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 200849018: Adult recreational soccer organization is denied tax exemption
An organization sought IRC § 501(c)(3) status for an adult soccer team whose players were selected through tryouts. It planned to spend most of its funds on fields, uniforms, travel, and meals,…
Determination 200849017: Patent-development entity is denied exemption and public-charity status
An entity sought IRC § 501(c)(3) exemption and classification as a supporting organization rather than a private foundation. Its proposed work centered on developing and licensing a donor's patented…
Determination 200849016: Electric cooperative may add natural gas service and combine its income test
An exempt rural electric cooperative purchased a utility's retail electric and natural gas distribution accounts and made the acquired customers full voting members. It planned separate operating…
TAM 200849015: Gift card proceeds are taxable on receipt and retailer payments wait until redemption
A corporate subsidiary sold and managed gift cards redeemable for goods and limited services from related retailers and one unrelated retailer. The IRS advised that card-sale proceeds were gross…
CCA 200849014: Hurricane safe harbor cannot be combined with a separate wharf loss
Homeowners claimed a casualty loss for Hurricane Rita damage to a residence and a wharf on the same personal-use parcel. They used the cost indexes safe harbor in Rev. Proc. 2006-32 for the…
CCA 200849013: Captive insurance risk must be measured using separate taxable insureds
A protected-cell captive received premiums from many entities owned by a common parent. Chief Counsel rejected the examiner's approach of grouping all lower-tier subsidiaries, divisions, and…
CCA 200849012: Offshore receivables factoring should be recast as a secured bank loan
A corporate group and a foreign bank funded an offshore special-purpose vehicle that purportedly bought group receivables at a discount and loaned excess funds back to the group's parent. Chief…
PLR 200849011: Revised nuclear decommissioning fund contribution schedule is approved
A utility-sponsored taxpayer that had stopped generating electricity requested a revised contribution schedule for its qualified nuclear decommissioning fund. An updated cost estimate and a public…
PLR 200849010: LLC receives 60 days to make late corporate and S elections
A limited liability company intended to be taxed as an S corporation from its formation date but did not timely file either Form 8832 or Form 2553. The IRS found that the requirements for…
PLR 200849009: Late election for a September 30 tax year is accepted
A taxpayer intended to elect a September 30 taxable year but did not timely file Form 8716 because of an error or misunderstanding. The IRS found that the taxpayer and its tax professionals acted…
PLR 200849008: Taxpayer receives 45 days to file a late accounting-period change
A taxpayer filed Form 1128 shortly after the deadline for changing its annual accounting period. The late filing resulted from an error or misunderstanding rather than a lack of diligence. The IRS…
PLR 200849007: Corporation receives 60 days to file its missing S election
A corporation intended to be an S corporation from its incorporation date, but the IRS had not received a Form 2553. The corporation requested late-election relief under IRC § 1362(b)(5). Based on…
PLR 200849006: Revised nuclear decommissioning fund contribution schedule is approved
A corporate subsidiary owned an undivided interest in a nuclear power plant and requested a revised contribution schedule for its qualified decommissioning fund. A public utility commission had…
PLR 200849005: Revised nuclear decommissioning fund contribution schedule is approved
A corporate subsidiary owned an interest in a nuclear power plant and requested a revised contribution schedule for its qualified decommissioning fund. A public utility commission had recently…
PLR 200849004: Nuclear decommissioning fund transfer and revised schedules are approved
A taxpayer became the federal tax owner of a nuclear plant interest and its decommissioning fund when a partnership terminated and an entity became disregarded. It requested an allocation of the…
PLR 200849003: Disproportionate distributions receive inadvertent S termination relief
An S corporation made disproportionate distributions to help shareholders pay taxes on corporate income over three years. It corrected the third year's distributions and represented that it would…
PLR 200849002: Corporation receives 60 days to file its late S election
A corporation intended to be an S corporation from a specified date but did not timely file Form 2553. It requested late-election relief under IRC § 1362(b)(5). Based on the submitted facts and…
CCA 200849001: Bank's secured checking-account interest has priority over a federal tax lien
A bank made a loan secured by all of a business taxpayer's deposit accounts before the IRS assessed employment taxes and filed federal tax lien notices. When the IRS later levied the taxpayer's…
CCA 200848076: Defective conservation easement acknowledgment bars the deduction
Chief Counsel advised that a charitable deduction of $250 or more for a conservation easement requires a contemporaneous written acknowledgment from the donee. The writing must describe the…
CCA 200848075: Certain large refunds do not require Joint Committee reporting
Chief Counsel discussed whether an estate case refund had to be reported to the Joint Committee on Taxation. The email explained that the Joint Committee generally does not review refunds arising…
