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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CCA 1119028: retail tax treatment for imported trucks
Chief Counsel addressed when the 12 percent retail excise tax under IRC § 4051 applies to imported trucks in five scenarios. The memorandum explains when a sale outside the United States, an export…
TAM 1119027: when gasoline blendstock removals and sales are taxable
The IRS analyzed whether a taxable fuel registrant owed the IRC § 4081 excise tax on removals and sales of butane used as a gasoline blendstock in 2004 and 2005. The memorandum addresses transfers…
PLR 1119026: corporation may change its interest-allocation valuation method prospectively
A domestic corporation asked to change the method it uses to value assets when apportioning interest expense for foreign tax credit purposes. The IRS did not permit the requested retroactive change…
PLR 1119025: REIT may allocate certain fees and expenses by share class without causing preferential dividends
A real estate investment trust asked whether allocating certain class-specific expenses and a performance-based advisory fee between two classes of shares would cause dividends paid to either class…
PLR 1119024: corporation may make a late S corporation election after showing reasonable cause
A corporation asked the IRS for relief after it failed to timely file Form 2553 to elect S corporation status. The IRS concluded that the corporation had reasonable cause for the late election. It…
PLR 1119023: consolidated group may file a late statement for a subsidiary stock loss
A parent corporation asked for more time to file a regulatory statement needed to claim some or all of a loss on the disposition of a subsidiary's stock. The IRS found that the parent acted…
PLR 1119022: S corporation election treated as continuing after inadvertent IRA shareholder termination
An S corporation's election terminated when two individual retirement accounts, which were ineligible S corporation shareholders, acquired its stock. The IRS concluded that the termination was…
PLR 1119021: regulated investment company may make a late dividends-paid election
A regulated investment company asked for more time to make an election under IRC § 855(a) concerning dividends treated as distributed in an earlier taxable year. Its tax preparer prepared, but did…
PLR 1119020: partnership may make a late section 754 election
A partnership asked for more time to make an IRC § 754 election after filing its return without the election. The election would allow basis adjustments for certain partnership distributions and…
PLR 1119019: foreign entity may make a late election to be treated as a corporation
A foreign entity that had been treated as a partnership asked for more time to elect classification as an association taxable as a corporation after a change in ownership. The entity had been…
PLR 1119018: corporation may make a late S corporation election
A corporation intended to be treated as an S corporation but did not timely file the required election. The IRS found that the corporation established reasonable cause for the late filing. It…
PLR 1119017: S corporation restructuring may qualify as an F reorganization with a QSub election
An S corporation planned to place a newly formed entity above it, contribute its stock to that entity, and elect to treat the existing corporation as a qualified subchapter S subsidiary. The IRS…
PLR 1119016: IRS grants more time to make a historic rehabilitation credit election
A taxpayer that rehabilitated a building asked for more time to make an election treating its tenant as having purchased the building for purposes of the historic rehabilitation credit. The taxpayer…
PLR 1119015: IRS grants time to make a tax-exempt entity election
A tax-exempt entity that owned part of a partnership holding a historic building asked for more time to elect not to be treated as a tax-exempt entity for a depreciation rule. The taxpayer intended…
PLR 1119014: Rental income from actively managed properties is not passive investment income
An S corporation asked whether rental income earned by its wholly owned subsidiaries from commercial properties would be passive investment income. The subsidiaries owned, leased, and managed the…
PLR 1119013: IRS allows a late S corporation election
A corporation intended to be treated as an S corporation but its shareholder failed to file the election on time. The IRS found that the taxpayer had reasonable cause for the missed filing. It ruled…
PLR 1119012: Foreign entities granted time to elect disregarded-entity status
Eleven foreign entities asked for more time to file Form 8832 elections to be treated as disregarded entities for federal tax purposes. The entities were eligible to make the elections but had not…
PLR 1119011: IRS grants time to elect the foreign earned income exclusion
A taxpayer who lived and worked abroad for 345 full days asked for more time to elect the foreign earned income exclusion under IRC § 911. The taxpayer had not filed a timely United States tax…
PLR 1119010: IRS grants time to make a section 953(d) election
A foreign insurance company asked for more time to elect treatment as a domestic corporation for U.S. tax purposes under IRC § 953(d). The company missed the election deadline because its accountant…
PLR 1119009: IRS grants time for entity-classification and S corporation elections
A limited liability company intended to be treated as an S corporation but missed both the entity-classification and S corporation election deadlines. The IRS granted 120 days to file Form 8832 and…
