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 1044001: IRS granted extra time to elect disregarded-entity classification
The IRS granted a foreign eligible entity an additional 120 days to file Form 8832 and elect to be treated as a disregarded entity for federal tax purposes. The entity had intended to make the…
IRS revoked a down-payment assistance organization's exemption after finding private benefit
The IRS revoked an organization's exemption under IRC § 501(c)(3), effective January 5, 2001. The organization provided down-payment assistance to home buyers and relied on payments from home…
IRS revoked a credit counseling organization's exemption after finding its fee-based services were not charitable
The IRS revoked an organization's exemption under IRC § 501(c)(3), effective January 1, 2005. The organization provided debt management plans and related credit counseling. The IRS concluded that…
PLR 1043051: IRS denied an automatic amortization extension because the funding improvement plan was not adopted on time
The IRS considered a plan's request for an automatic amortization extension under IRC § 431(d). It denied favorable relief because the funding improvement plan required for the extension was not…
PLR 1043050: IRS conditionally approved a modification to an amortization extension for unfunded pension liabilities
The IRS conditionally approved a plan's request to modify an existing ruling that allowed a 10-year extension for amortizing unfunded liabilities. The letter concerns liabilities described under IRC…
PLR 1043049: IRS waived the 60-day IRA rollover deadline because of the taxpayer's medical condition
The IRS considered a request to waive the 60-day deadline for rolling part of an IRA distribution into another IRA. The taxpayer experienced strokes and other serious medical conditions that…
PLR 1043048: IRS approved whole life policies as incidental death benefits in qualified plans
The IRS considered whether a whole life policy with several riders could be held by a qualified retirement plan and still qualify as an ordinary life insurance contract with incidental death…
PLR 1043047: IRS waived the 60-day retirement-plan rollover deadline after financial-institution errors
The IRS considered a request to waive the 60-day deadline for rolling a retirement-plan distribution into an IRA. The taxpayer had completed applications for a qualified account, but a financial…
PLR 1043046: IRS waived the 60-day IRA rollover deadline after an administrative error
The IRS considered a request to waive the 60-day deadline for transferring an IRA balance to another IRA. The taxpayer instructed financial institutions to complete a trustee-to-trustee transfer,…
PLR 1043045: IRS waived the 60-day IRA rollover deadline after a taxpayer's caregiving-related mental strain
The IRS considered a request to waive the 60-day deadline for rolling part of an IRA distribution into another IRA. The taxpayer intended to move the funds to an IRA but instead deposited them into…
PLR 1043044: IRS waived the 60-day IRA rollover deadline after a government agency delayed returning the funds
The IRS considered a request to waive the 60-day deadline for rolling an IRA distribution back into an IRA. The taxpayer had directed the IRA provider to send the funds to a government agency…
PLR 1043043: IRS waived the 60-day IRA rollover deadline after cancer treatment and a mistaken deposit
The IRS considered a request to waive the 60-day deadline for rolling an IRA distribution into an IRA. The taxpayer missed the deadline after hospitalization and diminished mental capacity related…
IRS determination 1043042: Online sports-fan organization denied social-club exemption
The IRS issued a final adverse determination to an internet-based organization formed to support a professional sports team. The organization operated a website and members-only forum, but it had…
PLR 1043041: IRS approved a charitable remainder trust’s foreign investment corporation structure
The IRS considered a charitable remainder unitrust’s request to use a wholly owned foreign corporation as an investment vehicle for U.S. and foreign hedge funds. The IRS ruled that the trust’s…
LPG credit filing questions answered
Chief Counsel addressed two questions about the alternative fuel credit for liquefied petroleum gas used in forklifts during periods when the credit was available. A claimant that files Form 720 for…
Bonus liability timing under updated revenue procedures
Chief Counsel addressed the timing of a taxpayer’s liability for bonus compensation under Rev. Proc. 2008-52, as modified by Rev. Proc. 2009-39. When an employee must still be employed at year-end…
Pre-AJCA tax-shelter registration penalties are non-divisible
Chief Counsel addressed two questions about penalties under the pre-AJCA tax-shelter registration rules. The penalty under pre-AJCA § 6707(a)(1) could be imposed only on people who had a duty to…
Advance notice matters for accounting-method changes
Chief Counsel responded to a question about Form 3115 and the advance-notice requirement for an accounting-method change. The advice does not identify a specific Form 3115 conclusion, but points to…
Section 6675 penalty does not apply to excessive fuel credits claimed on income tax returns
Chief Counsel considered whether the IRS could impose the IRC § 6675 penalty for an excessive or false fuel tax credit claimed on an income tax return. The advice concludes that the penalty does not…
