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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Determination 200923053: Pension plan received a five-year funding extension
A pension plan requested more time to amortize unfunded liabilities that existed on January 1, 2008. The plan submitted an actuary's certification that it otherwise would face an accumulated funding…
Determination 200923052: Pension plan received a five-year funding extension
A pension plan requested more time to amortize unfunded liabilities that existed on September 1, 2008. The plan submitted an actuary's certification that it otherwise would face an accumulated…
Determination 200923051: Pension plan received a five-year funding extension
A pension plan requested more time to amortize unfunded liabilities that existed on January 1, 2008. The plan submitted an actuary's certification that it otherwise would face an accumulated funding…
Determination 200923050: Pension plan received a five-year funding extension
A pension plan requested more time to amortize unfunded liabilities that existed on January 1, 2008. The plan submitted an actuary's certification that it otherwise would face an accumulated funding…
Determination 200923049: Pension plan received a five-year funding extension
A pension plan requested more time to amortize unfunded liabilities that existed on January 1, 2008. The plan submitted an actuary's certification that it otherwise would face an accumulated funding…
CCA 200923048: IRS may follow the normal FPAA timeline for an open partnership year
Chief Counsel advised on the timing of partnership audit notices when a year remained open by agreement on Forms 872-I. The advice says the IRS could use the normal timeline for issuing a final…
CCA 200923047: Explanation of items need not mention self-dealing
Chief Counsel gave brief advice about the explanation of items for a statutory notice. The advice says there was no reason for that explanation to mention self-dealing. The released email does not…
CCA 200923046: FPAA binds partners who separately extended their assessment periods
Chief Counsel advised that the IRS could issue a final partnership administrative adjustment that would bind direct and indirect partners whose assessment periods remained open through Forms 872-I.…
CCA 200923045: Estate representative should receive written notice of the federal tax claim
Chief Counsel addressed notice of a federal tax claim to the personal representative of an estate. Under 31 U.S.C. § 3713, a representative may be liable for paying another estate debt ahead of the…
CCA 200923044: Protective partnership adjustment request was a nullity
Chief Counsel considered a protective administrative adjustment request for a partnership year. Section 6228(b)(2)(C) prevents a taxpayer from petitioning on that request after a TEFRA partnership…
CCA 200923043: Settlement with actual partner can convert joint-return spouse's items
Chief Counsel advised that the treatment of a partnership settlement depended on a spouse's status. If the spouse was treated as a partner only because the spouses filed a joint return, the IRS…
CCA 200923042: Suggested notice language separates accuracy-related penalty components
Chief Counsel suggested language for asserting the section 6662 accuracy-related penalty in a notice. The language separately identifies a 40 percent penalty for a gross valuation misstatement and…
CCA 200923041: Transaction-reporting penalty was not subject to TEFRA procedures
Chief Counsel considered whether a penalty had to be determined through TEFRA partnership-level procedures. Section 6221 requires partnership-level treatment for penalties that relate to an…
CCA 200923040: Partnership with three corporate partners fell outside TEFRA absent an election
Chief Counsel advised that a partnership with three C corporation partners would not be subject to TEFRA unless it elected out of the small partnership exception. Section 6231(g) makes reasonable…
CCA 200923039: Advice addresses LLC tax matters partners and partial agreements
Chief Counsel answered questions about tax matters partners and partial agreements in TEFRA cases. For an LLC with no member-managers, each member is treated as a member-manager and general partner…
CCA 200923038: IRS could not disclose an appraiser's penalty to an estate representative
Chief Counsel considered whether the IRS could tell an estate representative that an appraiser had previously been found liable for a section 6701 penalty. That determination was the appraiser's…
CCA 200923037: Interest on agreed employment taxes starts on agreement date if unpaid
Chief Counsel confirmed the interest treatment for agreed employment tax liabilities in non-worker-classification or section 530 cases. If the taxpayer agrees to the liability but does not pay it,…
CCA 200923036: New employment tax rules require payment when Form 2504 is signed
Chief Counsel explained how the interest-free employment tax adjustment rules apply to Form 2504. The form had been treated as a supplemental return, and regulations effective in 2009 would treat it…
CCA 200923035: Defunct partnership may designate a tax matters partner
Chief Counsel answered procedural questions about a partnership that had gone out of business and about tiered partnership proceedings. Even though the partnership's key case no longer existed, the…
CCA 200923034: Closing agreement may permit a REIT to re-elect after asset-test failure
Chief Counsel forwarded an excerpt from earlier advice about a real estate investment trust that failed the 75 percent asset test. If the failure was due to reasonable cause, the district director…
