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 outlined the employment-status analysis for a district manager
The Office of Chief Counsel advised that a district manager’s status should first be analyzed under the common-law control test. If the manager is a common-law employee, the manager cannot also be a…
CCA said a partnership audit is not always required before adjusting a partner's return
The Office of Chief Counsel advised that, when a partnership is not subject to TEFRA, the IRS is not legally required to audit the partnership before adjusting an individual partner’s return based…
CCA said indirect partners must sign the partner-level part of Form 870-LT
The Office of Chief Counsel advised that, under IRC § 6224(c)(1), a settlement by a pass-through partner binds indirect partners as to partnership items. The advice distinguishes partner-level…
TAM 1035016: Passive activity recharacterization is not an accounting-method change
This Technical Advice Memorandum considers whether changing the characterization of a nursing-home activity from nonpassive to passive under IRC § 469 is a change in accounting method under IRC §§…
CCA addressed RRTA treatment of contract payments, severance, and equity compensation
This Chief Counsel Advice addresses whether contract-right payments, severance allowances, and stock or equity payments are compensation subject to Railroad Retirement Tax Act (RRTA) tax. The advice…
PLR 1035014: IRS approved a nuclear decommissioning deduction schedule
The IRS approved a schedule of deduction amounts for a wholly owned subsidiary that owns an interest in a nuclear power plant. The schedule concerns a special transfer to a qualified nuclear…
PLR 1035013: IRS approved revised nuclear decommissioning schedules
The IRS approved revised schedules of ruling amounts and an initial schedule of deduction amounts for a taxpayer that purchased an interest in a nuclear power plant and assumed related…
PLR 1035012: IRS granted late-election relief for corporate and S corporation status
The IRS granted a limited liability company an extension of time to file Form 8832 to elect classification as an association taxable as a corporation. The IRS also granted relief to file a late Form…
PLR 1035011: IRS approved use of nuclear decommissioning funds for removing replaced components
The IRS considered a partnership that owned an interest in a nuclear power plant and had replaced certain plant components while the plant continued operating. The partnership asked whether its…
PLR 1035010: IRS treated an S corporation election termination as inadvertent
The IRS considered a corporation whose S corporation election terminated when an electing small business trust transferred its stock to an ineligible shareholder. The corporation’s stock was later…
PLR 1035009: IRS granted relief for an S corporation election affected by trust ownership
The IRS considered an S corporation whose stock was held through trusts after the death of the deemed owner of a grantor trust. One resulting family trust was eligible to be an electing small…
PLR 1035008: IRS granted extra time to allocate generation-skipping transfer tax exemption
The IRS considered a donor who created an irrevocable trust and failed to allocate available generation-skipping transfer tax exemption to later-created trusts for the donor’s children and…
PLR 1035007: IRS granted relief for a late S corporation election
The IRS considered a corporation whose shareholders intended S corporation status from the date of incorporation but whose Form 2553 was filed late. The corporation requested relief so its S…
PLR 1035006: IRS granted extra time to make a § 362(e)(2)(C) election
The IRS considered a partnership that was expected to become a corporation through an entity-classification election and would have transferred property with an aggregate basis greater than its fair…
PLR 1035005: IRS granted extra time to make § 338(g) elections
The IRS considered a purchaser and an affiliate that acquired all the stock of a foreign target and its foreign subsidiaries and intended to make § 338(g) elections. The elections were not timely…
PLR 1035004: IRS said a city department generally need not report school transportation reimbursements
The IRS considered a city department that planned to pay parents a per diem to transport eligible special-needs children to and from school. The payments were intended to reimburse transportation…
PLR 1035003: IRS allowed a solar credit without reducing it for REC proceeds
The IRS considered a homeowner who bought and installed a residential solar electric system and sold associated renewable energy credits to a public utility. The IRS ruled that the utility’s payment…
PLR 1035002: IRS granted extra time for a consent dividend election
The IRS considered a personal holding company that had paid personal holding company tax after failing to make a consent dividend election for an earlier tax year. The company’s president was…
PLR 1035001: IRS granted extra time to allocate GST exemption to a trust
The IRS considered a taxpayer who created an irrevocable trust, transferred property to it, and failed to report the transfer or allocate generation-skipping transfer tax exemption because an…
PLR 1034025: IRS declined to waive the 60-day IRA rollover requirement
The IRS considered a taxpayer who received a distribution from an IRA and deposited it into a high-interest checking account instead of a qualified IRA. The taxpayer later invested the money in…
