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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PLR 200836012: Voting trust did not remove a target from its consolidated group
A holding company acquired all of a target corporation's stock but placed the shares in an independent voting trust while awaiting federal regulatory approval. The holding company retained the trust…
PLR 200836011: Corporation received 60 days to file its late DISC election
A parent corporation hired advisers to form a subsidiary as a domestic international sales corporation, but responsibility for filing Form 4876-A was misunderstood and no election was filed. The…
PLR 200836010: Former CEO was not a covered employee at year-end
A public company's chief executive officer resigned during the company's taxable year and became a senior adviser without policy-making duties. The company still had to list the former officer in…
PLR 200836009: Late QSST election did not end S corporation status
An S corporation's election terminated when the beneficiary of a shareholder trust failed to timely make a qualified subchapter S trust election. The corporation represented that the failure was not…
PLR 200836008: Taxpayer received 60 days to elect investment-income treatment
An individual failed to timely file a return and elect to treat capital gains as investment income for purposes of the investment-interest deduction limit. The record described serious illness and…
PLR 200836007: Newly formed corporation received late S election relief
A newly formed corporation intended to be an S corporation from its incorporation date, but Form 2553 was not timely filed. The IRS found reasonable cause for the failure. It ruled that an election…
PLR 200836006: Couple received relief for investment-income elections
A married couple incurred investment interest from debt used to buy stock in a closely held corporation. Their former tax preparer did not advise them that they could elect to count qualified…
PLR 200836005: Municipal energy cooperative received governmental tax treatment
A cooperative formed by local governmental bodies planned to develop or own electric-generation facilities and obtain energy and related services for its members and their communities. Its…
PLR 200836004: Foreign entity could change classification within 60 months
A foreign eligible entity had elected partnership treatment and later experienced a change of more than 50 percent of its ownership. It wanted to elect association status taxable as a corporation…
PLR 200836003: Shareholder could make a retroactive QEF election
A U.S. shareholder inherited stock in a foreign company that earned rental income, but a longtime tax adviser failed to identify the company as a passive foreign investment company or explain the…
CCA 200836002: Levy could reach a sole member's income held by an LLC
An attorney owed federal income tax and practiced through a single-member limited liability company that received irregular contingent fees. Chief Counsel advised that a levy served on the LLC could…
CCA 200836001: Lease-cost useful-life change was not an accounting-method change
A real-estate partnership amortized leasehold acquisition costs over a blended average lease term and asked to switch to each lease's actual term. Chief Counsel concluded that the proposal adjusted…
Determination 200835037: Fee-based credit counselor was denied section 501(c)(3) status
A credit-counseling business applied for recognition as a section 501(c)(3) organization. Its corporate articles allowed general for-profit activity, authorized stock, and did not limit its purposes…
PLR 200835035: Financial institution error qualified for IRA rollover relief
An IRA owner instructed a financial institution to move an amount into an outside investment through a custodian-to-custodian transfer. The institution failed to follow those instructions and its…
PLR 200835034: Governmental excess-benefit plan and rabbi trust received favorable rulings
A governmental retirement system created an arrangement to pay benefits that its qualified plans could not pay because of section 415 limits. Employer contributions for those excess benefits would…
PLR 200835033: Missed IRA payment did not modify equal-payment series
A retiree under age 59½ was taking substantially equal periodic payments from two IRAs to qualify for the early-distribution-tax exception. She timely submitted forms for annual in-kind…
CCA 200835032: Prior ethanol-plant depreciation advice should not be followed
An earlier Chief Counsel Advice had classified assets in an integrated corn-to-bioethanol facility under Asset Class 49.5 for depreciation. After further consideration, the IRS and Treasury decided…
CCA 200835031: Non-fund nuclear decommissioning payments remained deductible losses
A nuclear-plant owner had a qualified decommissioning fund but paid decommissioning costs from other assets even though the fund had enough assets available. Chief Counsel advised that section 468A…
CCA 200835030: Levy could reach an LLC owner's profits but not county payments to the LLC
Chief Counsel considered collection from a single-owner LLC that contracted with a county to provide child-care services. The owner's share of profits held by the LLC could be levied after the…
PLR 200835029: Alaska Native Settlement Trust received classification and contribution rulings
An Alaska Native Corporation established a Settlement Trust for its shareholders and asked how the trust and corporate contributions would be taxed. The IRS classified the arrangement as a trust…
