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 200817004: Multi-member LLC treated as partnership after members' contributions
Members of a limited liability company contributed cash and agreed to assign redacted rights to it in exchange for interests in its capital and profits. The IRS ruled that, after those contributions…
PLR 200817003: Foreign company received more time to elect disregarded status
A foreign company limited by shares had one owner with limited liability when formed and intended to be disregarded as a separate entity for U.S. tax purposes, but missed the deadline to file Form…
PLR 200817002: Subsidiary allowed QSub election before five-year waiting period ended
An S corporation lost that status when a limited liability company taxed as a partnership acquired its stock. The new owner later elected S corporation treatment and sought to treat the acquired…
PLR 200817001: Entity received more time to elect corporate tax classification
An entity intended to elect treatment as an association taxable as a corporation from its formation date, but inadvertently failed to file Form 8832 on time. The IRS found that the requirements for…
PLR 200816035: Endowment share contract did not create unrelated income for charity trust
An exempt educational organization served as trustee and remainder beneficiary of several charitable remainder trusts. It proposed giving the trusts contract rights to payments tied to its…
PLR 200816034: Trust endowment contracts created no unrelated income for educational charity
An exempt educational organization served as trustee and remainder beneficiary of charitable remainder trusts and proposed issuing them contract rights tied to its endowment's returns. The trusts…
PLR 200816033: Early trust termination avoided self-dealing and termination taxes
Two donors and trustees proposed ending a charitable remainder unitrust early by distributing the actuarial value of their income interests to themselves and the remainder interests to public…
PLR 200816032: Trust's early termination avoided self-dealing and termination tax
The two donors and trustees of a charitable remainder unitrust planned an early termination that would pay them the actuarial value of their income interests and pay the remainder to public…
PLR 200816031: Religious organization retirement plan qualified as a church plan
A tax-exempt organization formed to administer retirement benefits for congregations and related religious organizations asked about its defined contribution plan. Four supporting organizations…
CCA 200816030: Spouses' joint venture election did not make rental income self-employment income
Chief Counsel considered whether spouses who elect qualified joint venture treatment for a rental real estate business must pay self-employment tax on rental income that § 1402(a) otherwise…
TAM 200816029: Count general partners as insureds for partnership liability coverage
A corporate group used an affiliated company to provide liability coverage to related corporations, partnerships, and limited liability companies. To evaluate whether the arrangement distributed…
PLR 200816028: Parent received extension for stock purchase asset-treatment election
A U.S. parent intended to make a § 338(g) election for its foreign subsidiary's purchase of another company's stock, but the election was not filed on time. The IRS found that the parent reasonably…
PLR 200816027: Conditional retail promotion payments treated as price reductions
A retailer promised payments to customers who bought qualifying merchandise during a promotion if a specified event occurred and they filed claims on time. The event occurred, and no payment could…
PLR 200816026: Supplemental ruling extended dual consolidated loss filing deadlines
A corporate group had received an earlier ruling about missed elections and annual certifications for dual consolidated losses. This supplemental letter corrected the earlier description of losses…
PLR 200816025: Sons' residence trust qualified for one-year use by their mother
A mother had transferred her residence to an earlier qualified personal residence trust, and her sons received the remainder after her eight-year term ended. The sons proposed placing the residence…
PLR 200816024: Controlled group received more time for loss-limitation value election
A consolidated group's parent and foreign subsidiaries missed the deadline to elect restoration of value under the controlled-group rules for calculating the § 382 limit on pre-change losses. The…
CCA 200816023: LLC owner may correct a hearing request that lists the LLC's EIN
Chief Counsel advised on collection notices and hearing requests involving a single-owner LLC that is disregarded for the tax at issue. A notice of intent to levy naming the owner can be valid even…
PLR 200816022: Corporation receives relief for a late S election
A corporation and its shareholders intended the corporation to be an S corporation from its incorporation date, but the corporation did not file Form 2553 on time. The IRS found reasonable cause for…
PLR 200816021: Foreign corporation denied late entity classification election
A foreign corporation owned by one person asked for more time to elect treatment as an entity disregarded from its owner. After buying property in the United States, the owner had sought advice on…
PLR 200816020: Two corporate contributions and distributions qualify as reorganizations
A corporate group proposed to separate two lines of business through contributions of assets to a controlled corporation and two successive stock distributions. The IRS ruled that each contribution…
