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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OTHER 200729041: Social club loses exemption after outside revenue exceeds limit
A social club operated a bar during public events at a community facility and sold pull tab gambling tickets away from its club premises. An IRS examination found that more than 35 percent of its…
OTHER 200729040: Fraternity social club loses exemption after investment income dominates
A fraternity organization under a group exemption had no organized social or recreational program beyond a quarterly newsletter, according to the examination report. The IRS found little contact or…
PLR 200729039: IRS waives rollover deadline amid family medical emergencies
An IRA owner withdrew funds and twice tried to send them to a broker for a rollover IRA. The broker returned the paperwork first because an application was incomplete, then because the selected…
PLR 200729038: IRS waives extended IRA rollover period after home purchase fails
A first time homebuyer withdrew money from two IRAs for a planned residence purchase and placed it in escrow. The purchase was denied, but the escrow money was returned after the ordinary 60-day…
PLR 200729036: Survivor contributions may move between government retirement plans
A state retirement system asked how to treat survivor contributions made by members who later became single. State legislation allowed those members to transfer the contributions from a defined…
CCA 200729035: Cooperative structure cannot defer income within a consolidated group
A corporate group moved its purchasing function into a national cooperative owned through regional cooperatives and foreign affiliates. The group treated the national cooperative as outside its…
CCA 200729034: Foreign affiliate sales do not reduce a domestic transfer pricing adjustment
An IRS examination proposed increasing a U.S. taxpayer's income after finding that its domestic partnership paid too much for products bought from a foreign affiliate. The taxpayer argued that part…
PLR 200729033: Rural telephone cooperative may allocate bank liquidation proceeds to members
A rural telephone cooperative had to buy stock in a lending bank to obtain loans for its member service business. When the bank liquidated, the cooperative asked whether proceeds from redemption of…
PLR 200729032: Telephone cooperative may allocate bank stock redemption proceeds to members
A rural telephone cooperative bought required stock in a lending bank to obtain financing for its service to members. After repaying its loans, it converted that stock to another class; the bank…
PLR 200729031: Telephone cooperative may allocate two classes of bank stock proceeds
A rural telephone cooperative bought bank stock as a condition of obtaining loans for its member service business and later converted some of it after repaying loans. When the bank liquidated, it…
PLR 200729030: Foreign branch losses require no annual certifications
A taxpayer asked for more time to file annual certifications for dual consolidated losses associated with two foreign branch operations. The IRS found that the losses belonged to foreign branch…
PLR 200729029: Foreign entity receives more time to elect partnership status
A foreign eligible entity wanted partnership treatment from its formation date but did not file the required entity classification election on time. The IRS found that the entity met the standards…
PLR 200729028: Unneeded QTIP election for credit shelter trust is void
An estate elected qualified terminable interest property treatment for assets passing to a credit shelter trust. The election was unnecessary because the estate would have owed no estate tax without…
PLR 200729027: Corporation receives relief for late S election
A corporation intended to elect S corporation treatment from its incorporation date but missed the filing deadline. The IRS found reasonable cause for the late election and agreed to recognize S…
PLR 200729026: Foreign entity receives extension for disregarded entity election
A foreign entity intended to elect treatment as an entity disregarded from its owner beginning on its formation date, but it missed the Form 8832 deadline. The IRS found that the entity met the…
PLR 200729025: Trust transfer remains incomplete gift; grantor status partly unresolved
A person proposed creating a trust whose income and principal could be distributed by a committee that included family members. The IRS concluded that the trust terms did not make the creator its…
PLR 200729024: Partnership receives extension for basis adjustment election
A limited partnership timely filed its return for the year a majority limited partner died but inadvertently omitted a section 754 election. The IRS granted 60 days from the ruling letter to file a…
PLR 200729023: S corporation keeps its status after inadvertent stock transfers
Three sets of spouses transferred an S corporation's stock to family limited partnerships during estate planning. The transfers terminated the corporation's S election because the partnerships were…
PLR 200729022: Nuclear decommissioning fund is disqualified when plant is sold
A utility planned to sell a nuclear plant and transfer its decommissioning obligations to the buyer. It asked the IRS to disqualify its qualified nuclear decommissioning fund when the sale closed.…
PLR 200729021: REIT's preferential distribution will not reduce earnings and profits