Subsidy payments that are not taxes need another deduction basis
Chief Counsel addressed whether payments used to provide a subsidy qualify as deductible taxes. The advice states that IRC § 901(i) treats such a payment as not being a tax for purposes of Title 26.…
Corporate officer should sign the Form SS-8 perjury statement
Chief Counsel responded to a question about the signature required on a corporate employer’s penalties-of-perjury statement when information is requested on Form SS-8. The advice states that the…
Computational adjustments count toward the reportable-transaction penalty
Chief Counsel addressed whether the IRC § 6662A penalty calculation includes increases in income resulting from computational adjustments made after changing the treatment of a listed transaction.…
Later authorities could change analysis of older TAMs and a PLR
Chief Counsel commented on whether arguments relying on technical advice memoranda and a private letter ruling should be discounted under IRC § 6110. The advice states that two TAMs predated Rev.…
Cash and stock dividend rules apply to earlier deficiency dividends
Chief Counsel addressed a REIT question involving deficiency dividends and cash or stock dividends. After rereading Rev. Proc. 2010-15, the advice concludes that the cash and stock dividend rules…
PLR 1043030: Partnerships granted extra time to elect mark-to-market accounting after technical terminations
The IRS considered requests from three foreign partnerships that traded securities and had previously elected mark-to-market accounting under IRC § 475(f). A restructuring caused each partnership to…
Winery's dollar-value LIFO inventory item definitions are proper
Chief Counsel considered whether a winery properly divided its bulk and bottled wine into inventory items for its dollar-value, link-chain LIFO method. The advice concludes that the winery's…
First-sale customs valuation can create a permissible tax valuation difference
Chief Counsel considered whether a difference between a taxpayer's customs valuation and income tax valuation necessarily violated IRC § 1059A when the difference resulted from correctly using the…
Delivery confirmation does not satisfy nonjudicial sale notice rules
Chief Counsel considered whether notice of a nonjudicial sale sent by regular mail with delivery confirmation satisfies IRC § 7425(c). The advice concludes that it does not, because the statute…
Foreign entity granted more time to elect partnership classification
The IRS granted a foreign eligible entity an extension of time to file Form 8832 and elect to be treated as a partnership for federal income tax purposes. The entity had inadvertently missed the…
Late Form 1128 to change a tax year treated as timely filed
The IRS treated a taxpayer's late Form 1128 as timely filed for a requested change from a 52-53-week taxable year ending on the last Saturday in September to one ending on the last Saturday in…
Fracturing-fluid and mine-discharge services produce qualifying income
The IRS ruled that a publicly traded partnership's distributive share of income from providing, removing, treating, and disposing of fracturing fluid and acid mine discharge is qualifying income…
Photovoltaic curtain wall qualifies as energy property
The IRS ruled that the elements of a taxpayer's purchase price for a photovoltaic curtain wall constitute energy property under IRC § 48. The curtain wall was designed both to enclose a commercial…
Consolidated group spin-off receives limited tax rulings
The IRS issued rulings on a proposed transaction in which subsidiaries would merge into a distributing corporation, the distributing corporation would spin off all stock of a controlled corporation…
Foreign subsidiary stock transfer receives nonrecognition rulings
The IRS ruled on a proposed transfer in which a domestic holding company would move the stock of three controlled foreign corporations to a newly formed foreign holding company in exchange for…
Company granted relief for a late S corporation election
The IRS found reasonable cause for a company that intended to elect S corporation status but never filed Form 2553. The company may file a completed Form 2553 within 120 days after the ruling…
Hold Constant Principle approved for a § 382 ownership analysis
The IRS ruled that a corporate loss group may use a reasonable method employing the Hold Constant Principle to measure ownership changes under IRC § 382(l)(3)(C). The proposed method accounts for…
Company granted relief for a late S corporation election
The IRS found reasonable cause for a company that failed to timely elect S corporation status under IRC § 1362. The company may submit a properly completed Form 2553 with the ruling attached within…
CFC subpart F income treated as qualifying RIC income
The IRS ruled that subpart F income from a regulated investment company's wholly owned controlled foreign corporation is income derived from the fund's business of investing in the subsidiary's…
Commodity-linked note income treated as qualifying RIC income
The IRS ruled that income and gain from a specified commodity-linked note constitute qualifying income for six regulated investment company funds under IRC § 851(b)(2). The note’s payout is linked…
Debt-restructuring warrants do not create a second stock class
