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 200752037: IRS revises a pension funding waiver condition during reorganization
A company undergoing Chapter 11 reorganization asked the IRS to modify a condition of an earlier minimum funding waiver for its pension plan. The IRS approved a replacement condition requiring a…
TAM 200752036: IRS denies relief from late foreign sales corporation grouping deadline
A corporation and its foreign sales corporation had changed how they grouped transactions to calculate the overall profit percentage for several tax years. An earlier IRS technical advice memorandum…
PLR 200752035: Rescinded IRA stock purchase preserves S corporation status
An employee's IRA bought stock in an S corporation, although an IRA was not eligible to be its shareholder. After counsel identified the problem, the corporation, employee, and IRA rescinded the…
PLR 200752034: IRS grants S election relief after IRA initially holds shares
A corporation issued shares to a shareholder's IRA when it first elected S corporation status. An IRA cannot hold S corporation stock, so the election was initially ineffective. After discovering…
PLR 200752033: Foreign LLC receives time to elect disregarded entity status
A foreign limited liability company with one ultimate owner intended to elect treatment as an entity disregarded from its owner when it was formed. It missed the deadline to file Form 8832 with the…
PLR 200752032: IRS extends deadline for foreign LLC's disregarded entity election
A foreign limited liability company was wholly owned through another entity and intended to elect disregarded entity treatment from its formation date. It did not file Form 8832 on time. The IRS…
PLR 200752031: IRS permits late disregarded entity election for foreign LLC
A foreign limited liability company with one owner intended to elect disregarded entity treatment effective on its formation date. The company missed the deadline to file Form 8832 with the…
PLR 200752030: Actively managed rents avoid S corporation passive income limit
An S corporation with accumulated earnings and profits owned residential and commercial rental properties. A related management company handled leases, collections, expenses, maintenance, and…
PLR 200752029: Foreign fund may qualify for reduced dividend tax rate if treaty tests are met
A U.S. resident held units in a foreign investment fund organized as a trust. The fund had broad authority to change its investments and elected to be taxed as a corporation in the United States.…
PLR 200752028: Converting an older trust to a 3% total return trust preserves its GST exemption
Trustees sought to convert an irrevocable trust to a total return trust under state law, with annual distributions based on 3% of the trust's value. The trust had become irrevocable before September…
PLR 200752027: Converting an older trust to a 3% total return trust preserves its GST exemption
Trustees sought to convert an irrevocable trust to a total return trust under state law, with annual distributions based on 3% of the trust's value. The trust had become irrevocable before September…
PLR 200752026: Converting an older trust to a 3% total return trust preserves its GST exemption
Trustees sought to convert an irrevocable trust to a total return trust under state law, with annual distributions based on 3% of the trust's value. The trust had become irrevocable before September…
PLR 200752025: Rescinded preferred share issuance is disregarded for federal income tax
Three foreign subsidiaries combined into a new company, which unexpectedly issued preferred shares to their U.S. parent. The parent's U.S. tax advisers worried that the shares were nonqualified…
PLR 200752024: Parent receives 45 days to file a late subsidiary stock basis election
A parent corporation missed the deadline to elect how to calculate a basis reduction when a subsidiary left its consolidated tax group. The IRS found that the parent had reasonably relied on a…
PLR 200752023: Business split qualifies as a tax free divisive reorganization
A corporation proposed transferring part of its operating business to a new corporation, then distributing the new corporation's stock to two shareholders in exchange for their shares in the…
PLR 200752022: Taxpayers receive 60 days to request dual consolidated loss closing agreements
Stock transfers involving a subsidiary triggered rules that could require recapture of dual consolidated losses. The companies missed the deadline to request IRS closing agreements that could avoid…
PLR 200752021: Taxpayers receive 60 days to request dual consolidated loss closing agreements
Stock transfers involving a subsidiary triggered rules that could require recapture of dual consolidated losses. The companies missed the deadline to request IRS closing agreements that could avoid…
PLR 200752020: IRS approves revised nuclear decommissioning fund contribution schedule
A utility sought a revised schedule of allowable contributions to its nuclear plant decommissioning fund after finding a substantial change in an amount produced by its approved formula. The IRS…
PLR 200752019: Temporary share ownership and circular cash flows are disregarded
A corporate group temporarily placed shares of a foreign subsidiary with a U.S. parent to meet foreign law requirements for a larger restructuring. A call option returned the shares to the foreign…
PLR 200752018: Settlement and timely disclaimers preserve an older trust's tax status
An irrevocable trust created before October 22, 1942, left questions about its beneficiaries' interests and proposed disclaimers. The family proposed a court approved settlement clarifying those…
