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 200942012: Wrongful-death and injury-related damages receive partial exclusion
A taxpayer asked whether a payment received for assigned rights in a court damage award and a later government wrongful-death settlement would be excluded from gross income. The IRS ruled that the…
PLR 200942011: Estate's wrongful-death and injury-related damages receive partial exclusion
An estate asked whether a payment received for assigned rights in a court damage award and a later wrongful-death settlement would be excluded from gross income. The IRS ruled that the settlement…
PLR 200942010: Wrongful-death and injury-related damages receive partial exclusion
A taxpayer asked whether a payment received for assigned rights in a court damage award and a later government wrongful-death settlement would be excluded from gross income. The IRS ruled that the…
PLR 200942009: Estate's wrongful-death and injury-related damages receive partial exclusion
An estate asked whether a payment received for assigned rights in a court damage award and a later government wrongful-death settlement would be excluded from gross income. The IRS ruled that the…
PLR 200942008: Wrongful-death and injury-related damages receive partial exclusion
A taxpayer asked whether a payment received for assigned rights in a court damage award and a later government wrongful-death settlement would be excluded from gross income. The IRS ruled that the…
PLR 200942007: Wrongful-death and injury-related damages receive partial exclusion
A taxpayer asked whether a payment received for assigned rights in a court damage award and a later government wrongful-death settlement would be excluded from gross income. The IRS ruled that the…
PLR 200942006: Taxpayers granted more time to elect single rental real estate activity
Married taxpayers who jointly filed their tax return asked for more time to elect to treat all their interests in rental real estate as one rental real estate activity. They were eligible to make…
PLR 200942005: Foreign entity granted late disregarded-entity election relief
A foreign entity asked for more time to file Form 8832 and elect to be treated as a disregarded entity for federal tax purposes, effective on a specified date. The entity intended that…
PLR 200942004: Taxpayers granted more time to combine rental real estate activities
Married taxpayers who filed jointly asked for more time to elect to treat all their interests in rental real estate as one activity. They represented that they were in a real property business and…
PLR 200942003: Foreign entity granted late partnership classification election relief
A foreign entity asked for more time to file Form 8832 and elect partnership classification for federal tax purposes, effective on a specified date. The entity was eligible to make the election but…
PLR 200942002: IRS permits a modified net-importer test for a local electric utility
An electric utility asked whether it could stop using an annual net-importer test to show that its system served a local area. The IRS denied that request, but approved an amended test that…
PLR 200942001: IRS approves a multinational corporate reorganization with liquidations, a reverse merger, and spin-offs
A multinational corporate group asked the IRS to rule on a restructuring that separates two businesses under different holding companies. The planned steps include subsidiary liquidations, a stock…
IRS finalizes an adverse exemption determination for an organization operating housing and financial programs
The IRS issued a final adverse determination that an organization did not qualify for exemption under section 501(c)(3). The organization proposed housing, financial training, childcare,…
IRS denies exemption to a self-insurance pool serving colleges and universities
The IRS issued a final adverse determination to a nonprofit self-insurance pool formed by colleges and universities. The organization argued that it qualified under section 501(c)(3) because it…
PLR 200941037: IRS denies a waiver of the 60-day IRA rollover requirement
The estate of an individual asked the IRS to waive the 60-day deadline for rolling an IRA distribution into another IRA. The distribution was divided among non-IRA accounts while the individual's…
PLR 200941036: IRS waives the 60-day rollover requirement after mental impairment
An older taxpayer asked the IRS to waive the 60-day deadline for rolling a retirement-plan distribution into an eligible rollover IRA. The taxpayer said that mental impairment, medical treatment,…
PLR 200941035: IRS waives the 60-day rollover requirement after a financial institution error
A taxpayer asked the IRS to waive the 60-day deadline for rolling a distribution from an IRA into another IRA. A financial institution employee mistakenly deposited the distribution into a non-IRA…
PLR 200941034: IRS waives the 60-day rollover requirement after a failed second IRA setup
A taxpayer asked the IRS to waive the 60-day deadline for rolling an IRA distribution into a second IRA. The taxpayer's representative sent a cashier's check to a company to establish the second…
PLR 200941033: IRS waives the 60-day rollover requirement after a financial institution error
A taxpayer asked the IRS to waive the 60-day deadline for rolling a retirement-plan distribution into an IRA. The taxpayer instructed a financial institution to deposit the distribution into an IRA,…
PLR 200941032: IRS denies a waiver of the 60-day rollover requirement after an account-number error
