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 200701022: LLC receives time to file corporate-classification and S elections
A limited liability company intended to be taxed as a corporation and elect S treatment from its formation date. Neither its entity-classification election nor its S election was timely received by…
PLR 200701021: Missed trust election does not end S treatment after corrective filings
An S corporation’s election terminated when a trust bought shares without filing an electing-small-business-trust election. The IRS found the termination inadvertent under section 1362(f) and…
PLR 200701020: Commodity-linked note income qualifies for an investment fund’s income test
A regulated investment company invested through a master fund taxed as a partnership. The master fund planned to buy a thirteen-month note with payments linked to a commodity index, including…
PLR 200701019: Same-year restoration rescinds a subsidiary merger for tax purposes
A parent bought a holding subsidiary and immediately merged it into itself. After business setbacks, it regretted eliminating the subsidiary and formed a replacement holding company, contributing…
PLR 200701018: Holding-company merger into its disregarded LLC qualifies as a liquidation
A parent corporation owned a holding company that in turn owned a limited liability company disregarded for federal tax purposes. The holding company proposed merging into that LLC, leaving the…
PLR 200701017: New S holding company preserves tax treatment in an F reorganization
The sole owner of an S corporation proposed placing it beneath a new holding corporation, moving protected assets to the holding company, and electing qualified-subchapter-S-subsidiary treatment for…
PLR 200701016: Insurer owns assets supporting restricted variable-annuity accounts
A life insurer proposed group variable annuities for university endowments, private foundations, and other tax-exempt organizations. Separate accounts would invest in real estate and short-term…
PLR 200701015: LLC permitted to make its intended S election late
A limited liability company intended to elect S-corporation treatment from a specified date but failed to file Form 2553 on time. The IRS found reasonable cause for the failure under section…
PLR 200701014: Reciprocal insurer may revoke its combined-income election
A reciprocal insurer had elected to include certain income of its attorney-in-fact in its own taxable income under section 835. Changes in law and the insurer’s return to profitability eliminated…
PLR 200701013: Proportionate executive-suite subsidiary spin-off receives conditional nonrecognition
A corporate group described a proportionate distribution of all stock in its executive-suite leasing subsidiary to the parent’s shareholders. The subsidiary provided reception, telephone, mail, and…
PLR 200701012: Taxpayers receive time to elect dividend treatment for investment-interest deductions
Individual taxpayers borrowed to buy company stock and received qualified dividends in two tax years. Their accountant taxed the dividends at ordinary rates and claimed investment-interest…
PLR 200701011: Foreign entity receives time to elect disregarded status
A foreign entity intended to elect disregarded-entity status for federal tax purposes from its formation date but missed the filing deadline. It requested relief under the late-election regulations.…
PLR 200701010: Retail-business separation receives reorganization and debt-exchange rulings
A public corporate group planned an internal spin-off followed by a shareholder spin-off of its retail-service businesses, with cash and long-term subsidiary debt used to retire specified parent…
PLR 200701009: Homeowners association receives 90 days for missed annual elections
A residential real estate management association failed to file returns for its first two years because its developer and officers did not know the filing requirements. After discovering the…
PLR 200701008: Represented like-kind exchange does not count as a REIT safe-harbor sale
A real estate investment trust realigned its portfolio through an operating partnership’s exchange of one improved property for another. Neither property was encumbered by debt at transfer, and the…
PLR 200701007: S status preserved after stock transfer to an ineligible partnership
An S corporation’s shares were transferred to a limited partnership owned by an individual and three trusts. The company did not realize that the partnership was an ineligible shareholder and…
PLR 200701006: Utility’s revised nuclear-decommissioning contribution schedule approved
A utility with an ownership interest in a nuclear plant sought a revised funding schedule after two regulators reduced decommissioning costs included in electric rates. The IRS approved the proposed…
PLR 200701005: Revised plant decommissioning schedule meets section 468A
A utility asked to revise its qualified nuclear-decommissioning fund schedule after two commissions reduced decommissioning costs recoverable through rates. The IRS approved the proposed annual…
PLR 200701004: Revised nuclear-fund schedule approved after rate changes
A nuclear-plant owner requested a revised schedule for its qualified decommissioning fund after two regulators reduced costs included in electric rates. The IRS approved the proposed schedule under…
PLR 200701003: Revised nuclear decommissioning fund schedule approved after rate reductions
A nuclear power plant owner requested a revised schedule of deductible payments to its decommissioning fund after two utility commissions reduced the costs included in electricity rates. The IRS…
PLR 200701002: Nuclear-fund schedule revised after a utility commission loses jurisdiction
