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 200832020: Four-way trust division preserves tax treatment
After a closely held business was sold, the beneficiaries of a family trust had different investment goals. The trustees proposed dividing the trust into four equal trusts, one for each child, while…
PLR 200832019: Late 83(b) election had no effect on vested stock
An employee received employer stock for services and filed a section 83(b) election using a value later corrected by the employer. The employee asked the IRS for consent to amend the election to…
PLR 200832018: Widow may disclaim unused portions of joint accounts
A widow wanted to disclaim interests in two joint brokerage accounts after her husband's death, along with her power to choose beneficiaries of two trusts. The IRS said moving the accounts into her…
PLR 200832017: Independent trustee powers do not disqualify proposed charitable trust
A taxpayer proposed a charitable remainder unitrust that would pay her during life and then her surviving spouse. An independent special trustee could allocate part of each annual payment among the…
PLR 200832016: Late S corporation election receives conditional relief
A corporation intended to elect S corporation status from the date it was incorporated, but a valid Form 2553 was not filed on time. It asked the IRS to treat the election as effective from that…
PLR 200832015: Family-limited appointment powers avoid estate inclusion
A beneficiary held testamentary powers to choose who would receive the beneficiary’s shares of two irrevocable trusts created before October 21, 1942. The trust terms limited those choices to…
PLR 200832014: Partnership gets more time to make section 754 election
After a buyer acquired both interests in a partnership, the partnership filed its return without the section 754 election it intended to make. That election allows partnership property basis…
PLR 200832013: Nuclear plant receives revised decommissioning fund schedules
The owner and operator of a nuclear plant asked the IRS to revise its annual decommissioning fund contribution limits and approve a special transfer for costs that earlier law had excluded. The…
PLR 200832012: Missed trust election gets inadvertent S status relief
An S corporation transferred shares to a trust, but the trustee failed to make the election needed for the trust to hold S corporation stock. That omission terminated the corporation's S election…
PLR 200832011: Estate may use corrected QTIP amount after calculation error
An estate intended to elect qualified terminable interest property treatment for enough trust property to reduce its estate tax to zero. Its lawyer calculated the election using the exclusion amount…
PLR 200832010: Partial nuclear plant owner gets decommissioning fund schedules
A taxpayer with a partial ownership interest in a nuclear plant sought approval to add previously excluded decommissioning costs to its reserve fund. It also requested a revised schedule of annual…
PLR 200832009: REIT stock-or-cash dividends treated as property distributions
A publicly traded real estate investment trust planned three dividends letting each shareholder elect cash or stock of equivalent value. If too many shareholders chose cash, the trust would prorate…
PLR 200832008: Utility receives decommissioning schedule under earlier rules
A utility sought a revised schedule of deductible contributions to its nuclear plant decommissioning fund after projected costs rose. It asked the IRS to use the regulations in effect before 2006…
PLR 200832007: Shut-down nuclear plant gets revised fund schedules
The owner and operator of a nuclear plant that had shut down requested revised annual decommissioning fund limits and a schedule for a special transfer. Its projected decommissioning costs exceeded…
PLR 200832006: Loss group gets time to elect closing of the books
A consolidated corporate group missed the deadline to elect a closing of the books at a claimed ownership change under section 382. The election would allocate income and losses between the periods…
PLR 200832005: Controlled group gets time to file value restoration election
A parent corporation and related foreign subsidiaries missed a regulatory election to restore subsidiary value to the parent when calculating a section 382 loss limitation. They had filed returns as…
PLR 200832004: Acquirer gets time for missed section 338 election
An acquirer filed section 338 elections for two foreign companies in an acquisition but missed a related election for a third entity treated as a corporation for U.S. tax purposes. It asked for…
PLR 200832003: Timely trust reformation permits estate charitable deduction
A will left trust income to the decedent's siblings for life and the remainder to three charities. As written, the trust did not qualify as a charitable remainder trust, so its charitable remainder…
PLR 200832002: Late tax year change application treated as timely
A domestic corporation wanted to change its tax year to match that of a foreign investor, but it filed Form 1128 after the deadline for the short period return. The corporation sought relief so the…
PLR 200832001: Spin-off and mergers in business sale receive tax-free treatment
A corporate group proposed to separate its Product A business and combine it with an acquiror through a series of contributions, distributions, debt exchanges, and mergers. The IRS ruled that…
PLR 200831035: Foundation settlement payment avoids self-dealing and termination taxes
