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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IRS treats an S corporation election as continuing after an inadvertent termination
An S corporation's stock was transferred to a trust that did not timely file an Electing Small Business Trust election, which caused the corporation's S corporation status to terminate. The…
Collection issues after an individual Chapter 11 plan default
Chief Counsel advice addressed how the IRS should assess its ability to collect after an individual debtor defaults on a post-BAPCPA Chapter 11 plan. It identifies four issues that may restrict…
IRS waives rollover deadlines for three retirement distributions
A taxpayer transferred four retirement-plan distributions into an account he was told was an IRA, but the account was actually a non-IRA individual account. The IRS found that a financial…
IRS waives the 60-day rollover deadline after an adviser error
A taxpayer received a retirement-plan distribution and instructed an adviser to return the check and complete a direct rollover, but the adviser instead deposited the funds into another plan as a…
IRS waives a rollover deadline after illness and confusion
A taxpayer intended to move a distribution from one IRA into another IRA but deposited it into a non-IRA money market account instead. She explained that the recent death of her spouse, who had…
IRS declines rollover waiver after taxpayer used the wrong account number
A taxpayer withdrew two amounts from an IRA and initially placed the funds in a personal checking account without intending to roll them over. Within 60 days, he decided to roll part of the second…
IRS waives rollover deadline after taxpayer cared for an ill niece
A taxpayer withdrew funds from an IRA intending to move them to another financial institution, but she became the sole caregiver for a seriously ill niece during the 60-day rollover period. She…
IRS waives a pension plan's section 4971 excise tax for two years
The IRS granted a company's request for waivers of the 100% excise tax under section 4971(b) for its pension plan years ending December 31, 2002 and December 31, 2003. The company had sharply…
IRS approves employer-related scholarship grant procedures
The IRS considered scholarship procedures under which a private foundation would fund awards administered by a publicly supported organization. The procedures selected scholarship recipients through…
IRS approves a hospice-care scholarship grant program
The IRS considered a private foundation's proposed scholarship program for people pursuing education in a hospice-related field. Applicants had to meet eligibility requirements, submit supporting…
IRS approves timber exchange for a social club’s exempt-function property
The IRS considered a title-holding corporation’s proposed exchange of timber from its forest for real or personal property to be used by an affiliated social club. The corporation planned to harvest…
IRS approves timber exchange for a social club’s exempt-function property
The IRS considered a title-holding corporation’s proposed exchange of timber from its forest for real or personal property to be used by an affiliated social club. The corporation planned to harvest…
IRS approves cooperative broadband service under section 501(c)(12)
The IRS considered whether a cooperative telephone company could furnish wireless high-speed telecommunications and broadband service to its members. The company was building a SCADA communications…
IRS denies exemption to an organization controlled by its founder
The IRS issued a final adverse determination denying an organization’s application for exemption under section 501(c)(3) and its requested public-charity status under section 509(a)(2). The…
IRS denies exemption to a purported fraternal society
The IRS issued a final adverse determination denying exemption to an organization that sought recognition under section 501(c)(10) as a domestic fraternal society. The organization operated a social…
Federal tax assessment liens had priority over a New York attachment order
The IRS considered the priority of federal tax liens over a district attorney’s order of attachment against a taxpayer husband. The district attorney’s office had not obtained a valid money…
Counsel presentation on façade easement contributions and appraiser penalties
This CCA is a Counsel presentation for Appeals about charitable contributions of façade conservation easements. It explains the requirements for a qualified conservation contribution, including a…
IRS grants more time to elect partnership classification
The IRS granted an eligible entity an additional 60 days to file an election to be classified as a partnership for federal tax purposes. The entity had been formed as an entity eligible to make a…
TAM 201002036: Accounting-firm spreadsheets may document deductible portions of contingent fees
The IRS issued technical advice about a taxpayer that paid contingent fees to two investment banking service providers in connection with an acquisition. The question was whether allocation…
CCA 201002035: Partnership-interest loss was not a section 1231 seizure
Chief Counsel Advice considered whether a taxpayer's loss on a partnership interest resulted from a seizure by a foreign region or country and therefore qualified for ordinary-loss treatment under…
Determination 201002034: IRS retroactively revoked an installment-sale ruling
