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 1025019: IRS granted more time to allocate GST exemption to trust transfers
The IRS granted a grantor and spouse 60 days to allocate their generation-skipping transfer (GST) tax exemptions to transfers made to an irrevocable family trust. Their attorney had failed to advise…
PLR 1025018: IRS approved a title 11 reorganization involving a new company
The IRS ruled on the federal tax treatment of a proposed chapter 11 restructuring in which a newly formed company would acquire operating assets from a financially distressed company in exchange for…
PLR 1025017: IRS allowed a retroactive QEF election for a PFIC investment
The IRS consented to a corporation's retroactive qualified electing fund (QEF) election for an investment in a passive foreign investment company (PFIC). A service provider failed to identify the…
PLR 1025016: IRS allowed a retroactive QEF election for a PFIC investment
The IRS consented to a corporation's retroactive qualified electing fund (QEF) election for an investment in a passive foreign investment company (PFIC). A service provider failed to identify the…
PLR 1025015: IRS allowed a retroactive QEF election for a PFIC investment
The IRS consented to a corporation's retroactive qualified electing fund (QEF) election for an investment in a passive foreign investment company (PFIC). A service provider failed to identify the…
PLR 1025014: IRS allowed a retroactive QEF election for a PFIC investment
The IRS consented to a corporation's retroactive qualified electing fund (QEF) election for an investment in a passive foreign investment company (PFIC). A service provider failed to identify the…
PLR 1025013: IRS allowed a retroactive QEF election for a PFIC investment
The IRS consented to a corporation's retroactive qualified electing fund (QEF) election for an investment in a passive foreign investment company (PFIC). A service provider failed to identify the…
PLR 1025012: IRS allowed a retroactive QEF election for a PFIC investment
The IRS consented to a corporation's retroactive qualified electing fund (QEF) election for an investment in a passive foreign investment company (PFIC). A service provider failed to identify the…
PLR 1025011: IRS allowed a retroactive QEF election for a PFIC investment
The IRS consented to a corporation's retroactive qualified electing fund (QEF) election for an investment in a passive foreign investment company (PFIC). A service provider failed to identify the…
PLR 1025010: IRS allowed a retroactive QEF election for a PFIC investment
The IRS consented to a corporation's retroactive qualified electing fund (QEF) election for an investment in a passive foreign investment company (PFIC). A service provider failed to identify the…
PLR 1025009: IRS allowed a retroactive QEF election for a PFIC investment
The IRS consented to a corporation's retroactive qualified electing fund (QEF) election for an investment in a passive foreign investment company (PFIC). A service provider failed to identify the…
PLR 1025008: IRS allowed a retroactive QEF election for a PFIC investment
The IRS consented to a corporation's retroactive qualified electing fund (QEF) election for an investment in a passive foreign investment company (PFIC). A service provider failed to identify the…
PLR 1025007: IRS allowed a retroactive QEF election for a PFIC investment
The IRS consented to a corporation's retroactive qualified electing fund (QEF) election for an investment in a passive foreign investment company (PFIC). A service provider failed to identify the…
PLR 1025006: IRS allowed a retroactive QEF election for a PFIC investment
The IRS consented to a corporation's retroactive qualified electing fund (QEF) election for an investment in a passive foreign investment company (PFIC). A service provider failed to identify the…
PLR 1025005: IRS allowed a retroactive QEF election for a PFIC investment
The IRS consented to a corporation's retroactive qualified electing fund (QEF) election for an investment in a passive foreign investment company (PFIC). A service provider failed to identify the…
PLR 1025004: IRS granted relief for a late S corporation election
The IRS ruled that a corporation could be treated as an S corporation from the requested effective date even though its election was not timely filed. The corporation's shareholder intended the S…
PLR 1025003: IRS granted relief for a late S corporation election
The IRS ruled that a company could make a late S corporation election effective on its requested date. The company intended to file Form 2553 but never filed the election because of inadvertence.…
PLR 1025002: IRS treated a corporation as an S corporation after an ineffective election
The IRS ruled that a corporation could be treated as an S corporation even though its original election was ineffective because a shareholder had not provided the required consent. The corporation…
PLR 1025001: IRS granted relief for a late S corporation election
The IRS ruled that a company could be treated as an S corporation from the requested effective date even though its election was not timely filed. The shareholder intended the S election to take…
PLR 1024073: IRS waived the 60-day IRA rollover requirement after an advisor's error
The IRS waived the 60-day rollover requirement for a taxpayer who received a distribution from several individual retirement accounts and did not complete the rollover of the full amount on time.…
PLR 1024072: IRS waived the 60-day rollover requirement after a financial institution's error
