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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OTHER 200531019: Reinsurer agrees to prospective loss of exemption
The IRS revoked a reinsurer's section 501(c)(15) exemption from a redacted effective date, with the organization's agreement. The final letter and examination report both say the IRS found no…
OTHER 200531018: Veterans' post loses exemption for operating a public bar
The IRS revoked a veterans' organization's exemption under section 501(c)(19). An examination found that operating a bar open to the general public was the post's primary activity. The IRS concluded…
PLR 200531017: Corporation may revoke its alternative research credit election
A corporation requested permission to revoke its election to calculate the research credit under the alternative incremental research credit rules. It made the election for itself and its controlled…
PLR 200531016: Partnership receives more time to elect a basis adjustment
A partnership missed the deadline for a section 754 election after a partner died. It said estate administration complications, including litigation, kept it from requesting the election when it…
PLR 200531015: Partnership receives late election relief after a partner's death
A partnership missed the deadline to elect a basis adjustment under section 754 after a partner died. It represented that litigation and other complications in administering the estate prevented a…
PLR 200531014: Corporation may revoke its alternative research credit election
A corporation asked to revoke its election to use the alternative incremental research credit method. It made the request before the extended deadline for the return covering the year it wanted the…
PLR 200531013: Domestic real estate company may use functional currency principles
A domestic corporation planned to own and lease real estate in another country and keep its books in that country's currency. It sought permission to determine its functional currency using rules…
PLR 200531012: Partnership may operate its own matching service for interests
A family owned limited liability company taxed as a partnership wanted to match members wishing to sell their interests with eligible buyers. It proposed operating the matching service itself to…
PLR 200531011: Entity receives relief for late corporate and S corporation elections
A state law corporation converted to a partnership under state law but intended to keep its S corporation status for federal tax purposes. It failed to file both the entity classification election…
PLR 200531010: Corporation receives more time to file branch profits tax forms
A foreign corporation domesticated in the United States and later learned that its tax year had ended on the transaction date. It had missed the deadline for a transferee agreement and a consent…
PLR 200531009: Trust changes preserve exemption from generation skipping tax
An irrevocable trust asked whether changes to its administration would preserve its exemption from generation skipping transfer tax. The proposed changes included instructions for a beneficiary…
PLR 200531008: Trust administration changes preserve generation skipping tax status
A trust that was irrevocable by September 25, 1985 asked whether several administrative actions would affect its exemption from generation skipping transfer tax. It sought court instructions…
PLR 200531007: Trustees receive time for marital trust tax elections
An executor omitted a qualified terminable interest property election, a division of a marital trust into GST exempt and nonexempt trusts, and a reverse QTIP election from an estate tax return. The…
PLR 200531006: LLC gets more time to elect corporate tax treatment
A limited partnership converted to a limited liability company but inadvertently missed the deadline to elect corporate classification for federal tax purposes. The IRS concluded that the…
PLR 200531005: Late trust election will preserve corporation's S status
A shareholder died and the shareholder's S corporation stock passed to a trust. The trust beneficiary failed to make a timely qualified subchapter S trust election, which terminated the…
PLR 200531004: Family trust company may serve as trustee under stated controls
A family owned trust company was proposed as successor trustee of a trust for a family member and descendants. Its governing documents reserved discretionary distribution decisions to a committee of…
PLR 200531003: Revised nuclear decommissioning fund schedule approved
A utility sought a revised schedule of annual amounts it could contribute to its nuclear decommissioning fund after a regulator increased the decommissioning costs included in its rates. The IRS…
PLR 200531002: Former resident avoids expatriation tax presumption
A former U.S. lawful permanent resident surrendered his green card and asked the IRS to rule that avoiding U.S. taxes was not a principal purpose. His net worth exceeded the statutory threshold, but…
PLR 200531001: Reciprocal insurer may revoke its section 835 election
A reciprocal insurer asked to revoke its section 835 election beginning with its 2004 tax year. Under that election, it reduced its deduction for payments to its attorney in fact and could claim a…
PLR 200530033: IRA owner receives waiver of late rollover deadline
An IRA owner withdrew funds and deposited them in a bank account outside an IRA, missing the 60 day rollover deadline. He said he had serious health problems, did not realize the withdrawn funds…