The IRS retroactively revoked an earlier ruling that treated the sale of a 25 percent interest in a limited liability company as a sale of underlying real estate eligible for installment-method…
PLR 201002033: Authority granted more time to file a private-activity-bond carryforward election
The IRS granted a nonprofit issuing authority an extension of time to file Form 8328 and carry forward unused private activity bond volume cap. The authority had applied to its state department for…
PLR 201002032: Parent granted more time to make a consolidated-return election
The IRS granted a parent company and members of its affiliated group 45 days to make an election to file a consolidated federal income tax return under Treas. Reg. § 1.1502-75(a)(1). The group…
PLR 201002031: Stock exchange and upstream merger receive nonrecognition treatment
The IRS ruled on a series of transactions involving two holding companies, a parent partnership, and a foreign purchaser. One holding company exchanged all of the stock of the other for newly issued…
PLR 201002030: Canadian RRSP election deadline extended by 60 days
The IRS granted a Canadian taxpayer who became a U.S. resident and later a U.S. citizen an extension of time to elect tax treatment under Rev. Proc. 89-45 and Rev. Proc. 2002-23 for Canadian…
PLR 201002029: Taxpayer allowed a retroactive QEF election for a PFIC investment
The IRS consented to a domestic corporation's retroactive qualified electing fund election for an investment in a passive foreign investment company. The taxpayer said it had provided investment…
PLR 201002028: Foreign entity granted more time to elect disregarded-entity status
The IRS granted a foreign, wholly owned entity 60 days to file Form 8832 and elect to be classified as a disregarded entity for federal tax purposes. The entity was eligible for that classification…
PLR 201002027: Subsidiary reorganizations into OpCo receive nonrecognition treatment
The IRS ruled on a proposed transaction that would consolidate the business operations of two subsidiaries into OpCo through asset transfers, distributions of transitory subsidiaries, and mergers.…
PLR 201002026: Late section 754 election was not permitted
The IRS considered a request to make a late section 754 election after a partnership return had been filed without the election. The taxpayer said the omission was discovered while preparing later…
PLR 201002025: Business separation approved as a section 368 reorganization
The IRS ruled on a proposed transaction in which an S corporation would transfer one of its businesses to a newly formed corporation and distribute that corporation's stock to its shareholder. The…
PLR 201002024: Manufacturing exception excludes certain foreign base company sales income
The IRS ruled for a U.S. corporation that held interests in a foreign partnership involved in manufacturing and selling a product through related entities and branches in several countries. The…
PLR 201002023: Retiree health-benefit trust receives the requested tax treatment
The IRS ruled on a retiree health-benefit plan and trust established by a political subdivision for its former employees and their spouses. It concluded that, after the proposed trust amendment, the…
PLR 201002022: Stock redemptions receive exchange treatment without a deemed distribution
The IRS ruled on two proposed stock redemptions by a closely held corporation. It concluded that redemptions of nonvoting shares held by an employee retirement plan would be treated as exchanges for…
PLR 201002021: RIC receives relief for a late dividend election
The IRS granted a regulated investment company additional time for its election to treat certain dividends paid after the close of a taxable year as having been paid during that year. The fund's…
PLR 201002020: IRS grants extra time for entity-classification and REIT-subsidiary elections
The IRS granted two related taxpayers 60 days to make late federal tax elections for a newly formed entity. The first election would classify the entity as an association taxable as a corporation…
PLR 201002019: IRS grants relief for a late S corporation election
The IRS granted a corporation relief for failing to timely file its S corporation election. Based on the submitted facts and representations, it found reasonable cause for the late filing under IRC…
PLR 201002018: IRS grants relief for a late S corporation election
The IRS granted a corporation relief for its late S corporation election. It found that the corporation had reasonable cause for not timely filing Form 2553 under IRC § 1362(b)(5). The corporation…
PLR 201002017: IRS waives a reconsolidation waiting period for an affiliated group
The IRS waived the five-year waiting rule that generally prevents a corporation from rejoining a consolidated return group after leaving it. The request arose after a corporate acquisition caused a…
PLR 201002016: IRS waives a reconsolidation waiting period for an insurance group
The IRS waived the five-year waiting rule that generally prevents a corporation from rejoining a consolidated return group after leaving it. The request involved life insurance companies that had…
PLR 201002015: IRS waives a reconsolidation waiting period for life insurers
The IRS waived the five-year waiting rule that generally prevents corporations from rejoining a consolidated return group after leaving it. The request involved two life insurance companies that had…
