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 200911031: The submitted Form 2848 was acceptable
Chief Counsel answered a question about a power of attorney. After consulting a colleague, the writer said they agreed that the Form 2848 was acceptable. The released email gives no additional facts…
CCA 200911030: The new disclosure rule did not change TEFRA proceeding disclosures
Chief Counsel advised that the amendment adding section 6103(e)(10) should not affect disclosures in TEFRA partnership proceedings under section 6103(h)(4)(A). That provision allows taxpayer…
CCA 200911029: An IRS expert may describe the engagement without revealing return information
An outside expert hired by the IRS needed to disclose conflicts of interest to another federal agency. Section 6103(n) permits the IRS to give confidential tax information to the expert, but the…
CCA 200911028: A later church inquiry could require written approval
The IRS was closing a church inquiry without an examination or a request that the church change its operating practices. Section 7611(f) requires the Secretary's written approval for a second church…
CCA 200911027: An overpayment could not be refunded after the limitation period expired
Chief Counsel advised that the IRS may not refund or credit an overpayment after the refund statute expiration date. The funds in the case were beyond that deadline and therefore could not be…
CCA 200911026: A parent-company officer could sign the extension for a disregarded entity
Chief Counsel reviewed a proposed Form 872 involving a disregarded entity. It agreed with the submitted analysis about who could sign the consent to extend the limitations period. The signature of…
CCA 200911025: TEFRA settlement forms depend on the year, partner, and unresolved items
Chief Counsel advised using a separate Form 870-PT for each of four years, with the consolidated parent signing for two years and both the parent and subsidiary signing for the other two. Years…
CCA 200911024: An indirect-investor assessment required a signed return or waiver
Chief Counsel addressed an examination assessment involving an indirect investor. If the taxpayer supplied a signed Form 1040X, section 6201(a)(1) allowed the IRS to assess the stated amounts.…
CCA 200911023: A suit-period extension did not extend the deadline for a partner's adjustment request
A partner could file a section 6227(d) administrative adjustment request within three years after the partnership filed its return or during an extension of the section 6229(b) assessment period.…
CCA 200911022: Settled partners and tiered items limited a tax matters partner's adjustment request
Chief Counsel advised that a tax matters partner's administrative adjustment request would be a nullity if all partners had signed Forms 870-PT for the year, because no partner would remain a party…
CCA 200911021: An IRS levy authorized a broker to redeem mutual funds
Chief Counsel addressed an IRS levy on a brokerage account containing mutual funds. Because mutual funds are redeemed for cash rather than sold, the advice treated them as similar to cash. The levy…
CCA 200911020: K-1 inconsistencies generally permitted direct assessment
A partnership item included on an attachment to Schedule K-1 is part of the Schedule K-1. When a partner reports inconsistently with that schedule, section 6222 generally permits the IRS to assess…
CCA 200911019: An off-Code law added one dollar to the 2008 partnership return penalty
Public Law 110-141 added one dollar to the section 6698(b)(1) penalty for failure to file a partnership return. The increase applied only to a taxable year beginning in 2008 and did not apply to S…
CCA 200911018: Collect an electing large partnership's tax from its assets before its partners
Chief Counsel discussed collecting tax after the items of an electing large partnership were finally determined. With no current regulations under section 6255(d), the first choice was to collect…
CCA 200911017: Final TEFRA adjustments are taken into account at the electing large partnership level
Section 6240(b)(2) requires TEFRA partnership items to be taken into account at the electing large partnership level under section 6242. Once the TEFRA items are finally determined, the electing…
CCA 200911016: Assess the disclosure penalty for the return year requiring disclosure
Chief Counsel gave an initial view about the year for assessing a section 6707A disclosure penalty. When disclosure was required with a return for a particular tax year, the penalty should be…
CCA 200911015: Tax Court deficiency jurisdiction includes the section 6651(a)(2) addition
Chief Counsel addressed the Tax Court's jurisdiction over the section 6651(a)(2) addition to tax for failure to pay. Section 6214(a) authorizes the court to determine whether an additional amount or…
CCA 200911014: IRS manual guidance needed to address limits on disclosures to the Railroad Retirement Board
The email identified chapter 21 as FICA, chapter 23 as FUTA, and chapter 24 as income tax withholding. It noted that a taxpayer could owe FICA for some employees and railroad retirement tax for…
CCA 200911013: Chief Counsel forwarded an earlier determination for a gaming case
Chief Counsel sent a link to written determination 9941043 for use in a gaming case. The writer thought the linked document would clarify the issue. The released email contains no substantive…
CCA 200911012: The casino's tournament-based approach was correct
Chief Counsel responded to a question involving Revenue Procedure 2007-57 and a casino. The writer thought the casino's position was correct. The email added that the matter was usually handled on a…
