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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CCA 200743032: IRS agreed that business was a covered railroad employer
The Railroad Retirement Board told the IRS that a business had become a covered employer under the Railroad Retirement Act and Railroad Unemployment Insurance Act. Chief Counsel reviewed the Board's…
PLR 200743031: Estate given more time to include business building in election
An estate elected a deduction for qualified family owned business interests but omitted the building where the business operated. Its accountant believed the interests already listed met the…
PLR 200743030: Utility rate offset would violate tax normalization rules
An electric utility transferred its generation assets during a state restructuring. Its regulator proposed reducing the utility's recoverable stranded costs by the present value of deferred income…
PLR 200743029: Estate allowed late trust division and GST elections
An estate made a marital deduction election for a trust, but its accountant missed a reverse QTIP election and did not allocate the decedent's generation skipping transfer tax exemption. Without the…
PLR 200743028: Late GST allocations allowed without changing trust ratio
A grantor and spouse had not allocated generation skipping transfer tax exemptions to two gifts made to an irrevocable family trust in the 1980s. The IRS gave them 60 days to make the allocations on…
PLR 200743027: Husband's estate allowed to add building to business election
The co-administrators of an estate elected a deduction for qualified family owned business interests but omitted the building used by the business. Their accountant thought the interests already…
PLR 200743026: Couple allowed late GST allocations to three trusts
A grantor made gifts to three trusts for children and their descendants. The couple elected to split the gifts, but erroneous information led their tax preparer to report direct gifts to the…
PLR 200743025: Late exemption allocations allowed for three family trusts
A married couple elected to split gifts made to three trusts for their children and descendants. Their gift tax preparer received mistaken information and reported the transfers as gifts to the…
PLR 200743024: Foreign company allowed late disregarded entity election
A foreign limited liability company had one owner and was eligible to elect treatment as an entity disregarded from that owner for federal tax purposes. It did not file Form 8832 on time. The IRS…
PLR 200743023: Rural telephone cooperative's bank proceeds were patronage income
A rural telephone cooperative owned stock in a bank that had financed its telephone service. The bank's liquidation produced a payment to the cooperative. The IRS ruled that the payment from the…
PLR 200743022: Trust mergers preserved GST exemption and tax basis
Trustees proposed combining assets from seven older family trusts into four new trusts with substantially the same beneficiary interests and vesting dates. The IRS found that the original trusts…
PLR 200743021: Family trust mergers kept GST protection and asset basis
Seven family trusts created before the generation skipping transfer tax cutoff were to be reorganized into four new trusts. The new terms would preserve the beneficiaries' interests and their…
PLR 200743020: Merging old trusts preserved GST and income tax treatment
Trustees planned to consolidate seven family trusts into four new trusts while keeping beneficiary interests and vesting dates intact. The IRS concluded that the original trusts were exempt from…
PLR 200743019: Reorganized family trusts kept GST exemption and asset basis
The trustees of seven family trusts proposed moving their assets into four new trusts with the same beneficiary interests and vesting dates. The IRS concluded that the original trusts had been…
PLR 200743018: Estate allowed late marital trust election
An estate's trust agreement set aside a share for the surviving spouse, with income paid to that spouse at least annually. The estate's accountant omitted that share from Schedule M of its estate…
PLR 200743017: Trust changes preserve GST exemption and avoid taxable gain
A trust created before September 25, 1985, had been split into separate trusts for four grandchildren. The trustees proposed charging each grandchild's income distributions only to that grandchild's…
PLR 200743016: Parent receives more time to file subsidiary stock loss statement
A corporate parent sold the stock of a subsidiary and missed the deadline to file a statement needed to claim an exception to the consolidated group loss disallowance rule. The IRS found that the…
PLR 200743015: Corporation receives relief for late S election
A corporation's shareholder intended S corporation treatment from the date of incorporation, but the election was filed late. The IRS found reasonable cause for the missed deadline and ruled that…
PLR 200743014: Late S election may take effect on intended date
A corporation's shareholders wanted S corporation treatment from a specified date, but the election was not filed on time. The IRS found reasonable cause for the late filing. It ruled that the…
PLR 200743013: Corporate separation receives tax-free distribution rulings
A corporate group separated two business segments by having a subsidiary elect corporate tax status and distributing that subsidiary to the group's parent. Based on the submitted facts, the IRS…