A taxpayer asked the IRS to waive the 60-day deadline for rolling IRA investments into a more conservative IRA portfolio. The taxpayer instead referenced a non-IRA account number when establishing…
PLR 200941031: IRS waives the 60-day IRA rollover deadline after a bank error
An older taxpayer asked the IRS to waive the 60-day deadline for rolling a distribution from an IRA into a rollover IRA. A bank employee mistakenly placed the amount into two non-IRA certificates of…
CCA 200941030: Waived CDP rights do not require hearing or hearing-rights notice
This Chief Counsel advice addresses a taxpayer who waived the right to a collection due process hearing and waived the related notice rights in a closing agreement. It advises that the taxpayer is…
CCA 200941029: Saturday deadlines move to the next non-holiday day
This Chief Counsel advice addresses a deadline under the Internal Revenue Code when the last day to perform the required act falls on a Saturday. It states that section 7503 extends the deadline to…
CCA 200941028: A settlement may assess less than the statutory deficiency
This Chief Counsel advice considers whether the IRS may assess less than the amount stated in a statutory notice of deficiency. It concludes that doing so is legally permissible, but an…
CCA 200941027: The IRS may partially allow an administrative adjustment request
This Chief Counsel advice considers whether the IRS may partially allow an administrative adjustment request. It concludes that section 6227(c)(2)(A)(i) permits the IRS to allow only the credits or…
CCA 200941026: Fax signature restrictions apply to scanned CIS documents
This Chief Counsel advice addresses whether the IRS should apply its fax signature restrictions to documents scanned through its CIS process. It recommends following the Internal Revenue Manual…
CCA 200941025: A small partnership may elect to be governed by TEFRA
This Chief Counsel advice reviews a draft concerning the TEFRA partnership rules. It recommends adding that a small partnership can elect to be governed by TEFRA. The message comments on draft…
CCA 200941024: TEFRA can apply when an entity files a partnership return
This Chief Counsel advice explains when the TEFRA partnership rules apply. It states that TEFRA covers an entity required to file a U.S. partnership return or one that actually files such a return,…
CCA 200941023: An agent's dissolution ends its authority to act for a principal
This Chief Counsel advice considers whether a reporting agent's authority to act for a principal ends when the agent dissolves or merely changes its name. It notes that the reporting-agent…
CCA 200941022: Priority treatment of postpetition Chapter 13 tax claims is unclear
This Chief Counsel advice asks whether a section 1305 tax claim for taxes accruing after a Chapter 13 bankruptcy petition should be treated as a priority tax claim. It describes competing court…
CCA 200941021: An imperfect protest generally does not suspend the assessment period
This Chief Counsel advice considers whether an imperfect protest can keep the assessment limitations period open. It states that a protest responding to a 30-day letter does not suspend the section…
CCA 200941020: A corporate overpayment cannot be determined before the return is filed
This Chief Counsel advice considers when a corporation's overpayment can be determined. It states that the overpayment cannot be determined until the corporation files its return. The short message…
CCA 200941019: An F reorganization can carry an S election to a new parent
This Chief Counsel advice addresses S corporation and qualified subchapter S subsidiary elections in an F reorganization. It explains that an S election can carry over to a new parent corporation…
CCA 200941018: Section 1446 examinations are subject to TEFRA procedures
This Chief Counsel advice addresses whether examinations concerning section 1446 are subject to the TEFRA partnership procedures. It states that section 1446 is a Subtitle A provision more…
CCA 200941017: Closing a second Social Security number return follows substitute-return procedures
This Chief Counsel advice addresses how to close a second Social Security number's return in a joint-return matter. It directs the recipient to follow substitute-for-return procedures when closing…
CCA 200941016: Agency rights can limit a claimed valuation discount
This Chief Counsel advice considers the valuation of an account owner's interest where a financial institution acts as agent. It states that the account owner can generally revoke the…
CCA 200941015: Economic terms indicate a securities transaction is a sale, not an option
This Chief Counsel advice analyzes whether a hedge-fund transaction with an option or contract for sale should be treated as a sale. It reviews authorities that distinguish sales from options,…
CCA 200941014: A net operating loss carryback refund claim is not barred by the two-year payment rule
This Chief Counsel advice considers the limitations period for a credit or refund based on a five-year net operating loss carryback. It explains that section 6511(d)(2)(A) supplies a special filing…
CCA 200941013: Net interchange-fee income should not also receive a deduction for fees paid
This Chief Counsel advice comments on a draft concerning interchange fees and original issue discount income. It notes that issuing banks may account for interchange-fee income differently,…
CCA 200941012: Repeated late information returns may support an intentional-disregard penalty
This Chief Counsel advice considers whether the Service may impose an uncapped intentional-disregard penalty under section 6721(e) on a company that repeatedly filed Forms 1099 late. The memo weighs…