A real estate investment trust distributed excess cash to two of its three common stock classes and later planned a catch-up distribution to the omitted class. It represented that the proposed…
PLR 200729020: Historic building certification request treated as timely
An owner placed a rehabilitated building in service before applying to the Department of the Interior to certify its historic status. The National Park Service initially refused to process the late…
PLR 200729019: Specialized program tuition qualifies as medical expense
Parents asked whether tuition for their dependent child's specialized support program was deductible as a medical expense. The child had diagnosed developmental and learning conditions, and the…
PLR 200729018: Late Form 3115 accepted for tire depreciation method change
A trucking company discovered that certain tires bought by a subsidiary had never been depreciated. It sought an automatic accounting method change and sent a copy of Form 3115 to the IRS National…
PLR 200729017: Foreign entity gets more time to elect partnership status
A foreign entity with two members was classified by default as a corporation for federal tax purposes. Its members intended partnership treatment from the entity's formation and relied on a tax…
PLR 200729016: Trusts' S corporation eligibility depends on how substitution power was used
A married couple placed S corporation stock in six separate trusts and retained a power to replace trust property with property of equal value. They asked whether the trusts were eligible S…
PLR 200729015: S corporation trust ruling depends on substitution power facts
A married couple put S corporation stock in one set of subtrusts that later merged into another set. They retained a power to substitute property of equal value in both sets and asked whether the…
PLR 200729014: Eight trusts may hold S corporation stock if grantor is their owner
An individual sold S corporation stock to eight separate trusts and retained the power to substitute trust property with property of equal value. The trusts asked whether they were eligible S…
PLR 200729013: Merged trusts' S corporation eligibility remains conditional
A married couple placed S corporation stock in five subtrusts, which later merged into subtrusts created under a second agreement. The couple retained a right to replace trust assets with assets of…
PLR 200729012: Subtrust shareholder status turns on retained substitution power
A married couple put S corporation shares in subtrusts under one agreement, then transferred the shares to subtrusts under a second agreement when the trusts merged. They kept a right to replace…
PLR 200729011: Successive trusts receive conditional S shareholder ruling
A married couple held S corporation shares through subtrusts under one trust agreement and then through successor subtrusts after a merger. They retained a power to substitute trust property with…
PLR 200729010: Successive trusts receive conditional S shareholder ruling
A married couple held S corporation shares through subtrusts under one trust agreement and then through successor subtrusts after a merger. They retained a power to substitute trust property with…
PLR 200729009: Successive trusts receive conditional S shareholder ruling
A married couple held S corporation shares through subtrusts under one trust agreement and then through successor subtrusts after a merger. They retained a power to substitute trust property with…
PLR 200729008: Successive trusts receive conditional S shareholder ruling
A married couple held S corporation shares through subtrusts under one trust agreement and then through successor subtrusts after a merger. They retained a power to substitute trust property with…
PLR 200729007: Successive trusts receive conditional S shareholder ruling
A married couple held S corporation shares through subtrusts under one trust agreement and then through successor subtrusts after a merger. They retained a power to substitute trust property with…
PLR 200729006: Successive trusts receive conditional S shareholder ruling
A married couple held S corporation shares through subtrusts under one trust agreement and then through successor subtrusts after a merger. They retained a power to substitute trust property with…
PLR 200729005: Four trust families receive conditional S shareholder ruling
Four grantors placed S corporation shares in subtrusts under four trust agreements, including successor trusts formed when one group of subtrusts merged into another. Each agreement gave its grantor…
PLR 200729004: Vacation property qualifies as a personal residence, but trust questions go unanswered
A property owner planned to divide a vacation property and place the residential parcel in a proposed qualified personal residence trust. The parcel would include a residence and nearby land…
PLR 200729003: IRS grants relief for a late S corporation election
A corporation intended to be an S corporation from its incorporation date but did not timely file its election. The IRS found reasonable cause for the missed deadline under section 1362(b)(5). It…
PLR 200729002: Merger into buyer's disregarded LLC qualifies as a reorganization
An S corporation holding company proposed to merge into a publicly held buyer's disregarded LLC. Its shareholders would receive newly issued buyer stock and limited cash for fractional shares, while…
PLR 200729001: Foreign entity receives more time to elect partnership status
A foreign entity intended to elect partnership treatment for federal tax purposes but inadvertently missed the filing deadline. The IRS found that it met the requirements for an extension under…