PLR 200835028: Foreign entity received 60 days to file a disregarded-entity election
A foreign limited liability company and its sole member intended the company to be disregarded for federal tax purposes from its formation date. The company did not timely file Form 8832 because of…
PLR 200835027: Reorganization did not invalidate compensation-plan approvals
A corporate group reorganized into two separate public companies and transferred previously approved executive-compensation plans to one of them. The old parent's shareholders had already approved…
PLR 200835026: Foreign entity received late disregarded-entity election relief
A foreign eligible entity had a default classification as an association taxable as a corporation. It intended to be treated as a disregarded entity from a specified date but did not timely file…
PLR 200835025: Medical technologist was an employee for federal employment taxes
A medical technologist worked at a federal agency's hospital under successive service orders and was paid hourly after submitting time and invoices. The agency trained and scheduled the worker,…
PLR 200835024: Corporation received 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. The IRS found reasonable cause for the failure. It ruled that the election would be treated as…
PLR 200835023: Domestic entity received 60 days to file its corporate election
A domestic single-owner eligible entity intended to elect association status taxable as a corporation from a specified date. It did not timely file Form 8832 because of inadvertence. Based on the…
PLR 200835022: Estate received 60 days to make a reverse QTIP election
An estate elected QTIP treatment for marital trusts on Form 706 but did not file Schedule R to make a reverse QTIP election for the generation-skipping transfer marital trust. The omission was…
PLR 200835021: Spouses received 60 days to elect out of automatic GST allocations
A husband and wife created separate trusts and intended not to allocate generation-skipping transfer exemption to their respective transfers. When the estate tax inclusion periods ended, their…
PLR 200835020: Revoked domestic-corporation election produced an F reorganization
A U.S. parent had elected under section 1504(d) to treat a corporation in a neighboring country as domestic and asked to revoke that election. The IRS consented, effective at the end of the ruling…
PLR 200835019: Spin-off option conversions did not create new incentive options
A public company split two business lines into separate public corporations and converted employee and director stock options into options for the company where each person would work or serve. The…
PLR 200835018: Helicopter deadhead segments remained subject to air-transport taxes
A helicopter operator flew from a private airfield to eligible airports to pick up oil-and-gas customers and cargo before continuing offshore. The return pattern reversed those flights, leaving the…
PLR 200835017: Physical-injury settlement payments were excluded and not reportable
A trust processed and paid claims arising from a redacted tort, using a sub-account that qualified as a settlement fund under section 468B. Claimants could receive payments from that account in…
PLR 200835016: Settlement-fund injury payments were excluded and not reportable
A trust processed and paid claims arising from a redacted tort through two sub-accounts. One sub-account qualified as a settlement fund under section 468B and paid claims for personal physical…
PLR 200835015: S corporation could revoke election out of installment reporting
An S corporation sold a half interest in property for payments extending beyond the sale year and intended to use the installment method. A return preparer misunderstood that intent, reported the…
PLR 200835014: Demutualization and acquisition qualified for tax-free reorganization treatment
A nonstock, nonprofit corporation planned to liquidate a subsidiary, demutualize into a new stock corporation, and immediately merge that corporation into a public acquiror's disregarded LLC. The…
PLR 200835013: Demutualization and merger qualified as tax-free reorganizations
A nonstock, nonprofit corporation planned to liquidate a subsidiary, convert into a new stock corporation, and immediately merge the new corporation into a public acquiror's disregarded LLC. The IRS…
PLR 200835012: QSub liquidations excluded deferred intercompany stock gains
A consolidated group had completed six internal stock sales and related distributions whose intercompany gains had not yet been taken into account. Its owners then formed an S corporation,…
PLR 200835011: Foreign entity received 60 days to file its partnership election
A foreign eligible entity whose members all had limited liability intended partnership treatment from its formation date. It did not timely file Form 8832 because of inadvertence. Based on the…
PLR 200835010: Foreign entity obtained late partnership-election relief
A foreign eligible entity whose members all had limited liability intended partnership classification from the date it was formed. Because of inadvertence, it did not timely file Form 8832. The IRS…
PLR 200835009: Late Form 1128 was treated as timely filed
A corporation sought to change its annual tax year from October 31 to December 31 but filed Form 1128 after the short-period return deadline in Rev. Proc. 2006-45. It filed the form under the…
PLR 200835008: Corporation received 45 days to file a REIT deemed-sale election