PLR 200752017: Two step corporate spin off receives tax free treatment
A public company's subsidiary proposed transferring one business to a new corporation and distributing its stock to the public parent. The parent would then distribute that stock to its own…
PLR 200752016: Qualifying portfolio debt may be excluded from possession resident's estate
A U.S. citizen living in a U.S. possession proposed buying portfolio debt obligations and asked how they would be treated for estate tax at death. The citizen represented that citizenship had been…
PLR 200752015: Inadvertent partnership ownership does not end S corporation treatment
An S corporation's shares were purchased by a limited liability company taxed as a partnership, an ineligible S corporation shareholder. After discovering the mistake, the company transferred those…
PLR 200752014: Postmerger dividend is taxed as a distribution, not merger cash
After acquiring a target company in a stock merger, a corporation declared a cash dividend for all shareholders of record, including former target shareholders. The dividend was funded in…
PLR 200752013: Inadvertently invalid S election receives relief after shareholder agreement is fixed
A corporation's shareholder agreement provided for distributions that did not follow ownership percentages, effectively creating more than one class of stock. This made its S corporation election…
PLR 200752012: Data center buildings and customary tenant services qualify for REIT treatment
A company planning to elect real estate investment trust (REIT) status asked whether its buildings for computer servers, including their electrical, cooling, security, fire protection, and…
PLR 200752011: Employee may revoke stock election after learning the award was unauthorized
An employee made a section 83(b) election after receiving restricted stock from an employer. The employee later learned that the board had authorized incentive stock options, not a choice that…
PLR 200752010: Stock election revoked after board's stock option approval came to light
An employee bought restricted stock and filed an election under section 83(b) after being told the employer's board had approved the stock grant. The board had actually approved incentive stock…
PLR 200752009: Mistaken restricted stock award permits revocation of tax election
An employee was told the employer's board had offered a choice between incentive stock options and restricted stock. The employee bought restricted stock and made a section 83(b) election, then…
PLR 200752008: IRS allows employee to undo election for an unauthorized stock grant
An employee received restricted stock and filed a section 83(b) election after the employer's president said the board had offered a choice of stock or incentive stock options. The board had…
PLR 200752007: Foreign entity gets more time to elect disregarded status
A foreign entity with one owner intended to be disregarded as separate from its owner for federal tax purposes from its formation date. It did not file the required Form 8832 on time. The IRS…
PLR 200752006: Corporation receives relief for late S election
A corporation intended to elect S corporation status from its incorporation date but did not file Form 2553 on time. It asked the IRS to treat the late election as timely. Based on the submitted…
PLR 200752005: Foreign entity receives late classification election relief with amended return condition
A foreign entity eligible to elect disregarded entity status failed to file Form 8832 on time to make the election effective from its formation date. The IRS found that the entity met the standards…
PLR 200752004: Homeowners association receives more time to make annual tax elections
A residential association missed several years of tax filings while relying on a manager that stopped carrying out its duties and did not hand over its records. After a replacement manager…
PLR 200752003: Late S election allowed after company and owner filed as an S corporation
A corporation's sole shareholder intended S corporation status from the company's incorporation date, but the company did not timely file Form 2553. The company and shareholder represented that they…
PLR 200752002: Utility partnership may allocate tax cost recovery to taxable members
A regulated electricity transmission company taxed as a partnership had both taxable utility members and tax-exempt municipal members. It proposed allocating income collected through rates to…
PLR 200752001: Late S election can take effect from intended date
A corporation's sole shareholder intended S corporation status from a specified date, but the company's Form 2553 was not filed on time. Both the company and shareholder represented that they had…
Determination 200751036: Organization loses tax exemption after failing to provide records
The IRS revoked an organization's section 501(c)(3) exemption after it failed to provide financial records requested during an examination. The attached report says the organization operated a…
PLR 200751035: Charity receives conditional pension funding waiver after financial losses
A nonprofit child welfare organization sought a waiver of its pension plan's minimum funding requirement after years of losses, cuts in government funding, and falling investment returns. It…
PLR 200751034: Boat propeller maker receives conditional pension funding waiver
A maker of replacement boat propellers asked for relief from its pension plan's minimum funding requirement after foreign competition, weaker sales, and rising pension costs strained its cash. The…