CCA 200941011: Black liquor can qualify for an alternative-fuel mixture credit
This Chief Counsel advice considers four questions about black liquor produced by paper mills. It concludes that black liquor is a liquid fuel derived from biomass and that blending it with at least…
PLR 200941010: IRS allows late trust severance and GST qualified severances
An estate asked the IRS for more time to divide a trust into a QTIP trust and a non-QTIP trust after making a partial QTIP election on the estate tax return. The IRS granted 60 days to complete that…
PLR 200941009: IRS treats a merger with overissued stock as a tax-free reorganization
An acquiring corporation proposed to merge a subsidiary into a target corporation, with the target surviving and its shareholders receiving voting stock of the acquiring corporation. The target had…
PLR 200941008: IRS grants late entity-classification and S corporation election relief
An LLC asked for more time to elect association status for federal tax purposes and requested relief for its late S corporation election. The LLC's sole member intended S corporation treatment but…
PLR 200941007: IRS grants a 60-day extension for a late section 754 election
A limited partnership asked for more time to make a section 754 election after the election was inadvertently omitted from its timely filed partnership return. The request followed the death of one…
PLR 200941006: IRS grants time to correct a taxable REIT subsidiary election
A real estate investment trust and a corporation asked for more time to correct a Form 8875 election treating the corporation as a taxable REIT subsidiary. The form had listed the wrong electing…
PLR 200941005: IRS rules certain wrongful-death damages excludable
An individual asked whether amounts received for a relative's wrongful death, and part of an earlier damage award sold to an investor, could be excluded from gross income. The IRS concluded that…
PLR 200941004: IRS approves qualified settlement fund treatment and related deductions
A company emerging from bankruptcy asked how payments to a trust created to resolve personal-injury and death claims should be treated for federal tax purposes. The IRS concluded that the trust…
PLR 200941003: IRS denies medical-expense treatment for infant formula
An individual who could not breastfeed after a physician-advised double mastectomy asked whether infant formula purchased for a healthy child qualified as a medical expense. The IRS explained that…
PLR 200941002: IRS grants relief for an inadvertent S corporation termination
An S corporation's two trust shareholders failed to timely make elections to be treated as Electing Small Business Trusts after the death of the trusts' deemed owner. Because the trusts were then…
PLR 200941001: IRS grants time to file a foreign entity classification election
A foreign entity asked for more time to file Form 8832 and elect to be treated as a disregarded entity effective on an earlier date. The IRS concluded that the requirements for relief under section…
PLR 200940034: IRS waives the 60-day rollover deadline after a financial institution error
An IRA owner asked the IRS to waive the 60-day rollover deadline after a financial institution mistakenly withheld part of a distribution during an intended Roth IRA conversion. The owner later…
IRS revokes an organization's section 501(c)(3) exemption for its down-payment assistance operations
The IRS issued a final adverse determination revoking an organization's federal income-tax exemption under section 501(c)(3), effective on the redacted date stated in the letter. The organization…
IRS approves a private foundation's scholarship grant procedures
The IRS approved a private foundation's proposed procedures for awarding scholarships and other grants to individuals. The foundation planned to select recipients using academic performance,…
PLR 200940031: Surviving spouse may roll over IRA proceeds held for a trust
The IRS ruled for a surviving spouse who was the trustee and primary beneficiary of trusts holding her deceased husband's retirement benefits. The spouse wanted to move the balance from an IRA…
CCA 200940030: Debt above the acquisition limit may qualify as home equity indebtedness
This Chief Counsel Advice addresses whether debt used to acquire, construct, or substantially improve a qualified residence can be treated as home equity indebtedness after the debt exceeds the…
CCA 200940029: Backup withholding generally requires a triggering condition
This Chief Counsel Advice addresses whether backup withholding may be imposed voluntarily. It states that backup withholding generally requires a triggering condition, such as a payee's failure to…
CCA 200940028: Family members may be disqualified persons in an excess-benefit analysis
This Chief Counsel Advice discusses who may be treated as a disqualified person or insider for purposes of an excess benefit transaction. It states that a person with a personal and private interest…
CCA 200940027: A TIEA is an executive agreement
This Chief Counsel Advice states that a tax information exchange agreement is an executive agreement and does not require Senate approval. The message gives that conclusion in response to a question…
CCA 200940026: Advice on severance-pay and settlement discussions
This Chief Counsel Advice discusses whether a document should retain analysis of section 104(a)(2), severance-pay treatment, and federalism or pre-emption. The message questions a citation to…
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.