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 200919050: Missing returns and unanswered inquiries ended exemption
An exempt organization stopped filing annual information returns and did not establish that it was excused from filing them. The IRS wrote to the organization asking whether it still existed, what…
CCA 200919049: LLC tax election controlled the small-partnership exception
Chief Counsel advised that a partnership with two corporate partners qualified for the small-partnership exception to the TEFRA partnership rules if an LLC partner had elected to be taxed as a C…
CCA 200919048: Foreclosure date fixed the debt-discharge date
Chief Counsel answered a cancellation-of-debt question concerning qualified principal residence indebtedness. The substantive details of the question were redacted from the public release. The…
CCA 200919047: Promotion scans fixed liabilities that required later reconciliation
Chief Counsel discussed when liabilities from a trade-promotion program became fixed under section 461. An item scanned during the promotional period and before December 31 fixed a liability in the…
CCA 200919046: Advance-payment deferral depended on future duties and tracking
Chief Counsel advised that a transfer fee appeared eligible for deferral under Rev. Proc. 2004-34, assuming it related to something the taxpayer would provide in the future and the taxpayer's…
CCA 200919045: Exempt Belgian social security required no treaty disclosure
Chief Counsel first questioned whether the taxpayers' Belgian social-security payments were actually exempt from U.S. tax under the U.S.-Belgium treaty's saving clause and Article 17. It noted that…
CCA 200919044: Treaty saving clause exception did not settle taxpayer eligibility
Chief Counsel corrected earlier advice about the U.S.-Belgium treaty. The treaty's saving clause did except paragraph 2 of Article 17. The message nevertheless remained uncertain whether that…
CCA 200919043: Prewired property exchange risked anti-abuse recharacterization
Chief Counsel viewed a prearranged real-estate transaction as vulnerable under the step-transaction and substance-over-form doctrines. It would characterize the taxpayer as contributing the original…
CCA 200919042: Levy could not reveal tax years omitted from power of attorney
Chief Counsel advised that the IRS should not send a representative a levy listing tax years outside those covered by Form 2848. Sections 6103(e)(6) and (e)(7) permit a representative to receive…
CCA 200919041: Withdrawn proposal assigned pre-transaction look-back interest to predecessor
Chief Counsel interpreted 1990 proposed regulations as generally requiring a successor taxpayer to use the simplified marginal impact method for pre-transaction years. Under that proposal, the…
CCA 200919040: Theft-loss procedure could not allow a duplicate deduction
Chief Counsel interpreted an unspecified revenue-procedure phrase as referring to amounts already paid and deducted, such as fees. It advised that any ambiguity had to be resolved consistently with…
CCA 200919039: Chief Counsel advice process did not provide a taxpayer conference
Chief Counsel explained that CCA includes written National Office advice or instructions sent to specified IRS or field Chief Counsel employees when it conveys a legal interpretation or agency…
CCA 200919038: Third-party return information required a direct link to the issue
Chief Counsel advised that disclosure could proceed if the item or transaction test in section 6103(h)(4)(B) or (C) was met. The message identified a definite employer-employee relationship but…
CCA 200919037: Cost recovery required taxpayers to use available Appeals process
Chief Counsel advised that a taxpayer given appeal rights before a statutory notice had to request an Appeals conference before petitioning the Tax Court to exhaust administrative remedies. A…
CCA 200919036: Ponzi-scheme theft loss treatment applied retroactively
Chief Counsel addressed the treatment of an investment theft loss from a Ponzi scheme under Revenue Ruling 2009-9. The ruling's conclusion that the loss was not subject to limitations applied…
CCA 200919035: Rental property debt could qualify under section 108(c)
Chief Counsel advised that debt incurred in connection with real property used in a trade or business could qualify as qualified real property business indebtedness under section 108(c). Whether the…
CCA 200919034: S corporation officer had to sign TEFRA extension
Chief Counsel addressed who could sign documents for an S corporation serving as a tax matters partner in TEFRA proceedings. An officer of the S corporation had to sign the extension, not merely a…
CCA 200919033: Third-party note could accelerate installment-sale income
Chief Counsel considered installment-sale transactions described only in general terms. Pledging the original installment notes as collateral for new borrowing generally would trigger the section…
TAM 200919032: Outbound stock transfer was taxable without a gain recognition agreement
The IRS considered a domestic corporation's transfer of foreign subsidiary stock to a foreign corporation in a triangular reorganization. The transfer was subject to section 367(a)(1), even though…
CCA 200919031: Contractor-paid military moving expenses were excluded from income
A private military-housing contractor paid moving expenses to service members who moved before their leases expired so that housing units could be renovated. The payments were based on military pay…
