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 200742002: Foreign entity received more time to elect corporate classification
A foreign entity intended to elect treatment as a corporation for U.S. federal tax purposes from its formation date, but inadvertently missed the Form 8832 deadline. The IRS found that it met the…
PLR 200742001: Missed trust income distributions did not permanently end S status
Four trusts held shares in an S corporation but did not distribute income each year as required for qualified subchapter S trusts. The omission terminated the corporation's S election, and the…
PLR 200741016: IRA loan secured by church-owned life insurance was permitted
An IRA owner proposed lending IRA funds to a church, with a life insurance policy on the owner's life serving as collateral. The church would own and benefit from the policy, while the IRA would…
PLR 200741015: Corporate group received favorable rulings on business spin-off
A publicly traded corporate group planned to separate two businesses by transferring assets to a controlled company and distributing that company's stock through several corporate tiers to its…
PLR 200741014: Stock exchange separated family businesses without immediate gain
Three related shareholders owned a corporation with two distinct businesses and disagreed about their operation. The corporation planned to give one shareholder all the stock of a subsidiary…
PLR 200741013: Business spin-off generally avoided immediate tax to shareholders
A public company planned to distribute shares of a subsidiary to its shareholders so two businesses that competed for customers could operate separately. The IRS ruled that the company and its…
PLR 200741012: Foreign entity received more time to elect partnership treatment
A foreign entity wanted to be treated as a partnership for U.S. federal tax purposes from the date it began operations, but inadvertently missed the Form 8832 filing deadline. The IRS found that the…
PLR 200741011: Foreign entity received more time for disregarded status election
A foreign entity's default U.S. tax classification was as a corporation, but it intended to elect treatment as an entity disregarded from its owner from the date it was acquired. It missed the Form…
PLR 200741010: Foreign entity received more time for disregarded status election
A foreign entity's default U.S. tax classification was as a corporation, but it intended to elect treatment as an entity disregarded from its owner from the date it was acquired. It missed the Form…
PLR 200741009: Late S corporation election treated as timely if filed promptly
A corporation intended to elect S corporation treatment from its formation date but missed the Form 2553 deadline. The IRS found reasonable cause for the late filing. It ruled that the election…
PLR 200741008: Late tax year change application treated as timely
A taxpayer wanted to change its tax year from a June 30 to a December 31 year end but filed Form 1128 after the deadline. The IRS found that the delay resulted from an error or misunderstanding…
PLR 200741007: Late application to change accounting period accepted for filing
A taxpayer filed Form 1128 after the deadline to request a change from a September 30 to a December 31 tax year. The IRS found that the taxpayer acted reasonably and in good faith and that filing…
PLR 200741006: More time granted to elect foreign source treatment of stock gain
A U.S. corporation's predecessor sold stock in two foreign corporations and reported the gains on its tax return. Its tax team later learned of an election under section 865(h)(2) that could treat…
PLR 200741005: Two-tier corporate spin-off and later merger received favorable rulings
A corporate group planned to move one business into a controlled company, distribute that company's stock through two corporate tiers, and then merge it into another group company. The IRS treated…
PLR 200741004: Income from fund-owned foreign subsidiaries met RIC income test
Two investment funds planned to invest through wholly owned foreign subsidiaries that would hold commodity futures and other financial instruments. The funds asked whether income from those…
PLR 200741003: Asbestos claims trust qualified as a settlement fund
A company in bankruptcy established a trust to pay asbestos-related injury claims. The IRS ruled that the trust was a qualified settlement fund and that the company's transfers generally were…
PLR 200741002: Closing agreement fixed stock purchase calculation for distributions
A corporate parent acquired a subsidiary and later received stock of three controlled companies through distributions from that subsidiary. Because the distributions followed the acquisition within…
PLR 200741001: Late S corporation election treated as timely if filed promptly
A corporation intended to elect S corporation treatment from its formation date but missed the Form 2553 deadline. The IRS found reasonable cause for the late filing. It ruled that the election…
PLR 200740022: IRS modified conditions of pension funding waiver
A company in Chapter 11 asked the IRS to change conditions attached to an earlier waiver of minimum pension funding requirements. The IRS approved replacing three conditions. The revised terms…
PLR 200740021: IRA rollover deadline waived after custodian mistake
An IRA owner directed two transfers to a company after being told it could hold the funds in an IRA. The company was not a qualified IRA custodian, so the funds ended up in a non-IRA account.…
