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 200820008: LLC gets more time to elect corporate tax treatment
A single-member LLC intended to elect treatment as a corporation for federal tax purposes from its formation date, but it did not file Form 8832 on time. The IRS concluded that the LLC met the…
PLR 200820007: LLC receives relief for late corporate and S elections
A single-member LLC intended to be taxed as an S corporation from its formation date but filed neither its corporate classification election nor its S election on time. The IRS granted 60 days to…
PLR 200820006: Trust split and timely disclaimers receive favorable tax rulings
An estate trustee proposed to split a marital trust into portions exempt and nonexempt from generation-skipping transfer tax. The decedent's daughters had also disclaimed certain trust interests,…
PLR 200820005: Qualified trust severance and disclaimers avoid gift tax
An estate trustee proposed to divide a marital trust into portions exempt and nonexempt from generation-skipping transfer tax. The decedent's three daughters had disclaimed interests in trust assets…
PLR 200820004: Marital trust split and disclaimers receive transfer tax relief
A trustee sought to divide a marital trust into generation-skipping transfer tax exempt and nonexempt portions after an estate allocated its available exemption. Three daughters had disclaimed…
PLR 200820003: Trust division and disclaimers qualify for transfer tax treatment
An estate trustee planned to split a marital trust into portions exempt and nonexempt from generation-skipping transfer tax. Three daughters had filed written disclaimers of certain trust interests…
PLR 200820002: Revised nuclear decommissioning fund contribution schedule approved
An owner of a nuclear power plant requested a mandatory review of the annual amounts it could contribute to a nuclear decommissioning fund and deduct under IRC § 468A. The request concerned the…
PLR 200820001: Partnership gets time to make a late basis adjustment election
A limited partnership filed its return on time but inadvertently omitted an IRC § 754 election after a partner died. That election can adjust the tax basis of partnership property when a partnership…
PLR 200819023: Police support charity may operate three officer aid programs
A charity supporting a city police department proposed three programs: need-based hardship payments for officers and survivors, incentive payments to help recruit and retain new officers, and…
Determination 200819022: Home buyer assistance group denied tax exemption
An organization proposed to provide down payment assistance to home buyers, financed by home sellers who would benefit from the transactions. In a final adverse determination, the IRS concluded that…
Determination 200819021: Organization denied exemption for private benefit
The IRS issued a final adverse determination denying an organization's claimed exemption under IRC § 501(c)(3). The letter says the organization did not establish that it operated exclusively for…
PLR 200819020: IRS declines to waive late IRA rollover deadline
An 82-year-old IRA owner moved money from an IRA into a non-IRA account and did not complete a rollover within 60 days. He argued that the IRA provider should have warned him about the deadline and…
PLR 200819019: Hospital receives conditional pension funding waiver
A hospital facing financial hardship after bankruptcy sought a waiver of its pension plan's minimum funding requirement. The IRS granted a conditional waiver under IRC § 412(d), finding that denial…
PLR 200819018: Merger into new corporation qualifies as a reorganization
A corporation proposed to merge into a newly formed corporation while offering its shareholders new shares in exchange for their old shares. Some nonvoting shareholders could not be located, and…
CCA 200819017: Interest on excess benefit tax starts at the return deadline
A disqualified person agreed to pay IRC § 4958(a) excise tax on an excess benefit transaction but disputed interest assessed before IRS notice and demand. Chief Counsel advised that the liability is…
CCA 200819016: Later refund form amended a timely claim
A taxpayer claimed a refund on her original return, but the IRS reduced it after disallowing dependency exemptions and earned income credit. She later filed Form 1040X, correcting some original…
PLR 200819015: Parent gets more time to file stock basis statement
A corporate parent missed the deadline to file a statement intended to preserve tax basis in stock received after a subsidiary merger. The statement was required under the temporary regulation…
PLR 200819014: Two investment funds receive late dividend election relief
Two regulated investment funds intended to make IRC § 855(a) elections so dividends declared after each tax year could be treated as paid for that year. Their accountant failed to prepare filing…
PLR 200819013: Mutual fund settlement payments usually avoid information returns
A qualified settlement fund planned payments to mutual fund investors harmed by market timing activity. The IRS ruled that ordinary direct payments were not reportable under IRC §§ 6041, 6045, or…
PLR 200819012: Purchaser gets time for late section 338 election
A foreign corporate purchaser missed the deadline for an IRC § 338(g) election concerning the deemed acquisition of a subsidiary's stock. The IRS found that the purchaser had acted reasonably and in…
