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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TAM 200539026: Foreign source income from goods shipped to U.S. distributors
A U.S. corporation bought products made by its foreign subsidiary abroad and resold them to U.S. distributors. Legal title, the distributors' rights to particular products, and the corporation's…
PLR 200539025: Extra time to allocate GST exemptions to an insurance trust
A husband transferred life insurance policies and later premium payments to an irrevocable trust. After his death, his estate and wife sought more time to allocate their generation-skipping transfer…
PLR 200539024: Dividing an older trust preserves GST exemption and avoids gain
The trustees of an irrevocable trust created before September 25, 1985 proposed dividing it into four equal successor trusts and changing some distribution, investment, and trustee provisions. An…
PLR 200539023: Extra time to elect investment income treatment for capital gains
An individual sought extra time to elect to include net capital gains from investment property in investment income for the investment interest deduction limit. The tax preparer included the gains…
PLR 200539022: Funding charitable remainder trusts before estate tax is final
A decedent's revocable trust was to fund two charitable remainder unitrusts for the decedent's children, with the remainder going to charity. The estate tax liability was still unresolved, and the…
PLR 200539021: Extra time to elect use of a dual consolidated loss
A consolidated group included a foreign subsidiary's dual consolidated loss on its U.S. return but omitted the required election and agreement. Its corporate tax manager discovered the omission…
PLR 200539020: Extra time for a foreign entity classification election
A foreign entity failed to file Form 8832 on time for a classification election effective from its formation date. The IRS found that the requirements for late-election relief were met and granted…
PLR 200539019: Late S corporation election accepted from incorporation
A corporation intended to elect S corporation status from its incorporation date but missed the filing deadline. The IRS found reasonable cause for the late election under section 1362(b)(5). It…
PLR 200539018: REIT receives time to correct subsidiary elections
A real estate investment trust intended to elect taxable REIT subsidiary status for two corporations leasing hotel properties. Its filing firm instead put the names of two other subsidiaries on the…
PLR 200539017: Late disregarded entity election for a foreign subsidiary
A domestic entity's subsidiary formed a foreign entity and intended to elect for it to be disregarded for federal tax purposes. The Form 8832 election was not filed on time because of inadvertence.…
PLR 200539016: LLC receives extra time to elect corporate classification
A single-owner domestic LLC intended to be taxed as a corporation from its formation date but did not file Form 8832 on time. Without the election, the default classification rule would disregard a…
PLR 200539015: S corporation election can be filed late
A corporation intended to elect S corporation status from its incorporation date but failed to file Form 2553 on time. The IRS found reasonable cause for the omission. It ruled that an election…
PLR 200539014: Foreign entity receives more time for classification election
A foreign entity inadvertently missed the deadline to file Form 8832 to elect its U.S. tax classification. The IRS concluded that the entity satisfied the requirements for late-election relief under…
PLR 200539013: Late S corporation election effective from incorporation
A corporation intended to elect S corporation status from its incorporation date but missed the filing deadline. The IRS found reasonable cause for the late election and granted relief under section…
PLR 200539012: Successor trusts keep GST exemption and asset basis
Trustees sought rulings on transferring assets held for grandchildren through successor trusts, beginning with a trust established before September 25, 1985. The IRS found that the transfers and…
PLR 200539011: Successor trusts keep GST exemption and asset basis
Trustees sought rulings on transferring assets held for grandchildren through successor trusts, beginning with a trust established before September 25, 1985. The IRS found that the transfers and…
PLR 200539010: Successor trusts keep GST exemption and asset basis
Trustees sought rulings on transferring assets held for grandchildren through successor trusts, beginning with a trust established before September 25, 1985. The IRS found that the transfers and…
PLR 200539009: Partnership business receipts retain their character for S corporation test
An S corporation with accumulated earnings and profits owned an interest in a publicly traded partnership engaged in a natural resources business. It asked how its share of partnership receipts…
PLR 200539008: Divorcing spouses may divide charitable remainder unitrust
A divorcing couple proposed splitting their charitable remainder unitrust equally into two trusts, with each former spouse receiving payments from one trust. A court approved the plan subject to a…
PLR 200539007: Extra time to request consolidated return waiver
A corporate group reassembled less than 60 months after leaving its earlier consolidated group and filed a consolidated return without the statement needed for an automatic waiver of the section…
