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.
No determinations match these filters
Try fewer or different words, check the spelling, or clear the filters to browse everything.
PLR 200652009: Corrected terminating event and possible second stock class receive S relief
An S corporation experienced an unspecified event that terminated its election and may also have created a second class of stock. The corporation began corrective action when it discovered the…
PLR 200652008: Revised nuclear decommissioning funding schedule approved
A utility requested a revised schedule for its nuclear decommissioning fund after two public utility commissions reduced decommissioning costs included in rates. The IRS approved the proposed annual…
PLR 200652007: Increased nuclear decommissioning funding schedule approved
A utility requested revised annual ruling amounts after its state commission increased decommissioning costs included in electricity rates. The IRS approved the proposed schedule under section 468A…
PLR 200652006: Surviving spouse's withdrawal power preserves trust shareholder eligibility
An S corporation asked whether a shareholder trust remained eligible after its deemed owner's death. The trust initially qualified under the two-year rule for a deceased owner's former grantor…
PLR 200652005: Foreign entity receives time to elect disregarded status
A foreign entity intended to elect disregarded entity status effective on its formation date but failed to file the election on time. The IRS found that the entity satisfied the regulatory standards…
PLR 200652004: Homeowners association may revoke election after common-area sale
A homeowners association's accountant filed Form 1120-H even though regular corporate taxation would have been more favorable after a common-area sale. The association requested permission to revoke…
PLR 200652003: Liquidating cooperative may deduct operating-asset distributions but not leased-property gains
A farmers' cooperative stopped processing members' crops and sought rulings on distributing proceeds from selling its remaining assets. The IRS held that it had lost section 521 exempt status…
PLR 200652002: Foreign entity may file late partnership classification election
A foreign entity missed its intended partnership classification election when a U.S. entity acquired an ownership interest. It represented that it had no U.S. return filing obligation before the…
PLR 200652001: Missed trust election receives inadvertent S termination relief
An S corporation's stock passed to a trust after its shareholder died, but the beneficiary did not know a qualified subchapter S trust election was required. The IRS held that the resulting S…
PLR 200651040: Financial institution's brokerage-account error warrants IRA rollover waiver
A taxpayer intended to move IRA funds to two new IRAs, but financial institutions opened ordinary brokerage accounts instead. The funds reached those accounts within 60 days, and the taxpayer…
PLR 200651039: Pension funding waiver granted with collateral and contribution conditions
A company sought a pension plan minimum funding waiver after increased insurance costs and an industry pricing war caused losses. The IRS found that improving profits and a realistic contribution…
PLR 200651038: Court-approved trust interest sale qualifies for self-dealing exception
An administration trust whose residue would fund a private foundation proposed selling its LLC interest to its trustee and her husband. Although both buyers were disqualified persons, the IRS held…
OTHER 200651037: Online donation-sales service denied charitable exemption
A nonprofit proposed arranging online sales of individuals' property and sending net proceeds to charities chosen by the donors. Its officers and employees also worked for a for-profit business…
OTHER 200651036: Retired-officers-only benefit trust denied VEBA exemption
A benefit trust sought section 501(c)(9) exemption for health and welfare benefits limited to retired officers and their spouses. Eligibility required 20 years of officer service and retirement in…
OTHER 200651035: Charitable exemption revoked for failure to substantiate qualifying operations
The IRS retroactively revoked an organization's section 501(c)(3) exemption because it failed to produce records establishing continued eligibility. The final letter says the organization did not…
PLR 200651034: Bank misunderstanding warrants IRA rollover deadline relief
A legally blind taxpayer intended to roll part of an IRA distribution into a new IRA at a bank offering a higher interest rate. He supplied documentation and requested a rollover within 60 days, but…
TAM 200651033: Mortgage dollar-roll losses are capital but administrative relief protects disputed years
A taxpayer claimed ordinary losses from dollar-roll transactions that sold mortgage-backed securities and simultaneously arranged purchases of similar securities. The IRS concluded that those…
CCA 200651032: Business ceased to be a railroad retirement tax employer
The Railroad Retirement Board notified the IRS that a business had ceased to be an employer under the Railroad Retirement Act and Railroad Unemployment Insurance Act. Chief Counsel reviewed the…
CCA 200651031: Business became a covered railroad retirement tax employer
The Railroad Retirement Board supplied an opinion that a business had become a covered employer under the Railroad Retirement Act and Railroad Unemployment Insurance Act. Chief Counsel reviewed that…
PLR 200651030: Trust termination transfer does not defeat like-kind exchange holding requirement
A testamentary trust approaching its mandatory termination planned to transfer real estate and pending disposition contracts to an LLC that would continue its investment operations. The LLC…