PLR 200740020: Estate received IRA rollover deadline waiver after transfer error
An IRA custodian transferred a decedent's IRA funds to a non-IRA account despite later instructions to move only his other accounts. His medical condition kept him from noticing the error, and he…
PLR 200740019: Manufacturer received conditional pension funding waiver
A manufacturer sought a waiver of a pension plan's minimum funding standard after falling sales and rising steel, energy, and health care costs strained its finances. The IRS granted a conditional…
PLR 200740018: Inherited IRA trust qualifies for beneficiary distributions
An IRA owner left her account to a trust benefiting two cousins. The IRS ruled that the trust met the requirements to treat its beneficiaries as designated beneficiaries for required minimum…
PLR 200740017: Hurricane Katrina disruption justified a late IRA rollover waiver
An IRA owner withdrew funds to buy a home but did not use them for that purpose. As the 60-day rollover deadline approached, Hurricane Katrina threatened the owner's relatives and aggravated a…
PLR 200740016: IRS revised conditions on a pension funding waiver
A company in bankruptcy asked the IRS to change two conditions of an earlier, conditional waiver of its pension plan's minimum funding standard. The company had reached an agreement with a union but…
Determination 200740015: IRS revoked charity status after missing records and returns
The IRS revoked an organization's section 501(c)(3) exemption. Its final letter says the organization did not file all required Forms 990 or respond to repeated requests to examine its records and…
Determination 200740014: Foundation lost exemption after assets benefited its founder
The IRS revoked a foundation's section 501(c)(3) exemption because it found the organization served its founder's private interests. The attached examination report describes rental income moving…
Determination 200740013: Supporting organization lost exemption over tax shelter plan
The IRS retroactively revoked a charitable supporting organization's section 501(c)(3) exemption. Its examination report says the organization was part of a promoter's offshore tax shelter plan…
PLR 200740012: Expanded member voting preserved charity exemption
A membership organization that trains government personnel asked whether it could give voting rights to five groups of individual members without losing its section 501(c)(3) exemption. Those…
PLR 200740011: Taxpayer received more time to elect dual loss relief
A corporate group omitted required agreements from two consolidated returns involving losses of a foreign branch. The group asked for more time to elect relief from the limit on using dual…
PLR 200740010: Pipeline and terminal operating fees qualified as partnership income
A publicly traded partnership operated refined petroleum pipelines and storage terminals owned by other parties. Its work included moving products, staffing facilities, maintenance, storage, and…
PLR 200740009: Estate received more time for alternate valuation election
An estate timely filed its estate tax return, but its accountant prepared the return without considering the alternate valuation election. The accountant later recalculated values, and the executor…
PLR 200740008: Late GST exemption allocation allowed for descendants' trust
A grantor funded a trust for her descendants that was intended to have a zero generation-skipping transfer tax inclusion ratio. The accountant prepared the gift tax return without allocating GST…
PLR 200740007: Investment manager reimbursement did not disqualify nuclear trusts
A power company used qualified trusts to fund future nuclear plant decommissioning. An investment manager's strategy caused the trusts to owe more income tax than projected, so the manager agreed to…
PLR 200740006: Parent received extension for stock purchase tax election
A corporate group's purchaser acquired a foreign target and its subsidiaries, but the parent failed to file an intended section 338(g) election on time. The IRS accepted that the parent had relied…
PLR 200740005: Merger and share repurchase received reorganization rulings
A public company planned to acquire another company by merging it into a wholly owned subsidiary, paying the target's shareholders with a mix of parent stock and cash. The parent also planned share…
PLR 200740004: REIT could look through partnership to temporary investments
A real estate investment trust raised capital by issuing convertible debentures and lent the proceeds to a partnership it managed. The partnership temporarily invested the money before using it for…
PLR 200740003: Dual resident corporation received extension for loss filings
A corporation resident in both the United States and another country included dual consolidated losses on its U.S. consolidated returns for three years. It omitted required election agreements and…
PLR 200740002: Late corporate classification election was denied
A foreign limited partnership filed Form 8832 electing partnership status, although its U.S. owners said they had intended to elect corporate status. They discovered the mistake, discussed it with…
PLR 200740001: Alternative reagents preserved synthetic fuel qualification
A partnership had earlier IRS rulings on solid synthetic fuel produced from coal at three facilities. It sought confirmation after changing the chemical reagents used in its process. Based on the…
Determination 200739014: Downpayment charity lost tax exemption
