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 200634053: Seized IRA funds receive a new rollover window after their return
An organization seized funds from a taxpayer's two IRAs under a warrant because it believed the money was connected to illegal drug sales. The funds were later found unconnected to that activity and…
PLR 200634052: Widow may roll over plan payout misdirected to a trust
A widow was the named beneficiary of her late husband's retirement plan, but other family members requested a payout to a trust without her authorization. The plan custodian paid the trust, and the…
PLR 200634051: Mistaken deposit into savings account receives rollover waiver
A taxpayer intended to move an IRA distribution into another IRA at a credit union. A misunderstanding with the company sending the wire caused it to land in his ordinary savings account at that…
PLR 200634050: Cognitive disability supports IRA rollover waiver, except for required distributions
An 82 year old IRA owner instructed a company to move his IRA balance into a personal bond fund account, unaware that this would be a taxable distribution. His spouse later learned of the move when…
200634049: IRS revokes a captive insurer's tax exemption because its policies did not qualify as insurance
A captive company had received a favorable determination under IRC § 501(c)(15), the exemption for certain small insurance companies. After examining four tax years, the IRS concluded that most of…
PLR 200634048: Discounted early payment of capital credits preserves electric cooperative exemption
An electric cooperative wanted to pay current and former members their allocated capital credits sooner than its usual roughly 20 year cycle. It proposed mandatory early payments discounted to…
200634047: IRS revokes charity exemption after organization fails to keep and produce records
The IRS examined an organization recognized under § 501(c)(3) but could not obtain complete books and records. Without them, the organization could not establish that it operated exclusively for…
200634046: Boat donation program and fundraiser payments cost charity its exemption
A charity formed to conduct oceanography research and education instead made a boat and vehicle donation program its main activity. During the two examined years, it paid roughly 95 percent of its…
200634045: Debt management plan seller denied charity exemption
An applicant described plans to help people with housing and finances and also claimed it would operate a church, school, home for the aged, and supporting organization. The IRS found that its main…
200634044: Public bar and grill loses fraternal organization exemption
A bar and grill open to the public claimed exemption as a subordinate fraternal lodge under § 501(c)(10). The IRS found that its members lacked a common fraternal purpose, had no voice in operating…
PLR 200634043: Electric cooperative may use net swap income in member income test
An electric power cooperative planned to use interest rate swaps to lower borrowing costs and natural gas futures to manage fuel price risk. Its financial counterparties were not members, so the…
200634042: Seller funded down payment program denied charity exemption
An applicant proposed homebuyer education and a down payment assistance program funded mainly by payments from sellers whose homes were sold through the program. Its assistance was available without…
200634041: Contractor advocacy group denied charity exemption
An applicant described itself as an LLC seeking to advocate for minority and women owned contractors and to offer business assistance, training, and employment programs. It did not identify its…
200634040: Unfiled returns and unavailable records lead to charity exemption revocation
Representatives of an exempt organization contacted the IRS about overdue payroll obligations. The IRS found that the organization also had not filed required Forms 990. It later submitted most…
PLR 200634039: Hospital restructuring preserves charity status and avoids unrelated business income
A tax-exempt hospital parent planned to centralize planning and administrative work while two subsidiaries continued operating hospitals. The parent also owned a separately run taxable corporation…
PLR 200634038: Youth foundation may begin a five-year transition to public charity status
A private operating foundation ran a leadership and volunteer program for disadvantaged teens. It planned to replace its heavy reliance on a related company with broader public fundraising and asked…
PLR 200634037: Foundation may set aside construction funds for an educational center
A private operating foundation planned to build a visitor and conference center for its educational programs. It requested approval to set aside funds across two tax years because it had not yet…
PLR 200634036: Convention center operations further a charity's public purpose
A publicly supported charity operated a convention center and arena owned by a city. It asked whether income from facility rentals and services, ticketing, concessions, sponsorships, parking,…
PLR 200634035: Mistaken stock transfer does not qualify for a late rollover waiver
A retiree directed the cash from a retirement plan into an IRA but instructed the plan's bank to send company stock to a joint brokerage account that was not an IRA. A tax form labeled the entire…
PLR 200634034: Government employer's pension pickup avoids current income and withholding
A political subdivision adopted a resolution to pay its employees' mandatory two percent contributions to a government retirement plan. The resolution said the payments would be employer…
