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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CCA 200915039: IRA trust ownership generally defeated the small-partnership exception
An IRS attorney considered whether a partnership involving an individual retirement account qualified for the small-partnership exception. An IRA is a trust under section 408, and its custodian is…
CCA 200915038: Transferee interest depends on asset value and applicable state law
Chief Counsel explained how interest applies when a person receives assets from someone who owes federal tax. If the transferred assets are worth less than the transferor's liability, the…
CCA 200915037: Appeals must notify an estate when it terminates a section 6166 election
Chief Counsel advised that an estate may petition the Tax Court if the IRS denies or terminates an election to pay estate tax in installments under section 6166 and the other requirements of section…
CCA 200915036: IRS levies may use stored digital signatures
Chief Counsel addressed whether IRS levies could carry digital rather than handwritten signatures. The advice states that the IRS was already using digital signatures for levies. It describes…
CCA 200915035: Form 2751-AD does not start the trust fund penalty assessment period
Chief Counsel considered what action ends the suspension of the assessment period after a timely protest of a proposed trust fund recovery penalty. An Appeals Team Manager's approval of Form 2751-AD…
CCA 200915034: IRS may abate an excessive assessment after refund and assessment periods expire
Chief Counsel advised that the IRS may abate an excessive unemployment tax assessment even after the assessment limitation period has expired. Section 6404 and its regulations allow abatement of…
CCA 200915033: Bankruptcy acquisition did not qualify for unrestricted use of pre-change losses
Chief Counsel analyzed an acquisition designed to preserve a bankrupt target's net operating loss carryovers under section 382(l)(5). Although historic shareholders formally held just over 50…
PLR 200915032: Revised dividend terms did not affect an earlier ruling
A taxpayer asked the IRS to supplement an earlier ruling about a special dividend under sections 301 and 305. Shareholders could elect cash, stock of equivalent value under a modified formula, or a…
PLR 200915031: Rescinded excess shares were treated as never issued
A corporate group discovered that a foreign subsidiary had issued more shares than the value of a capital contribution justified. The number resulted from foreign legal, regulatory, and stamp-tax…
PLR 200915030: Family-owned businesses could separate through a tax-free split-off
Two family groups that each owned half of an S corporation wanted to operate its two businesses separately. The corporation proposed transferring one business to a new controlled corporation and…
PLR 200915029: Late accounting-period change request was treated as timely
A taxpayer missed the deadline for filing Form 1128 to change its annual accounting period. The information submitted showed that the taxpayer intended to make the change on time, but an error or…
PLR 200915028: Late accounting-period change request was treated as timely
A taxpayer missed the deadline for filing Form 1128 to change its annual accounting period. The taxpayer intended to make the change and file the form on time, but an error caused the late filing.…
PLR 200915027: Foreign entity received more time to elect disregarded status
A foreign entity intended to elect treatment as an entity disregarded from its single owner for federal tax purposes. An oversight caused it to miss the deadline for filing Form 8832. The IRS…
PLR 200915026: Two corporate split-offs qualified for tax-free treatment
An S corporation proposed transferring parts of its business to two new subsidiaries, then distributing each subsidiary's stock to separate shareholder groups in exchange for their stock in the…
PLR 200915025: Corporation received relief for a late S election
A corporation's shareholder intended the company to be treated as an S corporation from a specified date, but the election was not filed on time. The IRS found reasonable cause for the failure and…
PLR 200915024: Corporation received relief for a late S election
A corporation intended to be an S corporation from the date it was incorporated, but it did not timely file Form 2553. The IRS found reasonable cause for the missed deadline and granted relief under…
PLR 200915023: Foreign entity received more time to elect partnership status
A foreign entity intended to elect partnership classification for federal tax purposes but inadvertently failed to file Form 8832 on time. The IRS concluded that the entity met the standards for…
PLR 200915022: Public retiree health trust's income was excluded, but filing duty depended on classification
A state-created trust helped public employers fund health benefits for retired employees and their families. Its income came from employer contributions and investments and could be used only for…
PLR 200915021: Corporation received relief for a late S election
A corporation intended to be treated as an S corporation from its incorporation date, but its election was not filed on time. The IRS found reasonable cause for the late election and granted relief…
PLR 200915020: S status continued after shares were inadvertently issued to an IRA
An S corporation issued shares to a shareholder's individual retirement account, which was not an eligible S corporation shareholder. Neither the company nor its shareholders knew the transfer would…
