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 200606013: S election defect cured after trust consent errors
A corporation's S election was invalid from the start because eleven shareholder subtrusts lacked qualified subchapter S trust (QSST) elections and their trustee, rather than the beneficiaries,…
PLR 200606012: Late subtrust elections receive S status relief
An S corporation's stock was held through a grantor trust that split into eleven subtrusts after its owner died. When the temporary period permitting the postdeath trust to hold S stock expired, the…
PLR 200606011: S status preserved after eleven trust election omissions
An S corporation had a shareholder interest held through a grantor trust that divided into eleven subtrusts after its owner died. Once the postdeath period for holding S corporation stock ended, the…
PLR 200606010: S corporation gets relief for omitted QSST elections
An S corporation had a shareholder interest held through a grantor trust that divided into eleven separate trust shares after its owner died. When the temporary postdeath period for the trust to…
PLR 200606009: IRS rules on corporate mergers into partnership LLCs
A two owner LLC acquired four corporations and then merged three into one LLC and the fourth into another. The IRS classified all four LLCs as partnerships unless they elected otherwise. For tax…
PLR 200606008: Foreign entity granted late disregarded entity election
A domestic LLC acquired a foreign entity and intended the foreign entity to be disregarded for federal income tax purposes from the acquisition date. The entity missed the deadline for Form 8832.…
PLR 200606007: Retiree health trust income and coverage excluded from tax
A county-level public agency proposed to fund a trust for medical coverage for eligible retirees and their spouses and dependents. Only the agency would contribute, and trust assets would be…
PLR 200606006: Equal value trust asset swap avoids estate, gift, and income tax
A grantor of an irrevocable trust retained a power to replace trust assets with assets of equal value, exercisable in a fiduciary capacity. He proposed exchanging publicly traded shares, with cash…
PLR 200606005: Late S election approved from formation
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 delay and granted…
PLR 200606004: Partnership allowed late basis adjustment election
A limited partner died, making a transfer of a partnership interest eligible for a section 754 election to adjust the basis of partnership property. The partnership inadvertently missed the deadline…
PLR 200606003: Multiowner LLC given time for corporate classification election
The current members of a domestic LLC wanted it to be taxed as a corporation from the date they purchased it, but the company missed the Form 8832 election deadline. As a domestic entity with more…
PLR 200606002: Spouses granted time to allocate GST exemption
A married couple funded an irrevocable trust for their descendants but did not file gift tax returns allocating their generation skipping transfer (GST) exemption. Their attorney had not advised…
CCA 200606001: Excess bankruptcy plan payments after spouse relief should be returned
A taxpayer received section 6015(c) relief from joint tax liability while making payments under a Chapter 13 bankruptcy plan, but the IRS continued collecting the original claim. Chief Counsel…
PLR 200605019: Surviving spouse may complete late rollovers from three IRAs
A surviving spouse received proceeds from three IRAs whose named beneficiary was a trust that she alone controlled and was entitled to receive outright. The IRS treated her as the recipient of the…
PLR 200605018: Extra pension contributions count toward annual addition limits
A governmental defined benefit plan asked how contribution limits apply when employees pay extra after-tax amounts to increase retirement benefits for years of service already credited. The IRS…
PLR 200605017: Surviving spouse may take over or roll over inherited IRA
A deceased IRA holder had named his spouse as the sole beneficiary, and she could withdraw the entire account. She asked whether his estate would be treated as the recipient and whether she could…
PLR 200605016: Late IRA rollover allowed after adviser withdrew funds without explanation
A taxpayer asked a longtime financial adviser for money to replace funds withdrawn from a joint credit union account. The adviser arranged a withdrawal from the taxpayer's IRA without explaining the…
PLR 200605015: Foundation may set aside funds for disaster relief projects
A private foundation's staff, grantees, volunteers, and intended beneficiaries were disrupted by a natural disaster. It proposed to reserve funds for targeted grants and medical research in its…
PLR 200605014: Foundation director's grant choices are not payments to a government official
A private foundation director also served as a city mayor's chief administrative officer, making him a government official under section 4946. The foundation asked whether his participation in…
PLR 200605013: Health system's laboratory partnership income avoids unrelated business tax
An exempt health care system indirectly owned a share of a laboratory services partnership and planned to reorganize that ownership. The partnership provided services to the system's controlled…
Determination 200605012: Tax exemption denied to debt counseling organization
