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 200620006: S corporation status restored after missed QSST election
An S corporation's shares were transferred to a trust that intended to qualify as a qualified subchapter S trust (QSST), but no QSST election was filed. The IRS found that the missing election…
PLR 200620005: S corporation status continues after one share reached an ineligible owner
One share of an S corporation's stock was bought by an ineligible shareholder, terminating its S election. The share was later transferred to an eligible shareholder. The IRS found the termination…
PLR 200620004: Wind project may earn electricity production credits
A partnership planned to acquire a company developing a wind project and sell the electricity to an unrelated utility. The IRS ruled that each turbine would be placed in service when ready and…
PLR 200620003: Spouses' GST exemption allocations receive a filing extension
A husband and wife made transfers to a trust over six years. Their first three gift tax returns omitted or misstated transfers and allocated too little generation-skipping transfer (GST) exemption;…
PLR 200620002: Proposed business spin-off qualifies as a corporate reorganization
A corporation planned to transfer one of its two businesses to a new corporation and distribute the new corporation's stock proportionately to its shareholders. Based on the submitted facts and…
CCA 200620001: Credit counseling education depends on how clients are counseled
Chief Counsel advised how to assess whether a credit counseling organization serves an educational purpose under IRC § 501(c)(3). Its two hypothetical organizations show the distinction: one gathers…
PLR 200619025: IRS changes a pension funding waiver's security deadline
The IRS had granted a conditional waiver of a pension plan's minimum funding standard for the plan year ending June 30, 2004. The waiver required an agreement with the Pension Benefit Guaranty…
PLR 200619024: College district's land sale avoids unrelated business income tax
A community college district planned to subdivide and sell donated land to fund a residence hall. The IRS ruled that the district was a political subdivision of its state for purposes of IRC §§ 103…
TAM 200619023: Truck driver service prepayment cannot be deferred without consent
A transportation company prepaid a related partnership for truck driver services expected in the next tax year, using accounts receivable. The IRS advised that the payment was income to the…
TAM 200619022: Optional prepayment does not accelerate truck driver service deduction
An accrual-method transportation company transferred receivables to a related partnership as an optional prepayment for truck driver services expected the next year. The IRS advised that the company…
TAM 200619021: Circular loans do not increase shareholders' S corporation loss basis
Two shareholders claimed S corporation losses after borrowing from a partnership they owned, lending to their S corporation, and having that corporation pay rent back to the partnership. The IRS…
TAM 200619020: Medical facilities may use reasonable estimates of contractual discounts
A medical facility operator billed standard charges but, under contracts with insurers, was legally entitled to collect less for many services. The IRS advised that an accrual-method taxpayer may…
PLR 200619019: Foreign pension trust meets the government-appointed trustee requirement
A pension trust established by a foreign political subdivision and another organization asked whether its assets were managed by the kinds of trustees required for a foreign government pension trust…
PLR 200619018: S corporation status preserved after stock went to IRAs
An S corporation issued stock to two individual retirement accounts, which were ineligible shareholders and caused its S election to terminate. It later transferred the shares to eligible…
PLR 200619017: Corporation receives 60 days to file its late S election
A corporation's shareholders intended S corporation status from the date stock was issued and assets were acquired, but the corporation did not file Form 2553 on time. The IRS found reasonable cause…
PLR 200619016: Hurricane loss election receives a 45-day extension
A taxpayer's vacation home was damaged by Hurricane Charley in 2004, and the taxpayer wanted to elect under IRC § 165(i) to claim the disaster loss on the preceding year's return. A qualified tax…
PLR 200619015: Husband may make late GST exemption allocations to two trusts
A husband funded two trusts for his daughters and their descendants, and the couple elected to split the gifts. Their gift tax returns did not allocate generation-skipping transfer (GST) exemption…
PLR 200619014: Public employer retiree health trust income excluded under section 115
A trust held contributions and investments for a program providing retiree health benefits for employees of public agencies. The IRS ruled that providing those benefits was an essential governmental…
PLR 200619013: Foreign entity may file a late partnership classification election
A foreign entity said it was eligible to elect partnership treatment for U.S. federal tax purposes from its formation date, but it did not file Form 8832 on time. The IRS found that it met the…
PLR 200619012: Foreign entity may file a late partnership classification election
A foreign entity said it was eligible to elect partnership treatment for U.S. federal tax purposes from its formation date, but it did not file Form 8832 on time. The IRS found that it met the…
