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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Back-to-back CFC loans are treated as indirectly held U.S. property
Two upper-tier controlled foreign corporations funded lower-tier CFCs that promptly loaned substantially the same amounts to their U.S. parent. Routing the loans through entities with less earnings…
Pre-2005 litigation damages do not reduce production income
A consolidated group paid court-ordered damages in post-2004 tax years for lawsuits arising from product sales made before IRC § 199 took effect. The group sought to exclude those deductions from…
Later foreign tax payments belong in pre-1987 annual layers
Chief Counsel addressed additional foreign taxes paid after 2008 that related to a foreign corporation's 1994 through 2008 taxable years. Because the corporation did not enter the relevant U.S.…
Foreign earned income exclusion reelection approved
A taxpayer elected the IRC § 911 foreign earned income exclusion while working in one country, then revoked it the following year. Within five years, the taxpayer moved to another country whose…
Late IC-DISC election allowed, but capitalization failed
A domestic corporation formed to operate as an IC-DISC missed the deadline to file Form 4876-A after the form was inadvertently placed in a company file. The IRS concluded that the corporation met…
Domestic subsidiaries receive 45 days to file Forms 8848
Seven foreign corporations domesticated into domestic subsidiaries in reorganizations and needed Forms 8848 to extend the assessment period for branch profits tax. Their tax adviser prepared the…
Pre-1987 foreign taxes cannot enter post-1986 credit pools
A U.S. parent claimed deemed-paid foreign tax credits after check-the-box elections produced deemed liquidations of several controlled foreign corporations. Part of the claimed credit came from…
Export corporation gets late IC-DISC election relief
A domestic corporation was formed solely to operate as an interest charge domestic international sales corporation and began doing business under commission arrangements. Its advisers prepared the…
Late IC-DISC election receives 60-day extension
A newly formed domestic corporation intended to elect interest charge domestic international sales corporation status for its first tax year. Its shareholder relied on a longtime accountant to make…
Excess foreign taxes may be carried back to a year with excess limitation
A U.S. taxpayer reported foreign-source compensation from stock options in one year, but the related Hong Kong income tax accrued in the following U.S. taxable year because Hong Kong used a…
Late IC-DISC election receives a 60-day extension
A corporation was formed solely to operate as an interest charge domestic international sales corporation and believed it had timely mailed Form 4876-A during its first 90 days. After filing IC-DISC…
Corporation receives extra time for IC-DISC election
A domestic corporation was formed to operate as an interest charge domestic international sales corporation, but its accounting and law firms each mistakenly believed the other would file Form…
Late portfolio-interest documentation depends on refund period
A financial institution treated interest paid to two nonresident individuals as portfolio interest but lacked the required foreign-status documentation when it made the payments. Chief Counsel…
Corporation receives 60 days for late IC-DISC election
A domestic corporation was formed to operate as an interest charge domestic international sales corporation and relied on its accounting advisers to make the required first-year election. The Form…
Miscommunication excused late IC-DISC election
An S corporation formed a domestic subsidiary solely to operate as an interest charge domestic international sales corporation (IC-DISC). The subsidiary's secretary believed the law firm had filed…
Worker may reelect foreign income exclusions early
A U.S. citizen living abroad had elected the foreign earned income and housing cost exclusions, then revoked those elections on an enrolled agent's advice while expecting to remain in the same…
Acquired group could adopt the parent's asset-valuation method
A domestic parent used the alternative tax book value method to value assets when apportioning interest expense. It acquired another consolidated group that had historically used fair market value.…
IC-DISC receives extra time to file election
The IRS granted a newly formed corporation 60 additional days to file Form 4876-A electing interest charge DISC status for its first tax year. The owner directed experienced accounting and law firms…
CFC partnership loan triggers section 956 inclusion under anti-abuse rule
A partnership owned by controlled foreign corporations loaned funds to a related CFC, which combined those funds with another loan and immediately lent the total to its U.S. parent. The structure…
Corporation received 60 days to file its missed IC-DISC election
A newly formed domestic corporation intended to elect interest charge domestic international sales corporation status for its first tax year. Its accountant believed its attorney would file Form…
Foreign insurance reserves approved for measuring income
The IRS considered whether a controlled foreign insurance company could use certain foreign statement underwriting and loss reserves to measure income from life insurance and annuity contracts. The…