A nonprofit corporation transferred assets to its wholly owned subsidiary, which had elected REIT status. The corporation was required to attach a deemed-sale election to the return for the transfer…
PLR 200835007: Partnership received 60 days to make a late section 754 election
A limited liability company treated as a partnership relied on tax advisers when one owner transferred its partnership interest. The partnership inadvertently failed to timely elect under section…
PLR 200835006: Parent received 45 days to file a subsidiary-stock loss statement
A consolidated-group parent sold all stock of a subsidiary at a loss but did not timely file the statement required to preserve some or all of that loss under the section 337 regulations. The parent…
PLR 200835005: RIC's late-return spill-back election was treated as timely
A regulated investment company declared and paid a dividend within the periods required for the section 855 spill-back rule. It intended to elect to treat the dividend as paid in the prior taxable…
PLR 200835004: Late taxable REIT subsidiary election was treated as timely
A trust and its subsidiary filed Form 8875 to elect taxable REIT subsidiary status, but that election was void because the trust did not elect REIT status for the expected year. When the trust later…
PLR 200835003: S corporation received 60 days to file a late QSub election
An S corporation indirectly acquired all stock of a domestic subsidiary through an existing qualified subchapter S subsidiary. It intended the acquired company to be a QSub from a specified date but…
PLR 200835002: State-law dissolution did not end corporate or S status
A corporation was administratively dissolved under state law but continued doing business, filing corporate returns, and paying federal taxes. It planned to reincorporate by merging into a newly…
PLR 200835001: Six funds' spill-back elections were treated as timely
Six regulated investment company funds used an administrator's online calendar to track filing deadlines. A calendar entry was placed under the wrong tax year, so Forms 7004 were not filed and the…
Determination 200834023: Inactive ministry lost section 501(c)(3) status
An organization that had collected donated goods for needy people stopped operating and said it had distributed its remaining assets to other section 501(c)(3) ministries. The examination report…
Determination 200834022: Timber purchasing cooperative was denied exemption
A cooperative bought goods and services for members engaged in timber harvesting, hauling, forest-road work, planting, and related forestry activities. The IRS concluded that timber harvesting was…
PLR 200834021: Health impairments supported an IRA rollover waiver
An IRA owner missed the 60-day rollover deadline after physical and mental conditions impaired her decision-making and led her to believe the deadline was 90 days. She attempted the rollover on day…
PLR 200834020: Real-estate professional could make a late rental-grouping election
An individual working full-time in real estate intended to elect to treat all rental real-estate interests as one activity under the passive-activity rules. A qualified tax professional failed to…
CCA 200834019: Retailer could not accrue rebates when products were sold
A retailer offered cash rebates that required customers to mail a completed form, a UPC code, and a sales receipt within 30 days. Only a redacted percentage of offers were ultimately redeemed. Chief…
PLR 200834018: Partnership received conditional relief for a late section 754 election
A limited liability limited partnership timely filed its return for the year a majority owner died but inadvertently omitted a section 754 election. The IRS concluded that the partnership met the…
PLR 200834017: Foreign entity received relief for a late partnership classification election
A foreign eligible entity intended to elect partnership treatment but inadvertently failed to file Form 8832 on time. The IRS concluded that the entity acted reasonably and in good faith and that…
PLR 200834016: Insurance-fraud restitution was deductible as a profit-transaction loss
A physician pleaded guilty to insurance fraud and personally paid restitution to the affected insurers after having reported the fraudulently obtained amounts as income. The IRS ruled that repaying…
PLR 200834015: Tax-exempt controlled entity received relief for a late section 168 election
A corporation wholly owned by a section 501(c)(3) organization managed partnerships rehabilitating historic buildings with taxable investors. It intended to elect under section 168(h)(6)(F)(ii) not…
PLR 200834014: Pro rata trust division preserved tax treatment and grandfathered GST status
A grandfathered irrevocable trust for four family branches proposed dividing pro rata into four separate trusts so that investments could reflect each beneficiary's circumstances. The IRS ruled that…
PLR 200834013: Donating a trust income interest qualified for charitable tax deductions
A surviving spouse proposed giving her entire income interest in a pre-1969 split-interest trust to the qualified charities holding the remainder. The IRS ruled that the transfer qualified for…
PLR 200834012: Nuclear plant owner received an approved decommissioning-fund schedule
A utility owning a tenant-in-common share of a nuclear power plant requested a revised schedule of deductible payments to its nuclear decommissioning reserve fund. The IRS found that the utility had…
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.