PLR 200530032: IRA rollover relief declined after proceeds entered a trust
A surviving spouse withdrew the balances of two IRAs inherited from his wife and put the proceeds into a trust established in her name. He asked the IRS to waive the 60 day deadline for rolling the…
PLR 200530030: Special credit union shares do not cost it tax exemption
A tax exempt credit union issued a special class of shares while exploring ways to meet regulatory capital requirements. It asked whether those shares counted as “capital stock,” which would affect…
PLR 200530029: Charity's planned land sales avoid unrelated business tax
A charitable trust planned to sell or lease undeveloped land it had received through gifts and an estate. It had used some of the land for charitable activities, but changing local development and…
PLR 200530028: Religious ministry qualifies as a church
A religious ministry asked whether it qualified as a church under sections 170(b)(1)(A)(i) and 509(a)(1). It held regular worship services, Bible studies, and camps, and had a statement of faith,…
TAM 200530027: Stock linked debentures and reference shares form a straddle
A company held shares of another corporation and issued debentures whose payments depended on the price of those shares. The IRS concluded that the debentures and shares were offsetting positions in…
TAM 200530026: Airline's mileage method avoids additional ticket tax liability
An airline flew between two U.S. cities on routes that included a qualifying portion outside the United States. It used the shortest Great Circle route to divide the mileage between taxable domestic…
CCA 200530025: Merged railroad business ceased to be a separate employer
The Railroad Retirement Board advised the IRS that a redacted business had ceased to be an employer under two railroad benefit laws. IRS Chief Counsel reviewed that opinion and agreed that the…
CCA 200530024: Railroad business becomes a covered employer
The Railroad Retirement Board advised the IRS that a redacted business had become an employer under the Railroad Retirement Act and the Railroad Unemployment Insurance Act. IRS Chief Counsel…
PLR 200530023: Related company sales and foreign restructuring receive tax rulings
After an acquisition, a corporate group sold several subsidiaries and planned to place a foreign target company under a new foreign holding company. It asked the IRS to supplement earlier rulings on…
PLR 200530022: Foreign partnership gets more time for entity classification election
A foreign limited partnership intended to be treated as a corporation for U.S. tax purposes from its formation date. It missed the deadline to file Form 8832 for that classification. The IRS found…
PLR 200530021: Foreign company gets time to file late tax classification election
A foreign company owned through a U.S. corporate group intended to elect U.S. tax treatment as a corporation during a reorganization. It inadvertently missed the Form 8832 filing deadline. The IRS…
PLR 200530020: State trust law limits spouse's power without new transfer tax
A spouse served as a trustee and beneficiary of a trust created by her deceased husband's will. A later state law limited a trustee's power to make distributions to herself to amounts for health,…
PLR 200530019: LLC receives extension for corporate tax election
A limited liability company intended to elect corporate treatment for federal tax purposes from the date it was formed. It missed the deadline to file Form 8832 through inadvertence. The IRS found…
PLR 200530018: Partnership receives extension to elect basis adjustment
An interest in a partnership was transferred from a trust to a decedent's estate. The partnership's tax adviser had failed to tell it that a section 754 election could adjust the basis of…
PLR 200530017: Planned corporate spin off receives section 355 rulings
A parent company planned to distribute shares of a controlled company to its own shareholders after internal mergers, transfers, and a liquidation. The IRS ruled that shareholders would generally…
PLR 200530016: Gifts to public cultural agency may remain deductible with museum preference
A government cultural agency asked whether donations to it qualified for charitable deductions, including gifts whose donors preferred use at a historical museum and cultural center. The IRS found…
PLR 200530015: Partnership gets late basis election with depreciation condition
A partner died, and estate administration and litigation delayed the partnership's request for a section 754 basis adjustment election. The IRS granted 60 days from the ruling date to make the…
PLR 200530014: Splitting marital trust confines tax effects of spouse's renunciation
A surviving spouse planned to divide a marital trust into two trusts and renounce her lifetime income interest in one of them. The IRS ruled that both resulting trusts would retain their qualified…
PLR 200530013: Oil and gas partnership allocation method accepted
Eight partnerships holding oil and gas royalty interests merged into a new partnership. The new agreement allocated income, losses, depletion, and gain among the former partners, including tax…
PLR 200530012: Transfers to grandchildren's trusts preserve GST exemption
A trust created under a will signed before October 22, 1986, was exempt from generation skipping transfer tax. After a court approved dividing the trust, its trustee proposed moving principal from…
