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 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 201233017: 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 201233016: 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 201233015: 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 201233014: 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 201233013: 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 201233012: 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 201233011: 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 201233010: 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 201233009: 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 201233008: 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 201233007: 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 201233006: 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 201233005: 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 201233004: 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 201233003: 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 201233002: 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 201233001: 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 201232038: 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 201232037: 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 201232036: 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 201232035: 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 201232034: 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 201232033: 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 201232032: 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 201232031: 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 201232030: 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 201232029: 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 201232028: 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 201232027: 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 201232026: 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 corporation represented that the trust qualified as a Qualified Subchapter S Trust (QSST), but…
PLR 201232025: 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 201232024: Contingent lawsuit assignment leaves recovery out of assignor’s 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 201232023: 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 201232022: 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 201232021: 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 201232020: 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 201232019: 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 201232018: 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 201232017: 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 201232016: 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 201232015: 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 201232014: 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 201232013: 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…
PLR 201232012: IRS grants more time to file a LIFO election after a restructuring
A successor discovered that a taxpayer had failed to file Form 970 when an internal restructuring resulted in the incorporation of a division as the taxpayer. The taxpayer had adopted the LIFO…
PLR 201232011: IRS rules on built-in loss limits after a REIT election is revoked
A corporation elected REIT status, causing certain wholly owned affiliates to become qualified REIT subsidiaries. After the corporation revoked its REIT election, those subsidiaries were treated as…
PLR 201232010: IRS grants more time to elect disregarded-entity status
A foreign limited liability company had one owner and was intended to be treated as a disregarded entity for federal tax purposes. The owner failed to timely file Form 8832, Entity Classification…
PLR 201232009: IRS preserves S corporation status after missed ESBT elections
An S corporation's shareholders included two trusts whose trustees failed to timely make elections for the trusts to qualify as electing small business trusts (ESBTs). The IRS concluded that the S…
IRS treats fuel additization fees as qualifying publicly traded partnership income
The IRS ruled that income earned by a publicly traded partnership from fuel additization activities was qualifying income under IRC § 7704(d)(1)(E). The partnership operated refined petroleum…
IRS preserves an S corporation election after warrants and convertible debt
The IRS ruled that a corporation's S corporation election may have terminated after it issued stock warrants and convertible debt that could have created a second class of stock. The corporation…
IRS grants extra time to elect the 40-60 test for a residential rental bond project
The IRS granted a public issuer 45 additional days to amend Form 8038 and elect the 40-60 test for tax-exempt private activity bonds financing a residential rental project. The issuer had mistakenly…
IRS grants late S corporation election relief
The IRS granted a corporation relief under IRC § 1362(b)(5) after it failed to timely file Form 2553, Election by a Small Business Corporation. The corporation had intended to elect S corporation…
IRS grants relief for an inadvertent S corporation termination
The IRS ruled that a corporation’s S corporation election terminated because the beneficiary of a qualified subchapter S trust did not timely file the required election. The IRS found that the…
IRS rules that QSST, not its beneficiary, reports gain from a section 338(h)(10) transaction
The IRS ruled that gain from a deemed asset sale under a section 338(h)(10) election, allocated to S corporation stock held by a qualified subchapter S trust, belongs to the trust rather than the…
IRS grants an estate more time to allocate GST exemption
The IRS granted an estate 120 additional days to allocate the decedent’s generation-skipping transfer tax exemption to a lifetime transfer to an irrevocable trust. The taxpayer’s tax professional…
IRS grants more time to opt out of bonus depreciation
The IRS granted a domestic partnership 60 days to make a late election not to claim 50-percent and 100-percent additional first-year depreciation for all qualifying property placed in service during…
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.