The IRS ruled that warrants issued to commercial lenders as part of a debt restructuring were not treated as a second class of stock of an S corporation. The lenders were actively and regularly…
Forced foreign-government stock sale treated as a § 1231 loss
The IRS ruled that investors recognized a loss under IRC § 165(a) when a government-controlled fund acquired their stock through a statutory squeeze-out connected with nationalization. The loss is…
Forced foreign-government stock sale treated as a § 1231 loss
The IRS ruled that investors recognized a loss under IRC § 165(a) when a government-controlled fund acquired their stock through a statutory squeeze-out connected with nationalization. The loss is…
Forced foreign-government stock sale treated as a § 1231 loss
The IRS ruled that investors recognized a loss under IRC § 165(a) when a government-controlled fund acquired their stock through a statutory squeeze-out connected with nationalization. The loss is…
Forced foreign-government stock sale treated as a § 1231 loss
The IRS ruled that investors recognized a loss under IRC § 165(a) when a government-controlled fund acquired their stock through a statutory squeeze-out connected with nationalization. The loss is…
Forced foreign-government stock sale treated as a § 1231 loss
The IRS ruled that investors recognized a loss under IRC § 165(a) when a government-controlled fund acquired their stock through a statutory squeeze-out connected with nationalization. The loss is…
Forced foreign-government stock sale treated as a § 1231 loss
The IRS ruled that investors recognized a loss under IRC § 165(a) when a government-controlled fund acquired their stock through a statutory squeeze-out connected with nationalization. The loss is…
Grain payments treated as per-unit retain allocations
The IRS ruled that cash grain payments made by an agricultural cooperative to members for grain marketed on a patronage basis are per-unit retain allocations paid in money under IRC § 1382(b)(3).…
Company granted relief for a late S corporation election
The IRS found reasonable cause for a company whose sole shareholder intended an S corporation election but whose Form 2553 was not timely filed. The company may file a completed Form 2553 within 120…
Parent granted more time to make a QSub election
The IRS granted an S corporation 120 additional days to elect to treat its wholly owned domestic subsidiary as a qualified subchapter S subsidiary. The parent had acquired all of the subsidiary's…
Foreign entity granted more time to elect partnership status
The IRS granted a foreign eligible entity 120 days to file Form 8832 and elect partnership classification for federal tax purposes. The entity had inadvertently failed to make the election effective…
Late integration identification for convertible notes approved
The IRS granted a successor taxpayer more time to satisfy the identification requirements for integrating convertible senior notes with related stock call options under Treas. Reg. § 1.1275-6.…
Parent granted more time to make a QSub election
The IRS granted an S corporation 120 days to elect to treat a newly acquired domestic subsidiary as a qualified subchapter S subsidiary. The parent had intended to make the QSub election effective…
Late REIT election treated as timely
The IRS treated a taxpayer's REIT election as timely even though a Form 7004 extension request for the related Form 1120-REIT was filed after the original due date. The taxpayer's accountant had…
Catastrophe-insurance bonds are not private activity bonds
The IRS ruled that proposed Category B and Category C bonds issued to fund catastrophe-insurance claims would not be private activity bonds under IRC § 141. Although commercial policyholders would…
PLR 1042043: IRS waived the 60-day rollover deadline after a financial institution's error
The IRS considered a request to waive the 60-day deadline for rolling a distribution from a qualified plan into an IRA. The taxpayer instructed the plan administrator to make a direct rollover, but…
PLR 1042042: IRS waived the 60-day IRA rollover deadline after an advisor's error
The IRS considered a request to waive the 60-day deadline for rolling an IRA distribution into an IRA annuity. A financial advisor deposited the funds into a nonqualified account instead of…
PLR 1042041: IRS waived the 60-day IRA rollover deadline after a financial institution's error
The IRS considered a request to waive the 60-day deadline for rolling an IRA distribution into an IRA. The taxpayer transferred the distribution to a nonqualified account after receiving incorrect…
IRS 1042040: IRS denied exemption to a member service exchange
The IRS issued a final adverse determination denying federal tax exemption to an organization that coordinated reciprocal services among members. Members earned credits for services provided to…
IRS 1042039: IRS revoked exemption after an organization failed to file returns and provide information
The IRS revoked an organization's exemption under IRC § 501(c)(3), effective on a redacted date. The organization failed to establish that it continued to operate exclusively for an exempt purpose,…
IRS 1042038: IRS revoked exemption after an organization failed to provide records
The IRS revoked an organization's exemption under IRC § 501(c)(3), effective on a redacted date. The organization did not respond to repeated IRS requests to examine its records and had not filed an…
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.