Foreign insurance reserves approved for qualifying insurance company income calculations
A controlled foreign insurance company asked whether reserves reported under its home country's insurance rules could be used to measure income for U.S. tax purposes. The IRS approved the use of…
Extension granted to file Form 8848 for branch profits tax relief
The IRS granted a foreign corporation additional time to file Form 8848, which is required to support the complete termination exception from the branch profits tax. The taxpayer had sold its U.S.…
IRS grants extra time to make an IC-DISC election
A domestic corporation intended to operate as an interest charge domestic international sales corporation, or IC-DISC, but its Form 4876-A election was not timely filed. The taxpayer said its…
PLR 1351012: IC-DISC election treated as timely after filing problem
A corporation formed to operate as an interest charge domestic international sales corporation, or IC-DISC, mailed its Form 4876-A election but later learned that the IRS service center had no…
PLR 1351010: foreign insurer receives extra time for a section 953(d) election
A foreign corporation intended to elect under IRC § 953(d) to be treated as a domestic corporation for U.S. tax purposes, but it could not locate the signed election and later determined that the…
CCA 1349015: Foreign branch and disregarded entity transactions affect foreign tax credits
This Chief Counsel Advice addresses how transactions involving foreign branches and disregarded entities should be treated for U.S. tax and foreign tax credit purposes. Transactions between a…
PLR 1349003: IRS grants extra time to elect IC-DISC status
A domestic corporation intended to elect IC-DISC status for its first taxable year but did not timely file Form 4876-A. The taxpayer attributed the missed filing to a misunderstanding between its…
IRS grants an extension for an IC-DISC election
The IRS granted a domestic corporation an extension of time to file Form 4876-A and make an election to be treated as an interest charge domestic international sales corporation, or IC-DISC. The…
IRS grants late-election relief for the foreign earned income exclusion
The IRS granted an extension of time for an individual living and working abroad to elect the foreign earned income exclusion under section 911. The taxpayer's accounting firm failed to advise the…
PLR 1347006: IRS grants 60 days to make a late IC-DISC election
A domestic corporation formed to operate as an interest charge domestic international sales corporation, or IC-DISC, missed the deadline to file Form 4876-A. Its accounting firm gave it the wrong…
PLR 1344007: Taxpayer may reelect the foreign earned income exclusion
An individual had revoked the section 911 election to exclude foreign earned income and housing costs, then moved between two taxing jurisdictions with different tax rates. The individual asked to…
PLR 1343011: late IC-DISC election granted an extension
The IRS considered a corporation that intended to operate as an interest charge domestic international sales corporation, or IC-DISC, but did not timely file Form 4876-A. The form had been prepared…
PLR 1341023: IRS grants late IC-DISC election relief
The IRS granted a domestic corporation 60 days to file Form 4876-A for IC-DISC treatment for its first taxable year. The form had been prepared and signed, but a clerical error caused it to be kept…
PLR 1340010: IRS rules that qualifying growing activities count toward the manufacturing exception
The IRS ruled that production activities that also involve growing products can count when determining whether a controlled foreign corporation produced those products for the foreign base company…
CCA 1336018: Loan interest payable in related-party stock does not reduce foreign-share basis
Chief Counsel advised that a loan’s principal amount should not reduce the taxpayer’s adjusted basis in shares of a related foreign corporation when the loan interest is optionally payable in that…
PLR 1336013: IRS grants more time to elect IC-DISC status
A domestic corporation intended to be treated as an interest charge domestic international sales corporation, or IC-DISC, from its first taxable year. Its advisers prepared the required Form 4876-A,…
IRS permits a corporation to use tax book value for interest apportionment
The IRS permitted a domestic corporation to change from the fair market value method to the tax book value method for valuing assets used to apportion interest expense. The corporation had used the…
IRS grants extra time to make an IC-DISC election
The IRS granted a domestic corporation an additional 90 days to file Form 4876-A and make an election to be treated as an interest charge domestic international sales corporation, or IC-DISC. The…
CCA explains when IRC § 982 bars third parties from introducing foreign records
Chief Counsel Advice addresses whether IRC § 982 bars a person related to a taxpayer from introducing foreign documents when the document request was made only to the taxpayer. The advice concludes…
PLR 1330006 excludes certain controlled foreign corporation income from foreign base company income
The IRS rules that a controlled foreign corporation's distributive share of income from a partnership's production and sale of a commodity under a long-term output contract is not foreign base…