PLR 200751033: Automaker supplier gets pension funding waiver tied to Chapter 11 plan
A vehicle parts supplier operating in Chapter 11 sought a waiver of the minimum funding standard for its hourly employees' pension plan. The company had reported repeated losses, high labor costs,…
PLR 200751032: IRS denies late IRA rollover waiver for couple without proof of incapacity
A married couple withdrew money from separate IRAs while looking for other investments and put the funds in a joint savings account. They missed the 60 day rollover deadline and asked the IRS to…
PLR 200751031: IRS removes two conditions from earlier pension funding waiver
A company asked the IRS to change a conditional waiver of its pension plan's minimum funding standard that had been granted in 2005. After an asset purchase, the buyer contributed enough to fully…
PLR 200751030: Two pension funding waiver conditions removed after asset sale
A company asked to modify a conditional pension funding waiver granted in a 2005 ruling. A third party had acquired substantially all its assets and contributed enough to the pension plan to fund it…
PLR 200751029: Pension plan denied more time to amortize unfunded liabilities
A multiemployer pension plan for workers primarily in the movie theater industry asked for more years to amortize its unfunded liabilities. The plan cited an aging membership, industry decline, and…
CCA 200751028: Merged business ceased to be a railroad tax employer
The Railroad Retirement Board told the IRS that a business had ceased to be an employer under the railroad retirement and unemployment statutes. The Office of Chief Counsel reviewed the board's…
CCA 200751027: Railroad tax employer status began when business started operating
The Railroad Retirement Board told the IRS that a business had become an employer under the railroad retirement and unemployment statutes. The Office of Chief Counsel reviewed the board's opinion…
CCA 200751026: Business is outside railroad retirement tax employer coverage
The Railroad Retirement Board told the IRS that a business was not a covered employer under the Railroad Retirement Act or the Railroad Unemployment Insurance Act. After reviewing the board's…
CCA 200751025: Late signature leaves no refundable tax under claim lookback rule
A taxpayer mailed an unsigned, late Form 1040 showing an overpayment and later sent a signed page by fax. The record did not establish that the IRS received the signature before the refund deadline,…
CCA 200751024: Foreign acquirer fails size test after last minute debt contribution
A domestic company withdrew its request for a ruling that a foreign company's acquisition of its shares would avoid gain recognition under section 367(a). Chief Counsel nevertheless explained its…
PLR 200751023: REIT may receive share of a tenant's sublease rent increase
A real estate investment trust (REIT) owned an interest in a partnership whose leases sometimes required tenants to share rent received from subtenants above the tenants' own lease payments. The…
PLR 200751022: Renting caretaker house does not disqualify residence for trust rule
A grantor lived in the main house on a property also containing a separate caretaker house and had transferred interests in the property to trusts intended to qualify as qualified personal residence…
PLR 200751021: Family gets time to allocate GST exemptions to earlier gifts
A decedent transferred partnership interests to trusts for descendants in two earlier years, but gift tax returns were not filed and no generation skipping transfer (GST) exemptions were allocated.…
PLR 200751020: Parents may make late GST allocations for five years of gifts
Two parents made gifts of company stock to a trust for their daughter over six years. Their accounting firm prepared gift tax returns but failed to allocate, or advise them to allocate, generation…
PLR 200751019: Early gifts to grandsons avoid GST tax and estate gets late allocation relief
A decedent had given company shares to two grandsons before 1990 and later transferred a partnership interest to a trust for her daughter and descendants. A tax professional did not allocate…
PLR 200751018: Foreign LLC gets more time to elect disregarded entity status
A foreign limited liability company with one owner intended to elect treatment as a disregarded entity for U.S. federal tax purposes from the day it was formed. It did not file the required Form…
PLR 200751017: Foreign LLC gets more time to elect disregarded entity status
A foreign limited liability company owned through four tiers of wholly owned entities intended to elect treatment as a disregarded entity for U.S. federal tax purposes from the day it was formed. It…
PLR 200751016: Foreign LLC gets more time to elect disregarded entity status
A foreign limited liability company owned through three tiers of wholly owned entities intended to elect treatment as a disregarded entity for U.S. federal tax purposes from the day it was formed.…
PLR 200751015: Supplemental ruling renews deadline for dual consolidated loss elections
A taxpayer asked the IRS to amend an earlier private letter ruling about elections and annual certifications for dual consolidated losses. This supplemental letter replaces the earlier ruling's…
PLR 200751014: Corporate group gets 45 days to elect consolidated filing
A parent entity treated as a corporation for federal income tax purposes owned two domestic subsidiaries. The group missed the deadline to elect to file a consolidated return for a prior tax year.…
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.