CCA 200911011: A dissolved LLC's chief operating officer could sign its Form 2848
A Delaware LLC had elected to be treated as a corporation for federal tax purposes. Its Form 2848 therefore had to be signed by an officer authorized to bind the corporation, with the officer…
CCA 200911010: The direct asset recipient was the acquiring corporation under section 381
A corporation directly acquired assets in a section 368(a)(1)(D) reorganization, then transferred them through subsidiaries so that no single corporation ultimately held all the assets. The section…
TAM 200911009: A retired surviving spouse qualified for deemed material participation in farming
A surviving spouse owned a cattle-farming activity through a grantor trust and LLC but did not actively participate in its operations during the years at issue. Section 469(h)(3) links deemed…
CCA 200911008: The taxpayer should have used December price indexes for both inventory pools
A taxpayer elected the inventory price index computation method for two dollar-value LIFO pools and used the most-recent-acquisitions method to determine current-year cost. It used November indexes…
CCA 200911007: The acquisition-debt limit applied to the residence's total mortgage
A taxpayer financed a principal residence with an interest-only mortgage exceeding $1 million, then added a co-owner to the property and loan. The taxpayer paid all interest for two years and a…
CCA 200911006: Separately valued business intangibles can qualify as like-kind property
Earlier IRS advice treated trademarks, trade names, newspaper mastheads, and customer accounts as closely related to goodwill and therefore not eligible for section 1031 like-kind treatment. On…
CCA 200911005: Royalties for software patent rights did not qualify for the extraterritorial income exclusion
A U.S. corporation developed an invention it characterized as software and licensed related intellectual property under two contracts. Contract A licensed copyright and other rights for a nominal…
PLR 200911004: A court-approved rescission caused a merger to be disregarded
A corporation bought all of a target's preferred stock and then merged the target into itself for common stock, notes, and cash. After discovering potentially severe tax consequences, the parties…
PLR 200911003: A state-created public school could issue bonds on behalf of the state
A state legislature created a public residential magnet school as a state agency and authorized its board to borrow and issue bonds for renovation and construction. The governor appointed a majority…
PLR 200911002: Securities class-action settlement costs were deductible business expenses
A corporation settled a securities class action alleging false and misleading statements in SEC filings about its revenue, earnings, profitability, and financial condition. Section 162 permits…
PLR 200911001: A tribal utility's power-project interest served an essential governmental function
A state electrical district planned bonds to finance part of a gas-fired generating project in which a utility owned by a tribal political subdivision would acquire an undivided interest and pay its…
PLR 200910069: An estate received extra time to complete a retirement-plan rollover
A retirement-plan participant received a distribution and intended to roll it over within 60 days, but medical treatment and the participant's death prevented timely completion. The estate's…
PLR 200910068: An erroneous IRA withdrawal received a 60-day rollover waiver
An 88-year-old taxpayer intended to move funds from a nonqualified annuity to an insured account, but the adviser mistakenly entered the taxpayer's IRA account number on the withdrawal form. The…
Determination 200910067: A members-only homeowners association lost its exemption
A homeowners association maintained private roads and common areas, arranged security patrols, and organized social activities for property owners in a roughly 550-acre residential area. Membership…
Determination 200910066: A small reinsurer lost exemption after failing the premium-income test
A foreign reinsurance company elected under section 953(d) to be treated as a domestic corporation and had been recognized as exempt under section 501(c)(15). After the Pension Funding Equity Act of…
Determination 200910065: Failure to file returns and substantiate exempt operation led to revocation
A section 501(c)(3) organization had not filed Form 990 since the redacted year despite repeated IRS requests. It also failed to provide documents showing that it was organized and operated…
Determination 200910064: Refusing document requests led to retroactive revocation
A section 501(c)(3) organization did not respond to repeated IRS letters and telephone calls seeking records for an examination. It also failed to file required information returns or provide…
Determination 200910063: Nonfiling and failure to provide records ended exemption
A section 501(c)(3) organization did not file Forms 990 or respond to IRS correspondence seeking documents for an audit. Without the requested books, records, and activity information, it did not…
Determination 200910062: Paid tax-preparation activity and withheld records led to revocation
A section 501(c)(3) organization claimed that it offered free tax help to low- and middle-income people, but bank information showed fees from businesses and individuals outside a charitable class.…
Determination 200910061: Commercial vendor promotion defeated charitable exemption
An applicant described a ministry serving women and families and operated a battered-women hotline, a website, and one public event. Its articles also authorized providing merchandise, while its…