PLR 200530011: Foreign entity may file late disregarded entity election
A foreign entity intended to elect treatment as a disregarded entity for U.S. federal tax purposes. It inadvertently failed to file Form 8832 on time for its intended effective date. The IRS found…
PLR 200530010: Foreign entity receives extension for late classification election
A foreign entity intended to elect treatment as a disregarded entity for U.S. federal tax purposes. It inadvertently failed to file Form 8832 by the deadline for the intended effective date. The IRS…
PLR 200530009: Late disregarded entity election granted for foreign entity
A foreign entity intended to elect disregarded entity treatment for U.S. federal tax purposes but inadvertently missed the Form 8832 deadline. It asked the IRS to extend the time to elect that…
PLR 200530008: Stock option pledge to corporate foundation receives favorable rulings
A corporation planned to pledge options on its stock to its private foundation, which could exercise them without cash or transfer them to an unrelated charity. The corporation was a disqualified…
PLR 200530007: Corporation's stock option pledge to foundation receives tax rulings
A corporation asked about pledging options on its own stock to its private foundation. The foundation could exercise the options without cash or transfer them to an unrelated charity. Although the…
PLR 200530006: Court construction and reserve payments preserve GST exemption
A trust created by a decedent who died before September 25, 1985, had long allocated income shares to family beneficiaries. After all income became allocated, some newly born descendants could not…
PLR 200530005: Revised nuclear decommissioning fund schedule approved
A utility owning part of a nuclear power plant asked the IRS to revise its schedule of allowable payments to a nuclear decommissioning fund. One utility commission had increased decommissioning…
PLR 200530004: Timely trust disclaimer avoids gift and GST tax
A woman learned after her father's death that she had a remainder interest in a trust created by her grandfather's will. She proposed disclaiming part of that interest so the property would pass to…
PLR 200530003: Possible appraisal payment leaves earlier spin off rulings intact
A company had received an earlier ruling on a planned distribution of a subsidiary's shares followed by that subsidiary's merger into an acquirer. A preferred shareholder of the acquirer could…
PLR 200530002: Late renunciation creates gift and partly ends GST protection
A trust beneficiary proposed giving up one fifth of his future right to trust principal so that it would pass to his descendants, while he kept his lifetime income right. He had known of his…
PLR 200530001: Corporation gets relief for late S corporation election
A newly formed corporation intended to elect S corporation status from its incorporation date. Its officers said that it failed to file Form 2553 on time. The IRS found reasonable cause for the…
PLR 200529013: IRA rollover deadline waived after account setup error
An IRA owner with a serious illness relied on her husband to move her retirement funds. He asked a financial company to establish a rollover IRA, but the company placed the funds in an account that…
PLR 200529012: Pension funding waiver granted after supermarket bankruptcy
A supermarket company requested relief from its pension plan's minimum funding requirement after financial hardship led it to file for Chapter 11 bankruptcy. The IRS granted a conditional waiver…
PLR 200529011: City pension contributions treated as employer payments
A municipal employer planned to pay pension contributions that employees were otherwise required to make. Its resolution said the employer would pay the contributions in place of employees, and…
PLR 200529010: More time to undo an ineligible Roth IRA conversion
A taxpayer converted a traditional IRA to a Roth IRA after discussing eligibility with her custodian. She and her spouse later learned that their combined income exceeded the limit for a conversion,…
PLR 200529009: Conditional pension funding waiver for a reorganized retailer
A supermarket company requested relief from its pension plan's minimum funding requirement after financial hardship led it to file for Chapter 11 bankruptcy. The IRS granted a conditional waiver…
IRS determination 200529008: Single insured arrangement denied tax exemption
An organization claimed federal income tax exemption as an insurance company under Code section 501(c)(15). The IRS issued a final adverse ruling because its arrangement had only one insured.…
CCA 200529007: ETI exclusion depends on when a defense sale began
A defense contractor sought the extraterritorial income (ETI) exclusion for income from long term military sales under contracts signed before October 1, 2000. The contractor argued that later…
PLR 200529006: Estate gets installment payments with limits on interest relief
An estate asked about keeping S corporation stock in a trust while paying estate tax in installments under Code section 6166. The IRS ruled that a valid section 645 election would let the trust…
PLR 200529005: Subscription sales commissions qualify for circulation deduction
A publisher sold subscriptions to three regularly updated research publications through its sales executives. It asked whether commissions paid for subscription sales were deductible circulation…
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.