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 200519072: Railroad employer status began and ended on redacted dates
The Railroad Retirement Board told the IRS that a redacted business became an employer under the Railroad Retirement Act and the Railroad Unemployment Insurance Act, then later ceased being one.…
CCA 200519071: One railroad employer begins status while two cease it
The Railroad Retirement Board told the IRS that one redacted business became an employer under the Railroad Retirement Act and the Railroad Unemployment Insurance Act, while two others ceased being…
CCA 200519070: Business ceased being a Railroad Retirement Tax Act employer
The Railroad Retirement Board told the IRS that a redacted business had ceased being an employer under the Railroad Retirement Act and the Railroad Unemployment Insurance Act. Chief Counsel reviewed…
CCA 200519069: Business became a Railroad Retirement Tax Act employer
The Railroad Retirement Board told the IRS that a redacted business became an employer under the Railroad Retirement Act and the Railroad Unemployment Insurance Act. Chief Counsel reviewed the…
CCA 200519068: Business ceased being a Railroad Retirement Tax Act employer
The Railroad Retirement Board told the IRS that a redacted business had ceased being an employer under the Railroad Retirement Act and the Railroad Unemployment Insurance Act. Chief Counsel reviewed…
CCA 200519067: Business ceased being a Railroad Retirement Tax Act employer
The Railroad Retirement Board told the IRS that a redacted business had ceased being an employer under the Railroad Retirement Act and the Railroad Unemployment Insurance Act. Chief Counsel reviewed…
CCA 200519066: Business became a Railroad Retirement Tax Act employer
The Railroad Retirement Board told the IRS that a redacted business became an employer under the Railroad Retirement Act and the Railroad Unemployment Insurance Act. Chief Counsel reviewed the…
CCA 200519065: Business ceased being a Railroad Retirement Tax Act employer
The Railroad Retirement Board told the IRS that a redacted business had ceased being an employer under the Railroad Retirement Act and the Railroad Unemployment Insurance Act. Chief Counsel reviewed…
CCA 200519064: Chief Counsel concurs on railroad employer status
The Railroad Retirement Board told the IRS that a redacted business became an employer under the Railroad Retirement Act and the Railroad Unemployment Insurance Act. Chief Counsel reviewed the…
CCA 200519063: Business is not a covered railroad tax employer
The Railroad Retirement Board told the IRS that a redacted business was not a covered employer under the Railroad Retirement Act and the Railroad Unemployment Insurance Act. Chief Counsel reviewed…
CCA 200519062: Railroad tax coverage ends for merged company
The Railroad Retirement Board told the IRS that railroad retirement coverage ended for a redacted company on a redacted date. Chief Counsel agreed that coverage under the Railroad Retirement Tax Act…
CCA 200519061: Railroad tax coverage ends for merged company
The Railroad Retirement Board told the IRS that railroad retirement coverage ended for a redacted company on a redacted date. Chief Counsel agreed that coverage under the Railroad Retirement Tax Act…
CCA 200519060: Business is not a covered railroad tax employer
The Railroad Retirement Board told the IRS that a redacted business was not a covered employer under the Railroad Retirement Act and the Railroad Unemployment Insurance Act. Chief Counsel reviewed…
CCA 200519059: Railroad tax coverage ends for merged company
The Railroad Retirement Board told the IRS that railroad retirement coverage ended for a redacted company on a redacted date. Chief Counsel agreed that coverage under the Railroad Retirement Tax Act…
CCA 200519058: Counsel cannot confirm revised railroad employer date
After reexamining a redacted business, the Railroad Retirement Board said it became an employer under the Railroad Retirement Act and the Railroad Unemployment Insurance Act on an earlier date than…
CCA 200519057: Business became a Railroad Retirement Tax Act employer
The Railroad Retirement Board told the IRS that a redacted business became an employer under the Railroad Retirement Act and the Railroad Unemployment Insurance Act. Chief Counsel reviewed the…
CCA 200519056: Railroad employer status may leave owner liable for employment tax
The Railroad Retirement Board told the IRS that a redacted business became an employer under the Railroad Retirement Act and the Railroad Unemployment Insurance Act. Chief Counsel agreed that the…
CCA 200519055: Business became a Railroad Retirement Tax Act employer
The Railroad Retirement Board told the IRS that a redacted business became an employer under the Railroad Retirement Act and the Railroad Unemployment Insurance Act. Chief Counsel reviewed the…
CCA 200519054: Business became a Railroad Retirement Tax Act employer
The Railroad Retirement Board told the IRS that a redacted business became an employer under the Railroad Retirement Act and the Railroad Unemployment Insurance Act. Chief Counsel reviewed the…
CCA 200519053: Chief Counsel concurs on railroad employer status
The Railroad Retirement Board told the IRS that a redacted business became an employer under the Railroad Retirement Act and the Railroad Unemployment Insurance Act. Chief Counsel reviewed the…
CCA 200519052: Railroad employer status depends on separate entity treatment