CCA 200923033: Player disability arrangement differed from cited insurance rulings
Chief Counsel advised how to distinguish two earlier private letter rulings from a case involving disability insurance for a ballplayer. In the earlier rulings, the released facts showed little…
CCA 200923032: Loss importation transaction did not trigger listed-transaction exception
Chief Counsel considered whether a loss importation transaction fell within the listed-transaction exception to section 6404(g). A transaction's listed status is determined on the date the IRS…
CCA 200923031: Taxpayer withdrew golden parachute requests after adverse advice
Chief Counsel notified the IRS examination office that a corporation withdrew two ruling requests in anticipation of an adverse ruling. The requests concerned payments tied to “Shadow Stock” and…
CCA 200923030: Missing SEC disclosure did not eliminate covered employees
A publicly held corporation argued that it had no covered employees under section 162(m) because it did not report executive compensation on Form 10-K or file a proxy statement for the year. Chief…
CCA 200923029: Former owner discounts were taxable wages
An employer sought refunds of FICA taxes paid on discounts that its current and former employees received when buying or leasing property from a company that formerly owned the employer. Chief…
CCA 200923028: Bogus return did not support civil fraud penalties
A wife electronically filed a false return in her incarcerated husband's name without his knowledge and obtained an earned income credit refund. Chief Counsel concluded that the return was invalid…
CCA 200923027: Trust-funded support required more factual development
A divorced husband claimed alimony deductions for support payments that a court-appointed trustee made to his former wife from assets attached under the divorce decree. Chief Counsel concluded that…
CCA 200923026: Railroad retirement compensation included stock and options
A railroad employer sought a refund of Railroad Retirement Tax Act tax paid on stock and stock options given to employees. Chief Counsel concluded that RRTA compensation includes noncash…
CCA 200923025: Tax-free disability insurance proceeds bar a matching salary deduction
A club continued paying an injured player under a guaranteed employment contract while receiving disability insurance proceeds as the policy beneficiary. Chief Counsel concluded that the club could…
CCA 200923024: Grantor-trust conversion did not itself trigger income to the owner
Family members sold partnership interests to separate trusts for private annuities, then changed trustees so that the trusts became grantor trusts whose assets were treated as owned by the family…
PLR 200923023: Corporate group received 60 days to elect consolidated filing
A parent corporation and its subsidiaries missed the deadline to elect consolidated federal income tax filing after relying on a qualified tax professional. The IRS found that they acted reasonably…
PLR 200923022: Corporation received relief for a late S election
A corporation intended to elect S corporation treatment for a specified tax year but did not file Form 2553 on time. The IRS found reasonable cause for the missed deadline under section 1362(b)(5).…
PLR 200923021: Employee received time to sign a split-dollar loan representation
An employee borrowed from a tax-exempt employer to pay life insurance premiums under a split-dollar arrangement. The plan consultant failed to advise the employee and employer to sign and file the…
PLR 200923020: Employee received time to sign a split-dollar loan representation
An employee borrowed from a tax-exempt employer to pay life insurance premiums under a split-dollar arrangement. The plan consultant failed to advise the employee and employer to sign and file the…
PLR 200923019: Employee received time to sign a split-dollar loan representation
An employee borrowed from a tax-exempt employer to pay life insurance premiums under a split-dollar arrangement. The plan consultant failed to advise the employee and employer to sign and file the…
PLR 200923018: Employee received time to sign a split-dollar loan representation
An employee borrowed from a tax-exempt employer to pay life insurance premiums under a split-dollar arrangement. The plan consultant failed to advise the employee and employer to sign and file the…
PLR 200923017: Employee received time to sign a split-dollar loan representation
An employee borrowed from a tax-exempt employer to pay life insurance premiums under a split-dollar arrangement. The plan consultant failed to advise the employee and employer to sign and file the…
PLR 200923016: Trust consolidation preserved beneficial interests and GST protection
A trustee proposed combining three pairs of trusts for grandchildren to simplify administration. Each combined trust would keep separate shares governed by the original distribution and vesting…
PLR 200923015: Separate trust shares preserved tax treatment after consolidation
A court approved combining three pairs of grandchildren's trusts, subject to favorable IRS rulings, while keeping each original trust's distribution and vesting rules in a separate share. This…
PLR 200923014: Separate trust shares preserved tax treatment after consolidation
A court approved combining three pairs of grandchildren's trusts, subject to favorable IRS rulings, while keeping each original trust's distribution and vesting rules in a separate share. This…
PLR 200923013: Separate trust shares preserved tax treatment after consolidation
