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 200726029: Missed trust income distributions did not end S status
Shares of an S corporation were held in separate trust shares intended to qualify as qualified subchapter S trusts for two minor beneficiaries. The trustees failed to distribute all trust income for…
PLR 200726028: Extension for property interest notices after stock transfers
A foreign corporate group transferred stock of a domestic company through several foreign subsidiaries without obtaining statements that the stock was not a U.S. real property interest or sending…
PLR 200726027: Late trust elections after S corporation shareholders died
Two trusts held S corporation stock and stopped being grantor trusts when their owners died. Their beneficiaries did not file the elections needed for the trusts to qualify as S corporation…
PLR 200726026: Commodity-linked note income qualifies for investment funds
Eight regulated investment funds planned to buy structured notes whose payments rise or fall with commodity indexes. They asked whether income and gains from the notes would count toward the rule…
PLR 200726025: Revised tax treatment for a partial liquidation distribution
A corporation asked the IRS to update an earlier ruling after changing how it would sell assets and distribute the proceeds to shareholders. The revised plan calls for a proportional cash…
PLR 200726024: Sixty days to file a late S corporation election
A corporation's shareholders intended it to be an S corporation from the date it was formed, but the corporation did not file Form 2553 on time. The IRS found reasonable cause for the late filing…
CCA 200726023: Signing a sports broadcast contract does not fix all license fees
Broadcasters sign contracts covering several sports seasons and pay licensing fees for the right to air games. Some argued that signing the contract made them liable for all future fees at once.…
PLR 200726022: Inadvertent S election termination after trust elections were missed
Two trusts held stock in an S corporation and lost their temporary eligibility as shareholders after their owners died. Their beneficiaries had not filed the elections needed for the trusts to…
PLR 200726021: Extension to correct dual consolidated loss filings
Two related corporations missed or incorrectly prepared several filings connected with losses of foreign branches and other foreign units. The filings included elections, annual certifications, and…
PLR 200726020: Extension to make a low-income housing credit election
A project owner failed to make an election connected with federally subsidized financing for a low-income housing project because of an external tax advisor's error. Under IRC § 42(i)(2)(B), the…
PLR 200726019: Annual loss certifications were unnecessary for a foreign branch
A taxpayer asked for extra time to file annual certifications for dual consolidated losses from a foreign branch of a disregarded entity. The IRS found that the losses belonged to the branch as a…
PLR 200726018: Commercial units can become cooperative apartments
A housing cooperative planned to issue stock tied to retail units that buyers could use commercially or convert to apartments. The buyers would have a right to occupy the units as dwellings, and the…
PLR 200726017: S corporation relief after a trust missed its election
A trust owned S corporation stock and remained an eligible shareholder for two years after its owner died. Its beneficiary did not elect qualified subchapter S trust status before that temporary…
PLR 200726016: Late entity classification election for a foreign company
A foreign entity with one owner and limited liability wanted to be disregarded as a separate entity for U.S. tax purposes from its formation date. It did not file the required Form 8832 on time. The…
PLR 200726015: Late classification election after a foreign entity changed owners
A foreign entity was acquired by one owner with limited liability. It intended to be disregarded as a separate entity for U.S. tax purposes from the acquisition date, but missed the deadline to file…
PLR 200726014: Supplement extends deadline for foreign branch loss elections
A taxpayer supplied more information after receiving an earlier ruling about dual consolidated losses of foreign branches. The IRS amended that ruling to correct the covered tax years and add a…
PLR 200726013: Insurance investment portfolios classified as partnerships
An insurer planned to replace investment funds used by its variable insurance contracts with portfolios of a new business trust. The IRS found that the managers' power to vary investments made the…
PLR 200726012: Variable insurance portfolios avoid public trading status
A life insurer planned to move investment funds supporting variable insurance contracts into portfolios of a new business trust. The IRS treated the portfolios as business entities because their…
PLR 200726011: Insurance group needs a new election for joint tax returns
A U.S. corporate group transferred a life insurance subsidiary to a different chain of companies and planned to file returns without any life insurer in its consolidated group. Other life insurers…
PLR 200726010: S election relief requires trust amendment and elections
An S corporation transferred shares to two trusts whose beneficiaries did not file the required trust elections. One trust also allowed distributions to people other than its income beneficiary, so…
