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 200914051: Partnership returns did not start a nonresident partner's assessment period
Chief Counsel addressed the filing and assessment period for a nonresident alien partner who had not filed an original return. The advice said the partner could file that return at any time because…
CCA 200914050: DOJ settlement letters bound a partner and started the assessment period
Chief Counsel explained how the Department of Justice settles partnership cases under section 6224(c). An offer letter from a partner and an acceptance letter from DOJ form a binding settlement…
CCA 200914049: The corporation's authorized officer had to sign its Form 872 consent
Chief Counsel advised how to identify a corporation and obtain a valid signature on a Form 872 limitations-period consent. A "care of" notation on the return could be left off if it was not part of…
CCA 200914048: Two taxpayers needed separate power-of-attorney forms
Chief Counsel responded to a question about an individual and a firm appearing together on one power-of-attorney form. The advice understood the facts to involve two taxpayers naming the same…
CCA 200914047: An exercised discounted stock option could not be corrected under section 409A
Chief Counsel addressed section 409A treatment of a stock option whose exercise price was set below fair market value on the grant date. The advice explained that section 409A operates independently…
CCA 200914046: A sale without required notice left property subject to the federal tax lien
Chief Counsel discussed the Tenth Circuit's decision in Russell v. United States concerning a sale of property burdened by a federal tax lien. The email described the decision as favorable to the…
CCA 200914045: Section 7436 did not prevent direct assessment against a designated employer
Chief Counsel considered whether section 7436 applied to a category identified in the released email only as "(d)(1) employers." Based on the statutory language, the advice concluded that section…
CCA 200914044: The day after Thanksgiving did not extend California federal tax deposit deadlines
Chief Counsel considered whether the day after Thanksgiving should be excluded when calculating federal tax deposit deadlines in California. Deposit rules generally except non-banking days, but…
CCA 200914043: Form 872-P/O signature requirements changed after June 27, 2004
Chief Counsel reviewed who needed to sign a Form 872-P/O involving a subsidiary and parent. For tax years beginning before June 28, 2004, the advice said both the subsidiary and parent should sign.…
CCA 200914042: A tax matters partner's failure did not invalidate the TEFRA proceeding
Chief Counsel addressed a TEFRA partnership-proceeding issue, but the opening portion of the released answer was redacted. The remaining text relies on section 6230(f). It explains that a tax…
CCA 200914041: A consent's second page could bind if evidence matched the lost first page
Chief Counsel considered whether the surviving second page of a Form 872-P/O consent could remain binding after the first page was lost. The advice said the IRS could make that case if it proved…
CCA 200914040: An expired refund period barred both refund and credit of an overpayment
Chief Counsel provided analysis for a response to a member of Congress concerning an overpayment after the refund limitations period expired. Sections 6402 and 6511 barred both refunding the…
CCA 200914039: A defaulted deficiency notice did not prevent extending the assessment period
Chief Counsel considered whether a taxpayer and the IRS could extend the assessment limitations period after the IRS issued a statutory notice of deficiency on which the taxpayer defaulted. The…
CCA 200914038: An affected-items deficiency notice should adjust a partner's outside basis
Chief Counsel considered the procedure for adjusting a partner's outside basis in a partnership. It advised the IRS to issue an affected-items notice of deficiency making that adjustment. The…
CCA 200914037: A subsidiary tax matters partner could sign Form 872-P/O without the parent
Chief Counsel addressed the signature procedure for a Form 872-P/O under the consolidated-return regulation. The advice said the procedure changed after the regulation's June 28, 2002 effective…
CCA 200914036: No accuracy-related penalty applied without an underpayment
Chief Counsel analyzed whether an accuracy-related penalty applied after accounting for tax carrybacks and carryforwards. Carrybacks cannot reduce an underpayment, while carryforwards enter the…
CCA 200914035: Temporary foreign agricultural work could qualify for a FICA exemption
Chief Counsel explained when an H-visa holder's services may be exempt from FICA. The only exemption expressly based on holding an H visa covered services performed in Guam by a Philippine resident…
CCA 200914034: Disputed independent contractors should be treated as third-party contacts
Chief Counsel considered third-party contact rules for workers whom an employer called independent contractors but whose employee status was disputed. Because the employer apparently had not…
CCA 200914033: A limitations consent had to be signed on behalf of the partnership
Chief Counsel addressed who could sign Form 872-i to extend the limitations period for a partnership's section 1446 withholding liability. A manager authorized under state law could sign for the…
CCA 200914032: A partnership could sign its own section 1446 limitations consent
Chief Counsel addressed a limitations extension for a partnership's section 1446 withholding tax on income allocated to foreign partners. That withholding liability was a partnership item decided in…
