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 200746009: Late trust elections receive relief from S corporation termination
A shareholder gave nonvoting stock of an S corporation to separate shares of a trust, but the beneficiaries did not make qualified subchapter S trust (QSST) elections. That omission terminated the…
PLR 200746008: S corporation status restored after two trusts miss elections
Two shareholders gave nonvoting S corporation stock to separate shares of two irrevocable trusts, but the beneficiaries did not make qualified subchapter S trust (QSST) elections. The missing…
PLR 200746007: Internal and public spin offs qualify for tax free reorganization treatment
A public corporate group proposed to move one business into a controlled company through two contributions and two stock distributions, first within the group and then to the public parent's…
PLR 200746006: IRS denies more time to allocate GST exemption to two trusts
A married couple transferred limited partnership interests to separate trusts for their children and hired an accounting firm to prepare gift tax returns. The firm did not allocate, or advise them…
PLR 200746005: Corporation gets relief for late S election
A newly incorporated company intended to elect S corporation status from its incorporation date, but its election was not filed on time. The IRS found reasonable cause for the delay under §…
PLR 200746004: Seller may undo accidental election out of installment reporting
An S corporation sold most of its operating assets, with part of the price held in escrow for two years. Its tax projections used the installment method, but the preparer reported all of the gain on…
PLR 200746003: Captive's contracts do not make it an insurance company for tax purposes
Several entities formed a captive company to fund property insurance deductibles and other retained risks. The IRS found that its three main contracts did not qualify as insurance for federal income…
PLR 200746002: S corporation status continues if two beneficiaries file late trust elections
A corporation's S election terminated when its shares were transferred to two trusts and their beneficiaries failed to make qualified subchapter S trust (QSST) elections. The corporation said the…
PLR 200746001: Company with two shareholders gets relief for late S election
A corporation's two shareholders intended S corporation status from incorporation, but Form 2553 was not filed on time. The corporation said that it and its shareholders had reported income…
PLR 200745022: Pension settlement payments can roll over but still require consents
Former participants in a terminated pension plan settled a class action alleging that their earlier lump sum benefits had been calculated with the wrong interest rate. The settlement money would be…
PLR 200745021: Commodity linked note income qualifies for investment fund income test
Two regulated investment companies planned to buy notes whose payments would change with a commodity index. The notes required full payment at purchase, with no later margin or settlement payments,…
CCA 200745020: Business ceased to be a railroad retirement tax employer
The Railroad Retirement Board advised the IRS that a business had ceased to be an employer under the Railroad Retirement Act and Railroad Unemployment Insurance Act. After reviewing the Board's…
CCA 200745019: Acquired business falls under railroad retirement tax rules
This Chief Counsel memorandum corrects an earlier memorandum about a business acquired by a covered railroad employer. The Railroad Retirement Board concluded that the business became an employer…
CCA 200745018: Technicians' tool payments were taxable wages
An employer required its service technicians to supply their own tools. It then used a promoter's plan to label part of their existing hourly pay as tax-free tool reimbursements, with no increase in…
PLR 200745017: Extra time granted for real property status notices
A domestic corporation distributed property to its foreign parent. Neither company timely filed the statements and notices needed to establish that the corporation was not a U.S. real property…
PLR 200745016: Trust renunciation is a gift, but original trust keeps GST exemption
A daughter proposed to renounce her interest in part of an older trust and release a limited testamentary power of appointment over that property. The IRS ruled that the renunciation would be a…
PLR 200745015: Trust renunciation is a gift, but original trust keeps GST exemption
A daughter proposed to renounce her interest in part of an older trust and release a limited testamentary power of appointment over that property. The IRS ruled that the renunciation would be a…
PLR 200745014: Late trust elections need not end corporation's S status
An S corporation shareholder gave stock to a trust with separate shares for several beneficiaries. Each beneficiary should have elected qualified subchapter S trust (QSST) treatment, but none filed…
PLR 200745013: S status preserved after stock issued to ineligible shareholder
An S corporation issued stock to a nonresident alien, who could not be an S corporation shareholder. That issuance terminated its S election, but the corporation later rescinded the agreement and…
PLR 200745012: Foreign parent gets more time for real property filings
A domestic corporation distributed a promissory note to its foreign parent. The parent had not obtained a statement establishing that its stock was not a U.S. real property interest, and the…
