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 200936009: Sixty-day extension granted for a late partnership classification election
A foreign entity eligible to elect partnership classification for federal income tax purposes inadvertently failed to timely file an effective Form 8832. The IRS concluded that the requirements for…
PLR 200936008: Early trust termination will not trigger GST tax or taxable gifts
A family trust created before September 25, 1985 was scheduled to continue for 21 years after the death of a measuring life. The trustees and beneficiaries proposed ending it early under a…
PLR 200936007: Sixty-day extension granted for a late partnership classification election
A foreign entity eligible to elect partnership classification for federal income tax purposes inadvertently failed to timely file an effective Form 8832. The IRS concluded that the requirements for…
PLR 200936006: Sixty-day extension granted for a late corporate classification election
A wholly owned foreign limited liability company was treated as a disregarded entity by default but was eligible to elect association status taxable as a corporation. The company failed to timely…
PLR 200936005: Tax treatment approved for a split-off and related reorganization
An S corporation planned to transfer one business to a newly formed subsidiary and distribute the subsidiary's stock to one shareholder group in exchange for that group's stock in the parent. The…
PLR 200936004: Forty-five-day extension granted for a private activity bond carryforward election
A nonprofit authority received a state-law allocation of unused private activity bond volume cap but did not timely file Form 8328 to make the federal carryforward election. The authority…
PLR 200936003: Sixty-day extension granted for a late disregarded-entity election
A foreign private limited company with a single owner intended to elect disregarded-entity treatment for federal tax purposes, but its Form 8832 was not timely filed. The IRS concluded that the…
PLR 200936001: Sixty-day extension granted for a late partnership classification election
A foreign limited liability partnership intended to be treated as a partnership for federal tax purposes but inadvertently failed to timely file an effective Form 8832. The IRS concluded that the…
PLR 200935049: Sixty-day rollover requirement waived after erroneous IRA distribution
An individual received an erroneous distribution from an IRA after receiving incorrect advice from a financial representative. The individual did not learn about the distribution until after the…
PLR 200935048: Sixty-day rollover requirement waived after erroneous IRA deposit
An individual intended to make a direct rollover from one IRA to another, but an employee of the receiving company mistakenly deposited the distributed amount into a non-IRA account. The individual…
PLR 200935047: Sixty-day rollover requirement waived after caregiving delay
A taxpayer missed the 60-day rollover period for distributions from two IRAs while caring for an ill parent. The taxpayer represented that the distributed amounts had not been used for another…
PLR 200935041: Historic-preservation funding would not jeopardize exemption
The IRS considered whether a publicly supported charitable organization could amend an agreement with a private social club and continue using contributions to preserve designated historic interior…
PLR 200935040: Fellowship grant procedures approved under IRC § 4945(g)(3)
The IRS approved a private foundation's additional fellowship grant-making program for postdoctoral researchers conducting translational scientific research. The program will award one-year…
PLR 200935039: Scholarship and educational loan procedures approved
The IRS approved a private foundation's procedures for scholarships and low-interest educational loans for high school and college students. The proposed scholarships include study-abroad…
PLR 200935038: Four-year scholarship program approved for medical students
The IRS approved a private foundation's four-year scholarship program for qualifying students at a university school of medicine. The foundation will select recipients using criteria that include…
PLR 200935037: Scholarship procedures approved for students needing assistance
The IRS approved a private foundation's scholarship procedures for academically qualified students who need financial assistance. The scholarships support students pursuing health-care careers,…
PLR 200935036: Scholarship program approved for students pursuing further education
The IRS approved a private foundation's scholarship program for graduates of a school who need financial assistance and plan to pursue education or training beyond the primary school level. The…
PLR 200935035: Journalism internship, fellowship, and prize procedures approved
The IRS approved a private foundation's grant procedures for three journalism programs funded through a foundation fund. The programs provide an internship with a Western news organization, a…
CCA 200935034: Severance pay is generally subject to wage withholding
This Chief Counsel Advice recommends adding employment-tax analysis to a discussion of severance pay. It explains that severance pay is generally includible in gross income and treated as wages for…
CCA 200935033: Accrued-benefit waiver cannot correct a funding deficiency
This Chief Counsel Advice considers whether waiving the present value of a taxpayer's accrued benefit can correct a pension-plan funding deficiency under IRC §§ 412 and 4971. The Advice concludes…