PLR 200539006: Public education insurance pool income excluded
An insurance and risk management pool served public school districts and other public education entities. It collected member premiums, purchased some commercial coverage, insured some risks…
PLR 200539005: State dissolution did not end S corporation status
A state administratively dissolved an S corporation for unpaid annual registration fees, and the company reincorporated after discovering the lapse. The IRS ruled that the state law events alone did…
PLR 200539004: Subsidiaries treated as joining consolidated return despite missing consents
A parent filed an initial consolidated return that included two subsidiaries' income and deductions, but omitted their Forms 1122 consenting to inclusion. Both subsidiaries appeared on the…
PLR 200539003: Affordable housing loan counted as federal subsidy
A housing authority planned to lend refinancing savings to an affordable housing partnership at less than the applicable federal rate. The authority and partnership argued that the savings were…
PLR 200539002: Late S corporation election granted from incorporation
A corporation's shareholders intended S corporation treatment from its incorporation date, but the election was filed late. The IRS found reasonable cause for the missed deadline under section…
PLR 200539001: Successor trusts keep GST exemption and asset basis
Trustees sought rulings on transferring assets held for grandchildren through successor trusts, beginning with a trust established before September 25, 1985. The IRS found that the transfers and…
Determination 200538040: Credit repair service denied charity exemption
An organization sought section 501(c)(3) exemption for credit repair, debt negotiation, debt management, and financial education. It planned to offer services similar to those of a related…
Determination 200538039: Workers' compensation pool denied exemption
A self-insurance trust for employers in one industry sought exemption under sections 501(c)(27) and 501(c)(6). The IRS denied both. Members, rather than the state, created the trust; coverage was…
PLR 200538038: Late disregarded entity election after foreign entity conversion
A foreign partnership in which a REIT indirectly held an interest formed an entity that later converted to a different legal form. The entity inadvertently missed the deadline to elect disregarded…
PLR 200538037: Late GST exemption allocation to split-interest trust
A taxpayer funded a trust for charities and great-grandchildren with a partnership interest. Her accountant omitted a generation-skipping transfer (GST) tax exemption allocation from her gift tax…
PLR 200538036: Spouses receive time for GST allocations to children's trusts
A husband funded four trusts for his children and the couple treated the gifts as made one-half by each spouse. Their tax preparers omitted generation-skipping transfer (GST) exemption allocations…
PLR 200538035: Trust changes preserve GST exemption without gift or gain
Trustees proposed court-approved changes to six irrevocable family trusts created before September 25, 1985. The changes would confine each trust's beneficiaries to one child's family line, direct…
PLR 200538034: Inherited IRA may be divided using oldest beneficiary's age
An IRA owner died before her required distribution start date and had named a trust for her three children as beneficiary. The trustee proposed dividing the IRA into three inherited IRAs, one for…
PLR 200538033: Oldest child may use her age after inherited IRA division
An IRA owner named a trust for her three children as beneficiary and died before her required distribution start date. The trustee wanted to divide the IRA into three inherited IRAs, one for each…
PLR 200538032: IRS waives IRA rollover deadline after cancer treatment and delayed check
An IRA owner received cancer treatment away from home when his IRA distribution check arrived at his primary residence. His bookkeeper did not tell him about the check, and he did not find it until…
PLR 200538031: Child may use oldest sibling’s age after inherited IRA division
An IRA owner named a trust for her three children as beneficiary and died before her required distribution start date. The trustee wanted to divide the IRA into three inherited IRAs, one for each…
PLR 200538030: Child may use oldest sibling’s age after inherited IRA division
An IRA owner named a trust for her three children as beneficiary and died before her required distribution start date. The trustee wanted to divide the IRA into three inherited IRAs, one for each…
PLR 200538029: IRS grants rollover extension after medical treatment
An IRA owner moved money into a non-IRA annuity on a bank adviser’s recommendation, then canceled the annuity and deposited the refund in a regular bank account. She intended to roll the funds into…
Determination 200538028: Credit counseling group denied charitable tax exemption
A credit counseling organization sought exemption under section 501(c)(3). Its business plan centered on paid debt management plans, with revenue from clients and creditors and substantial spending…
PLR 200538027: Retirement community’s clinic building avoids debt-financed income rules
A tax-exempt continuing care retirement community owned a limited liability company that built a medical office building next to its campus. The company planned to borrow against the building and…