The IRS retroactively revoked a foundation's section 501(c)(3) exemption. The foundation gave downpayment assistance to home buyers, but the IRS said payments from home sellers and related…
Determination 200739013: Inactive supporting trust lost tax exemption
The IRS retroactively revoked a supporting trust's section 501(c)(3) exemption to a redacted date. Its governing document called for annual distributions to a named charity and other charitable…
PLR 200739012: Medication services for another state contractor furthered a charity's mission
A nonprofit contracted with a state to provide behavioral health care to Medicaid-eligible residents. It asked whether it could also provide medication purchasing and pharmacy services to another…
PLR 200739011: Foundation's set-aside for community facility approved
A private foundation pledged funds toward a new community facility offering youth activities and health programs. It asked to treat money reserved for the project as a qualifying distribution under…
PLR 200739010: Fund's adviser settlement counted as qualifying investment income
A regulated investment company held an investment affected by a bank's bankruptcy. Its adviser paid the fund cash and a note under a settlement tied to that investment. The IRS ruled that the…
PLR 200739009: Late S corporation election received conditional relief
A corporation intended to elect S corporation treatment from its incorporation date but missed the deadline to file Form 2553. The IRS found reasonable cause for the late filing under section…
PLR 200739008: Crop-share rent was not passive investment income for S corporation
An S corporation that farmed grain planned to lease its land under crop-share agreements because its employees could no longer perform the daily farm work. The company would still make major crop…
PLR 200739007: Missed trust elections did not permanently end S corporation status
Two grantor retained annuity trusts held shares of an S corporation. When successor trusts took their place, their income beneficiary failed to file timely qualified subchapter S trust elections,…
PLR 200739006: Missed trust elections did not permanently end S corporation status
Two grantor retained annuity trusts held shares of an S corporation. When successor trusts took their place, their income beneficiary failed to file timely qualified subchapter S trust elections,…
PLR 200739005: Government power swap avoided private business use of bond facility
A public water authority used bond proceeds to acquire an interest in an electric generating plant. It agreed to provide the plant's output and capacity to a utility in exchange for a steady supply…
PLR 200739004: Early termination of charitable unitrust produced capital gain without self-dealing
A charitable remainder unitrust proposed to end early because of weak investment performance and administrative costs. Its life beneficiaries would receive the actuarial value of their income…
PLR 200739003: Corporation received relief for late S election
A corporation's shareholder intended S corporation treatment from the incorporation date, but the election was not filed on time. The IRS found reasonable cause for the late filing under section…
PLR 200739002: Corporation received relief for late S election
A corporation's shareholders intended S corporation treatment from the incorporation date, but the election was not filed on time. The IRS found reasonable cause for the late filing under section…
PLR 200739001: Late S election allowed from corporation's business start date
A corporation's sole shareholder intended S corporation treatment from the date the company began doing business, but Form 2553 was not filed on time. The corporation represented that it had acted…
Determination 200738032: Bingo operation and private payments led to charity's revocation
The IRS retroactively revoked a nonprofit's section 501(c)(3) exemption. Its examination found that nearly all recorded activity and all gross income in two examined years came from bingo, while…
Determination 200738031: Foundation lost exemption after failing to file and provide records
The IRS retroactively revoked a private foundation's section 501(c)(3) exemption. The examination report says the foundation did not file required Form 990-PF returns and did not respond in time to…
PLR 200738030: Multiemployer pension plan denied more time to amortize liabilities
A multiemployer defined benefit pension plan asked the IRS to extend the period for amortizing unfunded liabilities. The IRS denied the request under section 412(e). The plan's funding position had…
PLR 200738029: Fishing industry pension plan received minimum funding waiver
The IRS granted a minimum funding waiver to a multiemployer pension plan for workers who unloaded fishing boats in New England. The letter attributes the plan's funding problems to a decline in…
PLR 200738028: Adviser error justified waiver of IRA rollover deadline
An individual withdrew money from an IRA intending to roll it into another IRA. Within 60 days, the individual sent the money to a second institution, but an adviser failed to identify it as a…
PLR 200738027: IRA rollover waiver denied after owner entered wrong account number
An individual withdrew funds from one IRA and sent a check to the institution holding another IRA. The individual mistakenly provided the number of a non-IRA account, and the money went there…
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.