deadline for a taxpayer who mailed an IRA rollover check but whose contribution arrived four days late because of postal delays. The taxpayer had withdrawn funds from one…
PLR 201236037: IRS declines to waive the 60-day IRA rollover deadline after incorrect advice
The IRS declined to waive the 60-day rollover deadline for a taxpayer who withdrew two IRA distributions for anticipated medical expenses and later redeposited them after receiving incorrect advice…
PLR 201236036: IRS waives the 60-day IRA rollover deadline after fraudulent misrepresentations
The IRS waived the 60-day rollover deadline for a 33-year-old taxpayer whose IRA funds were transferred to a non-IRA account after fraudulent misrepresentations by an individual and a company. The…
PLR 201236035: IRS waives the 60-day rollover deadline after reliance on professional advice
The IRS waived the 60-day deadline for a taxpayer who moved a distribution from a former employer's 401(k) plan into a new plan that was later rescinded and found not to be a qualified plan. The…
PLR 201236034: IRS waives the 60-day rollover deadline after a financial institution's error
The IRS waived the 60-day rollover deadline after a financial institution mistakenly deposited an IRA annuity distribution into a non-IRA account. The taxpayer had instructed the institution to use…
IRS denies section 501(c)(3) exemption to a proposed religious sanctuary
The IRS denied tax-exempt status to an organization that planned to operate a religious sanctuary offering lodging, food, animal care, gardens, and produce sales. The organization did not describe…
PLR 201236032: Private foundation receives five more years to dispose of excess business holdings
The IRS granted a private foundation an additional five years to dispose of excess business holdings received through a QTIP trust. The foundation had sold most of the holdings but still owned a…
IRS approves a private foundation's four scholarship programs
The IRS approved a private foundation's procedures for four scholarship programs. The programs serve students seeking degrees or diploma programs, including single parents, non-traditional adult…
CCA 201236030: Advice addresses when partnership items converted after late notice
Chief Counsel advice addressed when partnership items converted after the IRS sent partner-level notices late. The advice states that the 150-day petition period runs from the date the FPAA is…
CCA 201236029: Advice addresses use of Form 870-LT for partner-level issues
Chief Counsel advice addressed whether Part II of Form 870-LT could be used instead of Form 870PT(AD) to resolve partner-level issues. The advice states that Part II is a separate agreement executed…
CCA 201236028: Advice addresses partner amended adjustment requests under TEFRA
Chief Counsel advice answered questions about amended adjustment requests by partners in a TEFRA partnership. It states that the partner-level IRC § 6501(a) period does not extend the IRC § 6227…
CCA 201236027: Advice addresses a statute extension consent after entity-status change
Chief Counsel advice addressed a consent extending the statute of limitations for a TEFRA partnership after a change in entity status. It states that the change does not affect the procedures…
CCA 201236026: Advice permits crediting an overpayment against proposed deficiencies
Chief Counsel advice addressed whether a taxpayer's overpayment could be applied to specified periods with proposed, but not yet assessed, tax deficiencies. The advice concludes that the request may…
CCA 201236025: Advice treats participating convertible preferred stock as common stock
Chief Counsel advice addressed whether voting convertible preferred stock should be treated as common stock when analyzing a redemption under IRC § 302(b)(2). The advice concludes that the stock…
PLR 201236024: 120-day extension granted to make an entity classification election
A foreign eligible entity asked for more time to file Form 8832 and elect partnership classification for federal tax purposes. The entity had intended the election to be effective on a specified…
PLR 201236023: Auction platform qualifies as a matching service for partnership interests
A broker-dealer and its affiliated bank proposed an electronic auction platform for buying and selling third-party limited partnership interests. The platform would be limited to accredited…
PLR 201236022: Charitable payments under an estate settlement are deductible
An estate asked whether payments to charitable organizations under a proposed settlement of a will contest would qualify for the federal estate tax charitable deduction. The will named the attorney…
PLR 201236021: 120-day extension granted for an entity classification election
A foreign limited liability company asked for more time to file Form 8832 and elect a classification other than its default federal tax classification. The company had inadvertently missed the…
PLR 201236020: 120-day extension granted for an entity classification election