A private foundation faced a lawsuit over assets it had received from a union benefit fund. Under a proposed court settlement, it would return part of those assets to the fund's successor, which was…
PLR 200831034: Foundation asset split avoids termination and excise taxes
A private foundation planned to transfer about 20 percent of its assets to each of four other private foundations so members of a family could pursue separate charitable goals. The IRS ruled that…
PLR 200831033: Charity merger preserves exemption and public support status
Two publicly supported charities that finance community development planned to merge, with one surviving and taking the other's assets and liabilities. The surviving charity asked whether the merger…
PLR 200831032: Merger leaves community development charity's tax status intact
A publicly supported charity that lends to people and organizations unable to obtain conventional financing planned to absorb another community development charity. It asked whether the merger would…
PLR 200831031: Dividing a charitable remainder trust after divorce avoids excise taxes
A divorced couple proposed splitting their charitable remainder unitrust equally into two trusts, one for each spouse, while preserving their income interests and the charitable remainder. The IRS…
PLR 200831030: Split of divorced couple's charitable trust avoids termination tax
A couple's divorce agreement called for their charitable remainder unitrust to be divided equally into two trusts, each making unitrust payments to one spouse. They asked whether the split would…
PLR 200831029: Dividing a charitable remainder trust after divorce avoids excise taxes
A divorce agreement required a couple to divide their charitable remainder unitrust into two equal trusts, one paying each former spouse. The IRS ruled that the split qualified as a transfer under…
PLR 200831028: Insolvent insurer keeps its tax exemption during the transition period
An insolvent property and casualty insurer was being liquidated under a state court receiver. It asked whether the receiver's final distributions and closure of the estate would affect its exemption…
PLR 200831027: Hospital receives a conditional pension funding waiver
A hospital asked for a waiver of the minimum funding standard for its defined benefit plan after declining patient volumes strained its cash flow. The IRS granted the waiver under IRC § 412(d),…
PLR 200831026: IRA rollover deadline waived after mental incapacity
An 82-year-old IRA owner took a distribution while preparing to move, then could not find the check. Her guardian said a mental condition impaired her ability to make financial decisions, and the…
PLR 200831025: Surviving spouse receives IRA rollover relief after custodian error
A deceased IRA owner's trust was named as the account beneficiary, and his surviving spouse was the trust's trustee and a beneficiary. The spouse asked the IRA custodian to retitle the account, but…
PLR 200831024: Foreign entity gets more time to elect partnership status
A foreign entity intended to elect partnership treatment for U.S. federal tax purposes but inadvertently missed the filing deadline. It asked the IRS for more time to file Form 8832 under the…
PLR 200831023: Tracking stock exchange and subsidiary distribution receive tax rulings
A parent company proposed to separate a subsidiary by exchanging subsidiary shares for its tracking stock, then offering remaining subsidiary shares in exchange for another class of parent stock.…
PLR 200831022: Corporation keeps S status after ineligible trusts held its shares
Two trusts became shareholders of an S corporation, and the corporation incorrectly believed they qualified as grantor trusts. Because the trusts were ineligible shareholders, the S election…
PLR 200831021: Estate gets time to allocate missed GST exemption
A taxpayer created a trust for her descendants and made two cash transfers to it. Her accounting firm prepared a gift tax return but failed to allocate her generation skipping transfer (GST) tax…
PLR 200831020: Cell site lease rights count as real estate assets for a REIT
A newly formed real estate investment trust planned to hold an interest in a partnership that acquired landlords' rights under leases of land and rooftops used for communications equipment. It asked…
PLR 200831019: Commodity linked note income qualifies for investment fund income test
Eighteen investment funds asked how income and gain from proposed commodity linked notes would count under the regulated investment company income test. Sixteen funds had elected regulated…
PLR 200831018: Estate gets more time for reverse QTIP election and GST allocation
An estate claimed the marital deduction for a trust intended to receive the decedent's generation skipping transfer (GST) exemption. Its law firm failed to advise the executors to make a reverse…
PLR 200831017: Funds' elections treated as timely after returns reached wrong address
Twenty three regulated investment companies filed extensions, then an employee of their adviser mailed their returns to the wrong IRS address one day before the extended deadline. The returns…
PLR 200831016: Shareholder agreement gets conditional S corporation relief
An S corporation had voting and nonvoting shares with the same rights to distributions and liquidation proceeds. A shareholder agreement required holders of the nonvoting shares to accept a lower…
