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 200946059: Scholarship grant program approved under § 4945(g)
The IRS approved a private foundation's program to award college and university scholarships on an objective and nondiscriminatory basis. Eligible applicants were high school seniors who met the…
IRS determination 200946058: Exemption application denied for a fee-based credit-counseling program
The IRS denied an organization's application for recognition as exempt under § 501(c)(3) after it did not protest a proposed adverse determination. The organization provided credit counseling by…
PLR 200946057: Natural gas distribution treated as a qualifying cooperative activity
The IRS ruled that a rural electric cooperative's retail natural gas distribution to members by pipeline was a qualifying “like organization” activity under § 501(c)(12)(A). It also ruled that the…
PLR 200946056: Set-aside for a matching grant approved as a qualifying distribution
The IRS ruled that a private foundation's set-aside for a matching grant to an educational institution met the requirements of § 4942(g)(2)(B)(i) and constituted a qualifying distribution. The…
PLR 200946055: Scholarship grant program approved under § 4945(g)
The IRS approved a private foundation's program to provide one-time scholarships to eligible high school seniors. The program considered academic performance, financial need, recommendations,…
PLR 200946054: Scholarship grant program approved under § 4945(g)
The IRS approved a private operating foundation's program to award scholarships to students at specified colleges and universities. The program used objective and nondiscriminatory selection…
PLR 200946053: Set-aside approved for a microfinance project
The IRS ruled that a private foundation's set-aside for a microfinance project met the requirements of § 4942(g)(2)(B)(i) and constituted a qualifying distribution. The project would establish two…
CCA 200946052: Protective claims for Katrina loss carrybacks
This Chief Counsel advice explains when a protective refund claim may be used for a Katrina casualty loss carried back as a net operating loss. The claim should identify the specific tax year or…
CCA 200946051: Digital signature procedures for closing agreements
This Chief Counsel advice addresses whether division field offices should execute closing agreements using digital signatures. It explains that Internal Revenue Manual provisions require an…
CCA 200946050: Sole owner not personally liable for prior partnership-period employment taxes
This Chief Counsel advice concludes that the sole owner of an LLC cannot be held personally liable for employment taxes incurred while the LLC had multiple members and was treated as a partnership…
CCA 200946049: Revocable-trust tax lien issue may depend on state law
This Chief Counsel advice comments on a federal tax lien issue involving a revocable trust. The writer states that a cited case may be helpful but that the question appears to depend on the law of…
CCA 200946048: Effective date of foundation exemption revocation
This Chief Counsel advice reviews a revised report of examination concerning a foundation's exemption and a scholarship arrangement. The writer states that the report was nearly ready and suggests…
CCA 200946047: Charitable-contribution deductions and documentation
This Chief Counsel advice summarizes two cases relevant to charitable-contribution deductions. It states that one court disallowed a deduction because the taxpayers did not obtain a qualified…
CCA 200946046: Taxpayer copy of a technical advice memorandum
This Chief Counsel advice states that the requesting office should send the taxpayer a copy of a technical advice memorandum, but not the transmittal memorandum. The writer recommends submitting the…
CCA 200946045: Date formatting for consents extending the assessment period
This Chief Counsel advice states that staff should stop using dates written only as numbers on consents extending the assessment period, but that a new consent is not required for the existing…
CCA 200946044: Disguised sale listed as a partnership item
This Chief Counsel advice states that a disguised sale is specifically listed as a partnership item under the cited Treasury regulations. The one-sentence email does not analyze the underlying…
CCA 200946043: Section 301.9100 requests are letter ruling requests
This Chief Counsel advice states that a request under Treas. Reg. § 301.9100 is a letter ruling request even when Appeals is considering issues in the taxpayer's return. It advises that the request…
CCA 200946042: Open-year analysis for carried-forward losses
This Chief Counsel advice states that the Service cannot net a difference in the context of the discussed loss carryforward. It may consider why the years to which the loss was carried forward…
CCA 200946041: Employment relationship and personal service corporations
This Chief Counsel advice states that arguing a corporation is a sham is highly dependent on the facts. It explains that the common-law factors determine whether an employment relationship exists…
CCA 200946040: Department of Labor class exemption and unrelated business income
This Chief Counsel advice briefly addresses a prohibited-transaction issue and an unrelated business income issue. The writer notes that the Department of Labor may have issued a class exemption in…
CCA 200946039: Mitigation of a double deduction
This Chief Counsel advice discusses whether the mitigation provisions could correct an apparent double allowance of a deduction. It explains that a final disposition of a refund claim may be a…