A foreign limited liability company asked for more time to file Form 8832 and elect a classification other than its default federal tax classification. The company had inadvertently missed the…
PLR 201236019: 120-day extension granted for an entity classification election
A foreign limited liability company asked for more time to file Form 8832 and elect a classification other than its default federal tax classification. The company had inadvertently missed the…
PLR 201236018: Late S corporation election treated as timely
A corporation's sole shareholder intended to elect S corporation status effective on a specified date, but Form 2553 was not filed on time. The corporation asked the IRS to treat the election as…
PLR 201236017: Late Section 198 election treated as perfected
A corporate taxpayer deducted qualified environmental remediation expenditures but its tax preparer omitted the words “Section 198 Election” from the required schedules for two tax years. The…
PLR 201236016: 120-day extension granted for disregarded-entity election
A foreign company intended to elect disregarded-entity treatment for federal tax purposes but did not timely file Form 8832. The company asked for an extension of time to make the election effective…
PLR 201236015: IRS grants extra time to make an extended NOL carryback election
The IRS granted a consolidated group 60 days to file an election for an extended carryback period for a consolidated net operating loss. The group missed the election deadline while relying on a…
PLR 201236014: IRS approves a spin-off and related corporate reorganizations
A public company proposed a series of mergers, entity conversions, liquidations, asset contributions, and a spin-off to separate two business lines from a third. The IRS ruled that specified steps…
PLR 201236013: IRS grants extra time to elect research-cost amortization
The IRS granted a taxpayer 60 days to make a late election to amortize certain research and experimental expenditures over ten years. The election applied to expenditures from three redacted taxable…
PLR 201236012: IRS grants time to make a depreciation election
The IRS granted an S corporation 60 days to make a late election not to claim additional first-year depreciation under IRC § 168(k). The taxpayer had omitted the required election statement from its…
PLR 201236011: IRS grants partnership time to make a depreciation election
The IRS granted a limited liability company treated as a partnership 60 days to make a late election not to claim additional first-year depreciation under IRC § 168(k). The taxpayer had omitted the…
PLR 201236010: IRS grants time to make a machinery depreciation election
The IRS granted an S corporation 60 days to make a late election not to claim additional first-year depreciation under IRC § 168(k). The taxpayer had omitted the required election statement from its…
PLR 201236009: IRS grants late S corporation election relief
The IRS granted a corporation relief for failing to timely file an election to be treated as an S corporation. The corporation established reasonable cause for the late election under IRC §…
PLR 201236008: IRS approves refined coal credit testing methods
The IRS ruled on four questions involving a refined coal facility that used chemical additives to reduce nitrogen oxide and mercury emissions. It concluded that the treated coal could qualify as…
PLR 201236007: IRS approves refined coal credit testing methods
The IRS ruled on four questions involving a refined coal facility that used chemical additives to reduce nitrogen oxide and mercury emissions. It concluded that the treated coal could qualify as…
PLR 201236006: IRS approves zero-value treatment of deferred offering costs for a REIT asset test
The IRS ruled that a newly formed corporation intending to elect REIT status could include deferred initial public offering costs on its GAAP balance sheet without failing the section 856 asset…
PLR 201236005: IRS approves qualifying income from natural-resource processing
The IRS ruled that income from a publicly traded partnership's conversion of a natural-resource feedstock into another product would be qualifying income under section 7704(d)(1)(E). The partnership…
PLR 201236004: IRS grants relief for a late S corporation election
The IRS granted a corporation relief for failing to file its S corporation election on time. It found reasonable cause under section 1362(b)(5) and allowed the election to be treated as timely made…
PLR 201236003: IRS upholds S corporation status after disproportionate distributions
The IRS ruled that a corporation's disproportionate distributions and later corrective distributions did not create a second class of stock or terminate its S corporation election. The corporation's…
PLR 201236002: IRS grants extra time for an estate's alternate valuation election
The IRS granted an estate additional time to make the alternate valuation election under section 2032. The estate's tax professionals had failed to advise the administratrix about the election, and…
PLR 201236001: IRS grants extra time for a foreign entity classification election
