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 advice on taxpayer consent and JCT disclosure
Chief Counsel advice considers whether submitting a closing agreement to the Joint Committee on Taxation before an examination is complete could disclose return information improperly. Because the…
100 percent reinsurance reduces the unearned premium reserve
The Technical Advice Memorandum considers whether a nonlife insurance company may maintain an unearned premium reserve for contracts whose insurance risk was fully reinsured. The IRS concludes that…
IDC preference exception unavailable with negative AMTI
Chief Counsel advice addresses the alternative minimum tax treatment of intangible drilling cost preferences for a non-integrated oil company with negative alternative minimum taxable income. The…
Unauthorized Form 872-I signature did not extend assessment period
Chief Counsel advice considers whether a Form 872-I validly extended the assessment period when it was signed by a Revenue Agent without delegated authority. The IRS concludes that the consent was…
Late QSST election restored S corporation and QSub status
A corporation requested relief after the income beneficiary of a trust failed to timely make the election required for qualified subchapter S trust treatment. The failure made the corporation's S…
Extension granted for a late foreign-currency election
A U.S. corporation requested more time to make a foreign-currency gain or loss election for a controlled foreign corporation. The election had been omitted from a consolidated return even though the…
Trust and life insurance rulings for an irrevocable trust
A taxpayer requested rulings on two irrevocable trusts, including a trust that would acquire a life insurance policy from another trust. The IRS addressed grantor trust treatment, beneficiary…
Extension granted for consolidated NOL carryback election
A consolidated corporate group requested more time to elect an extended carryback period for a consolidated net operating loss. The group intended to make the election but failed to file a valid…
Late S corporation election allowed for reasonable cause
A newly incorporated company intended to elect S corporation status but did not timely file Form 2553. The IRS found reasonable cause for the late filing. It allowed the company to make the election…
Extension granted for a late ratable allocation election
An affiliated group and a subsidiary asked for more time to make a ratable allocation election after the subsidiary left the consolidated group. The IRS concluded that the taxpayers acted reasonably…
Refined coal qualifies for the credit subject to testing conditions
A taxpayer planned to produce refined coal by mixing coal with chemical additives designed to reduce nitrogen oxide and mercury emissions. The IRS ruled that the product could qualify as refined…
Separate-account ownership differs by contract type
A life insurance company planned to restructure how it held real estate investments backing pension and non-pension annuity contracts. The IRS concluded that the insurer would remain the federal tax…
Pension plan amendments approved as reasonable and de minimis
A company in Chapter 11 bankruptcy asked whether amendments to its pension plan were reasonable and caused only de minimis increases in plan liabilities. The amendments traded some benefit increases…
Five-year amortization extension approved for plan liabilities
A multiemployer pension plan requested a five-year automatic extension to amortize unfunded liabilities. The IRS approved the extension after finding that the plan submitted the required…
60-day rollover waiver denied
An individual asked the IRS to waive the 60-day deadline for rolling a retirement-plan distribution into another qualified retirement account. The individual said that he did not know about the…
60-day IRA rollover waiver granted
An older taxpayer moved a distribution from one IRA intending to place it into a self-directed IRA and invest through a loan opportunity. Financial professionals instead deposited the funds into a…
Late Roth IRA recharacterization allowed
A married couple made a Roth IRA conversion even though their income was above the applicable 2008 limit. They asked for more time to recharacterize the failed conversion as a traditional IRA…
Medical crisis supports a 60-day IRA rollover waiver
A taxpayer withdrew funds from an IRA while preparing for a possible separation and intended to roll them into an IRA for his spouse. During the 60-day period, the taxpayer's young son experienced a…
Determination 201234030: IRS denies 501(c)(3) exemption to a foreclosure mortgage organization
The IRS denied tax-exempt status to an organization that planned to buy defaulted mortgages, restructure them, and foreclose on or sell homes when borrowers did not keep their homes. The…
Determination 201234029: IRS denies exemption to a conservation farm organization
The IRS denied tax-exempt status to an organization that planned to preserve farmland and protect wildlife while continuing to operate the property as a commercial hay farm. The organization’s…
Determination 201234028: IRS denies exemption to a private homeowners association
The IRS denied section 501(c)(4) exemption to a homeowners association that maintained parks, roads, and other facilities for subdivision property owners. Membership and park access were limited to…
CCA 201234027: Nonrefundable milestone payments do not qualify for the success-fee safe harbor
Chief Counsel Advice concluded that nonrefundable milestone payments credited against a success-based fee are not themselves success-based fees. The advice described a transaction in which two $1…
CCA 201234026: A go-shop provision does not change the bright-line date
Chief Counsel Advice concluded that a go-shop provision in a fully executed merger agreement did not change the bright-line date for allocating transaction costs. The agreement was executed and…
CCA 201234025: Slot-machine reporting procedures can satisfy the annual TIN solicitation exception
Chief Counsel Advice considered a gaming establishment that prepared Forms W-2G for slot-machine jackpots of $1,200 or more and later learned that some taxpayer identification numbers were…
CCA 201234024: Vineyard development costs may qualify for section 179 expensing