PLR 1119008: Trust income for public retiree health benefits is excluded under section 115
A state-created trust pooled and invested assets set aside by local public agencies for retiree health benefits. The trust was limited to governmental participants, and its assets could be used only…
PLR 1119007: IRS granted relief for a late S corporation election
A corporation intended to be treated as an S corporation beginning on a specified date, but its Form 2553 election was filed late. The corporation requested relief under IRC § 1362(b)(5). The IRS…
PLR 1119006: IRS granted more time to elect a pass-through of historic rehabilitation credits
A taxpayer that owned a rehabilitated building leased it to a tenant and intended to elect to treat the tenant as having purchased the building for purposes of the historic rehabilitation credit.…
PLR 1119005: IRS approved separate shares and successor QSST treatment
A trust that held S corporation stock was divided into two shares after the death of an income beneficiary. Each share was dedicated to a different successor income beneficiary, with income and…
PLR 1119004: IRS approved the division of a QTIP trust and the renunciation of one resulting interest
A decedent's estate had elected QTIP treatment for a marital trust benefiting the surviving spouse, with the remainder passing to two family trusts. The trustees planned to divide the marital trust…
PLR 1119003: IRS approved a fair-market-value exchange involving a marital trust
A marital trust and family beneficiaries planned a court-approved fair-market-value exchange to end shared ownership of certain entities and real property. The marital trust would buy some…
PLR 1119002: IRS approved a multi-step corporate separation and spin-off
A publicly traded parent corporation planned to separate one active business from several retained businesses through a series of mergers, contributions, distributions, and spin-offs. The steps also…
PLR 1119001: IRS treated specified foreign inclusions as REIT qualifying income
A real estate investment trust owned foreign subsidiaries that generated Subpart F income, § 956 inclusions from pledging foreign subsidiary assets to secure debt used to acquire real estate, and…
PLR 1118026: IRS waived the 60-day IRA rollover deadline
A taxpayer withdrew money from an IRA intending to roll it into another IRA, but the receiving financial institution failed to deposit the funds within the 60-day period. The taxpayer represented…
PLR 1118025: IRS declined to waive the 60-day IRA rollover requirement
A taxpayer withdrew money from an IRA to help fund a home purchase for an elderly family member, intending to redeposit the money after a reverse mortgage was completed. Delays caused the redeposit…
PLR 1118024: IRS approves a five-year pension-plan amortization extension
The IRS approved a plan's request for a five-year automatic extension to amortize unfunded liabilities as of March 1, 2010. The extension applies to eligible amortization charge bases established as…
PLR 1118023: IRS approves a five-year pension-plan amortization extension
The IRS approved a plan's request for a five-year automatic extension to amortize unfunded liabilities as of September 1, 2010. The extension applies to eligible amortization charge bases…
Determination 1118022: IRS revokes an organization's tax exemption after missing records and Form 990 requests
The IRS revoked an organization's tax exemption under IRC § 501(c)(3) after the organization failed to provide requested records and information, including a Form 990 or an explanation for not…
CCA 1118021: An amended return filed during an extension period supersedes the original
Chief Counsel advised that when a taxpayer is on extension and timely files an amended return within the extension period, the later return supersedes the earlier return. The later filing becomes…
CCA 1118020: An amended return does not prevent the six-year assessment period for a substantial income omission
Chief Counsel considered a taxpayer who omitted more than 25 percent of gross income from a timely filed return and later filed an amended return reporting additional income. The advice concluded…
CCA 1118019: A taxpayer receives new collection due process rights for an unassessed liability
Chief Counsel advised that a taxpayer is entitled to new collection due process rights when an underlying assessment is invalid and a new assessment is later made. The memorandum distinguished…
CCA 1118018: Excessive assessed tax should be abated under IRC § 6404(a)
Chief Counsel addressed the treatment of tax that had already been assessed in an excessive amount. The advice states that the IRS should assess and collect only tax imposed by the Internal Revenue…
CCA 1118017: The IRS may administratively reduce an excessive tax assessment
Chief Counsel addressed whether a taxpayer could file a claim for abatement under IRC § 6404(b) when an assessment was excessive. The advice states that the taxpayer is not entitled to file that…
PLR 1118016: IRS grants 120 days to make a late S corporation election
The IRS ruled that a corporation had reasonable cause for failing to timely file Form 2553 to elect S corporation status. The ruling allows the corporation to make the election effective for the…
PLR 1118015: IRS disregards a REIT's proportionate partnership loan income in specified REIT tests
The IRS considered a public corporation that elected to be treated as a real estate investment trust and conducted most of its business through a partnership. The corporation planned to borrow…
