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 200825013: Missing QSST elections receive inadvertent S status relief
An S corporation had several trust shareholders whose beneficiaries had not made qualified subchapter S trust elections. The IRS concluded that the original S election was invalid because seven…
PLR 200825012: LLC receives extension for corporate classification election
A limited liability company failed to file Form 8832 to elect corporate tax treatment effective from its formation date. It requested an extension under the discretionary election relief…
PLR 200825011: Split dollar insurance creates annual gifts but limits estate inclusion
A married couple proposed paying premiums on a second to die life insurance policy owned by a trust for their descendants. Under the split dollar agreement, the survivor's estate would recover the…
PLR 200825010: Mutual fund settlement recoveries count as qualifying RIC income
A group of mutual funds expected payments from an SEC settlement over market timing practices and investment advisory conduct. A Fair Fund would compensate shareholders, with some undistributed…
PLR 200825009: Sale of surplus emissions allowances avoids foreign passive income treatment
Foreign businesses in a U.S. taxpayer's group received government allocated carbon dioxide emissions allowances for their regulated operations. They sold surplus allowances to unrelated buyers. The…
PLR 200825008: Golf club reorganization receives nonrecognition rulings
A limited partnership owning a golf club proposed moving the club into a nonprofit corporation and liquidating. Before that, it would distribute interests in an adjacent land LLC to its partners,…
PLR 200825007: Litigated trust division preserves GST exemption without gift or gain
An irrevocable trust created before September 25, 1985 was the subject of years of litigation among family beneficiaries and trustees. They reached a court approved settlement dividing the trust…
PLR 200825006: Litigated trust division preserves GST exemption without gift or gain
An irrevocable trust created before September 25, 1985 was the subject of years of litigation among family beneficiaries and trustees. They reached a court approved settlement dividing the trust…
PLR 200825005: Foreign limited partnership gets late corporate classification relief
A foreign limited partnership intended to elect treatment as an association taxable as a corporation from its formation date. It inadvertently failed to file Form 8832 on time. The IRS concluded…
PLR 200825004: Residence qualifies for a personal residence trust, with lease conditions
A grantor proposed transferring an interest in a home and its surrounding land to a qualified personal residence trust while retaining rent free use during the trust term. The IRS ruled that the…
PLR 200825003: Reasonable cause permits late S corporation election
A corporation's shareholders intended S corporation treatment from a specified date, and the corporation and shareholders reported income consistently with that intent. Form 2553 was not filed on…
PLR 200825002: Partnership receives more time for section 754 basis election
A limited partnership timely filed its return for the year a partner died, but inadvertently omitted a section 754 election to adjust the basis of partnership property. The IRS granted a 60 day…
PLR 200825001: S status preserved after two trusts outlast permitted holding period
Two trusts held shares in an S corporation when their deemed owner and income beneficiary died. Each trust could remain a permitted shareholder for two years after the death, but both still held…
PLR 200826041: Pension funding waiver survives extended bankruptcy deadline
A company in chapter 11 sought to modify a conditional minimum funding waiver for its hourly pension plan. The company's exit financing was delayed, and missing the prior bankruptcy reorganization…
TAM 200824029: Investment activity cost an insurer its tax exemption and domestic election
A foreign company that had elected domestic tax treatment claimed the small insurance company exemption under § 501(c)(15). During the examined years, it handled runoff business and a reinsurance…
TAM 200824028: Insurer lost tax exemption and domestic election after controlled group premiums exceeded limit
A foreign company handling old insurance claims claimed the small insurance company exemption and had elected to be treated as a domestic corporation for tax purposes. The IRS found that the company…
Determination 200824027: Market rate space rentals did not qualify for charitable exemption
A nonprofit sought § 501(c)(3) status to operate a building and exhibit hall. It rented space to a school, development agencies, a restaurant, and event customers at rates comparable to a nearby…
PLR 200824026: Pension plan may use substitute mortality rates for male annuitants
A pension plan asked to use its own mortality table when calculating funding under § 430. The IRS approved substitute rates for non-disabled male annuitants, starting with the 2008 plan year for up…
Determination 200824025: Financial services network denied charitable exemption
A nonprofit sought § 501(c)(3) exemption for a network offering financial education, access to credit unions, and discounted products and services. The IRS acknowledged that some activities were…
PLR 200824024: Insurer in liquidation need not file as a tax exempt company
