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 1216050: IRS waives the 60-day IRA rollover deadline after serious medical problems
An individual withdrew an amount from an IRA and deposited it into another account, intending to move it into an IRA with a higher interest rate. The individual did not complete the rollover within…
PLR 1216049: IRS declines to waive the 60-day IRA rollover deadline after a calendar error
An individual withdrew money from an IRA to consolidate IRA accounts and obtain a higher rate of return. The individual said the rollover was late because the wrong date, relating to a distribution…
PLR 1216048: IRS approves a five-year extension to amortize unfunded plan liabilities
The IRS approved a request for a five-year automatic extension to amortize specified unfunded liabilities of a retirement plan. The extension applied to eligible amortization charge bases…
PLR 1216047: IRS waives the rollover deadline after a plan administrator omitted rollover information
The surviving spouse of a deceased plan participant received distributions from two qualified retirement plans. The plan administrator instructed the spouse to transfer the balances to a personal…
PLR 1216046: IRS approves a five-year extension to amortize unfunded plan liabilities
The IRS approved a request for a five-year automatic extension to amortize specified unfunded liabilities of a retirement plan. The extension applied to eligible amortization charge bases…
PLR 1216045: IRS approves variable ascending payments from a charitable lead annuity trust
An irrevocable testamentary charitable lead annuity trust asked whether a state-court construction of its trust agreement could permit annuity payments to rise each year over a 10-year term. The IRS…
PLR 1216044: IRS approves a private foundation's academic research grant program
A private foundation asked the IRS to approve its procedures for awarding grants to college and university professors for academic research on financial markets, futures, and derivatives. The…
PLR 1216043: IRS approves a private foundation's scholarship procedures
A private foundation asked the IRS to approve a scholarship program for needy students enrolled in schools in a redacted country. The foundation proposed objective and nondiscriminatory selection…
PLR 1216042: IRS approves an employer-related scholarship program
A private foundation asked the IRS to approve a scholarship program for current and future employees of a redacted employer and their dependents. The program would use an independent selection…
PLR 1216041: IRS approves a fellowship and grant program for education initiatives
A private foundation asked the IRS to approve a program that would fund fellowships and grants for recent college graduates working in low-income schools and related social enterprises in a redacted…
Determination 1216040: IRS denies exemption to a health-information technology organization
The IRS issued a final adverse determination denying an organization's application for exemption under IRC § 501(c)(3). The organization planned to implement a health-information exchange and…
CCA 1216039: Advice addresses an alter ego theory for federal tax liens
Chief Counsel advice discusses whether a federal tax lien dispute involving an alter ego theory presents fraud or injustice concerns. The message points to the two-factor federal common-law test…
CCA 1216038: Advice treats employee payments as wages rather than royalties
Chief Counsel advice addresses payments made to employees under an unidentified royalty arrangement. The advice concludes that the payments appear to be compensation for services, so they should be…
CCA 1216037: Advice addresses late relief for an alternate-valuation election
Chief Counsel advice addresses whether a taxpayer may seek relief to make an IRC § 2032 alternate-valuation election more than one year after the return's due date. The advice says relief may be…
CCA 1216036: Advice addresses Treasury access to tax return information
Chief Counsel advice confirms that the Treasury Department's Alcohol and Tobacco Tax and Trade Bureau is part of Treasury and may access returns and return information for official tax…
CCA 1216035: Tax matters partner may bind certain other partners
Chief Counsel advice explains when a tax matters partner (TMP) may bind partners who were not entitled to notice. A TMP may do so under IRC § 6224(c)(3) if the TMP specifically states that the TMP…
PLR 1216034: IRS rules on trust ownership, S corporation status, and estate inclusion
The IRS considered a domestic trust that was created for an individual who also served as trustee and beneficiary. The individual could withdraw contributions, subject to an annual lapse rule, and…
CCA 1216033: Form 843 may amend a timely refund claim
Chief Counsel advice concludes that a taxpayer's Form 843 could be treated as a permissible amendment to a timely Form 1040X, rather than as a new and untimely refund claim. The taxpayer had…
PLR 1216032: IRS restores S corporation status after an inadvertent termination
A corporation's S corporation election was inadvertently terminated when an ineligible shareholder acquired its stock. The corporation later redeemed all of that shareholder's stock and represented…
PLR 1216031: REIT distribution qualifies for the dividends paid deduction
A publicly traded real estate investment trust (REIT) issued common and convertible stock while declaring a quarterly distribution. The transaction included a payment intended to adjust for the…