PLR 200651029: Required trust partition for newborn preserves GST exemption
Two irrevocable trusts required new shares for any later-born child of their grantor. After another child was born, each trust transferred a pro rata one-third share of its assets to a new trust…
PLR 200651028: Trust split for second child preserves zero GST inclusion ratio
An irrevocable trust required a separate share if the grantor later had or adopted another child. When a second child was born, the trustee divided the trust fractionally and transferred one-half of…
PLR 200651027: Expired post-death trust eligibility receives S termination relief
An S corporation's shareholder trust remained eligible for two years after a deemed owner's death, then became an ineligible shareholder. An eligible individual later purchased the stock. The IRS…
PLR 200651026: Mismatched rate-base and deferred-tax averaging violates normalization
A regulated utility and its commission asked whether rate calculations could average plant investment over five years while using an end-of-test-year deferred-tax reserve. The IRS held that this…
PLR 200651025: Perpetual stewardship easement may be exchanged for real estate through credit proceeds
Agricultural landowners planned to grant perpetual stewardship easements that generated transferable development credits under state law. Each owner would assign the relevant agreements to its own…
PLR 200651024: Passive-income S termination relief requires payment within 30 days
An S corporation acquired C corporation earnings and profits in a merger and later sold its assets on installments. Passive investment income exceeded 25 percent of gross receipts for three…
PLR 200651023: Proportional split of bank-owned life insurance preserves tax treatment
Two banks that no longer shared common ownership proposed dividing employee life insurance held through a partnership and liquidating that entity. Each separate policy and certificate would preserve…
PLR 200651022: Direct adviser refunds to shareholders do not harm mutual funds' RIC status
An investment adviser was ordered to repay illegal performance fees, with prejudgment interest, to current and former mutual-fund shareholders harmed by the overcharges. The SEC distribution plan…
PLR 200651021: Holding-company merger preserves branch-profits deferral with successor commitments
A foreign insurance group proposed combining two U.S. subsidiary chains after earlier restructurings had deferred branch profits tax through specific commitments. The IRS held that the U.S.…
PLR 200651020: Late partnership basis election requires amended returns for two years
A limited partnership timely filed its return after redeeming limited partners but inadvertently omitted its section 754 basis-adjustment election. The IRS granted 60 days from the letter date to…
PLR 200651019: Estate receives extension to allocate GST exemption after administrative error
A decedent's spouse hired an attorney to prepare the estate tax return for an estate with a trust having generation-skipping transfer potential. An administrative error caused the decedent's GST…
PLR 200651018: Stewardship easement credit proceeds support deferred real estate exchange
Agricultural property owners planned to grant perpetual stewardship easements and sell the resulting land-use credits through separate qualified intermediaries. Agreements would be assigned before…
PLR 200651017: Custodial stock transfers to ineligible trusts receive S termination relief
Custodians transferred S corporation shares held for five minor grandchildren into trusts that were ineligible shareholders. The shares were later transferred to the respective beneficiaries after…
PLR 200651016: Foreign LLC subsidiary receives time to elect disregarded status
A foreign entity wholly owned by a domestic LLC intended to elect disregarded entity status effective on formation. Because its members had limited liability, that treatment required an election…
CCA 200651015: Chief Counsel recommends uniform treatment of frivolous zero returns
Chief Counsel reconsidered procedures for returns reporting zeros on tax-computation lines while presenting frivolous arguments or an attached information return showing taxable income. It…
PLR 200651014: Company receives 60 days to elect corporate classification
A company intended to be treated as a corporation from a specified date but inadvertently failed to file Form 8832. It requested an extension under the regulatory late-election rules. The IRS found…
PLR 200651013: Missed Form 8832 corporate election receives filing extension
A company inadvertently failed to file Form 8832 despite intending corporate classification from a specified date. Its representative requested late-election relief under sections 301.9100-1 and…
PLR 200651012: University subsidiary's dormitory management contract avoids private business use
An exempt university asked whether its taxable, wholly owned subsidiary could manage a bond-financed student dormitory without creating private business use under section 141(b). The proposed…
PLR 200651011: Reasonable cause permits a late S corporation election
A corporation's shareholder intended S corporation treatment from incorporation, but the election was not filed on time. The IRS found reasonable cause and granted late-election relief under section…
PLR 200651010: Active property management keeps rental receipts outside S corporation passive investment income
An S corporation managed properties through a partnership-taxed LLC and asked whether its rental income was passive investment income under section 1362. Its employees renovated tenant spaces,…