A court approved combining three pairs of grandchildren's trusts, subject to favorable IRS rulings, while keeping each original trust's distribution and vesting rules in a separate share. This…
PLR 200923012: Separate trust shares preserved tax treatment after consolidation
A court approved combining three pairs of grandchildren's trusts, subject to favorable IRS rulings, while keeping each original trust's distribution and vesting rules in a separate share. This…
PLR 200923011: Foreign subsidiary's subpart F income qualified for a fund's income test
An investment fund seeking regulated investment company status formed a wholly owned foreign subsidiary to invest in commodities and related instruments. The subsidiary was expected to be a…
PLR 200923010: Same-year rescission kept a subsidiary in its consolidated group
A domestic corporation distributed a subsidiary's stock to its foreign parent in exchange for some of its own shares, treating the transaction as a tax-free split-off. After management reassessed…
PLR 200923009: Late S election relief applied from incorporation
A shareholder intended a corporation to have S corporation status from its incorporation date, but the election was not filed on time. The IRS found reasonable cause for the failure and granted…
PLR 200923008: Temporary repair displacement preserved low-income housing occupancy
Residents of a bond-financed rental project had to leave because extensive damage could not safely be repaired while the buildings were occupied. The developer gave low-income tenants replacement…
PLR 200923007: Serviced property rentals were not passive investment income for S status
A corporation planning an S election owned two rental properties and used employees to provide maintenance, security, landscaping, repairs, and comprehensive leasing services. It asked whether the…
PLR 200923006: Foreign corporation received time to file a branch-profits-tax waiver
A foreign corporation's U.S. rental-real-estate partnership sold its property and liquidated, leaving the corporation with no further U.S. business, assets, or effectively connected income. Its…
PLR 200923005: Waste authority qualified to receive public-purpose education donations
A state-created waste-management authority operated facilities that taught the public about waste reduction and recycling. It sought confirmation of its governmental status and the tax treatment of…
PLR 200923004: Foreign entity received 60 days to elect partnership classification
A foreign entity intended to be treated as a partnership for U.S. federal tax purposes from its formation date but inadvertently missed the Form 8832 filing deadline. The IRS concluded that the…
PLR 200923003: Late closing-agreement request could be considered for a dual consolidated loss
A corporation that had been taxed as resident in both the United States and another country incurred a dual consolidated loss. A later merger moved its assets into a domestic consolidated group and…
PLR 200923002: Employer received time to complete split-dollar loan representations
A tax-exempt employer used nonrecourse loans to finance life insurance premiums for key employees under a split-dollar plan. Its consultants and former plan administrators failed to explain that…
PLR 200923001: Taxable domestic corporations counted as domestic REIT shareholders
A real estate investment trust asked how to classify two domestic corporate shareholders that had foreign ownership above them. Both shareholders were represented to be fully taxable C corporations,…
PLR 200922061: Endowment-linked contract units did not create UBTI for a charitable remainder trust
A charitable remainder trust proposed acquiring contract units tied to the endowment of an educational charity that served as its trustee and remainder beneficiary. The units would provide payments…
PLR 200922060: Misappropriated IRA principal received rollover relief, but interest did not
An IRA owner's financial representative withdrew retirement funds and used them for personal benefit instead of keeping them in an IRA as the owner intended. The financial company later agreed to…
PLR 200922059: Misappropriated IRA principal received rollover relief, but interest did not
An IRA owner's financial representative withdrew retirement funds and used them for personal benefit instead of keeping them in an IRA as the owner intended. The financial company later agreed to…
PLR 200922058: Misappropriated IRA principal received rollover relief, but interest did not
An IRA owner's financial representative withdrew retirement funds and used them for personal benefit instead of keeping them in an IRA as the owner intended. The financial company later agreed to…
PLR 200922057: Misappropriated IRA principal received rollover relief, but interest did not
An IRA owner's financial representative withdrew retirement funds and used them for personal benefit instead of keeping them in an IRA as the owner intended. The financial company later agreed to…
PLR 200922056: Misappropriated IRA principal received rollover relief, but interest did not
An IRA owner's financial representative withdrew retirement funds and used them for personal benefit instead of keeping them in an IRA as the owner intended. The financial company later agreed to…
CCA 200922055: Section 118 was described as applying to S corporations
In this brief 2008 email, Chief Counsel stated that section 118 applied to all corporations, including S corporations. The email pointed to the Saline Sewer litigation, which involved an S…
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.