PLR 200728049: Plan amendments avoid loss of a pension funding waiver
A hospital with a minimum funding waiver for its retirement plan asked about amendments to that plan and a related savings plan. One savings plan amendment would credit certain union employees with…
Other 200728048: IRS proposes revoking a homeowners' club's social club exemption
A subdivision club offered recreational activities and facilities to its members and had been recognized as a tax-exempt social club. The IRS examination report found that the club also enforced…
Other 200728047: Dormant organization loses charitable exemption
An organization recognized under section 501(c)(3) had no exempt activities and told an IRS agent it did not intend to operate in the future. Its representative said it preferred to dissolve, but…
Other 200728046: Debt management operation loses charitable exemption
A credit counseling organization had received section 501(c)(3) recognition before it began operating. On examination, the IRS found that its principal activity was marketing debt management plans…
PLR 200728045: Telephone cooperative's stock sale produces patronage income
A rural telephone cooperative bought stock in a company formed to provide database and billing services that the cooperative needed for its members. Through successive corporate changes, that…
PLR 200728044: Foundation's condominium land sales avoid unrelated business tax
A charitable trust planned to sell its leased interests in land beneath several condominium developments. It had held most of the land for nearly a century as an income-producing investment and…
PLR 200728043: Troubled housing project receives 10-year holding period waiver
A limited partnership planned to buy and rehabilitate a federally assisted apartment project and seek low-income housing credits. Existing buildings normally face a 10-year holding period rule…
CCA 200728042: Two discounted option exercises receive different section 409A treatment
Two employees received stock options with a $1 exercise price when the shares were worth $2, so the options were subject to section 409A's deferred compensation rules. Both exercised in 2006. One…
PLR 200728041: IRS grants some late GST elections and denies others
After a husband's death, his estate elected marital deduction treatment for a trust but omitted a reverse QTIP election and an allocation of his remaining generation-skipping transfer (GST)…
PLR 200728040: Estate receives more time to file mental disability certification
An estate sought more time to submit a physician's certification concerning whether the decedent had been mentally incompetent continuously since October 22, 1986. That evidence relates to a…
PLR 200728039: Seller may use alternative basis recovery for contingent sale
An S corporation sold business assets for an initial payment, an amount held in escrow, and possible later earnout payments. It did not expect the earnouts to be paid, but the normal contingent…
PLR 200728038: Special dividend permits related stock option adjustments
A real estate investment trust paid shareholders a special dividend after selling an investment. It planned proportional adjustments to outstanding employee stock options, including options intended…
PLR 200728037: Timberland exchange does not count as a REIT property sale
A real estate investment trust exchanged one timberland property for another through a qualified intermediary. It represented that the exchange met the deferred like-kind exchange rules and produced…
PLR 200728036: Taxpayer gets 60 days to file dual consolidated loss certifications
After an acquisition, a taxpayer omitted annual certifications for dual consolidated losses attributable to two hybrid entity interests from its tax returns. It attributed the omissions to increased…
PLR 200728035: Option plan changes and special dividend receive section 424 rulings
A real estate investment trust amended two employee option plans to make equitable adjustments mandatory and to expand who could authorize them. It also paid a nonrecurring special dividend funded…
PLR 200728034: Unvested restricted stock keeps forfeiture risk after spin-off
A corporation planned to separate into three public companies while employees held restricted stock subject to service-based vesting. After the spin-off, employees would hold restricted shares in…
PLR 200728033: Proposed trust correction preserves grandfathered GST exemption
A trust created before the generation-skipping transfer tax's grandfather date used the term “lawful issue” in some distribution provisions but broader terms elsewhere. The trustee proposed asking a…
PLR 200728032: Sulfur dioxide allowances are not ordinary business supplies
An electricity generator held sulfur dioxide emission allowances for Clean Air Act compliance and periodically bought and sold them to maintain enough allowances. It asked whether the allowances…
PLR 200728031: Dividing old trust preserves GST status and tax attributes
A trustee proposed dividing a trust created before the generation-skipping transfer tax grandfather date into two successor trusts associated with the settlor's daughters. The assets would be…
PLR 200728030: Foreign entity gets more time to elect disregarded status
A foreign entity intended to elect treatment as disregarded from its owner for federal income tax purposes, effective when it was formed. It inadvertently missed the deadline to file Form 8832. The…
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.