PLR 1216030: IRS grants relief for a late S corporation election
A corporation intended to elect S corporation status but did not timely file Form 2553. The IRS determined that the corporation had reasonable cause for the late election under IRC § 1362(b)(5). The…
PLR 1216029: IRS classifies cellular antenna towers as land improvements
A communications company asked how its cellular antenna towers and supporting foundations should be classified for depreciation. The IRS concluded that the land towers, rooftop towers, horizontal…
PLR 1216028: IRS grants relief for a late S corporation election
A corporation intended to be an S corporation but did not timely file Form 2553. The IRS determined that the corporation had reasonable cause for the late election under IRC § 1362(b)(5). The IRS…
PLR 1216027: IRS approves a tax-free spin-off of a QSub business
An S corporation planned to distribute all the stock of a wholly owned subsidiary to its shareholders. The subsidiary's qualified subchapter S subsidiary (QSub) election would terminate when the…
PLR 1216026: IRS approves a qualified stock purchase and section 338(g) election
A multinational affiliated group acquired more than 80 percent of a publicly traded foreign corporation. The group planned to sell a minority block to unrelated persons to comply with the foreign…
PLR 1216025: IRS restores S corporation status after a trust becomes ineligible
A corporation's S corporation election terminated when a revocable trust continued holding its stock after the period during which the trust was an eligible shareholder ended. The trust later…
PLR 1216024: IRS grants more time for a partnership classification election
A foreign business entity intended to elect partnership classification for federal tax purposes but failed to timely file Form 8832. The IRS concluded that the requirements for relief under Treas.…
PLR 1216023: IRS approves a tax-free spin-off with debt and share exchanges
A publicly traded corporation planned to separate one business into a newly formed controlled corporation and distribute at least 80 percent of that corporation's stock pro rata to its shareholders.…
PLR 1216022: IRS rules that excess hydrogen sales qualify as partnership income
A publicly traded partnership that produces fertilizer used a gasification process that generated hydrogen as a by-product. The partnership had an agreement with an adjacent refinery to exchange…
PLR 1216021: IRS grants a foreign entity more time to elect partnership classification
A foreign entity intended to be treated as a partnership for federal tax purposes but did not timely file Form 8832. The IRS concluded that the requirements for relief under the regulations were…
PLR 1216020: IRS grants more time to make a corporate classification election
A business entity formed under the laws of a redacted state intended to elect treatment as an association taxable as a corporation but did not timely file Form 8832. The IRS concluded that the…
PLR 1216019: IRS permits aggregate § 704(c) allocations after a partnership merger
Two partnerships treated as securities partnerships for federal tax purposes planned an assets-over merger. One used a full-netting method and the other used a partial-netting method for reverse…
PLR 1216018: IRS grants more time to file consolidated return elections
A parent corporation's consolidated group sold a subsidiary and failed to timely file elections intended to reduce possible duplication of losses and avoid reduction of tax attributes. The IRS…
PLR 1216017: IRS approves an additive process and testing method for the refined coal credit
A taxpayer planned to produce refined coal by mixing proprietary additives with feedstock coal before combustion at several power plants. The taxpayer asked whether the additive process produced…
PLR 1216016: IRS permits a late S corporation election
A corporation's sole shareholder intended to elect S corporation status effective on a redacted date but did not timely file Form 2553. The IRS found reasonable cause for the late filing and…
PLR 1216015: IRS grants more time to elect qualified subchapter S subsidiary status
An S corporation acquired a wholly owned subsidiary and intended to elect qualified subchapter S subsidiary status for that subsidiary, but it did not timely file Form 8869. The IRS found that the…
PLR 1216014: IRS grants more time for a foreign entity to elect partnership status
A foreign limited liability partnership intended to be classified as a partnership for federal tax purposes but did not timely file Form 8832. The entity had sold an interest in a domestic limited…
PLR 1216013: IRS grants more time to make an alternate valuation election
The co-executors of an estate timely filed Form 706 but did not make the alternate valuation election under IRC § 2032. They later determined that the election should have been made and filed a…
PLR 1216012: IRS grants more time for a foreign entity to elect partnership status
A foreign entity intended to be treated as a partnership for federal tax purposes but did not timely file Form 8832. The IRS concluded that the requirements for relief under Treas. Reg. § 301.9100-3…
PLR 1216011: IRS treats cooperative payments as per-unit retains for the § 199 deduction
A farmers' cooperative marketed agricultural products for its member associations and their patrons through both consignment sales and direct purchase arrangements. The cooperative asked whether…
