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 201036021: Surviving spouse's authority to sign Forms 2848 and 56
Chief Counsel advice addressed whether a surviving spouse could sign Form 2848 and Form 56 for a deceased spouse when the couple's assets were held in an inter vivos trust and no personal…
CCA 201036020: Foreign tax credit refund claims receive a special limitations period
Chief Counsel advice explained that IRC § 6511(d)(3)(A) provides a special extended limitations period for refund claims attributable to foreign tax credits. The advice states that the claim is…
CCA 201036019: Late entity-classification relief under Revenue Procedure 2009-41
Chief Counsel advice addressed how a service center should process a request under Revenue Procedure 2009-41 when the requested effective date for an entity-classification election is more than…
CCA 201036018: Failure to meet section 6335(b) requirements made a tax sale voidable
Chief Counsel advice addressed the effect of the Service's failure to meet the requirements of IRC § 6335(b) in a tax sale. The advice states that the failure made the sale voidable, but not void,…
CCA 201036017: A grantor trust partner causes TEFRA procedures to apply
Chief Counsel advice addressed whether TEFRA partnership procedures applied when a grantor trust or another disregarded entity was a partner. The advice concludes that the presence of that partner…
CCA 201036016: An IRA levy notice generally needs to be served on the custodian
Chief Counsel advised that, absent evidence that an individual retirement account has more than one custodian, the IRS generally need not serve a levy notice on parties other than the IRA custodian.…
CCA 201036015: One section 6701 penalty applies per person and tax period
Chief Counsel advised that when the same person prepares two documents relating to the same taxpayer and the same taxable period, section 6701 permits only one penalty against that person for the…
CCA 201036014: Form 2750 is the proper form for the described excise-tax assessment
Chief Counsel advised that Form 2750 appeared to be the proper form for the assessment described in the request. The underlying provisions concerned the section 4261 ticket tax, the section 4291…
PLR 201036013: Unnecessary QTIP election treated as null and void
The IRS ruled that a decedent's QTIP election could be treated as null and void because it was not needed to reduce the federal estate tax to zero. The estate plan included a credit-shelter trust…
PLR 201036012: Rural electric cooperative qualifies for cooperative treatment
The IRS ruled that a newly organized rural electric organization was a not-for-profit electric organization operating on a cooperative basis. The organization was formed by an existing rural…
PLR 201036011: 120-day extension granted for GST exemption allocation
The IRS granted a surviving spouse an additional 120 days to allocate available generation-skipping transfer tax exemption to transfers made to two trusts. The spouses had consented to split the…
PLR 201036010: 120-day extension granted for GST exemption allocation
The IRS granted a taxpayer an additional 120 days to allocate available generation-skipping transfer tax exemption to transfers made to two trusts. The spouses had consented to split the gifts, but…
CCA 201036009: Assumed bankruptcy liabilities may require capitalization
Chief Counsel advised that assuming liabilities in connection with a bankruptcy asset purchase under sections 363 and 365 of the Bankruptcy Code does not, by itself, prevent capitalization under IRC…
PLR 201036008: Retiree-benefit trust income excluded under section 115
The IRS ruled that income earned by a trust established by a public corporation to fund retiree health and welfare benefits was excluded from gross income under section 115(1). The corporation was…
PLR 201036007: Prior spin-off ruling retroactively revoked
The IRS retroactively revoked an earlier private letter ruling that had concluded a proposed spin-off qualified as a tax-free distribution under section 355 and had issued related rulings for the…
PLR 201036006: Rights plan does not affect prior spin-off ruling
The IRS supplemented an earlier private letter ruling concerning proposed internal and external distributions in a corporate spin-off. The distributing corporation planned to adopt a rights plan…
PLR 201036005: S corporation election restored after missed QSST election
The IRS ruled that a corporation's S corporation election terminated when stock was transferred to a qualified subchapter S trust and the trust's income beneficiary failed to file the required QSST…
PLR 201036004: 60-day relief granted for late S corporation election
The IRS concluded that a corporation had reasonable cause for failing to timely file its S corporation election. The shareholders intended the corporation to be an S corporation as of the requested…
PLR 201036003: Late S election and QSub election relief granted
The IRS granted a corporation relief to make a late S corporation election and an additional 60-day extension to elect to treat its wholly owned subsidiary as a qualified subchapter S subsidiary.…
PLR 201036002: Nuclear decommissioning fund special transfer approved
The IRS approved a schedule of deduction amounts for a wholly owned subsidiary that owned an interest in a nuclear power plant. The taxpayer could make a special transfer to its nuclear…
CCA 201036001: Customer rate increase does not offset utility casualty loss
Chief Counsel advised that a temporary increase in a regulated utility's customer rate was not compensation for the utility's casualty losses. The rate increase was treated as additional revenue…
PLR 201048044: Guaranteed withdrawals qualify as a life annuity for plan survivor rules
A retirement plan proposed an investment option that would provide guaranteed lifetime withdrawals beginning after a participant reached a specified age and left employment. The IRS ruled that…
Determination 201035046: Revised pension-plan assumptions approved
The IRS approved revised actuarial assumptions for a pension plan for the plan year beginning January 1, 2006. The approval covered retirement, disability, termination, and form-of-payment…
PLR 201035045: 60-day IRA rollover requirement waived
The IRS waived the 60-day rollover requirement for a taxpayer who received a distribution from an IRA annuity and failed to complete the rollover because a financial advisor did not explain the tax…
PLR 201035044: Direct rollover treatment confirmed for estate
The IRS concluded that a retirement-plan distribution received by a taxpayer who later died was a direct rollover and was not subject to the 60-day rollover requirement. The check was payable to a…
PLR 201035043: 60-day rollover waiver declined
The IRS declined to waive the 60-day rollover requirement for a deceased taxpayer's retirement-plan distribution. The taxpayer had been hospitalized and died during the rollover period, but the…