PLR 200619011: Foreign entity may file a late partnership classification election
A foreign entity said it was eligible to elect partnership treatment for U.S. federal tax purposes from its formation date, but it did not file Form 8832 on time. The IRS found that it met the…
PLR 200619010: Foreign entity may file a late partnership classification election
A foreign entity said it was eligible to elect partnership treatment for U.S. federal tax purposes from its formation date, but it did not file Form 8832 on time. The IRS found that it met the…
PLR 200619009: Foreign entity may file a late partnership classification election
A foreign entity said it was eligible to elect partnership treatment for U.S. federal tax purposes from its formation date, but it did not file Form 8832 on time. The IRS found that it met the…
PLR 200619008: Foreign entity may file a late partnership classification election
A foreign entity said it was eligible to elect partnership treatment for U.S. federal tax purposes from its formation date, but it did not file Form 8832 on time. The IRS found that it met the…
PLR 200619007: Foreign entity may file a late partnership classification election
A foreign entity said it was eligible to elect partnership treatment for U.S. federal tax purposes from its formation date, but it did not file Form 8832 on time. The IRS found that it met the…
PLR 200619006: Foreign entity may file a late partnership classification election
A foreign entity said it was eligible to elect partnership treatment for U.S. federal tax purposes from its formation date, but it did not file Form 8832 on time. The IRS found that it met the…
PLR 200619005: Foreign entity may file a late partnership classification election
A foreign entity said it was eligible to elect partnership treatment for U.S. federal tax purposes from its formation date, but it did not file Form 8832 on time. The IRS found that it met the…
PLR 200619004: Foreign entity may file a late partnership classification election
A foreign entity said it was eligible to elect partnership treatment for U.S. federal tax purposes from its formation date, but it did not file Form 8832 on time. The IRS found that it met the…
PLR 200619003: Foreign entity may file a late partnership classification election
A foreign entity said it was eligible to elect partnership treatment for U.S. federal tax purposes from its formation date, but it did not file Form 8832 on time. The IRS found that it met the…
PLR 200619002: Foreign entity may file a late partnership classification election
A foreign entity said it was eligible to elect partnership treatment for U.S. federal tax purposes from its formation date, but it did not file Form 8832 on time. The IRS found that it met the…
PLR 200619001: Dividing an older trust preserves its GST exemption and beneficiaries' interests
Trustees proposed asking a court to clarify the distribution terms of a trust created before September 25, 1985, and to divide it into separate trusts for the original beneficiaries and their…
PLR 200618033: IRA rollover deadline waived after mistaken full distribution
A 71-year-old IRA owner meant to arrange minimum distributions but instead signed paperwork that transferred his entire IRA to a non-IRA account. He said medical conditions and a misunderstanding…
PLR 200618032: Retirement plan rollover deadline waived after missing notice
After his former employer was sold, a retirement plan participant expected his account to move to the new employer's plan. Instead, he received a distribution check without instructions about…
PLR 200618031: Multiemployer pension plan receives conditional funding extension
A multiemployer defined benefit plan faced worsening funding after investment losses and a decline in active participants. The IRS conditionally approved a 10-year extension to amortize unfunded…
PLR 200618030: Trust beneficiary cannot roll over inherited IRA distribution
A man named a trust as the beneficiary of his IRA. After he died, the trustees withdrew the entire balance into a trust account on an attorney's advice. The man's widow could receive trust income…
PLR 200618029: IRA rollover deadline waived after deposit into wrong account
An IRA owner asked a financial consultant to roll part of a distribution into a new IRA. The consultant deposited the money into an ordinary account instead, and the owner discovered the error after…
PLR 200618028: Late retirement plan rollover waiver denied
A retirement plan participant received a distribution and asked the IRS to waive the 60-day deadline for rolling it into another retirement account. The participant cited medical conditions and…
PLR 200618027: Family medical crises justify rollover deadline waiver
A retirement plan participant withdrew funds after the employer closed and put the distribution in a savings account, intending to roll it into an IRA. During the 60-day rollover period, the…
PLR 200618026: Bank's bad advice leads to IRA rollover deadline waiver
An IRA owner withdrew money from two IRAs for a first home purchase. A bank representative said the owner had 120 days to roll the money back, but the extended period for first home purchases was…
PLR 200618025: Health premium reserve trust receives favorable tax rulings
A chamber of commerce health program and its administrator proposed a trust to hold an insurer's excess profits and use the money to stabilize future premiums or fund related health programs. The…