PLR 200634033: Rollover into payment IRA modifies the periodic payment series
A taxpayer was taking substantially equal periodic payments from an IRA under the fixed annuitization method. He directed a rollover from a former employer's retirement plan into that same IRA…
PLR 200634032: IRS grants a conditional pension funding waiver
A trailer manufacturer sought relief from the minimum funding requirement for a pension plan with no active participants. Its business had suffered from declining sales, and the plan remained poorly…
PLR 200634031: IRS waives an IRA rollover deadline after a holiday closing
An IRA owner tried to return a distribution before the 60 day rollover deadline but said the account company closed early for a holiday. Her husband made a deposit on the next business day. The IRS…
PLR 200634030: IRA withdrawal used for a home purchase fails rollover waiver test
An IRA owner withdrew money to help buy a new home before selling an existing one, then redeposited part of it about three days after the 60 day rollover deadline. The owner cited emotional stress…
PLR 200634029: IRA rollover relief after investment fund accepts an invalid account
An IRA owner moved money into an investment fund within 60 days, believing the fund could hold it as an IRA. The fund's representative later acknowledged that he had accepted the investment without…
PLR 200634028: IRA deadline waived after fund accepts money without a custodian
An IRA owner deposited a distribution into an investment fund within 60 days, believing the fund could hold the money as an IRA. The fund's representative later acknowledged accepting it without an…
PLR 200634027: Municipal pension contributions picked up by employer avoid current income tax
A municipality planned to pay mandatory employee contributions to its governmental pension plan by reducing employees’ cash salaries. Its proposed ordinance says the payments will be made by the…
PLR 200634026: Pension funding excise tax waived if employer completes settlement
A financially distressed manufacturer could not meet its pension plan funding obligations, and the PBGC had assumed responsibility for the plan through an involuntary termination. The IRS granted…
PLR 200634025: Minimum funding waiver denied for insolvent pension plan
A defined benefit pension plan sought a waiver of its minimum funding standard for a plan year. The IRS denied the request because the submitted information did not show that applying the standard…
PLR 200634024: Pension funding waiver granted subject to contribution conditions
A company sought relief from the minimum funding standard for its pension plan after falling sales and a Chapter 11 bankruptcy. The IRS granted a waiver under IRC § 412(d), subject to the company…
PLR 200634023: IRA rollover deadline waived after custodian distributed too much
An IRA owner requested a minimum distribution, but her custodian distributed more than the dollar amount she specified and placed it in a non-IRA account. She asked the custodian to return the…
PLR 200634022: ESOP rollover deadline waiver denied after mistaken tax advice
An employee took a partial stock distribution from his employer's employee stock ownership plan after an adviser and the plan description said it would qualify for favorable net unrealized…
PLR 200634021: ESOP rollover deadline waiver denied after mistaken tax advice
An employee took a partial stock distribution from his employer's employee stock ownership plan after an adviser and the plan description said it would qualify for favorable net unrealized…
PLR 200634020: ESOP rollover deadline waiver denied after mistaken tax advice
An employee took a partial stock distribution from his employer's employee stock ownership plan after an adviser and the plan description said it would qualify for favorable net unrealized…
PLR 200634019: ESOP rollover deadline waiver denied after mistaken tax advice
An employee took a partial stock distribution from his employer's employee stock ownership plan after an adviser and the plan description said it would qualify for favorable net unrealized…
PLR 200634018: ESOP rollover deadline waiver denied after mistaken tax advice
An employee took a partial stock distribution from his employer's employee stock ownership plan after an adviser and the plan description said it would qualify for favorable net unrealized…
PLR 200634017: ESOP rollover deadline waiver denied after mistaken tax advice
An employee took a partial stock distribution from his employer's employee stock ownership plan after an adviser and the plan description said it would qualify for favorable net unrealized…
PLR 200634016: Foundation hardship grants count as charitable distributions
A private foundation proposed grants to impoverished individuals facing desperate financial needs, including disaster victims, struggling artists, and victims of discrimination or persecution. It…
Information letter 200634015: Single-member LLC treated as part of its exempt owner
The IRS gave an advisory information letter about a limited liability company wholly owned by a nonprofit corporation recognized under IRC § 501(c)(3). On the stated assumptions, the LLC had made no…
PLR 200634014: Foreign parent gets more time for U.S. real property filings
A foreign corporation liquidated a wholly owned foreign subsidiary that held stock in a U.S. real property holding corporation. The corporations did not timely submit statements and a notice…
CCA 200634012: Tax liens on pension assets excluded from bankruptcy survive discharge