CCA 200946038: Closed-year adjustments did not reopen tax years under the IRS procedure
Chief Counsel Advice considers whether planned adjustments to closed tax years would amount to reopening those years. The memorandum concludes that the adjustments would not change the taxpayer's…
CCA 200946037: Costs capitalized under section 263A were allocated to domestic production receipts
Chief Counsel Advice considers how a manufacturer should allocate costs capitalized under section 263A when the related products generate domestic production gross receipts. The memorandum concludes…
PLR 200946036: Commodity-linked note income qualified for regulated investment company purposes
The IRS ruled that income and gain from specified commodity-linked notes would be qualifying income under section 851(b)(2) for the requesting regulated investment companies. It also ruled that…
CCA 200946035: An engineering department was a mixed service department because it incurred research costs
Chief Counsel Advice considers whether an engineering department that supports production and also incurs research and experimental expenditures is a mixed service department. The memorandum…
PLR 200946034: Taxpayers received consent for a retroactive qualified electing fund election
The IRS consented to a retroactive qualified electing fund election for taxpayers who invested in a foreign corporation that was later identified as a passive foreign investment company. The…
PLR 200946033: A corporation received relief for a late S corporation election
The IRS ruled that a corporation's S corporation election could be treated as timely made for a redacted effective date. The corporation had intended to elect S status but did not timely file Form…
PLR 200946032: Shopping-center rents were not passive investment income for S corporation purposes
The IRS ruled that a corporation's rental income from operating a shopping center was not passive investment income under the S corporation rules. The corporation performed or arranged substantial…
PLR 200946031: A taxpayer received extra time to file a signed copy of Form 3115
The IRS granted a taxpayer an extension to file a signed duplicate copy of Form 3115 with the IRS national office. The taxpayer had attached the form to its electronically filed consolidated return,…
PLR 200946030: A taxpayer received an extension to elect corporate entity classification
The IRS granted a taxpayer a 60-day extension to file Form 8832 and elect to be classified as an association, treated as a corporation for federal tax purposes. The taxpayer had intended the…
PLR 200946029: A subsidiary was treated as having joined its parent's consolidated return
The IRS ruled that a wholly owned subsidiary could be treated as if it had filed Form 1122 and joined its parent's consolidated return for a prior year. The subsidiary had been omitted from the…
PLR 200946028: A public utility's retiree-medical trust received section 115 income exclusion
The IRS ruled that income of a trust established by a public utility and municipal corporation to fund retiree medical benefits was excludable under section 115(1). The trust's assets were dedicated…
PLR 200946027: Trustees received more time to make a reverse-QTIP trust election
The IRS granted the co-trustees of a marital trust an additional 60 days to elect to treat the trust as two separate trusts under the reverse-QTIP transition rule. The trust had been subject to a…
PLR 200946026: An S corporation's termination was treated as inadvertent after an ESBT election was missed
The IRS ruled that an S corporation would be treated as continuing to be an S corporation after its election terminated when shares were transferred to a trust and no ESBT election was filed. The…
PLR 200946025: An S corporation received relief after its trust shareholder missed an ESBT election
The IRS ruled that an S corporation would be treated as continuing to be an S corporation after its election terminated because shares were transferred to a trust without a timely ESBT election. The…
PLR 200946024: An S corporation's inadvertent termination was cured by a required ESBT election
The IRS ruled that an S corporation would be treated as continuing its S status after shares were transferred to a trust that had not made the required ESBT election. The termination was represented…
PLR 200946023: A REIT's elective cash-or-stock special dividends were treated as property distributions
The IRS ruled that the cash and stock portions of proposed special dividends by a real estate investment trust would be treated as property distributions under section 301. Each shareholder could…
PLR 200946022: A settlement fund's relation-back election was timely on an amended return
The IRS concluded that a taxpayer timely made a relation-back election for a qualified settlement fund by attaching the election statement to an amended return. The taxpayer had omitted the…
PLR 200946021: A cooperative's grain settlements qualified as per-unit retains for section 199 purposes
The IRS ruled that a farmer-owned agricultural cooperative's settlement payments to member cooperatives qualified as per-unit retain allocations paid in money. The payments were based on the…
PLR 200946020: An affiliated cooperative group applied the section 199 wage limit at the group level
The IRS ruled that a cooperative should apply the section 199 W-2 wage limitation under the expanded-affiliated-group rules. The taxpayer and its wholly owned cooperative subsidiary were represented…
PLR 200946019: A corporation received relief for a late S corporation election
