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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CCA 200616031: State surplus payments are taxable but may avoid separate reporting
A state paid residents from surplus funds under a new statute, with payment amounts tied to income and exemptions on state tax returns. Chief Counsel concluded the payments were gross income under…
CCA 200616030: Business ceased to be a railroad retirement tax employer
The Railroad Retirement Board advised the IRS that a business had ceased to be an employer under the Railroad Retirement Act and Railroad Unemployment Insurance Act. After reviewing the board's…
PLR 200616029: Late S corporation election accepted with timely filing
A corporation's sole shareholder intended S corporation status from the date of incorporation, but the corporation did not file Form 2553 on time. The IRS found reasonable cause for the missed…
PLR 200616028: Partnership gets extension for tax year election
An LLC taxed as a partnership intended to elect a tax year other than its required tax year, but its tax professional failed to file Form 8716 by the deadline. The IRS found that the LLC acted…
PLR 200616027: Late S corporation election granted from incorporation
A corporation's four shareholders intended S corporation status from incorporation, but Form 2553 was not filed on time. The IRS found reasonable cause for the missed election deadline under section…
PLR 200616026: Estate disclaimer can fund foundation and earn charitable deduction
A decedent's only living child proposed to disclaim a fixed amount otherwise passing to a trust for that child's benefit. Under the will and state law, the disclaimed amount would pass to a private…
PLR 200616025: Foreign entity gets more time for disregarded entity election
The parent of an affiliated corporate group inadvertently failed to file Form 8832 to treat a foreign entity as disregarded from its owner starting on the entity's formation date. The IRS found the…
PLR 200616024: Dividing older trust preserves generation-skipping tax exemption
A testamentary trust created before September 25, 1985 held S corporation stock. Its trustees proposed a court-approved change that would divide the trust into separate shares for the settlor's…
PLR 200616023: Partnership gets more time for section 754 basis election
A partner died and the partner's interest transferred to another holder. The partnership inadvertently missed the deadline for a section 754 election for that tax year, despite relying on a tax…
PLR 200616022: Spouses receive gift-splitting and GST allocation relief
A married couple made gifts to two family trusts over several years, but their gift tax returns were missing or incorrect and generation-skipping transfer (GST) exemption was not effectively…
PLR 200616021: Corporation receives relief for late S election
A corporation's shareholder intended S corporation status from incorporation, but the election was not filed on time. The IRS found reasonable cause for the missed deadline under section 1362(b)(5).…
PLR 200616020: Late S election effective from incorporation
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 delay under section 1362(b)(5). It…
PLR 200616019: S election may take effect from incorporation despite late filing
A corporation's shareholder wanted S corporation treatment beginning on the incorporation date, but the election was not filed on time. The IRS found reasonable cause for the late election under…
PLR 200616018: Sole shareholder's company gets late S election relief
A corporation's president and sole shareholder intended S corporation status from the incorporation date, but Form 2553 was not filed on time. The IRS found reasonable cause for the missed deadline…
PLR 200616017: Foreign entity receives extension for classification election
A corporate group asked for more time to elect disregarded entity treatment for a foreign entity in the group, effective from the entity's formation date. The IRS found the requirements for relief…
PLR 200616016: Investment fund gets extension for consent dividend election
An investment fund filed its section 565 consent dividend election with its income tax return, but both were late because the tax department failed to request a filing extension. A new employee had…
PLR 200616015: Purchased customer accounts qualify for intangible amortization
A company acquired another business's inventory, assets, and customer accounts and agreed to make payments tied partly to profits from those accounts. The seller also agreed not to compete. The IRS…
PLR 200616014: Late S election allowed from later shareholder date
A corporation was incorporated on one redacted date, and its sole shareholder wanted S corporation status effective on a later redacted date. Form 2553 was not filed on time. The IRS found…
PLR 200616013: Late S election accepted from incorporation date
A corporation's shareholders intended S corporation treatment from incorporation, but the election was not filed on time. The IRS found reasonable cause for the delay under section 1362(b)(5). It…
PLR 200616012: Entity granted more time to elect corporate tax treatment
A domestic entity missed the deadline to file Form 8832 to be taxed as a corporation from its requested effective date. It asked the IRS for an extension under the rules for late regulatory…
PLR 200616011: Late S corporation election treated as timely if filed within 60 days