PLR 200831015: Nuclear plant operator receives decommissioning deduction schedule
A utility operating and partly owning a nuclear plant sought a schedule for deducting a special contribution to its decommissioning fund. The contribution would cover decommissioning costs that…
PLR 200831014: Special transfer to nuclear decommissioning fund receives deduction schedule
A company that operated and partly owned a nuclear plant asked for a schedule to deduct a special transfer into its decommissioning fund. The transfer would fund costs excluded under the earlier…
PLR 200831013: Mortgage trusts receive relief for late REMIC elections
Two tiers of a mortgage securitization trust were intended to elect treatment as real estate mortgage investment conduits (REMICs). The indenture trustee, responsible for tax reporting, missed that…
PLR 200831012: Corporate group gets time to make section 382 value election
A parent corporation with net operating loss carryovers sought more time to file a controlled group election under Treasury Regulation § 1.382-8. The election would restore the value of certain…
PLR 200831011: Unsigned subsidiary consent forms do not defeat consolidated filing
A parent company filed a consolidated return with three subsidiaries and included each subsidiary's income and deductions, but the attached subsidiary consent forms were unsigned. The group…
PLR 200831010: Foreign company gets more time to elect disregarded status
A foreign company with one owner intended to be treated as a disregarded entity for U.S. federal tax purposes from its formation date. Its owner had limited liability under local law, so the company…
PLR 200831009: LLC gets consent to change tax classification within 60 months
A single owner limited liability company had elected to be taxed as a corporation, then sought to become a disregarded entity within 60 months of that election. The classification rules generally…
PLR 200831008: Foreign owned group gets time for real property stock notices
A foreign owned corporate group moved stock of a U.S. subsidiary through several related companies. The taxpayer and subsidiary missed statements and notices meant to establish that the subsidiary…
PLR 200831007: Foreign owned group gets time for real property stock notices
A foreign owned corporate group moved stock of a U.S. subsidiary through several related companies. The taxpayer and subsidiary missed statements and notices meant to establish that the subsidiary…
PLR 200831006: Internal spin-offs receive specified reorganization rulings
A corporate group proposed five internal stock distributions to move two related businesses closer together before merging their operations. One subsidiary would first transfer a business to a new…
PLR 200831005: LLC gets more time to elect corporate tax status
A state limited liability company was treated by default as a disregarded entity. It intended to elect treatment as a corporation from its formation date but did not file Form 8832 on time. The IRS…
PLR 200831004: Foreign LLC gets late disregarded entity election relief
A foreign limited liability company intended to elect treatment as an entity disregarded from its owner for U.S. tax purposes. It inadvertently failed to file Form 8832 for the intended effective…
PLR 200831003: Corporation receives S election relief tied to trust elections
A corporation's S election was invalid because several shareholder trusts were ineligible and several shareholders had not properly consented. Some trusts had missed elections to qualify as electing…
PLR 200831002: Court reformation does not harm unitrust qualification
A donor intended a charitable remainder unitrust to continue payments to descendants after the donor and spouse died, within a stated time limit. The signed trust agreement did not reflect that…
PLR 200831001: Corporation receives late S election relief
A corporation intended to be taxed as an S corporation from the date it was funded but did not file its election on time. The IRS found reasonable cause for the late filing under IRC § 1362(b)(5).…
PLR 200830029: IRA rollover deadline waived after custodian error
An IRA owner instructed a company to invest IRA funds in a fund through a custodian transfer. The company instead treated the amount as a distribution and issued a Form 1099-R, later admitting that…
Determination 200830028: Church exemption denied for lack of services and public safeguards
A nonprofit corporation sought recognition as a church exempt under IRC § 501(c)(3) and classified as a public charity under § 509(a)(1). It reported no regular congregation or services, no ordained…
Determination 200830027: Exemption denied for governor elect transition group
A nonprofit corporation planned task forces, screening of candidates for political appointments, and public inauguration events for a governor elect. The IRS denied its application for exemption…
PLR 200830026: Foundation may divide assets among four related foundations
A private foundation proposed transferring about 20 percent of its assets to each of four existing private foundations formed by its founder's children. The IRS ruled that the combined transfers…
PLR 200830025: Mutual insurer loses tax exemption when premiums fall below half of receipts
A mutual property and casualty insurer asked whether it remained exempt from federal income tax under IRC § 501(c)(15). Its premiums were below $350,000, but investment income made up more than half…
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.