PLR 200819011: Purchaser receives conditional extension for stock election
A foreign corporate purchaser missed the deadline for an IRC § 338(g) election concerning the deemed acquisition of a subsidiary's stock. The IRS granted 45 days to file Form 8023 for that election,…
PLR 200819010: Foreign purchaser gets more time for stock election
A foreign corporation acquired another foreign corporation's stock but missed the deadline to elect treatment under IRC § 338(g). The IRS found that the purchaser acted reasonably and in good faith…
PLR 200819009: Foreign purchaser gets more time for stock election
A foreign corporation acquired another foreign corporation's stock but missed the deadline to elect treatment under IRC § 338(g). The IRS found that the purchaser acted reasonably and in good faith…
PLR 200819008: Purchaser gets conditional extension for Target 3 stock election
A foreign corporation acquired stock in three foreign corporations but missed the deadline to elect IRC § 338(g) treatment for Target 3. The IRS found that the purchaser acted reasonably and in good…
PLR 200819007: Medical plan benefits are excluded from employees' income
A trustee asked whether contributions to a self-funded welfare plan and benefits paid to eligible active and former employees were taxable to those employees. The plan covered substantiated…
PLR 200819006: Trust provisions caused an inadvertent S corporation termination
Two trusts that owned shares of an S corporation had provisions allowing distributions to charities that did not all qualify as permitted S corporation shareholders. Their electing small business…
PLR 200819005: County retiree health trust's income is excluded
A county established a trust to fund health benefits for its retired employees and retired school personnel. The IRS ruled that the trust performs an essential governmental function and that its…
PLR 200819004: Investment fund merger qualifies as a tax-free reorganization
A target investment fund proposed to transfer all its assets and liabilities to another fund for shares, distribute those shares to its investors, then liquidate. Both funds had elected treatment as…
PLR 200819003: IRS waives life insurance qualification errors subject to cure
A life insurer found that manual calculations and administration errors caused some universal life policies to fail IRC § 7702's guideline premium requirements. It changed its procedures and planned…
PLR 200819002: Parent group gets more time to elect consolidated return filing
A parent corporation and two wholly owned subsidiaries intended to file a consolidated federal income tax return, but their election was not made on time. The IRS found that the parent reasonably…
CCA 200819001: Retirement fund levy cannot force early distribution
The IRS had levied on a taxpayer's interest in a state retirement fund to collect unpaid income tax. The taxpayer could suspend fund membership and obtain a distribution before retirement age. Chief…
Determination 200818028: Farmers market denied charitable exemption
A nonprofit operating an open-air market sought recognition as a charitable organization under IRC § 501(c)(3). It rented booths to member vendors and spent much of its budget advertising the…
PLR 200818027: Community foundation and corporation treated as one trust
A community foundation formed a nonprofit corporation to help administer its charitable funds. The two organizations had closely aligned governing documents, shared directors and planned to report…
PLR 200818026: Trusts' investment pool contracts do not create unrelated income
An exempt educational organization proposed to give charitable remainder trusts it managed contractual rights to payments based on its investment pool. The trusts would own no underlying pool assets…
PLR 200818025: Pooled trust investments do not create unrelated income for university
An exempt educational organization proposed to give charitable remainder trusts it managed contractual rights to payments based on its investment pool. The trusts would own no underlying pool…
PLR 200818024: Community foundation trust and corporation count as one entity
A community foundation created a separate nonprofit corporation to help administer its charitable funds. The corporation shared the foundation's directors, charitable purpose, and key governing…
IRS determination 200818023: Annuity sales organization denied charity status
A nonprofit applied for federal tax exemption after describing plans to support religious and charitable projects. Its website instead promoted asset exchange and annuity plans to customers…
IRS determination 200818022: Retirement plan association denied fraternal society exemption
A nonprofit association proposed to pool members' payments in a managed fund and pay them retirement income at age 65. It sought tax exemption as a fraternal beneficiary society under section…
PLR 200818021: Investment fund merger qualifies as a tax free reorganization
Two regulated investment funds in the same series proposed to combine after the target fund changed advisers and aligned its investment strategy with the acquiring fund. The target fund would…
PLR 200818020: Bankruptcy creditors' shares qualify for loss limitation exception
A public company emerged from Chapter 11 with a net operating loss carryforward and issued new shares to creditors, including shares obtained through subscription rights. The IRS ruled that the…