PLR 201002014: Captive insurer liquidation receives section 332 treatment
The IRS ruled on a publicly traded corporation's proposed complete liquidation of its wholly owned captive insurance subsidiary. The subsidiary would stop issuing policies, settle its obligations,…
PLR 201002013: Trust modification avoids a general power of appointment and gift
The IRS ruled on a court-approved modification of a revocable trust after the surviving spouse and the drafting attorney identified a scrivener's error. The error directed certain debts, expenses,…
PLR 201002012: IRS grants extra time for a REIT and consent-dividend election
The IRS granted a trust additional time to make a real estate investment trust election and a consent dividend election for a specified taxable year. The trust had intended to make both elections,…
PLR 201002011: IRS grants extra time for a disregarded-entity election
The IRS granted an entity 60 days to make a late election to be treated as disregarded from its owner for federal tax purposes. The entity had intended to use that classification from its formation…
PLR 201002010: IRS grants extra time for generation-skipping transfer allocations
The IRS granted a donor and spouse 60 days to allocate their available generation-skipping transfer tax exemptions to transfers previously made to three trusts. The taxpayers had timely filed gift…
PLR 201002009: Grain payments qualify as per-unit retain allocations
The IRS ruled on grain payments made by an agricultural cooperative to members and eligible nonmember patrons for grain marketed on their behalf. It concluded that the cash payments qualified as…
PLR 201002008: IRS grants extra time for a reverse QTIP election
The IRS granted an estate 60 days to make a reverse qualified terminable interest property election for a trust and to obtain the related generation-skipping transfer tax treatment. The estate had…
PLR 201002007: Inadvertent S corporation termination is waived
The IRS addressed an S corporation whose election terminated when a trust holding its stock failed to make a required qualified subchapter S trust election. It concluded that the termination was…
PLR 201002006: Alternative basis recovery approved for a contingent payment sale
The IRS approved an investment advisor's proposed alternative method for recovering basis from a contingent payment sale of business assets. The taxpayer expected earn-out payments over several…
PLR 201002005: IRS grants extra time for PFIC and RIC elections
The IRS granted a regulated investment company additional time to make mark-to-market elections for passive foreign investment company stock and related elections under IRC § 855(a). The fund's…
PLR 201002004: Airline ancillary service fees receive mixed excise-tax treatment
The IRS analyzed whether fees charged by a commercial airline for ticketing, upgrades, baggage, airport lounges, gift cards, frequent-flyer miles, and other services were subject to the air…
PLR 201002003: Inadvertent S corporation termination relief granted
The IRS granted relief to an S corporation whose election terminated after several trusts became shareholders without making the required electing small business trust elections. It concluded that…
PLR 201002002: Consolidated-return relief is partly denied after an S-election revocation
The IRS considered the tax consequences after a parent corporation revoked its S corporation election, causing qualified subchapter S subsidiary elections to terminate and creating a new affiliated…
PLR 201002001: Retroactive QEF election approved for an investment in a PFIC
The IRS consented to a taxpayer's retroactive qualified electing fund election for an investment in a passive foreign investment company. The taxpayer's qualified tax advisor had not identified the…
Determination 201001031: Five-year amortization extension approved for a pension plan
The IRS approved a five-year automatic extension for amortizing a pension plan's unfunded liabilities as of September 1, 2008. The extension applies to eligible amortization charge bases that…
Determination 201001030: Minimum funding standard waiver denied
The IRS denied a multiemployer plan's request to waive the minimum funding standard for the plan year ending May 31, 2005. The plan did not provide sufficient information that at least 10 percent of…
Determination 201001029: Minimum funding waiver denied for a terminating plan
The IRS denied a plan's request to waive the minimum funding standard for the plan year ending December 31, 2007. The agency explained that the plan was being terminated after the company's assets…
Determination 201001028: Minimum funding waivers denied for a terminating plan
The IRS denied a plan's requests to waive the minimum funding standard for the plan years ending December 31, 2005, 2006, and 2007. The agency explained that the plan was in the process of being…
Determination 201001027: IRS waives the 60-day IRA rollover requirement
The IRS waived the 60-day rollover requirement for a taxpayer whose qualified annuity IRA distribution was mistakenly deposited into a nonqualified investment account by a financial institution. The…
Determination 201001026: IRS waives the 60-day IRA rollover requirement
The IRS waived the 60-day rollover requirement for a taxpayer whose IRA distribution was mistakenly transferred into a taxable individual brokerage account after advice from a financial-services…
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.