An insurance company in liquidation asked whether it had to file as a tax exempt insurer under § 501(c)(15). It had stopped issuing policies, administered only claims, and had never applied for or…
PLR 200824023: Endowment units for remainder trusts do not create unrelated business income
An educational institution planned to issue units in its endowment to charitable remainder trusts for which it was trustee and sole charitable beneficiary. The units would give the trusts a right to…
PLR 200824022: Division of charitable remainder trust avoids excise taxes
Spouses separating under a marital agreement planned to divide a charitable remainder unitrust equally into two trusts, one paying each spouse. The IRS ruled that the division would not trigger the…
PLR 200824021: Remainder trust's endowment units do not create unrelated business income
A charitable remainder trust asked whether buying units tied to an educational institution's endowment would generate unrelated business taxable income for the trust. The institution was both…
PLR 200824020: Foreign entity gets more time to elect disregarded status
A foreign entity owned by one company missed the deadline to file Form 8832 to be treated as a disregarded entity for U.S. tax purposes. It wanted the election to take effect on a specified earlier…
PLR 200824019: S corporation status restored after six trusts miss elections
Six trusts became shareholders of an S corporation without timely electing to be electing small business trusts. That made them ineligible shareholders and ended the corporation's S election. The…
PLR 200824018: REIT may count exchanged property's holding period for sale safe harbor
A real estate investment trust held a retail rental property through a partnership. The partnership had acquired it in a like kind exchange for another property and wanted to sell it after a…
PLR 200824017: Inadvertent second stock class does not end intended S status
A corporation had both common and preferred stock outstanding when it elected S corporation status. Its advisers had not realized the second class made the election invalid, and the corporation…
PLR 200824016: Late S corporation election receives filing relief
A corporation's sole shareholder intended to elect S corporation treatment from a specified date, but the election was not filed on time. The IRS found reasonable cause for the late filing under §…
PLR 200824015: Foreign entity gets 60 days to file late classification election
A foreign entity intended to be treated as a disregarded entity from the date it was formed but failed to file Form 8832 on time. It requested an extension to make the classification election…
PLR 200824014: Foreign entity receives late disregarded status election relief
A foreign entity intended to be treated as a disregarded entity from the date it was formed but failed to file Form 8832 on time. It requested an extension to make the classification election…
PLR 200824013: Late Form 8832 election approved for foreign entity
A foreign entity intended to be treated as a disregarded entity from the date it was formed but failed to file Form 8832 on time. It requested an extension to make the classification election…
PLR 200824012: Corporation receives relief for late S election
A corporation intended to elect S corporation treatment from the date it was incorporated, but it missed the deadline to file Form 2553. The IRS found reasonable cause for the delay and granted…
PLR 200824011: S status preserved after trust shareholder errors
An S corporation's stock was held in a trust that became an ineligible shareholder after its deemed owner's death and the two year grace period. Later, some shares moved to a second trust whose…
PLR 200824010: Deemed nuclear decommissioning fund transfer preserves tax basis
A holding company owned a subsidiary with interests in nuclear power facilities and qualified decommissioning funds. The subsidiary elected to be disregarded for federal tax purposes, causing a…
PLR 200824009: Partnership share redemptions treated as returning contributed property
A trust initially owned all interests in a limited partnership, directly and through a disregarded company, so the partnership was disregarded for federal tax purposes. When the trust distributed…
PLR 200824008: S status preserved after missed trust elections and uneven payments
Three trusts received S corporation shares but their trustees did not file the required electing small business trust elections. In another year, the corporation paid shareholders unevenly and later…
PLR 200824007: Uneven shareholder payments do not end S treatment
After an S corporation gained additional shareholders, it kept making estimated tax payments on their behalf and made other distributions that did not match their ownership shares. The corporation…
PLR 200824006: REIT and subsidiary receive time to correct entity elections
A real estate investment trust intended for a subsidiary to be taxed as a corporation and to elect taxable REIT subsidiary status. Its employees instead filed an entity classification form electing…
PLR 200824005: Redeemed company shares treated as beneficiary's contributed property
A trust owned a limited partnership that was initially disregarded for tax purposes. After the trust distributed a partnership interest to a remainder beneficiary, the partnership became a separate…
PLR 200824004: LLC gets time to elect partnership tax status
A limited liability company had elected to be taxed as a corporation but intended partnership treatment from the date it began operations. It missed the deadline to file Form 8832 for that change.…