A nuclear plant owner requested a revised decommissioning fund schedule after transferring utility assets to an affiliate and leaving one commission's jurisdiction. The owner sought to reduce that…
PLR 200701001: Mutual fund settlement payments generally avoid information reporting
A qualified settlement fund asked about reporting payments to investors harmed by improper mutual fund market timing and advisory fees. The IRS found no reporting obligation under section 6041…
PLR 200652047: Pension funding waiver granted on conditions for the next two years
An automotive replacement-parts company received a waiver of its pension plan's minimum funding requirement for 2005. The company had declining sales and higher costs, but had consolidated…
PLR 200652046: Pension funding waiver requires timely contributions and later full funding
An automotive components company received a waiver of the minimum funding standard for its pension plan's 2005 year. The company had faced falling sales and rising costs, had taken recovery…
PLR 200652045: Nondeductible pension contributions may return to the employer within one year
An employer asked to treat certain contributions to a defined benefit pension plan as disallowed deductions so they could revert to the employer. The IRS allowed that treatment only to the extent…
PLR 200652044: Pension funding waiver depends on satisfying the next two years' obligations
A company remanufacturing automotive components received a waiver of its pension plan's 2005 minimum funding deficiency. The IRS considered the company's financial pressures, recovery efforts, and…
PLR 200652043: Partition of jointly held employee life insurance preserves tax treatment
Two banks that were no longer commonly owned proposed dividing employee life insurance held through an entity treated as a partnership, then liquidating that entity. Each bank would receive separate…
PLR 200652042: Spouses may make late GST exemption allocations using transfer-date values
A married couple elected to split a gift to an irrevocable family trust, but their accounting firm omitted generation-skipping transfer tax exemption allocations from both gift tax returns. The IRS…
PLR 200652041: Unexpected pregnancy supports reduced home-sale gain exclusions for co-owners
Two unmarried co-owners planned to sell their home after one discovered she was pregnant about seven months after the purchase. They represented that the home could not accommodate two adults and a…
PLR 200652040: Trust accounting modifications preserve GST exemption and ESBT eligibility
Trustees sought tax rulings for court-approved changes allowing a longstanding family trust and six subtrusts to determine income and adjust between income and principal under state law. The trusts…
PLR 200652039: Consolidated group receives 45 days to elect subsidiary stock-loss rules
A consolidated group's parent missed an election to apply specified rules in determining the allowable loss on a subsidiary stock sale. The IRS found that the parent reasonably relied on a qualified…
PLR 200652038: Late S corporation election accepted with a 60-day filing requirement
A corporation's shareholders intended S corporation treatment from its incorporation date, but the election was not filed on time. The IRS found reasonable cause for the missed deadline and granted…
PLR 200652037: Late accounting-period application accepted despite conflicting year-end descriptions
A taxpayer sought relief for a late Form 1128 application to change its annual accounting period after an error or misunderstanding caused a missed deadline. The IRS found reasonable conduct, good…
PLR 200652036: Foreign parent may deduct inherited losses against effectively connected income
A foreign life insurance company inherited a domestic subsidiary's net operating loss when that subsidiary liquidated. The company retained stock interests that were represented to be U.S. real…
PLR 200652035: S status preserved after shareholders briefly place stock in a partnership LLC
Two shareholders transferred all of an S corporation's stock to their LLC, which was taxed as a partnership and was not an eligible S shareholder. That transfer terminated the S election, but the…
PLR 200652034: U.S. shareholders receive time for a foreign acquisition's section 338 election
A U.S. parent and subsidiary missed the election deadline for treating a foreign corporation's stock acquisition as an asset acquisition under section 338(g). They represented that they had always…
PLR 200652033: Late Form 1128 accepted without deciding eligibility for the requested tax year
Taxpayers filed a late application to change their tax year from November 30 to December 31 and requested relief soon after the missed deadline. The IRS found reasonable conduct, good faith, and no…
PLR 200652032: Six investment funds may revoke calendar-year excise-tax elections
Six regulated investment companies asked to revoke elections using their calendar tax years to measure income for required excise-tax distributions. They explained that the elections created…
PLR 200652031: Employment-related disability benefits funded by local plans qualify for exclusion
Two locally administered pension plans asked whether amounts funding statutory disability benefits could be excluded from recipients' income. The state provision limited benefits to employees with…
PLR 200652030: Missed ESBT election receives relief to preserve corporate S treatment
A trust holding S corporation stock missed its intended electing small business trust election and later distributed the stock to an individual. The IRS found the resulting S election termination…