CCA 200848074: Military-pay levy must use FPLP and remain in abeyance during deployment
Chief Counsel advised that the IRS should not serve paper Forms 668-A or 668-W for a continuing levy on military pay. The levy had to proceed through the Federal Payment Levy Program, the automated…
CCA 200848073: TEFRA extension forms must be signed by ultimate taxpayers and proper TMPs
Chief Counsel advised obtaining Forms 872-I from the ultimate taxpaying trusts and C corporations, including C corporation owners of an S corporation partner. For a consolidated C corporation group,…
CCA 200848072: Interest on section 6166 deferred estate tax is not deductible
Chief Counsel advised that IRC § 2053(c)(1)(D) bars a deduction for interest on estate tax deferred under IRC § 6166. The attached Rev. Proc. 98-15 explained a transition election for estates of…
CCA 200848071: Venezuelan business-assets tax is covered but not treaty-creditable
Chief Counsel advised that Venezuela's business-assets tax was a tax covered by the applicable treaty. It nevertheless was not creditable under the treaty. Article 24(3) limited the credit to…
CCA 200848070: IRS may use an affected-item notice without a TEFRA audit
Chief Counsel advised that the IRS could skip a TEFRA partnership audit and issue an affected-item notice of deficiency treating an S corporation as a C corporation on its partnership-interest sale.…
CCA 200848069: Pass-through partners may pay tax for hundreds of indirect partners
Chief Counsel advised that two pass-through partners could legally pay tax on net partnership adjustments at the highest marginal rate rather than flowing the adjustments through to hundreds of…
CCA 200848068: Federal interest on assessed transferee liability starts at notice and demand
Chief Counsel addressed interest when a transferee's liability is capped at the value of transferred assets and state law supplies interest before federal collection. The email explained that IRC §…
CCA 200848067: Partial abatement should align the assessment with a final judgment
Chief Counsel advised waiting until a judgment became final 60 days after entry, assuming no appeal, and then promptly making a partial abatement so the assessment on the IRS records matched the…
CCA 200848066: Form 872-P preserves distribution and affected-item adjustments
Chief Counsel advised that Form 872-P for the partnership would keep the limitations period open for taxing a distribution to a partner and for the partner's balance-sheet treatment. The partnership…
CCA 200848065: Holding another person's mail does not authorize disclosure
Chief Counsel identified potential privacy problems with obtaining information through someone who merely held another person's mail. Possession of the mail did not itself authorize that person to…
CCA 200848063: Section 6103 does not require the referenced notification
Chief Counsel advised that IRC § 6103 clearly did not require a referenced notification. The released email does not identify what notification was under discussion. It also expressed the…
CCA 200848062: Choosing the foreign tax credit revokes the foreign earned income exclusion
A taxpayer asked whether choosing the foreign tax credit instead of the foreign earned income exclusion would revoke the exclusion. Chief Counsel answered yes. The released advice states no…
CCA 200848061: State-law authority controls who signs for a tiered tax matters partner
Chief Counsel answered several questions about selecting and acting through a tax matters partner in tiered entity structures. When an LLC has no designated member-managers, each member is treated…
CCA 200848060: No agreed extension when unified credit eliminates gift tax liability
Chief Counsel advised that the limitations period could not be extended by agreement in a gift-valuation matter where the unified credit eliminated any actual tax liability. Although IRC § 6901 can…
CCA 200848059: TEFRA partnership may be assessed directly as a transferee
Chief Counsel advised that a TEFRA partnership can be a transferee when it receives assets from a liquidated corporation with unpaid tax. State law determines whether and to what extent the…
CCA 200848058: Economic stimulus answer refers to earned income
Chief Counsel clarified that an earlier reference was to “earned income.” The email added that, to the author's understanding, the economic stimulus payment applied only to types of income such as…
CCA 200848057: Taxpayer may receive return information unless disclosure impairs administration
Chief Counsel advised that an internal memorandum to an agent appeared to be the taxpayer's return information. Under IRC § 6103(e)(7), a taxpayer generally may receive that information unless…
CCA 200848056: Form W-2 needs no change for the questioned HSA contributions
A submitter questioned how certain health savings account contributions were reported on Form W-2. After reviewing the submitted materials, Chief Counsel concluded that the form did not need to be…
CCA 200848055: Section 351 answer is limited to the carryover-basis amount
A question concerned moving Schedule C assets to a new C corporation. Chief Counsel gave a qualified yes if IRC § 351 applied, but only to the extent the new corporation's basis did not exceed the…
CCA 200848054: Thrift Savings Plan contributions face FICA when contributed, not distributed
Chief Counsel advised that Thrift Savings Plan contributions are excluded from income when contributed but remain subject to Social Security and Medicare taxes at that time. Later TSP distributions…