PLR 200618024: Late S corporation election allowed for newly formed company
A newly formed corporation intended to elect S corporation status from its incorporation date but did not file Form 2553 on time. The IRS found reasonable cause for the missed deadline and allowed…
PLR 200618023: Estate may assign deferred annuity to charitable residuary beneficiaries
A person died owning a deferred annuity and had not named a beneficiary, making the estate the beneficiary under state law. The executor proposed assigning the annuity to charities named as…
PLR 200618022: Pension trusts and PBGC treated separately under ownership change rules
A corporate group with net operating losses planned to emerge from bankruptcy after terminating four pension plans. The Pension Benefit Guaranty Corporation (PBGC) and three plan trusts would…
PLR 200618021: Fifteen S corporation combinations qualify as reorganizations
Shareholders planned to transfer fifteen S corporations to an acquiring S corporation, which would then elect to treat them as qualified subchapter S subsidiaries. On the stated facts, the IRS ruled…
PLR 200618020: Landlord payments do not disqualify a corporate outside director
A publicly held corporation asked whether a director remained an outside director under the rules for performance-based compensation. Its subsidiary leased space from an unrelated landlord, which…
PLR 200618019: Late S corporation election receives conditional relief
A corporation's shareholders intended S corporation treatment from the date it was incorporated, but its election form was filed late. The IRS found reasonable cause for the delay and granted relief…
PLR 200618018: Estate receives more time to elect QTIP treatment for a trust
An estate placed its residue in a trust that paid income to the surviving spouse, with the remainder going to charities. The executor reported the trust on the estate tax return but did not make a…
PLR 200618017: Spouse's timely disclaimer qualifies if valid under state law
A surviving spouse filed a disclaimer within nine months of the decedent's death. She refused interests in rental property, certificates of deposit, and half of several joint financial accounts,…
PLR 200618016: Proposed split-off receives specified tax-free treatment
Two shareholders of an S corporation wanted to separate its activities. The corporation would place half its assets in a new subsidiary and exchange all of that subsidiary's stock for one…
PLR 200618015: Sole shareholder's corporation receives late S election relief
A corporation's sole shareholder intended S corporation status from a specified date, but the corporation did not file Form 2553 on time. The IRS found reasonable cause for the missed deadline under…
PLR 200618014: Employee severance trust qualifies as a settlement fund
Former employees asserted wrongful discharge claims in their employer's bankruptcy. A trust was created to distribute proceeds from actions to recover certain earlier payments to other former…
PLR 200618013: Extension granted for dual consolidated loss filings
A taxpayer's accounting firm omitted elections and annual certifications for dual consolidated losses tied to several hybrid entities and a foreign branch. A reviewing manager had mistakenly…
PLR 200618012: S corporation status restored after passive income termination
After acquiring a C corporation subsidiary, an S corporation had accumulated earnings and profits and exceeded the passive investment income limit for three consecutive years. Its S election…
PLR 200618011: Family business split-off receives reorganization rulings
Two families each owned half of a corporation and proposed separating their business interests. The corporation would transfer assets and cash to a new subsidiary, then exchange all of that…
PLR 200618010: LLC receives more time to elect corporate tax classification
A single-owner LLC intended to be taxed as a corporation from its formation date, but did not file the required Form 8832 on time. Without an election, a domestic entity with one owner is generally…
PLR 200618009: Elective cash-and-stock dividend is a section 301 distribution
A publicly traded corporation planned to elect REIT status and distribute its undistributed C corporation earnings and profits. Shareholders could choose cash, stock, or both, while the corporation…
PLR 200618008: REIT dividend reinvestment and stock purchases receive distinct treatment
A real estate investment trust offered shareholders a plan to reinvest cash dividends in newly issued shares at a discount and proposed allowing shareholders and others to buy shares at the same…
PLR 200618007: Existing advance-payment method needs no Form 3115
A company selling home service contracts deferred advance payments as it provided coverage and asked whether a newer revenue procedure required a change in accounting method. It represented that its…
PLR 200618006: Spouses may allocate GST exemptions to eight trusts late
Two spouses transferred property to eight trusts for children and descendants and filed gift tax returns reporting split gifts. Their accountant mistakenly believed the trusts did not need…
PLR 200618005: Estate gets time to allocate GST exemption for earlier trust gifts
A taxpayer made gifts to a trust over thirteen years but filed no gift tax returns allocating generation-skipping transfer (GST) tax exemption. His estate said a coordination failure between his…
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.