Chief Counsel addressed whether the IRS could collect discharged tax debts from assets that never entered a debtor's bankruptcy estate, such as an ERISA-qualified pension. It advised that a federal…
CCA 200634011: IRS agrees a business became a railroad tax employer
The Railroad Retirement Board sent the IRS its majority opinion that a business had become an employer under the Railroad Retirement Act and Railroad Unemployment Insurance Act. After reviewing the…
PLR 200634010: Parent gets 45 days to file a missed stock acquisition election
A corporate group filed IRC § 338(g) elections for three foreign companies it acquired but missed the election for a fourth company in the ownership chain. The parent said it had relied on a…
PLR 200634009: LLC gets relief for three missed federal tax elections
An LLC intended to be taxed as an S corporation from its formation date and to use a fiscal year ending on a specified date. It missed the filings for corporate entity classification, S corporation…
PLR 200634008: Enriched gas injection qualifies as a tertiary oil recovery method
An oil producer asked whether its enriched gas injection method qualified as a tertiary recovery method for the enhanced oil recovery credit. The method changes the properties of oil in the…
PLR 200634007: Gifts to grandchildren's trusts qualify for gift exclusion and GST exemption allocation
Two grandparents funded three trusts, one for each grandchild. Before each grandchild turns 21, the trustee can spend trust assets for that grandchild, and the grandchild can take the remaining…
PLR 200634006: Gifts to grandchildren's trusts qualify for gift exclusion and GST exemption allocation
Two grandparents funded three trusts, one for each grandchild. Before each grandchild turns 21, the trustee can spend trust assets for that grandchild, and the grandchild can take the remaining…
PLR 200634005: Three proposed corporate stock distributions receive tax free treatment
A corporate group proposed an internal distribution of one subsidiary's stock, a contribution of another subsidiary's stock to a new corporation, and two distributions of controlled company stock to…
PLR 200634004: Court approved investment settlement preserves trust's GST tax exemption
A trust created before September 25, 1985, was exempt from generation-skipping transfer (GST) tax. After beneficiaries disputed the trustee's investment authority, a court approved a settlement…
PLR 200634003: Foreign entity gets 60 days to file late partnership classification election
A foreign entity eligible to be taxed as a partnership missed the deadline for filing its entity classification election on Form 8832. It requested an extension so the election could take effect on…
PLR 200634002: Foreign entity gets 60 days to file late partnership classification election
A foreign entity eligible to be taxed as a partnership missed the deadline for filing its entity classification election on Form 8832. It requested an extension so the election could take effect on…
CCA 200634001: Los Angeles business tax does not qualify city for IRS return disclosures
Los Angeles wanted an agreement to receive federal tax returns and return information for administering its business tax. A municipality can qualify for these disclosures under IRC § 6103 only if it…
PLR 200633029: Corporation receives relief for late S corporation election
A corporation's shareholder intended S corporation status from the corporation's formation date, but the election was not filed on time. The IRS found reasonable cause for the missed deadline and…
CCA 200633028: Business treated as a Railroad Retirement Tax Act employer
The Railroad Retirement Board advised the IRS that an unnamed business had become an employer under two railroad benefit laws as of a redacted date. IRS Chief Counsel reviewed the Board's opinion…
CCA 200633027: Business treated as a Railroad Retirement Tax Act employer
The Railroad Retirement Board advised the IRS that an unnamed business had become an employer under two railroad benefit laws as of a redacted date. IRS Chief Counsel reviewed the Board's opinion…
PLR 200633026: Taxpayer gets 60 days for late dual consolidated loss filings
The parent of a consolidated corporate group missed elections, agreements, and annual certifications tied to dual consolidated losses of three foreign hybrid entities. It said its in-house tax…
PLR 200633025: Ineligible trust shareholders receive inadvertent S termination relief
After an S corporation shareholder died, the trust holding its stock remained eligible for two years but failed to transfer the shares before that period ended. Later, two separate trust shares…
PLR 200633024: Corporation gets late S election relief and must file first year return
A corporation's accountant prepared and mailed an S election, but the IRS had no record of a timely Form 2553. The corporation did not conduct business or file a return in its first year, although…
PLR 200633023: Utility cannot return deferred investment credits after selling generating assets
A regulated electric and gas utility sold generating assets that had produced investment tax credits. It asked whether it could credit the remaining deferred tax credit balances to customers over…
PLR 200633022: Partnership conversion gets late corporate classification and S status relief
An S corporation converted into a state limited partnership but failed to file an election to remain classified as a corporation for federal tax purposes. A corporation later became its general…
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.