PLR 200745011: Growing family qualifies for reduced home sale exclusion
A couple bought a home with three small bedrooms, then had another child. They could not reasonably fit their family and home office in it, so they bought a larger home before meeting the usual…
PLR 200745010: Late S corporation election accepted for initial year
A corporation intended to elect S corporation status from its incorporation date but did not file the election on time. The IRS found reasonable cause for the delay and allowed the election to take…
PLR 200745009: Revocation allowed for nonvested incentive option shares
An employee exercised four incentive stock options and filed section 83(b) elections covering all the shares, including shares that had already vested. The employee requested consent to revoke the…
PLR 200745008: Commodity-linked note income qualifies for investment funds
Two regulated investment companies planned to invest in a structured note whose payout would track a commodity index. The funds represented that the note would be fully paid for at purchase, require…
PLR 200745007: Late application to change tax year treated as timely
A C corporation filed Form 1128 late to change its annual accounting period. It said the missed deadline was inadvertent and sought relief before the IRS discovered the failure. The IRS found that…
PLR 200745006: Rider benefit counts toward policy cash surrender value
An insurer offered a flexible premium contract with a rider that could increase the amount paid when a policyholder surrendered it. The insurer asked how to measure cash surrender value for the…
PLR 200745005: Spouses receive time to allocate GST exemptions to trust
A couple transferred property to a trust over several years, but their accounting firm did not allocate their generation-skipping transfer (GST) exemptions on the gift tax returns. The IRS granted…
PLR 200745004: Share surrender for debt is treated as stock redemption
A shareholder planned to surrender all shares in a corporation to satisfy a nonrecourse note owed to it. Assuming the note was genuine debt for federal tax purposes, the IRS ruled that the surrender…
PLR 200745003: Share surrender for debt is treated as stock redemption
A shareholder planned to surrender all shares in a corporation to satisfy a nonrecourse note owed to it. Assuming the note was genuine debt for federal tax purposes, the IRS ruled that the surrender…
PLR 200745002: Share surrender for debt is treated as stock redemption
A shareholder planned to surrender all shares in a corporation to satisfy a nonrecourse note owed to it. Assuming the note was genuine debt for federal tax purposes, the IRS ruled that the surrender…
PLR 200745001: Share surrender for debt is treated as stock redemption
A shareholder planned to surrender all shares in a corporation to satisfy a nonrecourse note owed to it. Assuming the note was genuine debt for federal tax purposes, the IRS ruled that the surrender…
Determination 200744022: Charity exemption revoked after organization stayed inactive
An organization obtained tax-exempt status to make contributions to other charities, but never began its planned activities. It also had not filed Form 990-PF, and a representative told the IRS that…
PLR 200744021: ESOP stock qualifies despite special dividends and cash payouts
An employee stock ownership plan held two series of its employer's common stock. One series could receive special dividends, but the plan's shares had voting power and dividend rights at least as…
PLR 200744020: Family trust distributions preserve GST exemption
A family sought rulings on distributions from an older trust to separate trusts for children and grandchildren. The IRS ruled that the original trust and a trust formed from its division remained…
PLR 200744019: Divorce-related split of charitable unitrust avoids gain and excise taxes
A separating couple proposed to divide a charitable remainder unitrust into two equal trusts, one paying each spouse. The IRS ruled that the division would not itself cause the trusts to fail the…
PLR 200744018: Entity gets time for corporate classification and S elections
An entity intended to elect corporate tax classification and then S corporation status, but missed both filing deadlines. The IRS granted 60 days from the ruling date to file Form 8832 for corporate…
PLR 200744017: Missing subsidiary consents do not bar consolidated returns
A parent corporation included three subsidiaries on consolidated returns but failed to attach their initial Form 1122 consents. A new parent later acquired the group, and the same omission affected…
PLR 200744016: Late tax year change application treated as timely
A corporation sought to change from an October 31 tax year to a December 31 tax year. It filed the short-period income tax return but failed to attach Form 1128 by the deadline. The IRS found that…
PLR 200744015: Added restructuring steps leave earlier rulings intact
A corporate group had already received a ruling on a planned restructuring. It later added steps involving a new corporation, repayment and cancellation of intercompany debts, distributions, and…
PLR 200744014: Foreign entity gets more time to elect disregarded status
A foreign entity was eligible to choose its federal tax classification. Its default status was a corporation, but it intended to be treated as disregarded from the date it was formed and missed the…