CCA 200914031: Only a current officer could sign a consent for a state-law entity
Chief Counsel answered a question about who could sign a limitations-period consent for an entity created under state law. It advised that only a current officer could sign for the entity. Nearly…
CCA 200914030: An LLC manager generally had to sign the entity's Form 872-i
Chief Counsel addressed who should sign Form 872-i for an LLC subject to the TEFRA partnership rules. The form should be signed by a manager of the entity rather than merely by its tax matters…
CCA 200914029: Separate partner consents made the partnership consent's validity irrelevant
Chief Counsel considered the effect of obtaining Forms 872-i from both partners when the validity of a Form 872-P was in question. The tax matters partner was the agent for the two partners and…
CCA 200914028: A trust and its beneficiary generally needed separate limitations consents
Chief Counsel addressed limitations-period consents for partnership income passing through a trust to beneficiaries. The trust was taxable on income it retained, while beneficiaries were taxable on…
CCA 200914027: Counsel tentatively treated an ESBT beneficiary as the taxable partner
Chief Counsel addressed a limitations-period issue involving an electing small business trust that owned an S corporation, which in turn was a partner in a TEFRA partnership. The writer tentatively…
CCA 200914026: A trust's consent did not extend its beneficiaries' assessment periods
Chief Counsel advised on several limitations-period consents for direct and indirect partners. A trust could not extend a beneficiary's assessment period, so the IRS needed Forms 872-i from…
CCA 200914025: An indirect partner could waive disclosure limits or serve as tax matters partner
Chief Counsel explained that the partnership itself was not a party to its TEFRA proceeding, so the IRS did not need a representative for the entity. Any indirect partner could sign a disclosure…
CCA 200914024: The parent alone needed to sign the consolidated group's consent
Chief Counsel advised that only the parent needed to sign a limitations-period consent for a consolidated liability. The IRS generally assessed that liability against the parent, and a subsidiary…
CCA 200914023: Counsel supplied penalty-notice language for listed-transaction disclosure failures
Chief Counsel supplied template language for notices proposing section 6707A penalties involving listed transactions. The instructions told examiners to select the version of the…
TAM 200914022: An insurer's discounted unpaid losses did not carry over to its non-insurance parent
An insurance subsidiary liquidated into its non-insurance parent in a section 332 transaction after canceling its policies and surrendering its insurance authority. The subsidiary had previously…
TAM 200914021: A parent could claim an ordinary loss for a worthless operating subsidiary with no receipts
A domestic corporation's wholly owned foreign operating subsidiary became worthless before ever receiving gross receipts. Section 165(g)(3) ordinarily allows a corporate parent an ordinary rather…
PLR 200914020: Forestry conservation bond allocation and refund election were approved
An applicant sought an allocation of the national limitation for qualified forestry conservation bonds to acquire forest land for conservation and eventual transfer to the U.S. Forest Service. Based…
PLR 200914019: ESOP redemption terms and split-dollar agreements did not create a second stock class
An S corporation asked whether provisions governing redemptions of company shares from its employee stock ownership plan and two split-dollar life insurance agreements created a prohibited second…
PLR 200914018: A one-time retiree-health waiver election did not create constructive receipt
An employer agreed to let represented employees make a one-time irrevocable election to waive future retiree health coverage in exchange for a higher pay rate. Current employees had to elect by a…
PLR 200914017: An internal distribution and merger qualified as tax-free reorganizations
A publicly traded parent proposed a multi-step restructuring to consolidate related businesses and reduce costs within its corporate group. A subsidiary would contribute a business and stock to…
PLR 200914016: Reasonable cause justified a late S corporation election
A corporation and its shareholders intended S corporation treatment from a specified effective date but did not file the election on time. The IRS found reasonable cause for the missed deadline…
PLR 200914015: A partnership received more time to file its LIFO election
A partnership underwent a technical termination after one affiliated corporation bought an outside owner's interest. The partnership consolidated its existing LIFO inventory layers into one opening…
PLR 200914014: Reasonable cause supported a late S corporation election
A corporation's shareholder intended S corporation treatment from the date of incorporation, but the corporation did not file its election on time. The IRS found reasonable cause for the failure…
PLR 200914013: A corporation kept S status after curing an ineligible shareholder's ownership
An ineligible shareholder acquired stock in an S corporation, terminating the corporation's S election. After discovering the problem, the corporation took steps to qualify again as a small business…
PLR 200914012: A defective S corporation filing received late-election relief
A corporation's shareholder intended S corporation treatment beginning on the incorporation date, but the election was not filed correctly or on time. The IRS found reasonable cause for the filing…
