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 200722010: Foreign entity gets more time to elect disregarded treatment
A foreign eligible entity intended to elect treatment as an entity disregarded from its owner for federal tax purposes. It failed to file Form 8832 by the deadline and requested relief under the…
PLR 200722009: Foreign trust arrangement gets time to elect partnership status
An arrangement formed as a trust under foreign law represented that it was an eligible entity for federal tax classification purposes. It intended to elect partnership treatment effective when it…
PLR 200722008: Late election for disregarded entity treatment allowed
An entity formed under foreign law intended to elect treatment as an entity disregarded from its owner for federal income tax purposes. Its Form 8832 was not filed on time because of inadvertence.…
PLR 200722007: Foreign subsidiary income inclusions qualify for partnership income test
A limited partnership planned to become publicly traded and rely on § 7704's qualifying income exception to corporate treatment. It owned stock in foreign subsidiaries that could create subpart F…
PLR 200722006: Couple gets time to group rental real estate interests
A married couple relied on a tax professional to elect to treat all their rental real estate interests as one activity under § 469(c)(7), but the professional omitted the required statement from…
PLR 200722005: City need not report driveway repair reimbursements
A city reimbursed property owners for approved repairs to driveway approaches, including sidewalks, curbs, and gutters subject to a public right of way. The city generally paid half the cost, with…
PLR 200722004: Settlement fund has limited reporting and withholding duties
A qualified settlement fund would distribute proceeds of a securities enforcement settlement to injured mutual fund investors. The IRS ruled that its direct payments generally did not require…
PLR 200722003: Late S corporation election accepted for requested year
A newly incorporated company wanted S corporation treatment beginning on a specified date, but missed the deadline for making the election. The IRS found reasonable cause for the late filing under §…
PLR 200722002: Business split-off qualifies as a type D reorganization
An S corporation proposed to put one of its two businesses into a new corporation and distribute the new company's stock to one shareholder in exchange for that shareholder's stock in the original…
PLR 200722001: Late S election survives state administrative dissolution
A corporation and its sole shareholder intended S corporation treatment from incorporation, but Form 2553 was not filed on time. The state later administratively dissolved the company for a missed…
PLR 200721025: Higher income limit preserves housing charity's exemption
A housing charity provided deferred second mortgages to help families buy homes. It proposed raising its household income limit to match a state housing agency's program so more families could use…
PLR 200721024: Medical incapacity supports late IRA rollover waiver
An IRA owner with progressive dementia withdrew funds and missed the 60 day deadline to roll them into another IRA. Medical records showed that the owner's condition impaired financial decision…
PLR 200721023: Friend's advice did not justify late IRA rollover
An IRA owner withdrew money from several accounts and missed the 60 day rollover deadline. He said a friend had told him that, after age 59½, IRA distributions were tax free. He deposited the money…
PLR 200721022: Deferred retirement option stays within defined benefit plan
A governmental retirement system for police officers and firefighters proposed a deferred retirement option program (DROP). Eligible workers could keep working while a frozen retirement amount…
PLR 200721021: Discounted early payout of cooperative credits preserves exemption
An exempt electric cooperative proposed to let current and former members take their allocated capital credits sooner than its usual 20 year retirement cycle. Members could choose a discounted cash…
PLR 200721020: Discounted capital credit program preserves cooperative status
An exempt electric cooperative proposed to retire members' capital credits ahead of its usual 30 year cycle, paying their present value under a revised rotation program. It also planned to move…
CCA 200721019: Old mining property still triggers earnings adjustment for depletion
Chief Counsel considered a mining company that used percentage depletion for alternative minimum tax purposes on mines placed in service before 1990. The mines had no remaining basis for cost…
TAM 200721018: Export income tied to foreign distributors has limits
A domestic manufacturer sold products to foreign subsidiaries for resale and claimed an extraterritorial income exclusion based on their foreign sales activities. The IRS advised that some of the…
CCA 200721017: State property tax rebates affect income and deductions
Chief Counsel advised on a state rebate paid to homeowners for local property taxes. A rebate received in the year the tax was paid generally is not income, but it reduces the homeowner's property…
CCA 200721016: Seat license payments become income as they come due
A stadium authority's agent sold permanent seat licenses that gave purchasers the right to buy season tickets. Buyers agreed to pay in installments over several years, and the agent could withhold…