The IRS waived the 60-day rollover requirement for a taxpayer whose financial institution processed a requested direct trustee-to-trustee transfer as a taxable distribution and withheld part of the…
PLR 1024071: IRS denied extra time to recharacterize a Roth IRA as a traditional IRA
The IRS denied a request for extra time to recharacterize a Roth IRA as a traditional IRA after the election period had expired. The taxpayer had converted traditional IRAs to a Roth IRA after…
PLR 1024070: IRS approved a five-year extension to amortize a plan's unfunded liabilities
The IRS approved a five-year automatic extension for a plan to amortize unfunded liabilities as of January 1, 2010. The extension applies to the eligible amortization charge bases and is effective…
PLR 1024069: IRS ruled that a one-time software-rights sale was not unrelated business income
The IRS ruled that an exempt church's one-time sale of intellectual property rights to software was not unrelated business taxable income. The church developed the software for a noncommercial…
PLR 1024068: IRS approved VEBA asset transfers and related tax rulings
The IRS approved a labor union's proposal to transfer excess assets from a catastrophic medical benefit account within its VEBA to a reserve for post-retirement health benefits for union employees.…
PLR 1024067: IRS approved an employer-related scholarship grant program
The IRS approved a private foundation's employer-related scholarship grant procedures. The foundation's program favored employees and their families of a corporate trustee and affiliated companies,…
Determination 1024066: IRS denied exemption to an internet media software organization
The IRS denied an organization exemption under IRC § 501(c)(6) as a business league. The organization had no members, and its activities focused on developing and promoting its own free media…
CCA 1024065: Appraisal and Form 8283 signatures must come from the appraiser who conducted the appraisal
The Office of Chief Counsel advised that the person who signs Form 8283 and the appraisal must be the appraiser who conducted the appraisal. A signature from someone else means the appraisal is not…
CCA 1024064: The IRS may issue only one FPAA for a taxable year under section 6223(f)
The Office of Chief Counsel confirmed that IRC § 6223(f) permits the IRS to issue only one final partnership administrative adjustment for a taxable year. The memo contrasts that rule with IRC §…
CCA 1024063: A chose in action may be levied, but it should not be listed on a Notice of Seizure
The Office of Chief Counsel advised that a chose in action, which is a right to property or a right to payment, is intangible property. The IRS may levy on it under IRC § 6331(a), but it is not the…
CCA 1024062: Counsel advised against using Munro computations in a TEFRA scenario
The Office of Chief Counsel considered how to calculate a deficiency when a taxpayer reported a loss, a non-TEFRA adjustment created net income, and a TEFRA partnership proceeding was still pending.…
CCA 1024061: Mitigation provisions apply to TEFRA adjustments and related correlative adjustments
The Office of Chief Counsel advised that mitigation provisions apply to TEFRA adjustments and open the statute of limitations for making correlative adjustments. It further stated that applying the…
CCA 1024060: The IRS cannot add items to an FPAA that it has already issued
The Office of Chief Counsel advised that the IRS may issue only one final partnership administrative adjustment for a taxable year under IRC § 6223(f). As a result, the IRS could not add additional…
CCA 1024059: Inadequate gift-tax disclosure can leave the assessment period open indefinitely
The Office of Chief Counsel advised that IRC § 6501(c)(9) can leave gift tax assessable at any time when a donor fails to adequately disclose a gift on the gift tax return. Adequate disclosure…
CCA 1024058: Withholding was treated as a partnership item in an F1042 assessment question
The Office of Chief Counsel advised that the withholding issue described in the memo was a partnership item. It noted that the Tax Court had not yet resolved whether the partnership entity is a…
CCA 1024057: Field Appeals should generally hold a telephone conference after a face-to-face request
The Office of Chief Counsel advised that, when a taxpayer requests a face-to-face Collection Due Process hearing and later seeks a telephone conference after the case moves to field Appeals, Appeals…
CCA 1024056: Counsel described the overall foreign loss recapture approach for separate categories
The Office of Chief Counsel explained how the overall foreign loss recapture rules under IRC § 904(f)(1) apply to the separate category limitations under IRC § 904(d). Counsel described the IRS…
CCA 1024055: The IRS must turn over pre-petition refunds to a Chapter 7 bankruptcy estate
The Office of Chief Counsel advised that Chapter 7 bankruptcy differs from Chapter 13 for purposes of tax refunds. It stated that the IRS is required to turn over pre-petition refunds because they…
CCA 1024054: Counsel analyzed the Fresh Start offer-in-compromise requirements
The Office of Chief Counsel analyzed a Fresh Start offer in compromise under IRC § 7122. The memo states that the proposal did not include the ability-to-pay determination required for doubt as to…
CCA 1024053: A trust owning a deferred variable annuity generally files Form 1041
The Office of Chief Counsel analyzed an arrangement involving an irrevocable trust and a deferred variable annuity. It advised that the trust, as the annuity's owner, should generally file Form 1041…