Determination 201035042: Five-year amortization extension approved
The IRS approved a five-year automatic extension for amortizing a plan's unfunded liabilities as of May 1, 2009. The extension applied to eligible amortization charge bases established as of that…
Determination 201035041: Five-year amortization extension approved
The IRS approved a five-year automatic extension for amortizing a plan's unfunded liabilities as of April 1, 2009. The extension applied to eligible amortization charge bases identified in the…
Determination 201035040: Five-year amortization extension approved
The IRS approved a five-year automatic extension for amortizing a plan's unfunded liabilities as of July 1, 2009. The extension applied to eligible amortization charge bases identified in the…
Determination 201035039: Five-year amortization extension approved
The IRS approved a five-year automatic extension for amortizing a plan's unfunded liabilities as of May 1, 2009. The extension applied to eligible amortization charge bases identified in the…
Determination 201035038: Exempt status revoked for private benefit
The IRS issued a final adverse determination revoking an organization's section 501(c)(3) exemption effective October 1, 2003. The IRS found that a substantial amount of the organization's assets…
PLR 201035037: 60-day rollover waiver granted after bank error
The IRS waived the 60-day rollover requirement after a financial institution mistakenly deposited part of a retirement-plan distribution into a non-IRA account. The taxpayer had intended to move the…
PLR 201035036: Rollover waiver granted for employer stock
The IRS waived the 60-day rollover requirement for a taxpayer who received 9,385 shares of employer stock after a qualified domestic relations order awarded her an interest in a former spouse's…
IRS revoked a veterans' organization's section 501(c)(19) exemption for operating a public bar
The IRS revoked an exempt veterans' organization's status under IRC § 501(c)(19), effective March 1, 20XX. The examination report says the organization operated a bar and kitchen open every day to…
IRS revoked a booster club's section 501(c)(3) exemption for private benefit and inurement
The IRS revoked a booster club's exemption under IRC § 501(c)(3), effective February 1, 20XX. The examination report found that the club was closely associated with a related for-profit dance and…
IRS revoked a defunct organization's section 501(c)(3) exemption for private benefit and inurement
The IRS revoked an organization's exemption under IRC § 501(c)(3), effective July 1, 20XX. The examination report states that the organization stopped operating its alternative schools after a local…
IRS revoked an inactive organization's section 501(c)(3) exemption for failure to operate
The IRS revoked an organization's exemption under IRC § 501(c)(3), effective January 1, 20XX. The examination report states that the organization had ceased operations, had no activities or income,…
IRS revoked an organization's section 501(c)(3) exemption for failure to provide records
The IRS revoked an organization's exemption under IRC § 501(c)(3), effective October 1, 20XX. The final letter states that the organization failed to produce documents needed to establish that it…
IRS revoked an organization's section 501(c)(3) exemption after it ceased operations
The IRS revoked an organization's exemption under IRC § 501(c)(3), effective June 30, 20XX. The organization had discontinued operations, entered liquidating bankruptcy, and filed a terminating Form…
IRS revoked a private foundation's section 501(c)(3) exemption after it stopped operating
The IRS revoked a private foundation's exemption under IRC § 501(c)(3), retroactively for years beginning on or after January 1, 20XX. The foundation had stopped operating and distributed its…
IRS revoked an inactive organization's section 501(c)(3) exemption for failing to keep records and file returns
The IRS revoked an organization's exemption under IRC § 501(c)(3), effective January 1, 20XX. The organization was no longer operating, had not filed its required annual information return, and had…
IRS revoked an organization's section 501(c)(3) exemption after it failed to answer document requests
The IRS revoked an organization's exemption under IRC § 501(c)(3), effective January 1, 20XX. The organization failed to produce documents or otherwise establish that it operated exclusively for…
IRS revoked an inactive organization's section 501(c)(3) exemption
The IRS revoked an organization's exemption under IRC § 501(c)(3), effective January 1, 20XX. The organization had ceased operating, had no operational or financial activities, and had been…
IRS revoked an organization's section 501(c)(3) exemption for failing to respond to an examination
The IRS revoked an organization's exemption under IRC § 501(c)(3), effective January 1, 20XX. The organization did not respond to repeated requests for information needed to examine its Form 990,…
IRS revoked an organization's section 501(c)(3) exemption for failing to provide information
The IRS revoked an organization's exemption under IRC § 501(c)(3), effective January 1, 20XX. The organization did not provide information requested on numerous occasions to substantiate its Form…
CCA advised that a joint Form 4868 remittance was properly allocated between spouses
The Office of Chief Counsel advised that a remittance submitted with a joint Form 4868 should be treated as an estimated tax payment and allocated between the spouses under Treas. Reg. §…
CCA addressed self-employment tax treatment of a minister's compensation and parsonage allowance
The Office of Chief Counsel advised that if a minister has an exemption effective under IRC § 1402(e), compensation paid for ministerial services is exempt from self-employment tax. The advice…
CCA discussed an administrative adjustment request and refund claim for partnership items
The Office of Chief Counsel advised that an administrative adjustment request under IRC § 6227 may need to be accompanied by Form 8082 and filed according to its instructions. It explained that…
CCA said branch manager employee status depends on a fact-specific balancing test
The Office of Chief Counsel advised that whether branch managers are employees under the usual common-law rules depends on a balancing test based on the facts and circumstances of each situation.…
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 201035016: 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 201035014: 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 201035013: 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 201035012: 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 201035011: 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 201035010: 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 201035009: 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…
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.