Chief Counsel Advice concluded that a vineyard planted in 2005 and placed in service in 2009 could qualify as section 179 property. The advice treated the vineyard as tangible property to which…
IRS grants extra time to make an extended NOL carryback election
The IRS granted a consolidated corporate group 60 additional days to make an election for an extended net operating loss carryback period. The group had failed to timely file the election after…
IRS grants late S corporation election relief
The IRS granted a corporation relief for failing to timely elect S corporation status. The corporation established reasonable cause for the late election under section 1362(b)(5). The IRS allowed…
IRS denies section 9100 relief for a late NOL carryback election
The IRS denied a request for extra time to make an election to carry back a net operating loss three, four, or five years under section 172(b)(1)(H). The taxpayers’ return was filed late after…
IRS grants extra time for a rehabilitation credit pass-through election
The IRS granted a taxpayer 120 days to make a late election that would pass rehabilitation credits from a property owner to its tenant. The taxpayer had relied on an attorney and a certified public…
IRS grants relief for a late S corporation election
The IRS granted a corporation 120 days to file Form 2553 and make a late election to be treated as an S corporation. The corporation had intended the election to take effect on a specified date, but…
IRS approves a cooperative's qualified intermediary and patronage-income treatment
The IRS ruled that a cooperative's disregarded qualified intermediary could provide qualified intermediary services for its shareholders' like-kind exchanges without being treated as a disqualified…
IRS says offsetting currency forwards are not substantially similar to a listed transaction
The IRS ruled that a taxpayer's proposed offsetting foreign-currency forward contracts were not the same as, or substantially similar to, the listed transaction described in Rev. Rul. 2000-12. The…
IRS grants extra time to allocate generation-skipping transfer tax exemption
The IRS granted a taxpayer 120 days to allocate generation-skipping transfer tax exemption to two transfers made to an irrevocable trust. The taxpayer's accounting firm had prepared and filed the…
IRS grants extra time to elect partnership classification
The IRS granted a foreign eligible entity 120 days to file Form 8832 and elect to be treated as a partnership for federal tax purposes. The entity had intended to make that classification effective…
IRS grants relief for a late S corporation election
The IRS granted a corporation 120 days to file Form 2553 and make a late election to be treated as an S corporation effective on a specified date. The corporation had reasonable cause for not making…
IRS grants extra time to elect disregarded-entity treatment
The IRS granted a foreign single-member entity 120 days to file Form 8832 and elect to be treated as a disregarded entity for federal tax purposes. The entity had intended that classification to…
IRS grants extra time for an extended consolidated NOL carryback election
The IRS granted a consolidated group 60 days to make an election under section 172(b)(1)(H) to carry back a consolidated net operating loss for three, four, or five years instead of the usual…
IRS grants relief for a late S corporation election
The IRS granted a corporation 120 days to file Form 2553 and make a late election to be treated as an S corporation effective on a specified date. The IRS found that the corporation had reasonable…
IRS grants relief for a late S corporation election
The IRS granted a corporation 120 days to file Form 2553 and make a late election to be treated as an S corporation effective on a specified date. The IRS found that the corporation had reasonable…
IRS approves tax-free split-offs of two businesses
The IRS approved a proposed transaction in which an S corporation would contribute portions of its business assets to two newly formed corporations and distribute the stock of each new corporation…
IRS restores S-corporation status after a missed QSST election
A corporation asked the IRS to restore its S-corporation status after stock was transferred to a trust whose income beneficiary did not timely file the required QSST election. The IRS concluded that…
IRS restores S-corporation status after a trust loses its two-year shareholder period
The IRS restored a corporation's S-corporation status after a trust continued holding its stock beyond the two-year period during which the trust was an eligible shareholder following the deemed…
IRS treats excess mortgage servicing spreads as REIT real estate assets
The IRS ruled that a real estate investment trust's excess mortgage servicing spreads would qualify as interests in mortgages on real property and therefore as real estate assets for the REIT asset…
IRS treats pipeline water-delivery income as qualifying partnership income
The IRS ruled that a publicly traded partnership's distributive share of income from a related partnership's water-delivery pipeline would be qualifying income under section 7704(d)(1)(E). The…
IRS grants extra time for a tax-exempt controlled entity election
The IRS granted a tax-exempt controlled corporation 60 additional days to make an election under section 168(h)(6)(F)(ii). The election allowed the corporation not to be treated as a tax-exempt…
IRS grants late-election relief for S-corporation status
The IRS granted a corporation relief for failing to timely file its election to be treated as an S corporation. The IRS found reasonable cause for the late filing under section 1362(b)(5) and…
IRS restores S-corporation status after missed ESBT elections
The IRS restored a corporation's S-corporation status after four trusts became shareholders without timely electing to be electing small business trusts. It concluded that the corporation's S…
IRS preserves S-corporation status after disproportionate distributions
The IRS ruled that disproportionate distributions by an S corporation did not create a prohibited second class of stock because the corporation's governing documents and binding agreements gave all…
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…
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.