PLR 200816019: Foreign subsidiary gets more time for disregarded entity election
A foreign entity wholly owned by another company missed the deadline to elect federal tax treatment as an entity disregarded from its owner, effective when it was formed. It represented that the…
PLR 200816018: LLC gets more time to elect corporate tax classification
A limited liability company was treated by default as disregarded from its owner for federal tax purposes. It intended to elect treatment as a corporation from a specified date, but did not file…
PLR 200816017: Corporation may file a late S election after showing reasonable cause
A corporation's sole shareholder intended S corporation treatment from the company's incorporation date, but the company did not file Form 2553 on time. The IRS found reasonable cause for the missed…
PLR 200816016: Late S election may take effect from incorporation
A corporation intended to elect S corporation status from its incorporation date but did not file Form 2553 on time. The IRS found reasonable cause for the missed deadline under § 1362(b)(5). It…
PLR 200816015: S corporation status preserved after ineligible shareholder entered
A corporation with an S election converted to a limited partnership, and a corporate general partner acquired an interest. Because that partner was an ineligible shareholder, the IRS found that the…
PLR 200816014: Physical injury settlement payments are excluded and need no information return
A qualified settlement fund was established to process and pay claims for personal physical injuries caused by a tort. It asked whether specified payments to claimants, subject to a stated condition…
PLR 200816013: LLC gets extension for late corporate classification election
A limited liability company intended to be taxed as a corporation from the date it was organized, but did not file its entity classification election on time. It represented that it acted reasonably…
PLR 200816012: Trust split permits an S corporation trust election without taxable gain
A trust that became irrevocable before September 25, 1985 held an interest in an LLC planning an S corporation election. Some potential current trust beneficiaries were nonresident aliens, which…
PLR 200816011: Foreign entity gets extension for disregarded classification election
After a fund acquired a foreign entity, the fund intended the entity to be disregarded from its owner for federal tax purposes from a specified date. The entity inadvertently missed the deadline to…
PLR 200816010: Estate gets time to divide marital trust and make reverse QTIP election
An estate's tax advisers failed to advise the executor to divide a marital trust, make a reverse QTIP election, and allocate the decedent's generation-skipping transfer (GST) tax exemption. The…
PLR 200816009: LLC gets relief for both late corporate and S elections
A limited liability company intended to be taxed as an S corporation from its organization date, but missed the deadlines for both Form 8832 and Form 2553. The IRS granted 60 days from the ruling…
PLR 200816008: Beneficiary's tax overpayment was neither a gift nor a trust addition
A trust's tax statements incorrectly attributed all mineral receipts to its income beneficiary, although some receipts had been allocated to trust principal. The beneficiary paid income tax on those…
PLR 200816007: Prior GST exemption allocation cannot be undone through late-election relief
An estate had allocated all of the decedent's generation-skipping transfer (GST) tax exemption to one marital trust, based on advice that misunderstood another trust's GST potential. It later sought…
PLR 200816006: Taxpayer receives extension for ten-year write-off election
A taxpayer filed its income tax return on time, but the officer responsible for the return omitted an election under § 59(e) for a ten-year write-off of certain tax preferences. The IRS found the…
PLR 200816005: Couple gets time to group rental real estate activities
A married couple filing jointly wanted to treat all their rental real estate interests as one activity under the real estate professional rules. Their tax adviser inadvertently omitted the required…
PLR 200816004: S election survives transfer of stock to owner's disregarded LLC
The sole shareholder of an S corporation planned to contribute the corporation's stock and other property to a new, wholly owned LLC. The LLC would be disregarded from the shareholder for federal…
PLR 200816003: S election survives transfer of stock to owner's disregarded LLC
The sole shareholder of an S corporation planned to contribute the corporation's stock and other property to a new, wholly owned LLC. The LLC would be disregarded from the shareholder for federal…
PLR 200816002: S election survives transfer of stock to owner's disregarded LLC
The sole shareholder of an S corporation planned to contribute the corporation's stock and other property to a new, wholly owned LLC. The LLC would be disregarded from the shareholder for federal…
PLR 200816001: Spouses receive time to allocate GST exemptions to two trusts
A grantor transferred cash and a limited partnership interest to trusts for two sons. The grantor and spouse elected to split the gifts, but their accountant failed to allocate either spouse's…
Determination 200815035: Golf course denied charitable tax exemption
A golf course sought recognition as a tax-exempt educational organization. It said it taught golf and its history, offered free clinics, and let local high school teams use the course at no charge.…