CCA 200721015: Investment advisory fee is not a carrying charge
An investor paid a brokerage firm a fee based on account value for advisory, custody, brokerage, and management services. Chief Counsel advised that the fee was not a carrying charge under the § 266…
CCA 200721014: IRS memoranda to Appeals violated ex parte rules
IRS examination staff and Area Counsel sent memoranda to Appeals officials challenging a proposed settlement while the taxpayer's case was still open. Chief Counsel concluded that both memoranda…
PLR 200721013: Broker commission rebate reduces a home's purchase price
A real estate broker agreed to give homebuyers part of the commission it received from sellers, either by check after closing or by a credit at closing. The IRS ruled that the payment or credit…
PLR 200721012: Corporation receives relief for late S election
A corporation's shareholder intended to elect S corporation treatment from the date of incorporation, but the election was filed late. The IRS found reasonable cause for the missed deadline and…
PLR 200721011: Work related disability benefits are excluded from income
A locally administered pension plan asked whether disability benefits for members injured or made ill through their work were taxable. State law provided these benefits to eligible employees and…
PLR 200721010: Extra time to file dual consolidated loss documents
A corporation missed required elections and annual certifications for dual consolidated losses connected with four foreign entities after its tax advisers failed to identify the filings. The IRS…
PLR 200721009: Work related disability benefits are excluded from income
A locally administered pension plan asked whether disability benefits for members injured or made ill through their work were taxable. State law provided these benefits to eligible employees and…
PLR 200721008: Late S corporation election treated as timely
A corporation's shareholders intended to elect S corporation status from a specified date, but the corporation inadvertently missed the Form 2553 filing deadline. The IRS found reasonable cause for…
PLR 200721007: Work related disability benefits are excluded from income
A locally administered pension plan asked whether disability benefits for members injured or made ill through their work were taxable. State law provided these benefits to eligible employees and…
PLR 200721006: Estate denied extra time for installment tax election
An estate asked for more time to elect installment payments of estate tax on an interest in a closely held business under § 6166. The IRS denied the request because the deadline for that election…
PLR 200721005: Partnership receives extra time for basis election
After a partner in an upper-tier partnership died, that partnership made a § 754 election, but a lower-tier partnership it owned inadvertently missed its own election deadline. A § 754 election…
PLR 200721004: Foreign entity gets more time to elect disregarded status
A foreign entity eligible to choose its federal tax classification intended to be treated as disregarded from its formation date. Its default classification was as a corporation, but it missed the…
PLR 200721003: Inadvertent S corporation termination relieved after stock went to an LLC
A corporation's S election terminated when a shareholder transferred its stock to an LLC, which could not hold S corporation stock. The corporation said the mistake was inadvertent and that the LLC…
PLR 200721002: S corporation keeps its status after stock goes to an ineligible corporation
A corporation's S election terminated when a shareholder's wholly owned corporation bought its stock. That corporate buyer was not an eligible S corporation shareholder. After tax advisers…
PLR 200721001: Two mortgage trusts get extra time for REMIC elections
Two mortgage trusts intended to elect real estate mortgage investment conduit (REMIC) status on their first tax returns. Their tax preparer sent the returns to an institution it mistakenly believed…
PLR 200730030: State pension lump sum receives pre-1987 contribution basis treatment
A state pension plan let retiring participants take part of their benefit as a lump sum before or with their first annuity payment. Its members had been allowed to withdraw employee contributions at…
Determination 200720030: IRS proposes revoking a civic organization's tax exemption for missing records and returns
The IRS proposed revoking a civic organization's exemption under IRC § 501(c)(4). Its examination report says the organization did not respond to requests for information and did not file required…
Determination 200720029: Veterans organization's exemption revoked after missing Form 990
The IRS revoked an organization's exemption under IRC § 501(c)(19), which covers qualifying veterans' organizations. The released packet contains both a proposed revocation and a final adverse…
Determination 200720028: IRS proposes revoking exemption after unanswered examination requests
An exempt organization did not provide information requested for an IRS examination of its Form 990. The examination report says the IRS received confirmation that its letters reached the…
Determination 200720027: Charity faces revocation for missing returns and records
The IRS proposed revoking a charity's exemption under IRC § 501(c)(3). The organization had not filed Form 990 since receiving exemption, and its former president could not provide the records…
Determination 200720026: Condominium association loses social welfare exemption