CCA 1034024: Chief Counsel discussed penalties for failing to file Form 5329
Chief Counsel advice addressed whether a failure to file Form 5329 could trigger penalties under § 6651. The advice states that the Form 5329 filing requirement arises under § 6058, which is…
CCA 1034023: Chief Counsel addressed the timing of an NBAP
Chief Counsel advice addressed the timing of a notice of final partnership administrative adjustment, or NBAP. The advice states that an NBAP must be issued at least 120 days before an FPAA is…
CCA 1034021: A partnership cannot have an affected item in itself
Chief Counsel Advice addressed whether a partnership could have an affected item in itself. The advice concluded that it could not. Each partnership year is a separate cause of action, and…
CCA 1034020: Bankruptcy removes a grantor-beneficiary from a TEFRA proceeding
Chief Counsel Advice addressed a trust's role as the tax matters partner (TMP) during a bankruptcy. Under Rev. Rul. 2004-88, the advice stated that the trust could continue to act as TMP because it…
CCA 1034019: A federal tax lien attaches to a joint possession right in a matrimonial residence
Chief Counsel Advice considered whether a right of joint possession in a principal matrimonial residence was property or a right to property subject to a federal tax lien. It concluded that the…
CCA 1034018: Failed hedge identifications do not support ordinary treatment of commodity contracts
Chief Counsel Advice considered a commodity business's request to recharacterize gains and losses from price-to-be-fixed supply contracts and section 1256 contracts as ordinary rather than capital.…
TAM 1034017: Research-credit expenses and gross receipts after a consolidated-group acquisition
The IRS Technical Advice Memorandum addressed how a parent should calculate the research credit after acquiring the common parent of another consolidated group. It concluded that the parent could…
PLR 1034016: IRS treats an inadvertently terminated S election as continuing
The IRS addressed a corporation whose S corporation election terminated after the current income beneficiary of a trust holding its stock failed to make a qualified subchapter S trust (QSST)…
PLR 1034015: Cash grain payments qualify as per-unit retain allocations paid in money
The IRS considered whether cash grain payments made by a nonexempt agricultural cooperative to members and other eligible patrons were per-unit retain allocations paid in money under subchapter T.…
PLR 1034014: IRS grants relief for a late S corporation election
The IRS considered a corporation’s request for relief after its S corporation election was not timely filed. The corporation established reasonable cause for the late election under section…
PLR 1034013: IRS grants more time to allocate generation-skipping transfer tax exemption
The IRS granted a donor an additional 60 days to allocate available generation-skipping transfer tax (GST) exemption to earlier transfers to four trusts. The donor’s tax professional had failed to…
PLR 1034012: Health-plan contributions and payments excluded from income and employment taxes
The IRS considered two plans adopted by a city to pay post-employment health and medical expenses. The plans were funded by the city and mandatory employee contributions, and covered medical-care…
PLR 1034011: Commodities-linked note and CFC income qualify as RIC income
The IRS considered whether income and gains from specified commodities-linked notes, and income from wholly owned controlled foreign corporation subsidiaries, would count as qualifying income for…
PLR 1034010: Data-center buildings and customary tenant services qualify for REIT treatment under section 856
The IRS considered whether proposed data-center buildings and their structural components would qualify as real property and real estate assets for purposes of section 856. The IRS ruled that the…
PLR 1034009: IRS grants more time for spouses to allocate GST exemption
The IRS granted a decedent and spouse an additional 60 days to allocate their generation-skipping transfer tax (GST) exemptions to prior transfers to two trusts. Their accountant had reported the…
PLR 1034008: IRS grants more time for spouses to allocate GST exemption
The IRS granted a decedent and spouse an additional 60 days to allocate their generation-skipping transfer tax (GST) exemptions to prior transfers to two trusts. Their accountant had reported the…
PLR 1034007: Hydrogen refueling for forklifts does not qualify for the section 30C credit
The IRS considered whether a hydrogen refueling station used to refuel forklifts was qualified alternative fuel vehicle refueling property for purposes of section 30C. The statute requires the…
PLR 1034006: IRS grants relief for an untimely S corporation election
The IRS considered a corporation’s request for relief after its Form 2553 was not timely filed. The corporation and its sole shareholder had reported income consistently with the corporation’s…
PLR 1034005: IRS approves major corporate separation and related spin-off transactions
The IRS addressed a proposed separation of two business groups through contributions, distributions, a related taxable asset purchase, and a later merger. It ruled that the two principal…
PLR 1034004: Proposed mixed LIFO and non-LIFO disclosures do not violate conformity rules
The IRS considered whether a corporation could issue financial statements showing a subsidiary’s income on both LIFO and non-LIFO bases while showing certain inventory and equity information on a…