PLR 200744013: Foreign entity gets extension for partnership election
A foreign entity intended to elect partnership treatment for U.S. tax purposes from the date it was formed, but inadvertently missed the election deadline. The IRS found that the requirements for…
PLR 200744012: Late historic certification request treated as timely
A property owner renovated a building in a historic district but sought historic status certification from the Department of the Interior only after placing the property in service. The owner said…
PLR 200744011: Foreign entity gets extension for partnership election
A foreign entity intended to elect partnership treatment for U.S. tax purposes from the date it was formed, but inadvertently missed the election deadline. The IRS found that the requirements for…
PLR 200744010: Extra time granted for interest charge DISC election
A corporation was formed to operate as an interest charge domestic international sales corporation (DISC), but the accounting firm engaged to establish it did not file the election. The omission…
PLR 200744009: S status restored after shares passed through partnership
An S corporation shareholder sold shares to an LLC taxed as a partnership, which was not an eligible S corporation shareholder. The LLC later transferred those shares to its members, who were…
PLR 200744008: S corporation status continued after trusts missed elections
Three trusts held shares in an S corporation. After the person treated as owning the trusts died, the trusts' temporary eligibility as shareholders expired, and their trustees had not filed…
PLR 200744007: More time to elect treatment for foreign branch losses
A consolidated corporate group had dual consolidated losses from a foreign branch for four years. Its tax manager did not know elections were required for those losses and did not file them. The IRS…
PLR 200744006: Consolidated group continued after holding company transaction
A partnership holding the stock of a consolidated group's parent became owned by a new corporation through a merger transaction. Afterward, the partnership was disregarded for federal tax purposes,…
PLR 200744005: Disclaimer sending inherited property to foundation qualified
A beneficiary proposed to disclaim part of an inheritance so the property would pass to a private foundation on whose board the beneficiary served. The foundation would place the property in a…
PLR 200744004: Vehicle leasing trusts treated as disregarded business entities
A vehicle leasing company used two trusts to hold vehicle titles and beneficial interests, and planned to refinance leased vehicles through a wholly owned limited liability company. The IRS ruled…
PLR 200744003: S election preserved after beneficiary missed trust election
An S corporation transferred shares to a trust intended to qualify as a qualified subchapter S trust, but its beneficiary failed to file the required election on time. The IRS found that this caused…
PLR 200744002: Late S corporation election accepted for reasonable cause
A company's sole shareholder intended the company to be an S corporation from its incorporation date, but its election form was filed late through no fault of the company or shareholder. The IRS…
PLR 200744001: Gain from delayed property sale was not decedent's income
A revocable trust contracted to sell real property before its owner died, but discovery of a gas pipeline delayed closing. The parties still had to resolve economically material issues, including…
IRS determination 200743039: Charity's exemption revoked after inadequate records
The IRS retroactively revoked an organization's section 501(c)(3) exemption, finding that it had not shown it operated exclusively for exempt purposes. Its examination report said records and funds…
IRS determination 200743038: Charity's exemption revoked over commercial sales
An organization formed to promote public knowledge of American art and culture primarily sold reproductions and related items through its website and mailings. Its examination report found that…
PLR 200743037: Pension plan received conditional funding extension
A multiemployer pension plan faced a funding deficiency after investment losses, despite higher contributions and reduced benefit accruals. The IRS conditionally approved a ten year extension of the…
PLR 200743036: College retirement incentive plan qualified as a church plan
A religiously affiliated college established a retirement incentive plan for tenured faculty and asked whether it was a church plan. The college was listed in its church's official directory, shared…
IRS determination 200743035: Seller funded homebuyer program denied exemption
An organization offered down payment assistance to buyers of participating homes, funded by payments from the sellers whose sales it helped close. Its program had no income limit while operating,…
IRS determination 200743034: Seller funded housing program lost exemption
A housing organization had obtained exemption based on plans to help low and moderate income buyers and rehabilitate homes. Its later down payment assistance program gave buyers funds for home…
PLR 200743033: Gifts to federal agency deductible for public purposes
A federal agency asked whether it could receive charitable contributions deductible to donors. The agency received a congressional appropriation and was authorized to solicit and accept gifts on…
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.