A master condominium association maintained roads, landscaped areas, and other shared property for a resort development. The IRS revoked its exemption under IRC § 501(c)(4), concluding that those…
PLR 200720025: IRA owner gets more time to roll over funds after adviser error
An IRA owner withdrew funds while moving investment accounts on a financial adviser's advice. The adviser did not realize that one account was an IRA, and the funds went into a non-IRA annuity…
PLR 200720024: Widow may roll inherited IRA proceeds into her own IRA
An IRA owner died without naming a beneficiary, so his IRA became payable to his estate. His will left his property to his wife, who was also the estate's sole executrix. The IRS concluded that,…
PLR 200720023: IRA transfers broke a penalty free payment series
An IRA owner under age 59½ took annual payments intended to qualify as substantially equal periodic payments, an exception to the 10 percent early distribution tax. He transferred portions of the…
PLR 200720022: Bank's account error qualifies IRA owner for late rollover relief
An IRA owner asked a bank to roll a distribution into a new IRA and invest it in a certificate of deposit. The bank instead placed the funds in a certificate of deposit outside an IRA. She learned…
PLR 200720021: Uniform stock redemption avoids self-dealing tax
A corporation proposed to buy back shares from its shareholders, including a charitable remainder unitrust that owned most of its stock. The corporation was a disqualified person with respect to the…
PLR 200720020: Foundation's employee family scholarships receive advance approval
A private foundation proposed scholarships for dependent children and grandchildren of a company's employees. An outside program would review applications and select recipients through a committee…
PLR 200720019: REIT gets extra time to confirm subsidiary election
A real estate investment trust (REIT) needed to establish that a corporation was its taxable REIT subsidiary from the date of a merger. The REIT said it had made the joint election, but it could not…
PLR 200720018: S corporation gets extra time to elect subsidiary status
An S corporation acquired a corporation that owned a second subsidiary. It elected qualified subchapter S subsidiary (QSub) status for the first company but missed the election for the second. The…
PLR 200720017: Tax treatment changes when leave sharing expands beyond medical emergencies
A healthcare company let employees donate paid leave to coworkers facing medical emergencies or certain family deaths. Under that existing policy, the IRS ruled that recipients had taxable wages…
PLR 200720016: Statutory payments in lieu of property taxes are deductible
A developer leased land from a public authority for a mixed-use building and had to make payments in lieu of property taxes. The payments were required by state statute, measured using the ordinary…
CCA 200720015: IRS explains order for applying older partial payroll tax payments
Chief Counsel addressed partial payments on an employer's Form 941 liability when a trust fund recovery penalty had been assessed and its notice had been sent before June 19, 2000. For voluntary…
PLR 200720014: Company gets time to attach missing accounting method form
A corporate group sought an automatic change in the depreciation method for certain assets. Its accounting firm timely sent a copy of Form 3115 to the IRS national office but failed to attach the…
PLR 200720013: Company gets time to attach missing accounting method form
A corporate group sought an automatic change in the depreciation method for certain assets. Its accounting firm timely sent a copy of Form 3115 to the IRS national office but failed to attach the…
PLR 200720012: Bankruptcy ownership change resets loss limitation testing period
A loss corporation issued stock to creditors under a confirmed bankruptcy reorganization plan and later issued or converted other interests into stock. It asked when the ownership change testing…
PLR 200720011: Commodity linked note income qualifies for investment company test
Two regulated investment companies planned to buy notes whose repayment amounts tracked commodity indexes. To retain their tax status, they needed at least 90 percent of gross income from qualifying…
PLR 200720010: Foreign parent may retain U.S. assets and use qualifying subsidiary losses
A foreign bank planned to convert its wholly owned U.S. subsidiary into a disregarded limited liability company, which it represented would be a liquidation for federal tax purposes. The bank said…
PLR 200720009: Corporation receives relief for late S election
A corporation intended to be taxed as an S corporation from its incorporation date but did not file its election on time. The IRS found reasonable cause for the late filing under IRC § 1362(b)(5).…
PLR 200720008: Business trust gets more time to elect corporate tax status
A business trust intended to be treated as a corporation for federal tax purposes from the date it was organized. It missed the deadline to file Form 8832 because of inadvertence. The IRS found that…
PLR 200720007: Contractual divorce payments do not qualify as tax alimony
A divorced recipient asked whether payments labeled “contractual alimony” in her divorce decree were alimony for federal tax purposes. The decree did not end the payments on her death, and the IRS…
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.