CCA 200919030: Railroad retirement compensation included stock awards and options
A railroad employer paid employee bonuses and awards in its common stock or stock options and sought refunds of Railroad Retirement Tax Act tax paid on those awards. Chief Counsel concluded that…
PLR 200919029: Corporation received relief for a late S election
A corporation intended to be an S corporation from the date it was formed, but the IRS did not timely receive its election. The corporation asked the IRS to treat the election as timely under…
PLR 200919028: Consistent reporting supported late S election relief
A corporation and its sole shareholder intended S corporation status from the corporation's formation date, but the corporation did not timely file Form 2553. Both had reported income consistently…
PLR 200919027: Trust's farmland sale did not trigger related-party exchange rule
Three owners held equal undivided interests in inherited farmland through trusts and planned to exchange those interests for separate parcels of equal value. One trust intended to sell its parcel to…
PLR 200919026: Corporation received relief for a late S election
A corporation intended to elect S corporation status from the date it was formed, but it did not timely file Form 2553. The corporation requested relief under section 1362(b)(5). Based on the facts…
PLR 200919025: Foreign-law separate accounts qualified for variable-contract treatment
A foreign life insurer elected under section 953(d) to be treated as a domestic corporation for federal tax purposes. Home-country law required the insurer to keep assets supporting its variable…
PLR 200919024: Corporation received relief for a late S election
A corporation intended to be an S corporation from the date it was formed, but it did not timely file Form 2553. The corporation asked the IRS for relief under section 1362(b)(5). Based on the…
PLR 200919023: Foreign entity received more time to elect disregarded status
A foreign entity intended to elect treatment as an entity disregarded from its single owner, but an oversight caused it to file Form 8832 late. It requested an extension under the section 301.9100…
PLR 200919022: Public university retiree-benefit fund's income was excluded
A public university created a trust fund to provide health and other welfare benefits to eligible retirees, former employees, dependents, and survivors. The fund's assets could be used only for…
PLR 200919021: Corporation received relief for a late S election
A corporation's shareholders intended that it elect S corporation status from a specified effective date, but the election was not timely filed. The corporation requested relief under section…
PLR 200919020: Preexisting executive agreement qualified for transition relief
A corporation entered into an executive employment agreement while privately held and later became publicly held without an initial public offering. The agreement, which had been publicly disclosed,…
PLR 200919019: Interest-rate hedges produced qualifying partnership income
A publicly traded partnership transporting, storing, and marketing natural gas and propane used treasury locks and interest rate swaps to manage borrowing costs. It was not a financial or insurance…
PLR 200919018: Foreign entity received more time to elect disregarded status
A foreign entity wholly owned by a domestic entity intended to elect disregarded-entity treatment from a specified date, but it did not timely file the election. It asked for an extension under the…
PLR 200919017: LLC received more time to elect partnership treatment
A limited liability company intended to be treated as a partnership for federal tax purposes from the date it was organized, but it did not timely file the election. After discovering the omission,…
PLR 200919016: Entity received more time to elect corporate classification
An eligible entity had a default federal tax classification as a partnership but intended to be treated as an association taxable as a corporation from the date it was formed. It did not timely file…
PLR 200919015: LLC received more time to elect disregarded status
A domestic limited liability company wholly owned by another member of an affiliated group sought extra time to elect disregarded-entity status from a specified date. The section 301.7701…
PLR 200919014: Limited partnership received more time to elect partnership status
A domestic limited partnership owned by two members of an affiliated group requested extra time to elect federal tax classification as a partnership from a specified date. The section 301.7701…
PLR 200919013: Estate received more time to allocate GST exemption to a marital trust
A decedent's estate included a marital trust on a timely estate tax return, but the attorney preparing the return failed to advise the executor about allocating the decedent's generation-skipping…
PLR 200919012: Entity received more time to elect corporate classification
A domestic eligible entity with multiple owners intended to be treated as an association taxable as a corporation from a specified date. It inadvertently failed to file Form 8832 on time and…
PLR 200919011: Annuity rider benefits qualified but reduced contract investment
A life insurer planned to add a long-term care insurance rider to fixed deferred annuity contracts for tax years beginning after 2009. The rider combined a dollar-for-dollar reduction in annuity…