PLR 200538026: Campus fraternity house renovation leaves university exemption intact
A tax-exempt university planned to renovate a fraternity house on its campus with donations from the fraternity’s alumni. The house sat on university land under a lease that let the university…
PLR 200538025: Active property management keeps rents outside S corporation passive income
A real estate company planning to elect S corporation status asked whether its rental receipts were passive investment income under section 1362. It described employees, tenant services, maintenance…
PLR 200538024: Taxpayer gets 60 days to allocate missed GST exemption to trust gifts
A married couple made additional cash and stock transfers to a trust and intended to split the gifts. A qualified tax professional inadvertently failed to file one spouse’s gift tax return, leaving…
PLR 200538023: Spouses’ trusts receive late GST exemption allocations
A husband and wife transferred life insurance policies to separate trusts but their tax professionals failed to allocate the couple’s generation-skipping transfer (GST) exemptions properly. The wife…
PLR 200538022: Taxpayer gets 45 days to elect ratable real estate tax accrual
An accrual basis company intended to elect to accrue real estate taxes ratably under section 461(c). Its accounting firm filed a second extension request without explaining why the extension was…
PLR 200538021: Couple receives time to allocate GST exemption to split gift
A grantor transferred property to an irrevocable trust, and the grantor’s spouse agreed to split the gift. Their accountant filed gift tax returns but inadvertently omitted the notices allocating…
PLR 200538020: Taxpayer gets 45 days to elect ratable real estate tax accrual
An accrual basis company intended to elect to accrue real estate taxes ratably under section 461(c). Its accounting firm filed a second extension request without explaining why the extension was…
PLR 200538019: Late S corporation election may take effect from first tax year
A company and its owners intended S corporation treatment from the company’s first tax year and filed their returns consistently with that intent. They did not file Form 2553 on time. The IRS found…
PLR 200538018: Couple gets more time to allocate GST exemption to grandchildren’s trusts
A married couple split gifts made to two trusts for their grandchildren over two years. Their accounting firm filed gift tax returns but omitted the couple’s generation-skipping transfer (GST)…
PLR 200538017: Couple gets more time to allocate GST exemption to grandchildren’s trusts
A married couple split gifts made to two trusts for their grandchildren over two years. Their accounting firm filed gift tax returns but omitted the couple’s generation-skipping transfer (GST)…
PLR 200538016: Entity gets 60 days to make a late tax classification election
An entity became wholly owned by another entity and intended to be treated as disregarded from that date for federal income tax purposes. Its Form 8832 classification election was not filed on time.…
PLR 200538015: Foreign company receives time to elect disregarded entity status
A foreign limited company became wholly owned by another entity. It intended to be treated as disregarded from the date of the acquisition, but did not file Form 8832 to elect that classification.…
PLR 200538014: Late application to change tax year treated as timely filed
A taxpayer filed Form 1128 after the deadline to request a change from a July 31 to a December 31 tax year. The taxpayer soon requested relief for the late filing. The IRS found that the taxpayer…
PLR 200538013: Corporation receives relief for late S election
A corporation intended to elect S corporation status but did not file the election on time. The IRS found reasonable cause for the delay under section 1362(b)(5). It ruled that the corporation would…
PLR 200538012: Workers’ compensation fund qualifies as a nonlife insurer
A state created a nonprofit corporation to provide workers’ compensation benefits to service operators who were otherwise classified as independent contractors. A surcharge on service fees funded…
PLR 200538011: Corporation may file late S election within 60 days
A corporation’s president and sole shareholder intended to elect S corporation status, but the corporation inadvertently missed the deadline to file Form 2553. The IRS found reasonable cause for the…
PLR 200538010: Corporation receives relief for a late S election
A newly incorporated company 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 and granted…
PLR 200538009: Late S election accepted after reasonable cause finding
A newly incorporated company’s shareholder intended S corporation status to begin on the incorporation date, but the election was filed late. The IRS found reasonable cause for the delay and granted…
PLR 200538008: Company gets relief for a late S election
A newly incorporated company’s shareholders intended S corporation status to begin on its incorporation date, but the election was filed late. The IRS found reasonable cause for the delay and…
PLR 200538007: Late S election accepted after reasonable cause finding
A newly incorporated company’s shareholder intended S corporation status to begin on the incorporation date, but the election was filed late. The IRS found reasonable cause for the delay and granted…
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.