An organization sought section 501(c)(3) status for bankruptcy education, debt counseling, and related financial services. The IRS denied exemption because its articles did not limit its purposes to…
TAM 200605011: Airline cannot defer fares after issuing vouchers for denied boarding
An airline overbooked flights and gave bumped passengers another flight plus a voucher for future travel. It sought to allocate part of the original ticket fare to the voucher flight and defer that…
TAM 200605010: Retailer's vendor rebates reduce inventory cost
A retailer received vendor rebates under marketing agreements tied to its purchases. The IRS was asked whether the payments were income for advertising services or discounts on merchandise. It…
PLR 200605009: Late S corporation election allowed for new corporation
A corporation's sole shareholder intended S corporation status from the date of incorporation, but its Form 2553 was not filed on time. The IRS found reasonable cause for the missed deadline and…
PLR 200605008: Corporation receives relief for late S election
A corporation's shareholders intended S corporation status from a specified date, but the election was not filed on time. The IRS found reasonable cause for the delay and granted relief under…
PLR 200605007: Late S election recognized from incorporation date
A newly incorporated company intended to elect S corporation status from its incorporation date but did not file the election on time. The IRS found reasonable cause for the delay and granted relief…
PLR 200605006: Late S election treated as effective from incorporation
A corporation's shareholders intended S corporation status from its incorporation date, but the election was not filed on time. The IRS found reasonable cause for the delay and granted relief under…
PLR 200605005: Partnership ownership caused inadvertent S election termination
Two owners transferred their interests in an S corporation to a partnership, which caused the S election to terminate because a partnership cannot be an eligible shareholder. They later transferred…
PLR 200605004: Housing rehabilitation costs may use a separate placed in service date
A partnership rehabilitated a historic building for low-income housing and expected to claim both housing and historic rehabilitation credits. It asked whether the rehabilitation costs treated as a…
PLR 200605003: Separate funds and enforced trading restrictions protect a loss corporation
A publicly traded company in bankruptcy sought to protect its tax losses from a section 382 ownership change. Three funds with a common manager had bought its stock, and together held more than five…
PLR 200605002: Foreign entity receives more time to elect disregarded status
A foreign entity intended to elect treatment as disregarded from its owner for federal tax purposes, but a misunderstanding over who would file Form 8832 caused it to miss the filing. It asked the…
PLR 200605001: Reformed trust can qualify for estate tax charitable deductions
A decedent's trust paid income for a son's benefit and left interests in three properties to charities and private beneficiaries. As written, its charitable remainder did not qualify for an estate…
TAM 200604040: Earlier pension deduction advice revoked prospectively
An employer made pension plan contributions based on employees' hours worked in the prior month. An earlier IRS technical advice memorandum had allowed it to deduct contributions after year end as…
PLR 200604039: ESOP settlement proceeds can restore participants' plan accounts
Participants in an employee stock ownership plan sued over the plan's purchase of company stock for more than its fair market value. After a settlement and court award, the plan was readopted to…
PLR 200604038: Missed IRA rollover deadline waived after bank account mistake
A taxpayer withdrew money from one IRA and deposited it at another bank the same day, believing the new account was an IRA. The bank instead placed the funds in a regular money market account. The…
Determination 200604037: Pension minimum funding waiver denied
A company that provides log scaling and grading services asked the IRS to waive its pension plan's minimum funding requirement. The company said market losses and low interest rates had sharply…
PLR 200604036: Bankrupt employer's pension amendments allowed with funding payment
An employer in Chapter 11 bankruptcy sought approval for three amendments to its defined benefit pension plan. The amendments would extend temporary pay credits, protect benefits when employees…
PLR 200604035: Foundation may use approved set-aside for housing subsidies
A private foundation had approval to set aside funds to buy land for a new residence for older people and people in need. Rising construction costs made that project impractical, and the foundation…
Determination 200604034: IRS revokes ruling about district court judge
The IRS revoked an earlier private letter ruling that had said a U.S. District Court judge was not a government official for a private foundation self-dealing rule. The recipient can no longer rely…
TAM 200604033: Pledged and lent shares treated as a current stock sale
A taxpayer entered prepaid forward contracts to sell publicly traded shares, pledged the shares, and allowed the purchaser to borrow and dispose of them before final settlement. The IRS analyzed the…