PLR 200824003: Foreign entity gets late disregarded status election with return corrections
A foreign entity failed to file Form 8832 on time to be treated as a disregarded entity from its formation date. The IRS found that it qualified for late election relief under Treasury Regulations…
PLR 200824002: Utility receives decommissioning fund contribution schedule
A utility with an interest in a shut down nuclear plant sought a revised schedule of allowable contributions to its qualified decommissioning fund. It asked the IRS to apply the rules in effect…
PLR 200824001: Utility accounting method was inconsistent but triggers no recapture
An electric and gas utility asked whether its former ratemaking method complied with tax normalization rules for accelerated depreciation. It had measured gross rate base and the offsetting deferred…
PLR 200823024: Pension plans approved to use substitute mortality tables
A plan sponsor asked to use its own male and female mortality tables when making pension funding calculations for a specified group of plans. The IRS approved the substitute rates for up to ten…
PLR 200823023: S corporation election saved after trust signature errors
Two trusts held S corporation shares, but their trustees signed the shareholder consents instead of the trust beneficiaries. One trust's election was also signed by the beneficiary's mother even…
PLR 200823022: Corporate separation qualifies as two D reorganizations
A corporate group planned to separate several businesses by moving them into a new controlled corporation and distributing its stock in two steps. The IRS ruled that each asset contribution followed…
PLR 200823021: Foreign entity gets more time to elect partnership status
A foreign entity intended to be treated as a partnership for federal tax purposes when a second owner acquired an interest in it. Both owners had limited liability, so the entity needed to file Form…
PLR 200823020: Port operator keeps government income exclusion after changing hiring
A nonprofit corporation operated public port facilities owned by a state political subdivision. The IRS had previously ruled that its income was excluded from gross income under § 115(1). The…
PLR 200823019: Family owners can split a business in a D reorganization
Two family shareholder groups had serious management disputes over a closely held business. The company proposed transferring part of its assets to a controlled corporation and giving that…
PLR 200823018: Corporation receives relief for late S election
A corporation intended to elect S corporation status from its incorporation date but did not file its election on time. The IRS found reasonable cause for the late filing and granted relief under §…
PLR 200823017: Corporation receives relief for late S election
A corporation intended to elect S corporation status from its incorporation date but did not file its election on time. The IRS found reasonable cause for the late filing and granted relief under §…
PLR 200823016: Reagent change preserves synthetic fuel credit rulings
A synthetic fuel producer had received earlier rulings about its § 45K credit for fuel made from coal. A shortage led it to replace one chemical reagent with another at one facility, and it asked…
PLR 200823015: Dividing a charitable remainder trust after divorce triggers no gain
A divorced couple planned to divide their charitable remainder unitrust equally into two trusts, with each former spouse receiving payments from one trust. Each new trust would receive half of every…
PLR 200823014: REIT goodwill gain follows the related business for income tests
A shopping center REIT was acquired and liquidated, giving rise to gain that the parties attributed partly to goodwill. It asked how that gain would count toward the REIT's 75% and 95% gross income…
PLR 200823013: S status restored after shares went to an ineligible partnership
An S corporation's shares were transferred to a limited partnership, which was not an eligible S corporation shareholder. The IRS ruled that the transfer terminated the S election on that date.…
PLR 200823012: Failed merger termination fees are ordinary income
A company agreed to acquire another company, but a competing bidder prevailed and the planned merger was abandoned. The target paid two termination fees under the parties' agreements. The acquirer…
PLR 200823011: LLC gets more time to elect corporate tax status
A domestic limited liability company intended to elect taxation as a corporation from its formation date but missed the Form 8832 filing deadline. The IRS found that it met the requirements for…
PLR 200823010: Foreign fund entity gets time to elect disregarded status
A fund's organizers intended several foreign entities in its structure to be disregarded for federal tax purposes, but the entities did not file timely classification elections. One of those…
PLR 200823009: Foreign fund entity gets time to elect disregarded status
A fund's organizers intended several foreign entities in its structure to be disregarded for federal tax purposes, but the entities did not file timely classification elections. One of those…
PLR 200823008: Foreign fund entity gets time to elect disregarded status
A fund's organizers intended several foreign entities in its structure to be disregarded for federal tax purposes, but the entities did not file timely classification elections. One of those…
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.