CCA 200935032: Employment settlements generally enter gross income
This Chief Counsel Advice discusses whether settlement or judgment payments arising from an employment dispute may be excluded from gross income under IRC § 104(a)(2), and whether they are wages for…
CCA 200935031: Summons to a record keeper for another taxpayer is third-party summons
This Chief Counsel Advice addresses a summons issued to a record keeper concerning another taxpayer. It concludes that, on the stated facts, the summons is a third-party summons. The Advice asks for…
CCA 200935030: Reportable-transaction understatement penalty language
This Chief Counsel Advice proposes language for assessing penalties in a reportable-transaction understatement. Except where the 40-percent gross-valuation-misstatement penalty applies, it says the…
CCA 200935029: Salary advances may trigger constructive receipt or violate § 409A
This Chief Counsel Advice analyzes a taxpayer's salary-advance program involving nonqualified deferred compensation. It states that the constructive-receipt doctrine could require participants to…
CCA 200935028: CO2 well acquisition costs were not deductible under § 193
This Chief Counsel Advice describes the denial of a taxpayer's request to deduct costs associated with CO2 wells under IRC § 193. It distinguishes acquisition costs from drilling costs. The drilling…
CCA 200935027: Personal expense payments alone do not establish an alter-ego levy
This Chief Counsel Advice considers whether the IRS may levy a corporation suspected of being a taxpayer's alter ego. It states that the corporation's payment of the taxpayer's personal expenses,…
CCA 200935026: IRS could not levy retirement-plan proceeds after taxpayer's death
This Chief Counsel Advice considers whether the IRS could levy proceeds from a defined-benefit retirement plan after the taxpayer's death. It concludes that the Service could not levy the plan after…
CCA 200935025: Reportable-transaction penalty calculation
This Chief Counsel Advice states that the statutory penalty applies to the transaction under review. It views the 30-percent penalty as a way to calculate the penalty for failure to disclose the…
CCA 200935024: Losing a vehicle franchise does not accelerate a § 481(a) adjustment
This Chief Counsel Advice addresses how an automobile dealer should report a § 481(a) adjustment after changing from the LIFO inventory method for vehicles sold under a lost franchise. In the first…
PLR 200935023: Nuclear decommissioning funds remain qualified through a restructuring and spinoff
The IRS considered a corporate restructuring followed by a spinoff involving three nuclear power plants and their qualified nuclear decommissioning trusts. The restructuring would combine…
CCA 200935022: Later-discovered capacity does not defeat a small ethanol producer credit
This Chief Counsel Advice considers whether an ethanol producer was an eligible small ethanol producer for the small ethanol producer credit. During the tax year, the facility's engineered capacity,…
PLR 200935021: Late S corporation election may be treated as timely for reasonable cause
The IRS considered a corporation that intended to elect S corporation status on its incorporation date but did not timely file Form 2553. The corporation requested relief under IRC § 1362(b)(5).…
PLR 200935020: Government-affiliated telecommunications entity qualifies for § 115 income exclusion
The IRS considered a nonprofit corporation created by political subdivisions to provide broadband and related telecommunications services, primarily to rural communities and governmental…
PLR 200935019: Cooperative may allocate warehouse-sale gain as patronage-source income
The IRS considered a cooperative that sold its warehouse and related land as part of a plan to improve operations and potentially wind down its business. The cooperative proposed distributing the…
PLR 200935018: Constructive state-tax distributions do not terminate an S election
The IRS considered an S corporation that made constructive distributions to cover state taxes attributed to its shareholders. The corporation later entered an agreement with a state to make a…
PLR 200935017: Reasonable cause supports late S corporation election relief
The IRS considered a corporation that intended to elect S corporation status but whose timely Form 2553 filing could not be located by the IRS service center. The corporation requested relief under…
PLR 200935016: Amended governmental § 457(b) plan and trust meet qualification requirements
The IRS reviewed amendments to a state-sponsored, nonqualified deferred-compensation plan intended to qualify under § 457(b). The plan covers eligible employees, limits deferrals, permits specified…
PLR 200935015: Inadvertent S election termination is cured after disproportionate tax distributions
The IRS considered an S corporation that paid state composite income taxes on behalf of its shareholders without initially treating those payments as distributions. The payments could have created…
PLR 200935014: Inadvertent S election termination is cured after disproportionate tax distributions
The IRS considered an S corporation that paid state composite income taxes on behalf of its shareholders without initially treating those payments as distributions. The payments could have created…
PLR 200935013: RIC may offer cash or equivalent-value stock in special dividends
The IRS considered a regulated investment company planning special dividends that shareholders could receive in cash or stock of equivalent value. The company would limit aggregate cash payments to…