A corporation's shareholders intended S corporation treatment, but the IRS service center had no record of a timely Form 2553. The corporation requested relief for an effective date identified in…
PLR 200616010: Entity given 60 days to make a late corporate classification election
A domestic entity eligible to choose its federal tax classification said it inadvertently missed the deadline to file Form 8832. It wanted to be treated as a corporation from a redacted effective…
PLR 200616009: Trust may deduct gross income paid to qualified charities
A trust's governing terms allowed its trustees to distribute net income to qualifying charitable organizations after specified conditions were met. The trust asked whether charitable distributions…
PLR 200616008: Divorce related unitrust division receives several favorable tax rulings
After a divorce, two former spouses proposed to divide a charitable remainder unitrust equally into separate trusts with different income beneficiaries. The IRS ruled that the division itself would…
PLR 200616007: Partnership receives extension to elect a different tax year
A partnership intended to elect a tax year other than its required year, but its tax professional failed to file Form 8716 on time. The IRS found that the partnership had acted reasonably and in…
PLR 200616006: LLC receives relief for late corporate classification and S elections
A single member limited liability company intended to be taxed as an S corporation from its formation date, but neither its entity classification form nor its S election reached the proper service…
PLR 200616005: Related parties' linked property exchanges avoid immediate gain recognition
A trust and a related S corporation planned linked exchanges through a qualified intermediary. The trust would receive a building from the corporation, while the corporation would exchange that…
PLR 200616004: Corporate group receives rulings on subsidiary mergers and two stock distributions
A publicly traded corporate group proposed a series of subsidiary mergers, asset contributions, and two distributions of controlled-company stock. The IRS ruled that several subsidiary mergers would…
PLR 200616003: Foreign entity given more time to elect partnership classification
A foreign entity said it was eligible to elect partnership treatment for federal tax purposes, but missed the Form 8832 filing deadline for its intended effective date. The IRS found that the entity…
PLR 200616002: Late S election allowed despite state dissolution and reincorporation
A corporation's sole shareholder intended S corporation treatment from incorporation, but Form 2553 was not filed on time. The state later dissolved the corporation for missing an annual report and…
PLR 200616001: LLC receives 60 days to make a late section 754 election
An investor bought 80 percent of an LLC, and the parties intended to make a section 754 election to adjust the basis of partnership property. Their tax advisor failed to explain that the purchase…
TAM 200615034: Foreign partner may allocate research costs against partnership income
A foreign corporation conducted research and development for products sold and manufactured through a U.S. partnership. On audit, the IRS exam team challenged its use of research expenses to reduce…
PLR 200615033: Medical problems justify waiver of IRA rollover deadline
An IRA owner withdrew funds while expecting medical expenses from heart surgery. A less expensive procedure was performed, and he intended to return the money, but his medical condition, medication…
PLR 200615032: Widow may roll inherited IRA proceeds through estate and trusts into her IRA
A deceased IRA owner's estate was the named beneficiary of his IRA. Under his will and two trusts, his surviving spouse would ultimately receive the IRA proceeds and transfer them to an IRA in her…
PLR 200615031: IRS waives rollover deadline for misdirected retirement plan check
A retirement plan custodian mailed a distribution check and tax form to an old address, and the plan participant said she never received the check. The custodian eventually sent the funds to the…
PLR 200615030: Incorrect advice from IRA custodian supports rollover deadline waiver
An IRA owner withdrew funds while expecting to sell her home. Before withdrawing, she asked the IRA custodian about the 60-day rollover deadline and was incorrectly told that the custodian could…
PLR 200615029: Bank account mix-up supports waiver for two late IRA rollovers
Two IRA owners closed their accounts and took the funds to a bank, believing they had opened new IRA certificates of deposit. They later learned the bank had placed the money in ordinary accounts.…
PLR 200615028: Administrative delays justify waiver for completed IRA rollover
An IRA owner directed money from one IRA toward a limited partnership investment that she expected to hold through an IRA. The first custodian later said the investment could not remain in that…
PLR 200615027: Church affiliated school excused from filing Form 990
A nonprofit school serving prekindergarten through grade twelve asked to be exempt from filing Form 990 and to remain listed as a public charity. Its governing documents required members of a church…
Determination 200615026: Hotel operator denied section 501(c)(25) exemption
A corporation owned a hotel and sought exemption as an entity organized to hold real property for qualified retirement plans. Its articles lacked provisions required by section 501(c)(25), although…
PLR 200615025: Court correction of trust drafting error avoids estate and gift tax consequences