CCA 200815034: Offshore account amended returns do not trigger immediate interest suspension
A taxpayer in an offshore account settlement initiative gave six years of signed amended returns to an IRS revenue agent. The agent asked whether section 6404(g) required the IRS to suspend interest…
PLR 200815033: Dividing an older family trust into eight trusts preserves its tax treatment
A trust created for a couple's grandchildren and later descendants proposed to divide its assets equally among eight trusts, one for each grandchild's family group. A court had approved the…
PLR 200815032: Investor may make a late election for a foreign investment company
An investor owned shares in a foreign company that held real estate. Her advisers had not told her that the company was a passive foreign investment company (PFIC) or that she needed to make a…
PLR 200815031: Foreign company shareholder receives consent for a late QEF election
A shareholder invested in a foreign corporation formed to hold real estate. His tax advisers did not recognize that the corporation was a passive foreign investment company (PFIC), so he missed the…
PLR 200815030: Two foreign company shareholders may elect QEF treatment retroactively
Two taxpayers held shares in a foreign company formed to invest in real estate. Their tax advisers failed to tell them that the company was a passive foreign investment company (PFIC) or that they…
PLR 200815029: License payments may be deferred for one tax year
A company licensed intellectual property to another company and received an initial fee, with possible development milestone payments later. It expected to recognize some of those payments as…
PLR 200815028: Bond authority gets time to correct a volume cap election
A public authority received private activity bond volume cap for mortgage bonds but had not actually issued the bonds by year end. Its timely Form 8328 mistakenly reported the bonds as issued,…
PLR 200815027: Corporation gets 60 days to file its late S election
A corporation's shareholders intended to elect S corporation treatment from its incorporation date, but the election was not filed on time. The corporation asked the IRS to treat a late election as…
PLR 200815026: Minority lodging company investments preserve subsidiary's TRS status
A taxable REIT subsidiary (TRS) planned to buy minority stock interests in companies that operate lodging facilities or license lodging brands. The subsidiary itself would neither operate such…
PLR 200815025: Late S election allowed for a corporation with one shareholder
A corporation's sole shareholder intended S corporation treatment from the date of incorporation, but Form 2553 was not filed on time. The corporation and shareholder said they had reported income…
PLR 200815024: Foreign entity gets time to elect partnership classification
A foreign entity was eligible to elect partnership treatment for U.S. federal tax purposes, but it missed the Form 8832 filing deadline through inadvertence. It asked the IRS for extra time to make…
PLR 200815023: Corporation may correct a late S election within 60 days
A corporation intended to elect S corporation status from its incorporation date, but a valid Form 2553 was not filed on time. It asked the IRS to treat a later election as effective from that date.…
PLR 200815022: State retiree health trust income and insurance premiums are excluded
A state board established an irrevocable trust to fund health insurance for eligible retired state employees and their spouses and dependents. The trust's assets were restricted to health benefits…
PLR 200815021: State employee retiree health trust receives income exclusions
A state board created an irrevocable trust for health insurance benefits for eligible retired employees, spouses, and dependents. The plan covered retirees receiving benefits from several state…
PLR 200815020: Three subsidiary spin-offs and a later transfer receive favorable rulings
A parent company proposed that one subsidiary distribute the stock of three controlled corporations to the parent, then receive two limited liability company interests from the parent. The IRS ruled…
PLR 200815019: Managed commercial property rents avoid S corporation passive income rules
An S corporation with accumulated earnings and profits received rent from three commercial properties held through disregarded entities. Its employees or contractors provided maintenance and other…
PLR 200815018: Limited partnership gets more time to elect corporate tax treatment
A domestic limited partnership intended to be taxed as a corporation from the date it was organized. It missed the deadline to file Form 8832 because of inadvertence and sought more time. The IRS…
PLR 200815017: S corporation status restored after passive income termination
An S corporation with accumulated earnings and profits received passive investment income exceeding 25 percent of gross receipts in three consecutive tax years. The IRS determined that this had…
PLR 200815016: Foreign partnership may file a late corporate classification election
A foreign general partnership missed the Form 8832 deadline to elect U.S. corporate tax classification from its formation date. It sought discretionary relief and said it conducted a U.S. trade or…
PLR 200815015: Foreign entity gets time to elect disregarded status
A foreign entity wholly owned by another entity was classified by default as a corporation for U.S. federal tax purposes. It intended to elect treatment as an entity disregarded from its owner from…
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.