PLR 1216010: IRS approves merger of grandfathered trusts without adverse tax effects
The parties proposed merging sixteen subtrusts within four pre-1985 trusts into four surviving trusts, one for each beneficiary, while preserving the original beneficial interests and vesting and…
PLR 1216009: IRS finds a hospital alliance does not create private business use of bond-financed facilities
A public hospital district and a public university planned a strategic alliance to coordinate healthcare services and manage hospital facilities financed with tax-exempt bonds. The IRS concluded…
PLR 1216008: IRS applies the possession exception to a domestic partnership's wind project
A domestic partnership planned to develop a wind project in a United States possession through a disregarded subsidiary. The partnership had two domestic corporate members, neither of which had an…
PLR 1216007: IRS permits a related-party like-kind exchange series under stated conditions
A real estate investment trust asked whether the related-party limits in § 1031(f) would prevent tax deferral for a series of like-kind exchanges involving the taxpayer, a qualified intermediary, an…
PLR 1216006: IRS grants extra time to make an IC-DISC election
A domestic corporation asked for more time to file Form 4876-A, the form used to elect IC-DISC status, effective from its incorporation date. The corporation believed the form had been timely filed,…
PLR 1216005: IRS finds a proposed spousal trust arrangement outside Rev. Rul. 71-51
Married spouses who held property as tenants by the entirety proposed an agreement under which half of the property would be held in trust for the surviving spouse after the first spouse's death.…
PLR 1216004: IRS grants extra time to make a disregarded-entity election
A foreign entity intended to elect disregarded-entity treatment for federal tax purposes but inadvertently failed to timely file Form 8832. The IRS concluded that the requirements for relief under…
PLR 1216003: IRS grants extra time to make a disregarded-entity election
A foreign entity intended to elect disregarded-entity treatment for federal tax purposes but inadvertently failed to timely file Form 8832. The IRS concluded that the requirements for relief under…
PLR 1216002: IRS grants extra time to make a disregarded-entity election
A foreign entity intended to elect disregarded-entity treatment for federal tax purposes but inadvertently failed to timely file Form 8832. The IRS concluded that the requirements for relief under…
PLR 1216001: IRS grants extra time to make a disregarded-entity election
A foreign entity intended to elect disregarded-entity treatment for federal tax purposes but inadvertently failed to timely file Form 8832. The IRS concluded that the requirements for relief under…
IRS denies exemption to a fertility pharmacy operated in a commercial manner
The IRS considered an organization's request for recognition as a section 501(c)(4) social welfare organization. The organization operated a pharmacy that sold fertility medication, sometimes at…
PLR 1215018: IRS confirms that a religious order's retirement plan is a church plan
A religious order asked whether its retirement savings plan qualified as a church plan under IRC § 414(e). The IRS concluded that the order was an integral part of a church, shared common religious…
PLR 1215017: IRS grants a conditional waiver of the minimum funding standard
The IRS considered a healthcare organization's request for a waiver of the minimum funding standard for its retirement plan for the year ending December 31, 2007. It granted the waiver under IRC §…
PLR 1215016: IRS waives the 60-day IRA rollover requirement after a bank error
A taxpayer intended to transfer funds from one IRA into another IRA but the funds were placed into a non-IRA account by mistake. The IRS found that the failure to complete the rollover within 60…
PLR 1215015: IRS waives the 60-day rollover requirement after a credit union error
A taxpayer received a distribution from an employer retirement plan and instructed a credit union to deposit it into an IRA. The credit union instead deposited the funds into a non-IRA account,…
IRS denies exemption to a homeowners advocacy association
The IRS finalized an adverse determination for a homeowners advocacy association that sought exemption under IRC §§ 501(c)(6) and 501(c)(4). The association represented property owners in a private…
IRS denies exemption to a housing and financial-literacy organization
The IRS denied an organization's request for recognition under IRC § 501(c)(3). The organization proposed affordable housing services, foreclosure assistance, financial-literacy programs, home…
IRS denies exemption to a free credit-repair organization
The IRS denied an organization's request for recognition under IRC § 501(c)(3). The organization offered free credit repair and planned to seek donations and grants, but its sole substantive…
IRS denies exemption to a fundraising organization supporting a foreign research project
The IRS denied a U.S. organization's application for recognition under IRC § 501(c)(3). The organization raised funds for a foreign organization and said its money supported rabbis researching and…
IRS denies exemption to a stock-trading charity
The IRS denied an organization's application for recognition under IRC § 501(c)(3). The organization planned to buy and sell stocks and options with donated funds, retain some proceeds, and give a…
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.