PLR 200651009: Foreign entity receives time to elect partnership classification
A foreign entity inadvertently missed filing Form 8832 to elect partnership treatment from its formation date. The IRS found that it satisfied the reasonable-action, good-faith, and…
PLR 200651008: Trust reformation cures an inadvertently invalid S election
A corporation's S election was invalid because a shareholder trust permitted distributions to people other than its current beneficiary, despite a filed qualified subchapter S trust election. After…
PLR 200651007: Foreign entity receives extension for disregarded entity election
A foreign entity intended to elect treatment as disregarded from its owner but did not file the election on time. The IRS concluded that it met the regulatory standards for reasonable action, good…
PLR 200651006: Late S election relief requires election and three years of returns within 60 days
A corporation's sole shareholder intended S status from the date shares were first issued, but Form 2553 was late. The IRS found reasonable cause under section 1362(b)(5) and allowed the election to…
PLR 200651005: Nonproportional trust partition preserves income and generation-skipping tax treatment
A trustee proposed splitting a timberland-and-securities trust into two trusts so beneficiaries could choose different timberland disposition plans. Each beneficiary's successors would remain in the…
PLR 200651004: Entity election extension contains conflicting classification descriptions
A foreign entity requested extra time to file an entity classification election effective from formation. The request and facts describe intended partnership treatment, but the conclusion grants 60…
PLR 200651003: City facade restoration grants are taxable and require two reporting streams
A city funded half the cost of removing artificial siding and restoring original residential building materials, paying contractors directly on owners' behalf. The IRS ruled that grants were taxable…
PLR 200651002: Two mortgage funds receive 30 days to make initial REMIC elections
Two mortgage investment funds missed their initial REMIC elections because their trustee relied on a later transaction document and misunderstood the startup year. The trustee discovered the earlier…
PLR 200651001: Foreign entity may elect partnership treatment from US investor's acquisition date
A foreign entity missed its intended partnership election when a US entity acquired an ownership interest. It represented that it had no US return filing obligation before that acquisition and was…
OTHER 200650027: Social welfare exemption revoked for failure to provide examination information
A social-welfare organization failed to respond to IRS requests for information needed to examine its Form 990 and establish continued exemption. The IRS concluded that it had not met the…
PLR 200650026: Revised private high school scholarship procedures receive approval
A private foundation requested approval of scholarship procedures for students attending private high schools. Schools nominate candidates, the foundation applies objective criteria, conflicts…
PLR 200650025: Mental incapacity supports waiver of the IRA rollover deadline
An IRA owner took a full distribution while suffering from a documented mental condition that impaired understanding of the transaction and financial affairs. The owner's daughter sought relief…
PLR 200650024: Employer's incorrect rollover advice supports IRA deadline waiver
A taxpayer withdrew SIMPLE IRA savings accumulated over four years and followed her new employer's human resources advice to roll them into its retirement plan. She submitted the rollover forms…
PLR 200650023: Widow may consolidate retirement benefits while retaining beneficiary distribution treatment
A widow who was sole beneficiary of two employer plans and a SEP-IRA proposed moving those assets into an IRA maintained in her deceased husband's name for her benefit. The IRS ruled that the direct…
PLR 200650022: Widow may roll estate-received IRA proceeds into her own IRA
A deceased IRA owner's beneficiary designation directed payment according to his will, which left the relevant property to his surviving spouse. She was sole executrix and proposed receiving the…
PLR 200650021: Bank clearing miscommunication supports late IRA rollover relief
A taxpayer opened a rollover IRA and deposited a check within 60 days of an IRA distribution, but the check did not clear in time. Miscommunication between her son and the source bank's vice…
PLR 200650020: Erroneously withheld taxes may be replaced through a late IRA rollover
An IRA owner instructed a transfer to another IRA, but the source institution unexpectedly withheld state and federal income taxes. Her husband submitted comparable forms at the same time without…
PLR 200650019: Institution's failure to execute rollover instructions supports deadline waiver
A taxpayer placed an IRA distribution in a savings account and, within the rollover period, signed forms directing another institution to move it into a new IRA. The institution did not complete the…
PLR 200650018: Foundation receives five more years to dispose of inherited farm interests
A private foundation inherited a one-third farm interest and roughly one-third of an irrigation company's stock, then held them through an LLC with the other owners. It sought additional time to…
TAM 200650017: Perpetual-note trust transaction cannot allocate all basis to sold certificates
A taxpayer bought perpetual foreign bank instruments, placed them in a trust, sold certificates carrying later income and principal rights, and claimed capital losses using the entire instruments'…
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.