PLR 200914011: A public employer's retiree-health trust received favorable income and benefit treatment
A political subdivision established and funded a trust to provide health and welfare benefits for its retirees, their spouses, and eligible dependents. The trust served only that public employer's…
PLR 200914010: A school board's retiree-health trust received favorable tax treatment
A public school board created and funded a trust to provide health and welfare benefits for retirees, their spouses, and eligible dependents. The board was the plan's only employer, private…
PLR 200914009: A school board's retiree-health trust income and benefits were tax-excluded
A public school board funded a trust that paid health and welfare benefits for its retirees, their spouses, and eligible dependents. The board was the plan's only employer, served through its chair…
PLR 200914008: Related late elections restored S corporation and QSub treatment
A single-member LLC acquired an S corporation and admitted that corporation's former sole shareholder as an LLC member. The LLC then became a partnership and an ineligible S corporation shareholder,…
PLR 200914007: An ineligible shareholder's ownership did not defeat intended S status
A corporation attempted to elect S status while an ineligible shareholder owned some of its shares, making the election invalid from its intended effective date. The corporation corrected its…
PLR 200914006: Administrative oversight justified a late accounting-period application
The common parent of a consolidated corporate group wanted to change its tax year to match the year already used in its books, which would cause three subsidiaries to conform automatically. The…
PLR 200914005: Mishandled restricted stock did not end S status before a planned revocation
An S corporation issued restricted nonvoting common stock to employees, some of whom made section 83(b) elections that caused their unvested shares to count as outstanding. Unaware of that rule, the…
PLR 200914004: A subsidiary received more time to elect corporate classification
A wholly owned domestic subsidiary changed its form of organization but inadvertently failed to elect treatment as an association taxable as a corporation from the change date. The subsidiary…
PLR 200914003: A foreign entity received more time to elect disregarded status
A foreign entity intended to be disregarded as separate from its owner for federal tax purposes from the date it was formed. It inadvertently failed to file Form 8832 on time. The IRS found that the…
PLR 200914002: A foreign entity's late disregarded-status election received relief
A foreign entity intended to be treated as a disregarded entity from its formation date but inadvertently missed the Form 8832 filing deadline. A foreign eligible entity with one owner and limited…
PLR 200914001: New ownership permitted an early change to disregarded-entity status
An entity had elected corporate classification and later became a taxable REIT subsidiary after a real estate investment trust acquired it. Following additional ownership changes, the REIT again…
PLR 200913071: Incomplete bank advice justified a late spousal IRA rollover
A surviving spouse was the sole beneficiary of her deceased husband's IRA and sought the financial institution's advice about her options. Its officer told her she had to withdraw the balance but…
PLR 200913070: Mental incapacity justified a late IRA rollover waiver
An IRA owner in declining health withdrew the remaining IRA balance and moved it through a personal checking account into a revocable family trust, neither of which was a qualified IRA. His…
IRS determination 200913068: Religious merchandise seller was denied section 501(c)(3) status
An organization sought section 501(c)(3) status to distribute religious products, but its only planned activity was selling merchandise based largely on characters created by a related foreign…
IRS determination 200913067: Youth-education organization was denied exemption for private benefit
An organization proposed to educate young people about sexually transmitted diseases, drugs, and abstinence through speeches, a novel, plays, and films. One of its directors had written the novel,…
PLR 200913066: A private foundation's postdoctoral fellowship procedures were approved
A private foundation proposed annual postdoctoral fellowships for promising scholars conducting social-science research or writing related to its mission. Independent professors would nominate…
PLR 200913065: Endowment-linked units did not create UBTI for a charitable remainder trust
An exempt educational institution served as trustee and remainder beneficiary of several charitable remainder trusts. It proposed giving the trusts contractual units tied to its endowment's value…
PLR 200913064: A community scholarship program's procedures and awards were approved
A private foundation proposed two to 20 annual scholarships for college-eligible residents of its community who showed academic achievement and financial need. A committee with one foundation board…
PLR 200913063: A university's endowment-unit arrangement did not create UBTI
An exempt educational institution was trustee and sole charitable remainder beneficiary of multiple charitable remainder trusts. It proposed issuing the trusts contractual units tied to the value…
CCA 200913062: One employer's qualification failure could disqualify a multiple-employer plan
Chief Counsel addressed two questions about a plan covering employees of multiple employers. The writer referred the question of whether a nontrustee sponsoring employer could extend the trust'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.