CCA 200604032: IRS accepts railroad employer status determination
The Railroad Retirement Board told the IRS that a business had become an employer under the Railroad Retirement Act and the Railroad Unemployment Insurance Act. The IRS reviewed that opinion and the…
CCA 200604031: IRS concurs that business became a railroad employer
The Railroad Retirement Board advised the IRS that a business became an employer under the Railroad Retirement Act and the Railroad Unemployment Insurance Act. After reviewing the Board's opinion…
CCA 200604030: Railroad employer status began by first employee payment
The Railroad Retirement Board told the IRS that a business became an employer under two federal railroad benefit laws. After reviewing the Board's opinion and information, the IRS concluded that the…
CCA 200604029: IRS agrees with railroad employer finding
The Railroad Retirement Board advised the IRS that a business had become an employer under the Railroad Retirement Act and the Railroad Unemployment Insurance Act. The IRS reviewed the Board's…
PLR 200604028: Spousal trust appointment produces gift and estate tax treatment
A married couple proposed amendments to their revocable trusts. If the husband died first, he would hold a testamentary general power to direct some assets in his wife's trust through his will to…
PLR 200604027: Couple receives extension for Canadian retirement plan election
A married couple moved from Canada to the United States and held Canadian registered retirement savings plans. Their U.S. accountant had agreed to file statements electing deferral of U.S. tax on…
PLR 200604026: Trust amendments preserve GST tax exemption
An irrevocable trust created before September 25, 1985, was exempt from the generation-skipping transfer (GST) tax under the grandfather rule. Amendments changed when a child and the child's…
PLR 200604025: Revised trust keeps generation-skipping tax exemption
An irrevocable trust created before September 25, 1985, was exempt from the generation-skipping transfer (GST) tax. Amendments replaced the original remainder arrangement with scheduled payments to…
PLR 200604024: Estate receives time to allocate missed GST exemption
A couple made gifts to separate trusts for their daughter and son. Their accountant prepared gift tax returns, but the husband's generation-skipping transfer (GST) tax exemption was not allocated to…
CCA 200604023: Australian retirement benefit remains taxable to U.S. citizen
A dual U.S. and Australian citizen received a lump sum from a deceased spouse's Australian superannuation fund. The taxpayer withdrew a request for a private letter ruling after Chief Counsel…
PLR 200604022: Corporation may revoke alternative research credit election
A corporation had elected the alternative incremental research credit method and asked to stop using it for a later tax year. Section 41(c)(4) requires IRS consent to revoke that election. The…
PLR 200604021: Late S corporation election accepted for incorporation date
A newly incorporated company intended to be an S corporation from its incorporation date but did not file Form 2553 on time. The IRS found reasonable cause for the missed deadline under section…
PLR 200604020: Stock sale tested using subsidiary's underlying assets for PFIC income
A foreign corporation sold stock in a wholly owned subsidiary before it became a controlled foreign corporation. Its U.S. owner needed to assess whether the seller had been a passive foreign…
PLR 200604019: Extra time granted for LLC to elect corporate tax status
A corporation merged into its wholly owned limited liability company, which survived the merger. The company intended to be taxed as a corporation but inadvertently missed the deadline to file Form…
PLR 200604018: More time to elect restoration of controlled group stock value
After a stock acquisition, a parent company and related subsidiaries missed the deadline to elect how stock value would be restored among controlled group members for the section 382 loss…
PLR 200604017: New parent may start a consolidated return after restructuring
A corporate group moved three subsidiaries into a newly formed parent company. The former common parent later elected S corporation status, and several other subsidiaries elected qualified…
PLR 200604016: Business separation qualifies for stated spin-off tax treatment
An S corporation planned to put one of its two businesses into a new corporation and distribute all of the new corporation's stock to its sole shareholder. The IRS ruled that the contribution and…
PLR 200604015: Trust division and unitrust conversion preserve GST exemption
The beneficiaries of a trust exempt from generation-skipping transfer (GST) tax had different investment needs. The trustee proposed to divide it equally into two trusts for separate family branches…
PLR 200604014: Late tax-year application treated as timely filed
A taxpayer filed Form 1128 late to request a tax year ending November 30. The IRS found that the delay resulted from an error or misunderstanding and that the taxpayer had requested relief within 90…
PLR 200604013: Health-related home sale qualifies for reduced gain exclusion
Two people became joint owners of a home with its longtime owners but had owned and used it for less than two years when it was sold. The longtime owners moved to assisted living because of…
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.