PLR 200652029: Missed elections for separate trust shares receive S termination relief
A shareholder transferred S corporation stock to three trusts with separate shares for children and grandchildren, but the income beneficiaries failed to elect qualified subchapter S trust treatment…
PLR 200652028: Assigning inherited IRAs to charitable residuary beneficiaries does not accelerate trust income
An estate obtained a court order changing three IRA beneficiary designations to the decedent's trust after an erroneous designation named the estate. The trust required distribution of its assets at…
PLR 200652027: Corporation receives 60 days to file its intended S election
A corporation intended to elect S treatment from its incorporation date but did not timely file Form 2553. The IRS found reasonable cause for the omission under section 1362(b)(5). If the…
PLR 200652026: Foreign holding-company distribution releases a related stock-sale loss
A multinational group moved a business into a new foreign holding company for distribution to the foreign parent's shareholders. A U.S. group member sold subsidiary stock at a loss to an entity…
PLR 200652025: Foreign subsidiary receives time to elect corporate classification
A foreign subsidiary intended corporate classification for U.S. tax purposes after a domestic corporation acquired its ownership chain. It inadvertently failed to file Form 8832 by the deadline for…
PLR 200652024: Acquired foreign entity may file a late corporate-classification election
A foreign entity owned through another foreign company intended to elect corporate classification for U.S. tax purposes when a domestic group acquired it. Its Form 8832 was not timely filed because…
PLR 200652023: Foreign entity gets a 60-day extension for corporate classification
A foreign entity sought relief after inadvertently failing to file its intended corporate-classification election on time. A domestic corporation had acquired the entity and its foreign owner…
PLR 200652022: Foreign subsidiary may correct its missed corporate-classification election
A foreign subsidiary of a foreign limited liability company intended corporate classification for U.S. tax purposes after acquisition by a domestic group. It inadvertently missed the Form 8832…
PLR 200652021: Ownership change permits corporate election within the 60-month restriction
A foreign entity previously elected disregarded-entity status, then came under new domestic ownership less than 60 months later. The new owner intended corporate classification but inadvertently…
PLR 200652020: Late corporate-classification election permitted for acquired foreign subsidiary
A foreign subsidiary intended association treatment taxable as a corporation for U.S. tax purposes following a domestic group's acquisition. It inadvertently failed to file Form 8832 on time. The…
PLR 200652019: Acquired foreign entity receives filing relief for corporate treatment
A foreign entity sought an extension to elect association treatment taxable as a corporation for U.S. tax purposes. A domestic group had acquired the entity and its foreign owner, and corporate…
PLR 200652018: New ownership supports early change from disregarded entity to corporation
A foreign entity had elected disregarded treatment and was acquired by a domestic group within 60 months of its earlier classification change. The new owner intended corporate treatment from a…
PLR 200652017: Late real-property debt exclusion election allowed after erroneous tax advice
An individual settled real-property borrowing at a discount and relied on a tax attorney's erroneous advice about avoiding cancellation-of-debt income. Another adviser later explained the election…
PLR 200652016: LLC receives relief for both corporate-classification and S elections
A domestic limited liability company intended S corporation treatment from formation but failed to file either its entity-classification election or S election. The IRS found the requirements for…
PLR 200652015: Government and nonprofit housing transfers do not reset the ten-year acquisition test
A low-income housing developer asked how transfers through a county, a nonprofit, and a bond-financing agency affected section 42's ten-year requirement for an existing building. The IRS ruled that…
PLR 200652014: Foreign entity may file a late election to be disregarded from formation
A foreign entity represented that it was eligible to be disregarded as separate from its owner for U.S. tax purposes. It inadvertently failed to file Form 8832 on time for treatment from its…
PLR 200652013: Mineral production-payment gains and related hedges qualify for the RIC income test
An investment company lending to energy businesses planned to buy mineral production payments treated as mortgage loans or other debt instruments. The IRS ruled that gains from disposing of those…
PLR 200652012: Partnership stock holding receives S relief with distribution and ESBT elections
An S corporation's shares were transferred to a limited partnership owned by an individual and three trusts, making the partnership an ineligible shareholder. The corporation and owners continued…
PLR 200652011: Missed first-year S election may be filed within 60 days
A corporation intended S treatment from its incorporation date but did not timely file Form 2553. The IRS found reasonable cause for that failure under section 1362(b)(5). A completed election filed…
PLR 200652010: Rate reductions support a revised nuclear decommissioning fund schedule
A nuclear plant owner requested a revised schedule of ruling amounts after two utility commissions reduced the decommissioning costs included in rates. The IRS approved the proposed schedule 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.