The IRS granted a foreign eligible entity 120 additional days to file Form 8832 and elect to be treated as a disregarded entity for federal tax purposes. The entity had inadvertently missed the…
PLR 201235030: IRS grants extra time to recharacterize Roth IRA conversions
The IRS granted a married couple up to 60 days to recharacterize two Roth IRA conversions as traditional IRA contributions. The couple had converted traditional IRAs in 2009, when their income…
PLR 201235029: IRS treats an accidental duplicate IRA payment as no modification of substantially equal payments
The IRS ruled for a taxpayer who received a duplicate IRA distribution after one financial institution failed to stop payments as instructed. The taxpayer was already receiving substantially equal…
PLR 201235028: IRS letter addresses a requested waiver of the 60-day IRA rollover deadline
The taxpayer asked the IRS to waive the 60-day deadline for rolling an IRA distribution into another IRA. The taxpayer intended to move the money into another IRA investment, but a company employee…
PLR 201235027: IRS waives the 60-day IRA rollover deadline after a financial institution's error
The IRS waived the 60-day rollover deadline for a 60-year-old taxpayer whose financial advisor used the wrong account documents. The taxpayer intended to move money from an IRA into a new IRA, but…
PLR 201235026: IRS waives the 60-day IRA rollover deadline because of a medical condition
The IRS waived the 60-day rollover deadline for a 69-year-old taxpayer who said a neurological condition prevented her from managing her financial affairs. She had withdrawn money from an IRA…
PLR 201235025: IRS approves an employer-related scholarship grant program
The IRS approved a private foundation's program to award scholarships to dependent children of employees of related companies. The program uses an independent selection committee, academic…
PLR 201235024: IRS approves tax treatment for a social club's conservation easement proceeds
The IRS ruled that a section 501(c)(7) social club's gain from selling a conservation easement would be exempt from tax under section 512(a)(3)(D) if the proceeds were reinvested in property used…
Final adverse determination: IRS denies exemption to an animal-rescue organization
The IRS finalized an adverse determination denying section 501(c)(3) exemption to an organization that rescued and sheltered abandoned dogs and cats. The organization lacked formal operating and…
Final adverse determination: IRS denies exemption to a claimed church
The IRS finalized an adverse determination denying section 501(c)(3) exemption to a small religious organization that claimed church status. The organization had fewer than 20 members, held most…
Final adverse determination: IRS denies exemption to an online giving foundation
The IRS finalized an adverse determination denying section 501(c)(3) exemption to a foundation that planned to collect donations online and remit them to selected charities. The foundation's…
IRS advice on the assessment period for non-filing indirect partners
Chief Counsel advice addresses the statute of limitations for non-filing indirect partners in a partnership. The advice states that the limitations period remains open indefinitely under section…
IRS advice on recovering a refund after Joint Committee review
Chief Counsel advice addresses tentative refunds reviewed by the Joint Committee. It states that if an examination reduces tentative allowances below the jurisdictional amount, the examiner must…
IRS advice on a spouse's signature on a TEFRA settlement
Chief Counsel advice addresses whether compliance may accept Form 870-PT from only one spouse who is a partnership partner. The advice states that accepting the form from the signing spouse permits…
IRS advice that civil promoter penalties survive death
Chief Counsel advice addresses whether penalties under sections 6700 and 6701 may be assessed against a promoter or preparer after death. The advice states that the penalties are civil rather than…
IRS advice on when a TMP settlement binds small-interest partners
Chief Counsel advice addresses the scope of a tax matters partner's Form 870-P settlement. It states that the form binds partners with less than a one percent interest only in a partnership with…
IRS advice on partnership status and TEFRA treatment
Chief Counsel advice discusses whether an arrangement should be treated as a partnership for federal tax purposes. The advice explains that federal law controls, and that the parties' agreement,…
IRS advice on winding up a dissolved partnership
Chief Counsel advice addresses whether a general partner may continue acting during the winding-up period of a dissolved partnership. It states that state law determines the length of that period.…
IRS advice on applying a lien-discharge deposit
Chief Counsel advice addresses when a deposit made in connection with a lien discharge should be applied to a tax liability. It concludes that, when a third party brings an action under section…
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.