PLR 200726009: Five missed trust elections caused S status termination
An S corporation transferred stock to five trusts, but their beneficiaries did not file timely qualified subchapter S trust elections. That made the trusts ineligible shareholders and terminated the…
PLR 200726008: January-only trust withdrawal power preserves tax treatment
A trust that became irrevocable before September 25, 1985, gave the settlor's son an annual right to withdraw a limited amount of principal. The trustees sought a court order limiting exercise of…
PLR 200726007: Synthetic coal fuel credit survives facility relocations
A partnership acquired a facility that treats coal with a chemical reagent to make synthetic fuel. The IRS ruled that the described output was qualified fuel and that the partnership could claim the…
PLR 200726006: U.K. energy exchange qualifies under futures tax rules
A U.K. exchange offering electronically traded energy futures asked whether it was a qualified board or exchange under IRC § 1256. The exchange was overseen by U.K. regulators and had U.S. Commodity…
PLR 200726005: Estate trust reformation permits a charitable deduction
A will created a five-year trust paying an annuity to one person and leaving the remainder to three charities. As written, the trust did not meet the charitable remainder trust rules, so its…
PLR 200726004: REIT subsidiary election may use corrected effective date
A real estate investment trust acquired full ownership of a company whose subsidiary had previously been a taxable REIT subsidiary of another REIT. The parent and subsidiary filed Form 8875 on time,…
PLR 200726003: Equal trust division preserves tax basis and GST exemption
Trustees proposed dividing an older irrevocable trust equally into two trusts for separate family branches, allocating each asset proportionally. The IRS ruled that the division would preserve the…
PLR 200726002: REIT goodwill gain follows the source of the business gain
A real estate investment trust expected a cash merger to be treated as a sale of all its assets, including goodwill. It worried that goodwill gain might cause it to fail the REIT gross income tests…
CCA 200726001: IRS credit reports may be shared only for their permitted use
Chief Counsel addressed how IRS staff may use a full consumer credit report obtained without a summons to collect an assessed tax debt. Collection staff may pass that report to another IRS…
TAM 200725057: Credit union insurance and nonmember ATM fees are taxable
A tax-exempt state credit union earned income from selling insurance, card transactions, and ATM use by nonmembers. The IRS advised that insurance sales and nonmember ATM fees were unrelated to the…
TAM 200725056: Credit union insurance sales produce taxable business income
A tax-exempt state credit union received fees for offering credit life, credit disability, and other insurance products to members. It argued that the insurance helped members manage debt and…
TAM 200725055: Credit union insurance income taxable, Visa interchange income exempt
A tax-exempt state credit union earned fees from offering insurance to members and interchange income when members used its Visa credit cards for purchases. The IRS advised that the insurance sales…
TAM 200725054: Credit union insurance and nonmember ATM fees taxable
A tax-exempt state credit union earned fees from insurance sales, Visa credit and checkcard transactions, and nonmembers using its ATMs. The IRS advised that insurance sales primarily benefited…
TAM 200725053: Credit union card income exempt, insurance and outside ATM fees taxable
A tax-exempt state credit union earned fees from insurance sales, Visa credit and checkcard transactions, and ATM use by nonmembers. The IRS advised that insurance sales primarily benefited…
TAM 200725052: Credit union insurance fees taxable, card interchange income exempt
A tax-exempt state credit union offered insurance to members and earned interchange income from Visa credit cards and checkcards. The IRS advised that the insurance sales primarily benefited…
TAM 200725051: Checkcard interchange exempt, insurance and nonmember ATM fees taxable
A tax-exempt state credit union earned fees from offering insurance, from members' Visa checkcard purchases, and from nonmembers using its ATMs. The IRS advised that insurance sales primarily…
TAM 200725050: Visa and MasterCard interchange exempt, insurance and outside ATM fees taxable
A tax-exempt state credit union earned fees from member insurance sales, Visa credit card and MasterCard checkcard transactions, and nonmembers using its ATMs. The IRS advised that insurance sales…
TAM 200725049: Credit union insurance taxable, Visa card interchange exempt
A tax-exempt state credit union sold insurance to members and earned interchange income from Visa credit cards and checkcards. The IRS advised that insurance sales primarily benefited individual…
TAM 200725048: Credit union card income exempt, insurance and outside ATM fees taxable
A tax-exempt state credit union earned fees from insurance sales, Visa credit card and checkcard transactions, and ATM use by nonmembers. The IRS advised that insurance sales primarily benefited…
TAM 200725047: Credit union card income exempt, insurance and outside ATM fees taxable
A tax-exempt state credit union earned fees from insurance sales, Visa credit card and checkcard transactions, and ATM use by nonmembers. The IRS advised that insurance sales primarily benefited…