PLR 200743012: Late election allowed for discharged real estate debt
An individual invested through limited liability companies in a mall that was sold during a bankruptcy case. Information about the sale and unpaid debts reached the taxpayer only after the original…
PLR 200743011: Public employers' retiree benefit trust income is excluded
A joint public agency established a trust to invest funds for participating employers' retiree health and welfare benefits. Each employer had a separate account, and proposed amendments would limit…
PLR 200743010: Hurricane loss lets apartment owner defer gain on entire complex
A hurricane destroyed two-thirds of a restricted-rent apartment complex and damaged the rest. Rebuilding was not economically feasible, and the owner sold the entire complex to avoid foreclosure.…
PLR 200743009: Missed trust elections do not end S corporation status
Two trusts received shares of an S corporation, but their trustees did not file elections to treat them as electing small business trusts. The omission terminated the corporation's S election when…
PLR 200743008: Two REITs receive time to elect taxable subsidiary status
Two real estate investment trusts and their wholly owned subsidiaries intended to elect taxable REIT subsidiary status. Their advisers and the companies each thought the other would file Form 8875,…
PLR 200743007: IRS rules on multi-step corporate separation
A publicly traded parent proposed a series of internal distributions followed by a distribution of a newly formed company's shares to its shareholders, separating one business segment from the…
PLR 200743006: Corporation may make its S election late
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 delay. It ruled that the election would be…
PLR 200743005: Foreign subsidiary income counts for investment funds' income test
Nine investment funds proposed investing through foreign corporate subsidiaries that would hold commodity-linked contracts and other assets. They asked whether income from those subsidiaries would…
PLR 200743004: Group may make late election out of bonus depreciation
A corporate group claimed additional first-year depreciation on two consolidated returns while expiring net operating loss carryovers were available. Its tax preparer had not told the group it could…
PLR 200743003: Settlement is ordinary income, but litigation deductions span years
A subsidiary settled a lawsuit seeking lost profits from a failed business acquisition. Its former owner had funded the litigation under the agreement selling the subsidiary's parent to a new owner.…
PLR 200743002: Late S election may take effect on intended date
A corporation intended to become an S corporation on a specified date after its incorporation, but did not timely file Form 2553. The IRS found reasonable cause for the missed deadline and ruled…
PLR 200743001: Gift return attachment makes five-year college savings election
A donor contributed to eight grandchildren's qualified tuition program accounts and timely reported the gifts on Form 709. The donor forgot to check the box for spreading each gift over five years,…
Determination 200742030: Dormant housing nonprofit loses tax exemption
A nonprofit was formed to help develop low-income housing, but another entity operated the project. The IRS found that the nonprofit itself conducted no charitable activities and was essentially…
Determination 200742029: Trust loses exemption after grants benefit founders' family
A trust recognized as a charitable supporting organization made grants to another organization that paid tuition for members of the trust founders' family. The IRS found that the grants served the…
PLR 200742028: Pension surplus may return to employer without reversion tax
A company terminating its defined benefit pension plan contributed enough to cover participant benefits using conservative actuarial estimates. After all benefits were paid, a surplus remained…
PLR 200742027: Death excuses missed IRA rollover deadline
An IRA owner withdrew funds intending to place them in a new rollover account but was hospitalized that day and died 27 days later. The executor asked the IRS to waive the 60-day rollover deadline.…
PLR 200742026: Later court order cannot make daughter an IRA beneficiary at death
An IRA owner's spouse, the sole named primary beneficiary, died before him, and he died before signing a new form naming his daughter. A state court later ordered the IRA designation amended to name…
Determination 200742025: Hospital service group denied tax exemption
A group serving nine public hospital districts sought exemption as a cooperative hospital service organization. It planned to provide consulting on risk management, legal compliance, business…
Determination 200742024: Health membership program denied charitable exemption
A nonprofit operated a paid membership program that reimbursed health costs, arranged discounts, and promoted private practitioners. It also ran a small free health clinic and some educational…
Determination 200742023: Medical reimbursement group denied charitable exemption
A nonprofit ran a membership program offering medical expense reimbursements, health care discounts, and promotion for private practitioners. Anyone could join for a fee, and the group had not shown…