PLR 200919010: Administrative trust changes preserved estate and GST tax treatment
A donor obtained court approval to revise administrative provisions of two irrevocable family trusts. The changes addressed fiduciary liability and compensation, medical-information releases,…
PLR 200919009: Administrative trust changes preserved estate and GST tax treatment
A donor and the donor's spouse obtained court approval to revise administrative provisions of two irrevocable family trusts. The changes addressed fiduciary liability and compensation,…
PLR 200919008: Administrative trust changes preserved estate and GST tax treatment
A donor and the donor's spouse obtained court approval to revise administrative provisions of three irrevocable family trusts. The changes addressed fiduciary liability and compensation,…
PLR 200919007: Taxpayer received more time to elect capital gain as investment income
A taxpayer realized capital gain from investment property held through pass-through entities. The return preparer did not advise the taxpayer to elect under section 163(d)(4)(B)(iii) to include the…
PLR 200919006: Foreign entity received more time to elect disregarded status
A foreign eligible entity wholly owned by another entity intended to elect disregarded-entity treatment from the date its owner acquired it. The election was not filed on time, so the entity…
PLR 200919005: Estate received more time to sever QTIP trust and make reverse election
An estate made a QTIP election for a marital trust, but its return preparer failed to advise the executor to divide the trust for generation-skipping transfer tax purposes, make a reverse QTIP…
PLR 200919004: Late tax-preference election relief covered only open years
A taxpayer requested more time to elect under section 59(e) to write off certain tax-preference expenditures over the applicable period for four taxable years. An officer responsible for preparing…
PLR 200919003: Reformed marital trust qualified for the estate tax deduction
A revocable trust was amended before the settlor remarried to give a surviving spouse a qualifying income interest for life and a limited power of appointment. A drafting mistake said the power…
PLR 200919002: Fair-value purchase of QPRT remainder avoided a taxable gift
A married couple planned to place their residence and surrounding land in a qualified personal residence trust for their rent-free use during their joint lives and the survivor's life. A previously…
PLR 200919001: Missing trust elections caused an inadvertent S termination
A trust holding S corporation shares divided into four successor trusts after a beneficiary died. The current income beneficiary failed to file qualified subchapter S trust elections for three of…
PLR 200918024: Financial institutions' errors justified a late IRA rollover
A taxpayer's court-appointed guardian and spouse tried to move the taxpayer's IRA between financial institutions through a trustee-to-trustee transfer. One institution did not timely provide…
IRS determination 200918023: Foundation scholarship procedures received advance approval
A private foundation proposed 150 one-time scholarships for public high school seniors in one city. An outside administrator would select recipients using academic, personal, leadership, work, and…
CCA 200918021: Section 6521 could not offset unpaid FICA and SECA taxes
Some workers reported Form 1099 compensation as wages but paid neither employee FICA tax nor self-employment tax. After the IRS asserted SECA tax, the workers claimed employee status in Tax Court,…
PLR 200918020: School retiree-health trust income and benefits were excluded
A public school board created a trust to fund insured and self-insured health and welfare benefits for retirees, spouses, and eligible dependents. The trust was funded only by the board and…
PLR 200918019: Public retiree-health trust income and benefits were excluded
A political subdivision created a trust to fund insured and self-insured health benefits for retirees, spouses, and eligible dependents. The trust was funded only by the public employer and…
PLR 200918018: Foreign entity received more time to elect partnership status
A foreign eligible entity intended to elect partnership classification for federal tax purposes from the date it was established. It failed to file Form 8832 on time because of inadvertence and…
PLR 200918017: Foreign entity received more time to elect partnership status
A foreign eligible entity intended to elect partnership classification for federal tax purposes from a specified date. It did not file Form 8832 on time because of inadvertence and requested…
PLR 200918016: Corporation received relief for a late S election
A corporation intended to be an S corporation from a specified date but did not timely file Form 2553. Section 1362(b)(5) permits the IRS to treat a late S election as timely when reasonable cause…
PLR 200918015: Corporation received relief for an inadvertent invalid S election
A corporation timely filed an S election, but trust beneficiaries did not properly sign the form to make qualified subchapter S trust elections. That failure made the corporation's S election…
PLR 200918014: Unnecessary QTIP election was treated as null and void
An estate made a qualified terminable interest property election for part of a credit shelter trust. The decedent's gross estate was below the applicable exclusion amount, so the election was…
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.