TAM 200725046: Credit union card income exempt, insurance and outside ATM fees taxable
A tax-exempt state credit union earned fees from insurance sales, Visa credit card and checkcard transactions, and ATM use by nonmembers. The IRS advised that insurance sales primarily benefited…
PLR 200725045: Charitable trust can sell condominium land interests without unrelated business tax
A charitable trust held land beneath several condominium developments as a long term investment. It proposed to sell its leased land interests, primarily to the leaseholders and their associations,…
PLR 200725044: Early trust termination avoids self-dealing and foundation termination tax
A donor who was the income beneficiary and trustee of a charitable remainder unitrust wanted to end the trust early by selling his income interest to its public charity remainder beneficiaries. The…
PLR 200725043: Foundation asset split preserves tax status and avoids transfer taxes
After a dispute between two directors, a court approved an agreement dividing a private foundation's assets between it and a second private foundation. The original foundation transferred cash and…
Determination 200725042: IRS revokes charity exemption after missing returns and records
The IRS asked an exempt organization to file a Form 990 and provide information for an examination, but it did not respond or file the return. The examination report says the missing return and…
Determination 200725041: Organization loses exemption after failing to file Form 990
The IRS asked an exempt organization to file a Form 990 and provide information for an examination, but it did not respond or file the return. The examination report says the missing return and…
Determination 200725040: Supporting trust loses exemption over founder benefit
A couple created a charitable supporting trust and claimed a deduction for funding it. The examination report says the trust sent money to an offshore investment firm as part of a plan arranged by a…
PLR 200725039: IRA rollover deadline waived after duplicate distribution
An IRA owner received a required minimum distribution, then her financial institution mistakenly sent a second distribution to a regular savings account. The institution later returned the second…
PLR 200725038: Rollover deadline waived after hospitalization
A worker with serious injuries asked for his retirement plan balance to be rolled into an IRA. The plan administrator instead sent the payment, after tax withholding, to his credit union savings…
CCA 200725037: Depreciation basis and service date for breeding animals
Chief Counsel addressed how a farm should calculate depreciation for animals it raises for breeding. The animals' depreciation basis includes production costs that must be capitalized under section…
CCA 200725036: Partner may combine partnership and personal wagering results
A partner had personal wagering losses and a share of wagering gains from a partnership that operated a gambling business. The partner combined those amounts on an amended return to calculate the…
CCA 200725035: Business is not a Railroad Retirement Tax Act employer
The Railroad Retirement Board advised the IRS that a business was not an employer under the Railroad Retirement Act or Railroad Unemployment Insurance Act. After reviewing the Board's opinion and…
CCA 200725034: Business became a Railroad Retirement Tax Act employer
The Railroad Retirement Board advised the IRS that a business became an employer under the Railroad Retirement Act and Railroad Unemployment Insurance Act. Based on that opinion and the information…
CCA 200725033: Business ceased to be a covered railroad employer
The Railroad Retirement Board advised the IRS that a business ceased to be a covered employer under the Railroad Retirement Act and Railroad Unemployment Insurance Act. IRS counsel agreed that the…
CCA 200725032: Railroad employer finding may involve disregarded LLC
The Railroad Retirement Board found that a business became a covered employer under the Railroad Retirement Act and Railroad Unemployment Insurance Act. IRS counsel agreed that it became a covered…
CCA 200725031: Insurance recoveries and specified liability losses
Chief Counsel considered insurance recoveries for a manufacturer facing product liability claims and environmental cleanup costs. A section 165 loss cannot be deducted while a reimbursement claim…
CCA 200725030: Business is not a covered railroad employer
The Railroad Retirement Board advised the IRS that a business was not a covered employer under the Railroad Retirement Act or Railroad Unemployment Insurance Act. Based on the Board's opinion and…
TAM 200725029: Customer booking payments are income when reservations are made
A business charged customers when it made reservations for services to be used later. It argued that the payments were refundable deposits or, alternatively, advance payments it could defer until…
CCA 200725028: Business is not a railroad retirement tax employer
The Railroad Retirement Board advised the IRS that a business was not a covered employer under the Railroad Retirement Act or Railroad Unemployment Insurance Act. IRS counsel reviewed that opinion…
PLR 200725027: Holding company inherits remaining built-in gains period
An S corporation became a subsidiary of a newly formed S corporation holding company in a transaction represented to qualify as a reorganization. The holding company also made elections to treat…
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.