The IRS ruled that a corporation's late S corporation election could be treated as timely for its intended effective date. The corporation had intended to elect S status but did not timely file Form…
PLR 200946018: A corporation received relief for a late S corporation election effective on a redacted date
The IRS ruled that a corporation's late S corporation election could be treated as timely for its intended effective date. The corporation had not timely filed Form 2553, but established reasonable…
PLR 200946017: A corporation's protective S election was replaced with its intended effective date
The IRS ruled that a corporation would be treated as an S corporation effective its intended date, provided it otherwise qualified as an S corporation. The sole shareholder and corporation had…
PLR 200946016: The IRS approved revised nuclear decommissioning reserve schedules
The IRS approved a revised schedule of ruling amounts and a schedule of deduction amounts for a taxpayer's qualified nuclear decommissioning reserve fund. The taxpayer owned and operated the nuclear…
PLR 200946015: Missed QSST elections caused inadvertent S and QSub terminations that were cured
The IRS ruled that an S corporation and its wholly owned QSub would be treated as continuing in those statuses after three trusts failed to file QSST elections. The terminations were found to be…
PLR 200946014: A foreign entity received more time to elect disregarded-entity status
The IRS granted a foreign eligible entity an additional 60 days to file Form 8832 and elect to be treated as a disregarded entity. The entity intended that classification from its formation date but…
PLR 200946013: A captive insurer received extra time to elect the section 831(b) alternative tax
The IRS granted a captive insurance company an extension to elect the alternative tax under section 831(b)(2)(A) for specified years. The company had filed as exempt under section 501(c)(15), but…
PLR 200946012: A company received relief for its late S corporation election
The IRS ruled that a company's late S corporation election would be treated as timely for its intended effective date. The company had intended S status and had reported its income consistently with…
PLR 200946011: A taxpayer received more time to elect one rental real estate activity
The IRS granted a taxpayer an extension to elect under section 469(c)(7) to treat all interests in rental real estate as a single rental real estate activity. The taxpayer was represented to be…
PLR 200946010: A governmental retiree-benefit trust received several favorable tax rulings
The IRS ruled that income of a governmental retiree-benefit trust was excludable under section 115(1). Contributions used exclusively for accident or health coverage of eligible retirees, spouses,…
PLR 200946009: A property-management business's rents were not passive investment income
The IRS ruled that rental income from a corporation's actively managed commercial properties was not passive investment income under the S corporation rules. The corporation provided extensive…
PLR 200946008: An S corporation's invalid election was cured after a missed QSST election
The IRS ruled that an S corporation's election was ineffective because a trust shareholder's QSST election was not timely filed, but that the invalidity was inadvertent. The corporation would be…
PLR 200946007: An LLC received time to elect corporate and S corporation status
The IRS granted a limited liability company's request for more time to elect association classification under Form 8832 and recognized its intended S corporation status, provided it otherwise…
PLR 200946006: Stock transferred to a state as unclaimed property qualified for section 1033 replacement treatment
The IRS ruled that a family limited partnership could use section 1033 nonrecognition after stock held for investment was transferred to a state as unclaimed property and sold. The partnership could…
PLR 200946005: A foreign entity received an extension to elect partnership classification
The IRS granted a foreign eligible entity an additional 60 days to file Form 8832 and elect partnership classification effective on a redacted date. The entity had five trust owners with limited…
PLR 200946004: A foreign entity with five trust owners received partnership-election relief
The IRS granted a foreign eligible entity an additional 60 days to file Form 8832 and elect partnership classification effective on a redacted date. The entity was formed with limited-liability…
PLR 200946003: A foreign entity received relief for a late partnership election
The IRS granted a foreign eligible entity an additional 60 days to file Form 8832 and elect to be treated as a partnership from its intended effective date. The entity had been formed by five trusts…
PLR 200946002: A donor received more time to allocate a GST exemption to a trust
The IRS granted Donor an additional 60 days to allocate Donor's generation-skipping transfer tax exemption to an irrevocable trust. Donor and Spouse had transferred property to the trust, but no…
PLR 200946001: A donor received more time to allocate a GST exemption to a trust
The IRS granted a donor an additional 60 days to allocate the donor's generation-skipping transfer tax exemption to an irrevocable trust. The donor and spouse had transferred property to the trust,…
PLR 200945077: The IRS waived the 60-day IRA rollover deadline after a bank failed to follow instructions
The IRS waived the 60-day rollover requirement for a taxpayer whose bank failed to complete an IRA rollover as instructed. The taxpayer's distribution was deposited into a non-IRA account, but the…
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.