PLR 1327001: IRS grants more time to file an IC-DISC election after the filing could not be located
The IRS granted a domestic corporation 60 more days to file Form 4876-A, the election to be treated as an interest charge domestic international sales corporation, or IC-DISC. The taxpayer had…
TAM 1325012: Interest on collateral securities is allocated under the ten-percent rule
The IRS addressed whether interest earned by a foreign bank's U.S. branch on medium-term notes should be treated entirely as effectively connected income. The branch acquired the notes in the…
PLR 1325005: Branch manufacturing contribution excludes payments from foreign base company sales income
A U.S. multinational's foreign partnership received payments connected with the manufacture, marketing, and sale of products in a foreign country. A branch of the partnership performed substantial…
PLR 1321011: IRS permits a retroactive change to the alternative tax book value method
The IRS permitted a domestic corporation to retroactively change its method for valuing assets when apportioning interest expense. The corporation had used the tax book value method for earlier…
PLR 1321007: IRS approves specified nonrecognition treatment for a foreign parent’s U.S. domestication
The IRS ruled on the U.S. tax consequences of a publicly traded foreign parent’s proposed domestication as a U.S. corporation. The parent owned a domestic subsidiary that held significant U.S. real…
PLR 1320017: IRS permits a switch to tax-book-value asset valuation
The IRS considered a domestic corporation's request to change the method it used to value assets when apportioning interest expense. The corporation had used the fair-market-value method for the…
CCA 1313023: IRS explains how the section 911 housing deduction and exclusion are coordinated
The IRS explained how the section 911 housing exclusion and housing deduction are calculated on Forms 1040 and 2555. The memo says the mechanics are intended to make similarly situated taxpayers pay…
CCA 1312045: economic substance doctrine could challenge foreign tax credits
Chief Counsel advised that judicial doctrines, including the economic substance doctrine, could be used to challenge a foreign tax credit claim even when the claim met the technical requirements of…
CCA 1311024: CCA distinguishes ocean activity income from transportation income
Chief Counsel advice addresses the source of income from chartering and moving a vessel. If a day rate covers only moving the vessel from Norway to the Gulf, the income should be characterized as…
PLR 1308023: IRS permits reelection of the foreign earned income exclusion
The IRS permitted a taxpayer to reelect the foreign earned income exclusion under section 911 before the usual six-year waiting period had expired. The taxpayer had revoked a prior election after…
PLR 1305002: IRS grants extra time to make an IC-DISC election
A domestic corporation intended to be treated as an interest charge domestic international sales corporation, or IC-DISC, for its first taxable year. Its Form 4876-A election was filed late after…
PLR 1304001: IRS grants late-election relief for an IC-DISC
A domestic corporation asked the IRS for permission to make a late election to be treated as an interest charge domestic international sales corporation, or IC-DISC. Its advisers completed most of…
PLR 1303005: Foreign insurer receives more time to make two tax elections
A foreign insurance company asked for more time to elect to be treated as a domestic corporation for U.S. tax purposes and to elect the alternative tax regime for certain insurance companies. The…
CCA 1251015: Resident qualified for a treaty stipend exclusion for up to five years
Chief Counsel Advice concluded that, on the particular facts presented, a resident fell within paragraph (1)(a)(ii) of Article 19 of the applicable treaty. The resident therefore appeared eligible…
PLR 1249012: IRS modifies a corporate separation ruling
The IRS supplemented an earlier private letter ruling on a series of corporate separations, reorganizations, distributions, and related transactions. The supplemental ruling changed which affiliated…
IRS grants extra time to file an IC-DISC election
The IRS granted a domestic corporation 60 additional days to file Form 4876-A, the election to be treated as an interest charge domestic international sales corporation (IC-DISC). The corporation…
IRS permits revocation of controlled foreign corporation currency elections
The IRS granted a U.S. corporation permission to revoke elections that caused its controlled foreign corporations to include certain foreign-currency gains and losses in foreign personal holding…
CCA says the extraterritorial income exclusion is zero for these subpart F inclusions
Chief Counsel Advice addressed whether the extraterritorial income exclusion under section 114 reduces a U.S. shareholder's subpart F income inclusions from controlled foreign corporations. The…
PLR 1240017: IRS approves tax treatment for a multinational corporate separation
A multinational corporate group asked the IRS to rule on the federal income tax consequences of a long series of proposed mergers, liquidations, asset contributions, stock distributions, spin-offs,…
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.