PLR 200915019: Corporation received relief for a late S election
A corporation intended to be treated as an S corporation from its incorporation date, but its election was not filed on time. The IRS found reasonable cause for the late election and granted relief…
PLR 200915018: Corporation received relief for a late S election
A corporation's shareholders wanted it treated as an S corporation from its incorporation date, but the election was not filed on time. The IRS found reasonable cause for the late election and…
PLR 200915017: Public school retiree health trust received favorable income and benefit rulings
A public school board created a trust to fund health and welfare benefits for retired employees and their eligible family members. The IRS ruled that the trust performed an essential governmental…
PLR 200915016: Public school retiree health trust received favorable income and benefit rulings
A public school board created a trust to fund health and welfare benefits for retired employees and their eligible family members. The IRS ruled that the trust performed an essential governmental…
PLR 200915015: Public school retiree health trust received favorable income and benefit rulings
A public school board created a trust to fund health and welfare benefits for retired employees and their eligible family members. The IRS ruled that the trust performed an essential governmental…
PLR 200915014: Two regulated investment companies could revoke excise-tax accounting elections
Two regulated investment companies asked to revoke elections that used their calendar tax years to measure capital gain net income and related foreign-currency items for the section 4982 excise tax.…
PLR 200915013: Related companies received more time for real-property-interest statements and notices
A foreign parent and its related companies missed statement and IRS notice requirements connected with four internal transfers of interests in domestic corporations. They requested regulatory relief…
PLR 200915012: Corporation kept S status after a trust missed its ESBT election
A trust holding stock in an S corporation stopped being an eligible shareholder when its trustee failed to make a timely electing small business trust election. That failure terminated the…
PLR 200915011: Foreign entity received more time to elect disregarded status
A foreign entity intended to elect treatment as an entity disregarded from its owner but missed the Form 8832 deadline because of an oversight. The IRS found that the entity met the regulatory…
PLR 200915010: Foreign entity received more time to elect disregarded status
A foreign entity intended to elect treatment as an entity disregarded from its owner but missed the Form 8832 deadline because of an oversight. The IRS found that the entity met the regulatory…
PLR 200915009: Foreign entity received more time to elect disregarded status
A foreign entity intended to elect treatment as an entity disregarded from its owner but missed the Form 8832 deadline because of an oversight. The IRS found that the entity met the regulatory…
PLR 200915008: Entity received more time to elect disregarded status
An entity intended to elect treatment as an entity disregarded from its owner but missed the Form 8832 deadline. The IRS found that the entity met the regulatory standards for relief, including…
PLR 200915007: Entity received more time to elect disregarded status
An entity intended to elect treatment as an entity disregarded from its owner but missed the Form 8832 deadline. The IRS found that the entity met the regulatory standards for relief, including…
PLR 200915006: Public-fund investments did not make variable-contract holders owners of fund shares
A registered investment trust offered existing funds, and planned a new fund, as investment vehicles for insurance-company variable contracts. The funds could invest substantial amounts in regulated…
PLR 200915005: Corporation kept S status after two trusts missed ESBT elections
Two trusts became shareholders of an S corporation without timely electing treatment as electing small business trusts, causing the corporation's S election to terminate. The corporation represented…
PLR 200915004: Corporation retained S status despite trust-election defects
An S corporation's election was invalid from its intended start because one shareholder trust did not make an electing small business trust election. A second trust later became an ineligible…
PLR 200915003: Corporation received continuous S status after two missed ESBT elections
An S corporation's election was invalid from its intended start because a shareholder trust did not make an electing small business trust election. A second trust later became an ineligible…
PLR 200915002: Renewable energy certificate sales did not create private business use
A public electric utility district used tax-exempt bond proceeds to improve a hydroelectric facility and planned to sell renewable energy certificates generated by the facility. The proposed buyers…
PLR 200915001: S corporation business separation received tax-free reorganization rulings
An S corporation proposed separating two businesses through a foreign subsidiary liquidation followed by a series of steps treated as a contribution to a newly formed controlled corporation and a…
PLR 200914072: Caregiving hardship did not justify a late retirement-plan rollover
A retirement-plan participant attempted to roll a distribution into another qualified plan ten days after the 60-day deadline. The participant attributed the delay to caring for an ill fiancée who…