CCA 1024052: A Form 870 is not a return for assessment-period purposes
The Office of Chief Counsel agreed with a conclusion about the assessment period under IRC § 6501. It referred to Rev. Rul. 2005-59, which holds that a Form 870 signed by a taxpayer is not a return.…
CCA 1024051: A supplemental refund claim may amend a timely Form 1120X
The Office of Chief Counsel considered whether a taxpayer's Revised Supplemental Claim was a timely amendment to a timely filed Form 1120X or a new claim barred by the limitations period. The…
CCA 1024050: Tribes may use alternate procedures for section 3402(r) withholding
The Office of Chief Counsel addressed federal withholding on payments covered by IRC § 3402(r). It advised that an Indian tribe may use an alternate procedure if the amount withheld is substantially…
CCA 1024049: Hedge-timing rules generally require matching option results to inventory sales
The Office of Chief Counsel analyzed a collar transaction involving puts and calls that was treated as hedging pricing risk for future inventory sales. Assuming the calls were qualifying hedges…
CCA 1024048: Advice notes conflicting decisions on FICA treatment of severance pay
The Office of Chief Counsel discussed the FICA treatment of severance payments under IRC § 3121. The advice notes that the Western District of Michigan held that certain severance payments were…
CCA 1024047: COBRA premium reimbursement is generally excluded under section 106
The Office of Chief Counsel addressed whether a current employer's reimbursement of COBRA premiums under a prior employer's plan is taxable. It advised that the reimbursement would generally be…
CCA 1024046: Advice discusses the trigger date for a section 7430 request
The Office of Chief Counsel discussed a request for administrative costs under IRC § 7430. The advice states that most such requests are handled by the Appeals office and that the…
PLR 1024045: IRS ruled that irrevocably waived government salaries are not gross income
The IRS considered whether amounts of salary voluntarily and irrevocably waived by certain government employees were includible in their gross income. The waiver was made before payment, and the…
PLR 1024044: IRS approved a merger of grandfathered trusts without changing their tax status
The IRS considered a proposed merger of two irrevocable trusts and their sub-trusts, all created before September 26, 1985. The IRS ruled that the trusts were exempt from generation-skipping…
PLR 1024043: IRS approved a merger of grandfathered trusts without changing their tax status
The IRS considered a proposed merger of two irrevocable trusts and their sub-trusts, all created before September 26, 1985. The IRS ruled that the trusts were exempt from generation-skipping…
PLR 1024042: IRS approved a corporation's switch from fair market value to tax book value for interest allocation
The IRS allowed a domestic corporation to change the method it used to value assets when apportioning interest expense for foreign tax credit limitation purposes. The corporation had been using the…
PLR 1024041: IRS approved exclusion of a wrongful-death recovery from an estate's income
The IRS ruled that an estate could exclude from gross income a payment received through a legislative settlement process for the wrongful death of the decedent. The underlying claims included…
CCA 1024040: IRS advice addresses interest netting in bankruptcy and irrevocable credit elections
This Chief Counsel Advice addresses two issues. First, it concludes that interest paid on federal tax underpayments through a Chapter 11 plan is not eligible for zero-rate netting against…
CCA 1024039: IRS advice addresses federal tax liens on property awarded in an unregistered divorce conveyance
This Chief Counsel Advice considers whether a federal tax lien attaches to real property awarded to a taxpayer's former wife in a divorce decree when the decree and quitclaim deed were not…
PLR 1024038: IRS granted late-election relief for an S corporation election
The IRS ruled that a company had reasonable cause for failing to timely file its S corporation election. The company had intended to be treated as an S corporation and represented that it had acted…
PLR 1024037: IRS approved use of actual ownership knowledge for allocating financing shares
The IRS ruled that a private corporation could use its corporate records, written inquiries, and investor interviews to determine actual knowledge of stock ownership for purposes of its section 382…
PLR 1024036: IRS approved a like-kind exchange of emission credits
The IRS ruled that nitrogen oxide emission credits and volatile organic compound emission credits were like-kind intangible personal property for purposes of a proposed section 1031 exchange. A…
PLR 1024035: IRS treated unnecessary QTIP elections as null and void
The estate asked whether QTIP elections covering jointly owned property and property placed in a family trust could be treated as null and void. The IRS ruled that both elections were unnecessary…
PLR 1024034: IRS granted more time to make depreciation and drilling-cost elections
The IRS granted a corporate group more time to make two tax elections after a clerical error caused it to miss the filing deadline. The first election concerned whether to claim additional…
PLR 1024033: IRS granted late-election relief for a foreign single-member entity
The IRS granted a foreign single-member entity 60 more days to file Form 8832 and elect to be treated as a disregarded entity for federal tax purposes. The entity had intended that classification…
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.