Determination 200742022: Vendor rebate association denied tax exemption
An association of selected retail business owners negotiated vendor contracts, group rates, and rebates for its members. The IRS found that those activities primarily gave members private business…
CCA 200742021: Business became a covered railroad employer
The Railroad Retirement Board informed the IRS that a business had become a covered employer under the railroad retirement and unemployment insurance laws. Chief Counsel reviewed the Board's opinion…
PLR 200742020: Cooperative shares for convertible units preserve housing corporation status
A cooperative housing corporation planned to issue shares tied to new units created from part of a commercial space. The purchaser could use the units for retail purposes but would have the right to…
PLR 200742019: Late trust election did not end S corporation status
A trust became a shareholder of an S corporation, but its beneficiary failed to file a timely qualified subchapter S trust election. That failure terminated the corporation's S election. The…
PLR 200742018: Late S corporation election accepted with timely filing
A corporation's sole shareholder intended it to be an S corporation, but its Form 2553 election was not filed by the deadline. The IRS found reasonable cause for the delay and granted relief under…
PLR 200742017: LLC received more time to elect disregarded entity status
A single-member LLC intended to be disregarded for federal tax purposes but inadvertently elected corporate classification instead. Its owner filed a return treating the LLC as disregarded. The IRS…
PLR 200742016: Bond exchange produced a deductible repurchase premium
A corporate group proposed exchanging one subsidiary's outstanding debt for new debt issued by another subsidiary, plus a cash payment to participating holders. The IRS ruled that the exchange would…
PLR 200742015: Estate received more time to split a trust for GST tax purposes
An estate had made a reverse qualified terminable interest property election for a marital trust and allocated generation-skipping transfer tax exemption to it. The executors later learned of a…
PLR 200742014: Late accounting period application treated as timely
A corporation filed Form 1128 after the deadline to request a change from a July 31 to a December 31 tax year. The IRS found that it had acted reasonably and in good faith and that an extension…
PLR 200742013: Reasonable cause allowed a late S corporation election
A corporation's shareholder intended to elect S corporation status from the corporation's formation date, but the election was not filed on time. The IRS found reasonable cause for the late filing…
PLR 200742012: Dividing two old trusts preserved GST exemption and tax basis
Trustees proposed dividing two trusts that had been irrevocable before September 25, 1985, into separate trusts for groups of beneficiaries. The divisions would not move interests to a younger…
PLR 200742011: Dividing two old trusts preserved GST exemption and tax basis
Trustees proposed dividing two trusts that had been irrevocable before September 25, 1985, into separate trusts for groups of beneficiaries. The divisions would not move interests to a younger…
PLR 200742010: Deferred gift annuity payments taxed when received
A charity planned flexible deferred gift annuities whose recipients could choose when payments began. It asked whether donors exchanging property for those contracts would have income before…
PLR 200742009: Parent received more time to file subsidiary stock loss statement
A corporate parent sold all the stock of a subsidiary at a claimed loss but omitted the regulatory statement needed to seek recognition of some or all of that loss. The IRS found that the parent had…
PLR 200742008: More time granted for property interest transfer notices
A multinational corporate group had completed nine internal transactions involving interests in domestic corporations without timely providing certain statements and notices under the rules for U.S.…
PLR 200742007: Nuclear decommissioning fund survived utility restructuring
A utility planned to merge into a new company and transfer its nuclear plant and qualified decommissioning fund to the surviving company. The IRS ruled that the transfer would not disqualify the…
PLR 200742006: Late trust election did not end S corporation status
A trust became a shareholder of an S corporation, but its beneficiary failed to file a timely qualified subchapter S trust election. That failure terminated the corporation's S election. The…
PLR 200742005: Late trust election did not end S corporation status
A trust became a shareholder of an S corporation, but its beneficiary failed to file a timely qualified subchapter S trust election. That failure terminated the corporation's S election. The…
PLR 200742004: Securities class action settlement deductible as a business expense
A business paid to settle a securities class action alleging misleading financial reports and other statements about its operations. Some claims involved stock and note offerings. The IRS found that…
PLR 200742003: Late S corporation election accepted with timely filing
A corporation's shareholder intended it to be an S corporation, but its Form 2553 election was not filed by the deadline. The IRS found reasonable cause for the delay and granted relief under…
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.