CCA 200848053: Case-closure evaluations violate quantity-measure rule, not ROTER ban
Two documents evaluated Automated Underreporter Program employees partly by their case-closure rate. Chief Counsel advised that cases closed and time per case were not records of tax enforcement…
CCA 200848052: Grantor trust or disregarded LLC prevents small-partnership exception
Chief Counsel advised that the TEFRA small-partnership exception applied only when every partner was a natural person, C corporation, or estate. A pass-through entity could not be a partner. A…
CCA 200848051: U.S. parent needs a section 3121(l) agreement to deduct foreign-subsidiary FICA
Chief Counsel interpreted IRC § 3121(z)(3) to deny a U.S. parent a deduction even for FICA taxes it actually paid on behalf of a foreign subsidiary. The email suggested that this result could…
CCA 200848050: IRS cannot retroactively revoke an effective S election
A question asked whether the IRS could issue a private letter ruling retroactively revoking an S corporation election. Chief Counsel advised that no legal authority permitted that relief. If the…
CCA 200848049: Assess inconsistent partnership item before considering loss carryforwards
Chief Counsel advised assessing an inconsistently reported partnership item under IRC § 6222(c)(2) within the applicable limitations period. The partner then had to pay and raise passive-loss…
CCA 200848048: Source-partnership FPAA generally binds tiers and cannot be withdrawn
Chief Counsel advised that an FPAA could not be revised or withdrawn after issuance, although the IRS could raise additional issues if the case was petitioned. Generally, one FPAA to the source…
CCA 200848047: Use partner's normal limitations period when item character is uncertain
Chief Counsel advised that assessment attributable to nonpartnership components had to occur within the partner's normal limitations period. The key partnership case period could apply to any…
CCA 200848046: Third-party purchaser may contest lien value, not taxpayer's assessment
Chief Counsel advised that IRC § 6325(b)(4) does not let a third-party purchaser of encumbered property challenge the taxpayer's underlying liability. The IRS may reconsider other collection sources…
CCA 200848045: Protective refund claim must identify contingencies, grounds, and tax years
Chief Counsel explained that a protective claim preserves a possible refund while entitlement depends on future law, litigation, or another unresolved event. A valid claim need not demand an…
CCA 200848044: Missed section 45H certification bars current credit but may leave later year open
Chief Counsel explained that a section 45H certification addresses only whether qualified facility costs will produce compliance with applicable EPA regulations. It does not establish the taxpayer's…
CCA 200848043: Computationally traceable K-1 inconsistency may be directly assessed through tiers
Chief Counsel advised that the IRS could directly assess a partner when an inconsistent filing was computationally traceable to a source partnership item. If the discrepancy could not be resolved by…
CCA 200848042: Indirect partner K-1 adjustment needs no separate TEFRA proceeding
Chief Counsel advised that the IRS could make computational adjustments conforming both direct and indirect partners' returns to a TEFRA partnership's Schedules K-1. A partnership with a…
CCA 200848041: Form W-2 receipt means no section 7436 classification controversy
Chief Counsel agreed that the quoted Form 8919 instructions were correct. The substantive portion of the explanation is redacted. The email states that receiving a Form W-2 means there is no…
CCA 200848040: Section 6324A lien continues through post-election collection period
Chief Counsel advised that a section 6324A lien remains effective until the estate-tax liability is fully paid or collection is no longer possible. IRC § 6503(d) suspends the collection period for…
CCA 200848039: LLC employment-tax assessment reaches owner, but lien notice should name owner
Chief Counsel advised treating an employment-tax assessment made against a disregarded single-member LLC as valid against its sole owner, while emphasizing that the federal tax lien notice should…
CCA 200848038: Settlement cover letter should retain statutory term malfeasance
Chief Counsel advised retaining “malfeasance” in a cover letter describing when a settlement agreement is not final. Both the closing-agreement and TEFRA-settlement statutes use that term, and the…
CCA 200848037: No statutory right to Appeals consideration
The subject line refers to a 60-day objection letter, but the released email does not include the question. Chief Counsel answered yes and stated that there is no statutory right to Appeals…
CCA 200848036: Entity keeps EIN through conversion and partnership classification election
A member of a consolidated group converted from a C corporation to an association taxable as a corporation and then elected partnership classification. Chief Counsel treated the first step as an F…
CCA 200848035: Consolidated-group letter may be sent only to parent
The subject line concerns a 60-day objection letter, but the released email omits the question. Chief Counsel advised that sending the letter to the subsidiary partner was unnecessary and that it…
CCA 200848034: At-risk limits require affected-item notices after TEFRA proceeding
Chief Counsel advised that a partner's at-risk amount is an affected item whose assessment period is extended by the TEFRA proceeding. The partnership case must determine the liabilities, their…
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.