PLR 1118014: IRS approves a trust amendment involving a residence term interest and gift tax
The IRS considered a proposed amendment and restatement of a trust holding a residence. A daughter would exercise a power of appointment to grant her mother a new term interest in the residence,…
PLR 1118013: IRS grants extra time for a protective alternate valuation election
The IRS considered an estate that filed its federal estate tax return without a protective alternate valuation election under section 2032. The estate later filed a supplemental return making the…
TAM 1118012: Entrance fees were not replacement proceeds for tax-exempt bonds
The IRS analyzed whether entrance fees paid by residents of a retirement community were replacement proceeds of tax-exempt bonds used to expand and refund the facility. The borrower had pledged its…
PLR 1118011: IRS treats active real estate rental income as nonpassive investment income for an S corporation
The IRS considered a corporation that planned to elect S corporation status and that owned, leased, and managed real estate through itself and related entities. The corporation and its related…
PLR 1118010: IRS grants extra time to make an IC-DISC election
The IRS considered a domestic corporation that intended to be treated as an interest charge domestic international sales corporation, or IC-DISC, from its first taxable year. The corporation did not…
PLR 1118009: IRS treats cooperative grain payments as per-unit retains paid in money
The IRS considered a farmers' cooperative that marketed grain for members and other participating patrons. The cooperative paid farmers market-based amounts when it acquired grain and later paid…
PLR 1118008: IRS treats an S corporation election as continuing after an inadvertent trust-shareholder error
The IRS considered an S corporation whose shares were transferred from one trust to another after the death of the original trust's owner. The receiving trust was eligible to be an electing small…
PLR 1118007: IRS approves a trust severance and disclaimer plan involving QTIP property
The IRS considered a surviving spouse's proposed disclaimer of an interest in part of a QTIP marital trust after a state-court severance. The spouse planned to disclaim the interest in one new…
PLR 1118006: IRS grants more time to allocate GST exemption to prior trust gifts
The IRS considered an estate whose decedent had made gifts to a trust but had not allocated the decedent's generation-skipping transfer tax exemption to gifts made in four earlier years. The…
PLR 1118005: IRS allows a late S corporation election
The IRS considered a corporation that intended to elect S corporation status but did not file the election by the required deadline. The IRS found that the corporation had reasonable cause for the…
PLR 1118004: IRS restores S corporation status after a missed QSST election
The IRS considered an S corporation whose trust shareholder lacked a timely and effective qualified subchapter S trust election. Because the trust was not treated as a permitted shareholder, the…
PLR 1118003: IRS explains GST treatment of separate trust shares and distributions
The IRS analyzed two trusts that paid income among a settlor's five children and later distributed trust property to descendants. The IRS ruled that the settlor remained the transferor for…
PLR 1118002: IRS grants more time to elect an extended NOL carryback
The IRS considered the common parent of a consolidated group that missed the deadline to elect an extended carryback period for a consolidated net operating loss. The parent had reasonably relied on…
PLR 1118001: IRS grants more time for taxable REIT subsidiary elections
The IRS considered two real estate investment trusts and their jointly owned subsidiary, which was intended to be treated as a taxable REIT subsidiary of both REITs. The parties filed one Form 8875…
IRS approves a five-year amortization extension for an underfunded pension plan
The IRS approved a plan's request for a five-year automatic extension to amortize specified unfunded liabilities. The approval applied to eligible amortization charge bases established as of January…
IRS approves a five-year amortization extension for an underfunded pension plan
The IRS approved a plan's request for a five-year automatic extension to amortize specified unfunded liabilities. The approval applied to eligible amortization charge bases identified in the…
PLR 1117047: IRS rules that proposed ESOP warrants will not create a disqualified person or nonallocation year
The IRS considered an S corporation with an employee stock ownership plan that proposed to sell warrants for additional company stock to spouses of certain plan participants. The IRS treated the…
PLR 1117046: IRS declines to waive the 60-day IRA rollover deadline
The IRS considered a taxpayer who withdrew funds from an IRA, kept part of the distribution as three checks in a safe-deposit box, and deposited those checks into a second IRA after the 60-day…
PLR 1117045: IRS waives the 60-day IRA rollover deadline after institutional and health-related errors
The IRS considered a taxpayer who intended to roll an IRA distribution into another IRA but whose financial institution deposited the funds into a nonqualified account instead. The taxpayer also…
PLR 1117044: IRS waives the 60-day IRA rollover deadline after a bank error
The IRS considered an 81-year-old taxpayer who intended to roll an IRA distribution into two IRA certificates of deposit. A bank representative instead deposited the two portions into regular,…
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.