An irrevocable trust's original wording would have sent its assets to the grantor's revocable trust, despite the grantor's stated intent to give up control. A state court found a drafting error and…
PLR 200615024: Cash and stock election produces taxable distributions and debt adjustments
A public corporation preparing to elect real estate investment trust status proposed a distribution in which shareholders could choose cash, stock, or a mix, subject to a limit on total cash. The…
PLR 200615023: Earlier extension for consolidated group election remains effective
A parent corporation had already received 60 days under an earlier ruling to file an election related to rejoining a consolidated tax group. That earlier request represented that the IRS assessment…
PLR 200615022: Corporation granted relief for late S election
A corporation intended to be taxed as an S corporation from its incorporation date, but missed the election deadline. The IRS found reasonable cause for the late filing under section 1362(b)(5). It…
PLR 200615021: Late S election accepted from corporation's formation date
A corporation intended S corporation treatment from its incorporation date but did not file the election on time. The IRS found reasonable cause for the delay under section 1362(b)(5). It ruled that…
PLR 200615020: Partnership's synthetic fuel credit rulings survive sale of an interest
A taxpayer bought a limited partnership interest in a partnership that owned synthetic fuel facilities and sought confirmation of earlier section 29 credit rulings. The IRS reissued rulings that the…
PLR 200615019: LLC receives extension for section 754 election after owner's death
An owner held an interest in an LLC through a grantor trust and died, but the LLC inadvertently missed the deadline for a section 754 election. That election permits adjustments to the basis of…
PLR 200615018: Subsidiary given more time to elect corporate tax classification
A domestic wholly owned subsidiary intended to be taxed as a corporation from its formation date but inadvertently missed the election deadline. It represented that it acted in good faith and was…
PLR 200615017: Foreign entity given 60 days to elect partnership tax treatment
A foreign entity eligible to elect partnership classification inadvertently missed the deadline to file Form 8832. It sought partnership treatment from a redacted effective date. The IRS concluded…
PLR 200615016: Corporation may reelect S status before five-year waiting period ends
A corporation's S election had terminated, and new shareholders acquired all its stock. It sought permission to reelect S corporation status before the usual five-year waiting period expired. The…
PLR 200615015: Partnership given more time for basis adjustment election
Two partners sold portions of their limited partnership interests to a third person. The partnership filed its return on time but inadvertently left out the section 754 election that would permit…
PLR 200615014: Parent given more time to elect asset treatment for foreign stock purchases
A corporate subsidiary purchased all the stock of eight foreign corporations, and its parent intended to elect under section 338(g) to treat the stock purchases as asset acquisitions for tax…
PLR 200615013: REIT and subsidiary given more time to complete joint election
A real estate investment trust and a foreign company it partly owned sought to elect to treat the company as a taxable REIT subsidiary. Their accounting firm filed Form 8875 without the trust…
PLR 200615012: Partnership allowed retroactive election for foreign investment
A U.S. partnership acquired an interest in a foreign corporation that qualified as a passive foreign investment company (PFIC), but its tax adviser did not identify that status or recommend a…
PLR 200615011: Threatened police investigator qualifies for reduced home sale gain exclusion
A police narcotics investigator sold his family's home after authorities learned that associates of a person he arrested knew his address and planned to kill him there. His family moved out before…
PLR 200615010: Courier delay does not prevent timely accounting method filing
A parent company asked for more time to file its subsidiary's Form 3115, which requested an accounting method change for capitalizing intangible costs. It had prepared the consolidated return on…
PLR 200615009: Foreign entity receives more time to elect corporate tax treatment
A foreign entity said it was eligible to elect classification as an association taxable as a corporation, but inadvertently missed the deadline to file Form 8832. It asked the IRS to allow a late…
PLR 200615008: Partnership gets more time to elect corporate tax treatment
A limited partnership intended to be taxed as a corporation from the date it was formed, but it did not file Form 8832 on time. It asked for an extension to make that entity classification election.…
PLR 200615007: Spin-off stock award adjustments and plan shares receive favorable tax rulings
A company planned to spin off a subsidiary and adjust employee stock awards and retirement plan holdings to reflect the separation. The IRS ruled that specified adjustments or substitutions of…
PLR 200615006: Settlement of trust dispute preserves tax treatment
Beneficiaries and trustees disputed whether a trust's stated payments were minimum or maximum amounts and when descendants could receive payments. They reached a court-approved settlement that…
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.