PLR 200935012: Additional time granted to file an election after a missed deadline
A parent company asked the IRS to modify an earlier ruling that gave it more time to file an election concerning a loss on subsidiary stock. The company missed a condition requiring the election to…
PLR 200935011: Preferred-stock terms do not block § 382 and § 1504 treatment
A publicly traded parent of a consolidated group asked how two classes of preferred stock would be treated for federal tax purposes. One class could be converted if the governing regulations…
PLR 200935010: Parent granted time to make a consolidated return election
A parent company asked for more time to elect to file a consolidated federal income tax return with its includible subsidiaries. The election deadline had passed because the group did not file a…
PLR 200935009: Stock reimbursements for RSU awards receive specified tax treatment
A publicly traded parent company transferred its stock to employees of foreign subsidiaries under restricted stock unit awards. The subsidiaries planned to reimburse the parent for the fair market…
PLR 200935008: Foreign entity granted time to elect disregarded status
A foreign eligible entity asked for more time to file Form 8832 and elect to be treated as a disregarded entity for federal tax purposes. The entity had intended the election to take effect on an…
PLR 200935007: Taxpayer allowed to elect out of installment-method reporting
A taxpayer asked to make a late election not to use the installment method for a sale of several properties. The taxpayer said the late election resulted from not knowing the election was available…
PLR 200935006: Entity granted time to elect corporate classification
An entity that had been treated as disregarded from its owner asked for more time to file Form 8832 and elect to be classified as an association taxable as a corporation. The entity intended the…
PLR 200935005: Proposed residence trust transfer receives § 2702 relief
A family asked about transferring a residence to a new trust after a prior qualified personal residence trust arrangement. The children planned to transfer their interest in the residence to the new…
PLR 200935004: Replacement residence trust transfer receives § 2702 relief
A family asked whether the gift-tax valuation rules would apply to a proposed transfer of a replacement residence to a new trust. The residence had been acquired by a prior qualified personal…
PLR 200935003: Trust income and retiree health benefits receive favorable tax treatment
A political subdivision asked whether income from a trust funding post-employment health and welfare benefits would be excluded from gross income. The IRS ruled that the trust's income is derived…
PLR 200935002: Mutual insurance company conversion and holding-company restructuring approved
A mutual property and casualty insurance company asked how a proposed conversion and holding-company restructuring would be treated for federal income tax purposes. Under the plan, the company's…
PLR 200935001: Nuclear decommissioning funds remain qualified after restructuring and spinoff
A corporate group asked whether its qualified nuclear decommissioning trusts would remain qualified after a restructuring and a spinoff of nuclear plants and their related funds. The IRS concluded…
Written determination 200934048: Conditional waivers of the 100 percent tax granted
The IRS notified a plan sponsor that its request for a waiver of the minimum funding standard had been withdrawn and closed. The IRS granted conditional waivers of the 100 percent tax under IRC §…
Written determination 200934047: Conditional minimum-funding waivers granted
The IRS granted a company's requests for a waiver of the minimum funding standard and a modification of an earlier conditional waiver for its pension plan. The waivers were conditioned on providing…
PLR 200934046: Surviving spouse may roll over IRA proceeds passing through a trust
The surviving spouse of an IRA owner asked whether she could roll over IRA proceeds that passed through a trust after the owner's children disclaimed their beneficiary interests. The IRS concluded…
Written determination 200934045: Homeowners association denied tax exemption
The IRS issued a final adverse determination concluding that a homeowners association did not qualify for exemption under IRC § 501(c)(4). The association was formed to maintain and insure a…
CCA 200934044: Isle of Man companies and per se corporation status
Chief Counsel Advice clarifies that no Isle of Man companies are per se corporations under the referenced regulation. The advice addresses the classification of those companies under the…
CCA 200934043: Isle of Man company classification under the entity rules
Chief Counsel Advice discusses whether an Isle of Man company is an eligible entity under the entity-classification rules. It states that there are no Isle of Man companies that are not per se C…
CCA 200934042: Closing agreements are final but do not bar later offers in compromise
Chief Counsel Advice explains the disclosure and finality rules for closing agreements under IRC section 7121. It states that these agreements are subject to the disclosure laws, with sections…
CCA 200934041: No deduction when the taxpayer expects reimbursement
Chief Counsel Advice addresses the deductibility of a business expense when the taxpayer expects reimbursement. It points to Rev. Rul. 79-263, 1979-2 C.B. 82, for the proposition that no deduction…
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.