The Railroad Retirement Board told the IRS that a redacted business became an employer under the Railroad Retirement Act and the Railroad Unemployment Insurance Act on a redacted date. Chief Counsel…
CCA 200519051: Business is not a Railroad Retirement Tax Act employer
The Railroad Retirement Board told the IRS that a redacted business was not an employer under the Railroad Retirement Act or the Railroad Unemployment Insurance Act. Chief Counsel reviewed the…
CCA 200519050: Business is not a Railroad Retirement Tax Act employer
The Railroad Retirement Board told the IRS that a redacted business was not an employer under the Railroad Retirement Act or the Railroad Unemployment Insurance Act. Chief Counsel reviewed the…
CCA 200519049: Parent company may owe railroad employment tax for LLC
The Railroad Retirement Board told the IRS that a redacted limited liability company became an employer under the Railroad Retirement Act and the Railroad Unemployment Insurance Act. Chief Counsel…
CCA 200519048: Lump sum for sold conservation payments is current ordinary income
A landowner sold 90 percent of future Conservation Reserve Program payments to a buyer for a lump sum. The landowner amended his return to remove the lump sum from the year he received it, arguing…
PLR 200519047: Employees own after tax deferred compensation trust accounts
A company established a trust for highly compensated employees who could place after tax salary or bonus amounts in individual accounts. Participants owned their contributions and earnings, could…
PLR 200519046: Extra time granted for dual consolidated loss merger documents
A U.S. parent had used dual consolidated losses from a foreign subsidiary to offset income. The subsidiary later merged into another foreign entity, which ordinarily triggered a requirement to…
PLR 200519045: Extra time granted for dual consolidated loss elections
A U.S. parent used dual consolidated losses from a foreign subsidiary to offset its income across several tax years. Its tax advisers failed to file the required election agreements and annual…
PLR 200519044: Late trust election does not invalidate S corporation status
A corporation elected S status while a shareholder trust had not timely elected to be an electing small business trust. That omission made the corporation's S election invalid. The IRS accepted the…
PLR 200519043: Spouses get 60 days to allocate GST exemptions to trust gifts
Two spouses gave property to trusts for their children and consented to split the gifts on their gift tax returns. Their attorney failed to allocate, or advise them to allocate, their generation…
PLR 200519042: Heir's disclaimer sends estate property to charity with deduction
A daughter disclaimed part of her parent's residuary estate so the will would send that property to a charitable foundation. She was the foundation's president and a director, raising a question…
PLR 200519041: New parent gets 90 days to elect consolidated tax filing
A corporation bought more than 80 percent of another company's stock, creating a new affiliated group. The new parent and its subsidiaries missed the deadline to elect a consolidated federal income…
PLR 200519040: Corporation gets 60 days to make a late S election
A corporation's sole shareholder intended it to be an S corporation from its incorporation date, but the corporation did not file Form 2553 on time. The corporation and shareholder represented that…
PLR 200519039: Late S election requires amended tax returns
A corporation's sole shareholder intended S corporation treatment from the incorporation date, but there was no record of a timely Form 2553. The IRS found reasonable cause for the missed election…
PLR 200519038: Parent gets 45 days to file a late subsidiary stock loss election
A corporate group sold a subsidiary's stock and reported a worthless stock deduction, but its parent did not file the election statement required by a regulation governing the loss. The IRS found…
PLR 200519037: Taxpayers get 45 days for dual consolidated loss filings
Two related taxpayer groups missed required elections and agreements for dual consolidated losses of a branch, and one also missed an annual certification. A later return preparer discovered the…
PLR 200519036: Taxpayer receives more time to elect treatment for a Canadian retirement plan
A Canadian citizen who was a U.S. resident moved savings from a Canadian registered retirement savings plan to a registered retirement income fund. The taxpayer omitted an election statement…
PLR 200519035: Executive pay deduction cap does not apply without required compensation disclosure
A foreign company and its affiliates asked whether the then-applicable $1 million executive compensation deduction limit would affect them or a target company after a merger. The foreign company…
PLR 200519034: Executive pay deduction cap does not apply without required compensation disclosure
A foreign company and its affiliates asked whether the then-applicable $1 million executive compensation deduction limit would affect them or a target company after a merger. The foreign company…
PLR 200519033: Executive pay deduction cap does not apply without required compensation disclosure
A foreign company and its affiliates asked whether the then-applicable $1 million executive compensation deduction limit would affect them or a target company after a merger. The foreign company…
PLR 200519032: Estate gets more time to allocate GST exemption to a trust gift