PLR 200914071: Claimed bank advice did not justify a late IRA rollover
An IRA owner took a full distribution and placed it in a non-IRA account, then sought a waiver of the 60-day rollover deadline. The owner said a bank representative gave bad advice and failed to…
PLR 200914070: Mental impairment justified a late IRA rollover waiver
An IRA owner withdrew funds, placed them temporarily in a non-IRA savings account, and later moved the same amount into a new IRA certificate of deposit after the 60-day rollover deadline. The owner…
PLR 200914069: Financial institution error justified a late IRA rollover waiver
An IRA owner took a required minimum distribution and instructed the financial institution to delay the next automatic distribution until a later month. The institution did not follow those written…
PLR 200914068: Misclassified IRA deposit received a late rollover waiver
An IRA owner withdrew funds and immediately tried to deposit them into a certificate of deposit held in a new IRA. The signature card identified the certificate as an IRA, but the receiving…
PLR 200914067: Credit union deposit error justified a late IRA rollover waiver
An IRA owner received a distribution and instructed a credit union to roll it into an IRA certificate of deposit. Credit union personnel instead placed the amount in several non-IRA certificates.…
PLR 200914066: VEBA could move pre-DEFRA reserves from retiree life to health benefits
An employer proposed moving assets from a tax-exempt VEBA's retiree life-insurance reserve to a separate account for retiree health benefits. The assets came from contributions made before the…
PLR 200914065: VEBA could move pre-DEFRA reserves from retiree life to health benefits
An employer proposed moving assets from a tax-exempt VEBA's retiree life-insurance reserve to a separate account for retiree health benefits. The assets came from contributions made before the…
IRS determination 200914064: Parent group for a for-profit daycare was denied section 501(c)(3) status
A parent and teacher group raised money for equipment and activities benefiting children enrolled at a for-profit daycare. The group had already bought carpets and playground equipment, and the…
IRS determination 200914063: Auto-dealer safety campaign organization was denied section 501(c)(3) status
An organization sought section 501(c)(3) status for safety-awareness campaigns using materials distributed through auto dealerships. Its directors and officers overlapped with a for-profit marketing…
CCA 200914062: Smart meters and smart grids belong in asset class 49.14
Chief Counsel was asked how to classify utility smart meters and smart grids for tax depreciation purposes. The advice points to the legislative history of sections 168(e)(3)(D)(iii) and (iv). It…
CCA 200914061: A revised TEFRA settlement required a newly executed form
Chief Counsel responded to a question concerning a TEFRA settlement agreement. The response agreed with the proposed approach but advised obtaining an entirely new or revised executed form. It…
CCA 200914060: Building components did not qualify for separate cost recovery
Chief Counsel addressed whether components of a building could receive separate cost recovery. The email states that the legislative histories of the Economic Recovery Tax Act of 1981 and the Tax…
CCA 200914059: Appeals guidance addressed the Hoyle collection decision
Chief Counsel responded to a voicemail concerning collection due process for a levy. The email directed the recipient to internal Appeals guidance issued in response to Hoyle v. Commissioner. It…
CCA 200914058: Dual representation did not automatically stop a third-party summons interview
A revenue agent had summoned a third party who retained the same attorney as the taxpayer, creating a dual-representation conflict question. Chief Counsel advised the agent to follow specified…
CCA 200914057: Church-paid minister compensation belonged on Form W-2 but was subject to SECA
Chief Counsel considered employment-tax treatment of payments made through a church to a minister. It advised treating the payments as additional church compensation reportable on Form W-2. Although…
CCA 200914056: Revocation of a tax-lien subordination agreement was confidential
Chief Counsel considered whether the IRS could tell a factor that it had revoked a taxpayer's subordination agreement after the taxpayer defaulted on an installment agreement or otherwise stopped…
CCA 200914055: A tax lien survives judgment and can support a later levy
Chief Counsel explained the effect of reducing a tax assessment to judgment on the federal tax lien and the IRS's levy authority. A timely court collection proceeding extends the period for levy…
CCA 200914054: A partner could raise personal penalty defenses through a refund claim
Chief Counsel considered how a partner could assert personal defenses to penalties determined at the partnership level after signing Form 870-PT. The advice explained that the form does not resolve…
CCA 200914053: Large fiscal-year partnerships had to file returns electronically
Chief Counsel considered whether fiscal-year partnerships with more than 100 partners had to file their Form 1065 returns electronically. Section 6011(e) and its regulations imposed the…
CCA 200914052: State priority did not establish entitlement to a tax overpayment
Chief Counsel considered whether a state's priority established its entitlement to a taxpayer's overpayment. The advice concluded that priority did not control entitlement to the overpayment.…
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.