PLR 200818019: Trust's unitrust conversion preserves generation skipping exemption
Trustees of a trust established before September 25, 1985, proposed replacing discretionary income distributions with a unitrust amount for the decedent's daughter and her children. The new amount…
PLR 200818018: Variable annuity payments qualify as substantially equal
A life insurer proposed two variable annuity contracts funded by a single premium, with payments starting within one year. Owners could withdraw or surrender during an initial phase, and payment…
PLR 200818017: Company receives more time for classification and S elections
A limited liability company planned to become an S corporation after it became a single member entity, but it missed both required election filings. The IRS found that the company met the standards…
PLR 200818016: Foreign entity gets more time to elect partnership status
A foreign entity said it was eligible to be taxed as a partnership but had missed the deadline to file its entity classification election. It asked to make the election effective as of its formation…
PLR 200818015: Daughter's unitrust interest preserves trust's GST exemption
A decedent established an irrevocable trust before September 25, 1985, for a daughter and her descendants. The trustees and beneficiaries agreed to replace the daughter's discretionary income…
PLR 200818014: Company can correct a late S corporation election
A company's sole shareholder intended it to be an S corporation from its formation date, but the company missed the deadline to file Form 2553. The IRS found reasonable cause for the missed deadline…
PLR 200818013: Inadvertent S election termination receives relief
Two trusts held shares in a group of S corporations but had defects in their elections to be electing small business trusts. Their trust terms also allowed distributions to charities that could…
PLR 200818012: Trust election defects receive S corporation relief
Two trusts held stock in an S corporation but their electing small business trust elections did not identify all potential current beneficiaries, and one election was late. The trusts later changed…
PLR 200818011: Grantor gets more time to allocate GST exemption to trust gift
A grantor funded a trust for a spouse and descendants but did not file the gift tax return needed to allocate generation skipping transfer (GST) exemption to the gift. The trust's attorney expected…
PLR 200818010: Invalid holding company S election receives relief
A newly formed holding company elected S corporation status after shareholders transferred it stock in three existing S corporations. Two shareholder trusts had defects in their elections to be…
PLR 200818009: Parent company's invalid S election receives relief
A new parent corporation elected S corporation status after its shareholders transferred it the stock of another holding company. Two trusts holding the parent company's shares had defective…
PLR 200818008: Semiannual unitrust payments preserve GST exemption
A trust established before September 25, 1985, required income payments to the decedent's daughter at least twice a year. The trustees and beneficiaries proposed paying her a unitrust amount at…
PLR 200818007: Late tax year change application treated as timely
A corporation filed Form 1128 after the deadline for requesting a change from a December 31 tax year to a March 31 tax year. The IRS found that it acted reasonably and in good faith and that…
PLR 200818006: Late debt discharge election relief depends on unresolved facts
A taxpayer sought to make a late election to exclude discharged business real estate debt from income after a property sale or foreclosure. The IRS found conflicting information about the debt…
CCA 200818005: Deemed subsidiary liquidation fails section 332 test
A parent group sold stock in a subsidiary whose assets included another subsidiary that owed money to the seller. Both subsidiaries had been insolvent, and the seller forgave part of the debt before…
PLR 200818004: Missed trust elections receive conditional S corporation relief
Two trusts owned a company's shares, and changes after their owners' deaths required new trust elections to preserve the company's S corporation status. The beneficiary of one trust missed a…
PLR 200818003: Reformed 1954 trust cannot qualify as charitable remainder unitrust
A trust created in 1954 paid income to family members and later directed its remaining income toward helping underprivileged children. Decades later, a court approved changing it to pay the…
PLR 200818002: Court reformation preserves unitrust status without self dealing
A charitable remainder trust's written terms limited the creator's annual payments to trust income when that was below the stated percentage of asset value. The foundation serving as trustee instead…
PLR 200818001: Trust filing failures do not end S corporation treatment
Two trusts owned a company's shares. After the trusts' deemed owners died, a beneficiary failed to file a qualified subchapter S trust election, and the trustees did not properly file later electing…
PLR 200817065: Pension funding waiver condition changed to match contribution date
A company asked the IRS to modify a condition in an earlier waiver of its pension plan's minimum funding standard. The IRS approved replacing the condition with a requirement to contribute the…
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.