A taxpayer transferred company stock to an irrevocable trust for a son. An accounting firm reported the gift on a timely filed gift tax return but inadvertently omitted an allocation of the…
PLR 200519031: Housing project receives more time to make two credit elections
A low-income housing project intended to elect the 40/60 minimum set-aside for its tax credit, but its tax preparer did not properly make that election. The taxpayer also failed to identify the…
PLR 200519030: Missing election statements defeat gain deferral on sale to an ESOP
A shareholder sold company stock to an employee stock ownership plan and bought what he said was qualified replacement property. He intended to defer the sale gain under IRC § 1042, and his timely…
PLR 200519029: Foreign subsidiary gets more time to elect disregarded entity status
A domestic corporation wholly owned a foreign eligible entity and was moving manufacturing operations to it. The foreign entity missed the deadline to file Form 8832 to elect treatment as a…
PLR 200519028: Federal guarantee alone does not turn housing loans into federal subsidies
A developer planned to finance a low-income housing project with two loans carrying interest below the applicable federal rate. The lender would use funds from a Federal Home Loan Bank Affordable…
PLR 200519027: LLC gets more time to elect corporate tax treatment
An LLC intended to elect treatment as a corporation for federal tax purposes from the date it was formed, but it did not file Form 8832. The IRS concluded that it met the requirements for relief…
PLR 200519026: Shareholder-approved plan amendment restarts stock option grant period
A company had adopted an incentive stock option plan nearly ten years before its board approved an increase in the plan's maximum number of shares, subject to shareholder approval. Shareholders…
PLR 200519025: IRS finds life insurance premium errors reasonable and proposed fixes adequate
A life insurer found that excess premiums had caused a group of universal life policies to fail the federal rules for life insurance contracts or tax-free death benefits. Some failures followed a…
PLR 200519024: Companies get more time to file dual consolidated loss agreements
After acquiring a company, a taxpayer discovered that agreements and annual certifications concerning an owned entity had not been filed for several tax years under the dual consolidated loss…
PLR 200519023: Foreign entity receives more time to elect initial disregarded status
Two foreign entities formed on the same date intended to file entity classification elections effective on that date. Only the owner entity filed Form 8832; its wholly owned subsidiary inadvertently…
PLR 200519022: Governmental deferred compensation plan qualifies under Section 457
A governmental authority asked whether its deferred compensation plan met the rules for an eligible Section 457 plan. The plan limited deferrals and distributions, held assets in a trust for…
PLR 200519021: Governmental deferred compensation plan qualifies under Section 457
A governmental employer asked whether its deferred compensation plan met the rules for an eligible Section 457 plan. The plan limited deferrals and distributions, held assets in a trust for…
PLR 200519020: Governmental deferred compensation plan qualifies under Section 457
A city asked whether its deferred compensation plan met the rules for an eligible Section 457 plan. The plan limited deferrals and distributions, held assets in a trust for participants and…
PLR 200519019: Three-way corporate split receives reorganization rulings
A six-shareholder S corporation proposed dividing its business among three new corporations. Each pair of shareholders would exchange its stock in the original company for all the stock of one…
PLR 200519018: Foreign entity receives more time to elect disregarded status
A foreign entity intended to elect treatment as disregarded from its owner for U.S. tax purposes but inadvertently failed to file Form 8832 on time. The IRS concluded that it met the requirements…
PLR 200519017: Foreign entity receives more time to elect disregarded status
A foreign entity intended to elect treatment as disregarded from its owner for U.S. tax purposes but inadvertently failed to file Form 8832 on time. The IRS concluded that it met the requirements…
PLR 200519016: Foreign entity receives more time to elect disregarded status
A foreign entity intended to elect treatment as disregarded from its owner for U.S. tax purposes but inadvertently failed to file Form 8832 on time. The IRS concluded that it met the requirements…
PLR 200519015: Foreign entity receives more time to elect disregarded status
A foreign entity intended to elect treatment as disregarded from its owner for U.S. tax purposes but inadvertently failed to file Form 8832 on time. The IRS concluded that it met the requirements…
PLR 200519014: Foreign entity receives more time to elect disregarded status
A foreign entity intended to elect treatment as disregarded from its owner for U.S. tax purposes but inadvertently failed to file Form 8832 on time. The IRS concluded that it met the requirements…
PLR 200519013: Wife receives more time to allocate GST exemption to trust gifts
A married couple made gifts to a family trust over three years and elected to treat each gift as made half by each spouse. Their gift tax returns did not effectively allocate generation-skipping…
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.