PLR 1034003: IRS grants relief after a trust’s missed ESBT election terminated an S election
The IRS considered a corporation whose S corporation election terminated after a trust holding its stock ceased to qualify as a qualified subchapter S trust (QSST) and no election was filed to treat…
PLR 1034002: IRS grants relief for a late S corporation election
The IRS considered a corporation’s request for relief after its Form 2553 was not timely filed. The corporation’s sole shareholder intended for it to be an S corporation, and the corporation…
PLR 1034001: IRS permits revocation of a capital-gain investment-income election
The IRS considered taxpayers’ request to revoke an election that treated net capital gains from real property as investment income for purposes of the investment-interest rules. The taxpayers had…
Determination 1033042: IRS revoked a credit-counseling organization’s section 501(c)(3) exemption
The IRS revoked an organization’s section 501(c)(3) exemption effective January 1, 2004. The organization’s primary activity was enrolling individuals in debt management plans, and the determination…
PLR 1033041: IRS waives the 60-day rollover deadline after bereavement and financial-institution error
The IRS considered a surviving spouse’s request to roll several IRA and retirement-plan distributions into a rollover IRA after the 60-day deadline had expired. The taxpayer attributed the delay for…
PLR 1033040: IRS waives a rollover deadline after a financial-institution error
The IRS considered a taxpayer’s request to roll part of an IRA distribution into another IRA after the 60-day deadline had expired. The taxpayer stated that a financial-institution employee…
Determination 1033039: IRS revoked a private school’s section 501(c)(3) exemption
The IRS revoked a private school’s section 501(c)(3) exemption because the school failed to establish that it operated exclusively for exempt purposes and failed to overcome the inference of racial…
CCA 1033038: Continuing an adopted accounting method is not a method change
Chief Counsel Advice considered a taxpayer’s request for advance consent to make a protective change in its accounting method for certain obligations. The advice concluded that the taxpayer had…
CCA 1033037: A separate TEFRA proceeding was probably unnecessary
Chief Counsel Advice addressed whether Exam needed to conduct a TEFRA partnership proceeding for each year in which excessive deductions were claimed. The advice said that such a proceeding would…
CCA 1033036: One FPAA was probably sufficient to correct an inside basis step-up
Chief Counsel Advice considered how to correct an inside basis step-up in a partnership. The advice stated that the IRS probably needed to issue only one final partnership administrative adjustment,…
CCA 1033035: Several forms could keep the partnership-item statute open
Chief Counsel Advice addressed how the statute for assessing partnership items against a partner could remain open. It noted that the revised Form 872 had replaced Form 872-i, but said the statute…
CCA 1033034: An FPAA could address a partner’s carryforward loss
Chief Counsel Advice stated that the IRS could issue a final partnership administrative adjustment, or FPAA, for a partnership year to assess a partner’s carryforward loss in a later year. The…
CCA 1033033: Section 530 issues may have been irrelevant after the taxpayer closed
Chief Counsel Advice considered issues involving the section 530 employment-tax safe harbor in a particular case. The writer believed the issues related to the case’s section 530 hazards and that…
PLR 1033032: Extension granted to make section 59(e) elections
The IRS granted a taxpayer more time to make section 59(e) elections for two redacted taxable years. The taxpayer had not made the elections on time and submitted representations explaining the…
CCA 1033031: Entire consolidated NOL reduced for excluded COD income
Chief Counsel Advice considered whether excluded cancellation-of-debt income of a member of a consolidated group reduced the group’s entire consolidated net operating loss, or only an allocated…
CCA 1033030: Equitable remedies could not recover time-barred gift tax
Chief Counsel Advice considered whether the Service could use equitable recoupment, the duty of consistency, or equitable estoppel when an estate included time-barred gift tax in calculating gift…
PLR 1033029: Extension granted to make a section 338(g) election
The IRS granted a purchaser 45 days to file a late section 338(g) election for its acquisition of a foreign corporation’s stock. The purchaser represented that the acquisition was a qualified stock…
PLR 1033028: IRS granted relief after an inadvertent S corporation termination
The IRS concluded that a corporation’s S corporation election terminated when a grantor trust continued to hold its stock beyond the two-year period allowed after the deemed owner’s death. The IRS…
PLR 1033027: Planned restructuring preserved specified intercompany gain treatment
The IRS ruled on a proposed restructuring of a consolidated group involving a seller, a buyer, several subsidiaries, mergers, an LLC classification election, and subsidiary liquidations. Based on…
PLR 1033026: Extension granted for a late investment-income election
The IRS granted a taxpayer 60 days to make a late election to treat net capital gains from investment property as investment income for purposes of the investment-interest deduction. The taxpayer’s…
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.