Determination 200910060: Member carpooling and electronic sales did not qualify for exemption
A stock corporation proposed a members-only carpool network that would pay member drivers, while its only current activity was buying and reselling electronics at a markup. Background checks on…
PLR 200910059: An employee-dependent scholarship program received advance approval
A private foundation planned to fund scholarships for qualified dependent children of an employer's eligible current and former employees. An independent public charity would administer the program,…
CCA 200910058: The IRS should not collect tax on compensated work therapy payments
The Tax Court had concluded that payments under the Department of Veterans Affairs Compensated Work Therapy program were veterans' benefits excluded from income under section 140(a)(3), while…
CCA 200910057: Bankruptcy did not bar assessment after the Tax Court petition period expired
The taxpayer's 90-day period to petition the Tax Court expired before the taxpayer filed for bankruptcy, but the IRS made its assessment after the bankruptcy filing. Although section 362(a)(6) of…
CCA 200910056: Net-operating-loss carryback refund claims were timely
A target corporation joined an acquiring consolidated group, ending the target group and creating a short tax year. The target filed Form 7004 for a six-month extension, later filed its short-year…
CCA 200910055: Form instructions control whether taxpayers may round dollar amounts
Treasury regulations allow amounts to be reported at the nearest whole dollar when the applicable form or instructions permit rounding. Amounts from one cent through 49 cents round down, while 50…
CCA 200910054: Supporting-organization revisions addressed operational failure and indirect control
Chief Counsel described final revisions to a revenue agent's report involving supporting-organization issues. The revisions added failure of the operational test and clarified that a redacted party…
CCA 200910053: A disallowed fuel tax credit increased the deficiency dollar for dollar
Chief Counsel explained how claimed section 34 fuel tax credits enter the section 6211 deficiency calculation. The tax shown on the return reflects the claimed credits, but section 6211(b)(4) is…
CCA 200910052: A casino levy could reach winnings only after the taxpayer won
Chief Counsel advised that a taxpayer had no property right in potential casino winnings before actually winning. A revenue officer seeking to levy the winnings would therefore have to be present or…
CCA 200910051: The current IRA custodian should sign the limitations extension
Chief Counsel advised that the new IRA custodian should sign the agreement extending the assessment period. Section 408 treats the IRA partners, including the tax matters partner, as trusts and the…
CCA 200910050: Settled partners were outside the remaining TEFRA proceeding
Fully executed Forms 870-PT converted the settling partners' partnership items and removed those partners from the TEFRA proceeding. Because a settled partner would not be subject to a final…
CCA 200910049: A missing K-1 dividend entry could be corrected as a clerical error
Chief Counsel advised reviewing the entire partnership return rather than only the partner's Schedule K-1. If Form 1065B reported the agreed amount of ordinary dividends but the partnership omitted…
CCA 200910048: A negative section 481 adjustment is taken in one year
Chief Counsel explained the timing of a section 481(a) adjustment caused by a change in accounting method. A negative adjustment that decreases taxable income is taken into account in one year. A…
CCA 200910047: Assessment required the tax matters partner's Form 8082 authorization
Chief Counsel addressed an administrative adjustment request where Form 8082 did not have the relevant box marked. The IRS could assess only if the tax matters partner authorized assessment by…
CCA 200910046: Settlement disclosures let remaining partners seek consistent treatment
Tax Court Rule 248 required disclosure of settled partners' identities to the tax matters partner when settlement occurred after docketing. A pre-litigation settlement presented a potential…
CCA 200910045: Section 7436 applied to reclassification of household workers
The taxpayer filed neither Schedule H nor Forms W-2 and therefore had not treated the household workers as employees for section 7436 purposes. Chief Counsel's initial view was that section 7436…
CCA 200910044: The taxpayer and subsidiary should sign a settlement covering affected items
Chief Counsel advised that both the ultimate taxpayer and its subsidiary should sign the settlement. A settlement by a pass-through partner binds indirect partners as to partnership items, but it…
CCA 200910043: The section 6015(f) litigating position remained unchanged
Chief Counsel responded to an inquiry about section 6015(f) innocent-spouse cases. The email states only that the IRS's litigating position remained unchanged. The public release provides no facts,…
CCA 200910042: An estate could apply section 6166(c) to only some business interests
Chief Counsel addressed four business interests held by an estate. The estate could use section 6166(c) for three businesses and separately bifurcate the fourth if that business independently…
CCA 200910041: The wholly-owned plan-asset rule excluded eligible individual account plans
The forwarded email considered the Department of Labor rule for an entity wholly owned by one plan or a related group of plans. Preamble language generally treated the plan's assets and the wholly…
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.