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 200519012: Estate receives more time to allocate decedent's GST exemption
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…
PLR 200519011: Divorce division of stock options leaves tax consequences with recipient spouse
Two former spouses divided employee stock options under a court-approved settlement. Some incentive stock options had to remain in the employee spouse's name, but the other spouse would beneficially…
PLR 200519010: IRS finds no principal tax avoidance purpose in expatriation
A U.S. citizen moved to another country to live with his wife, later became a citizen there, and relinquished U.S. citizenship. His net worth exceeded the threshold that could trigger a presumption…
PLR 200519009: Spouse receives relief for late GST allocations, not late gift returns
A spouse made gifts to a trust for children and grandchildren and allocated generation-skipping transfer (GST) tax exemption on gift returns for the first three years. On later gifts, an attorney…
PLR 200519008: Estate receives GST allocation and reverse QTIP election relief
A decedent had made gifts to a family trust but did not file gift returns or allocate generation-skipping transfer (GST) tax exemption for two later years because an attorney misunderstood the GST…
PLR 200519007: Domestic REITs may use economic-activity test for functional currency
A U.S. company planned to form 23 domestic real estate investment trusts to own property abroad. Each trust expected to conduct its business and keep its books in the currency of its investment…
PLR 200519006: Couple receives late GST allocation relief for family trusts
A married couple split gifts to a residence trust and another family trust but their advisers did not allocate generation-skipping transfer (GST) tax exemption on their gift returns. The IRS treated…
PLR 200519005: Short-term product receivables avoid U.S. property and withholding rules
A U.S. group manufactured products in two stages, using a foreign subsidiary's disregarded entity for the second stage and a U.S. subsidiary to hold and sell finished inventory. Because production…
PLR 200519004: Estate gets more time to divide marital trust and make reverse QTIP election
An estate elected marital deduction treatment for a QTIP trust but, through its attorney's oversight, did not divide the trust or make the planned reverse QTIP election. Without that election, the…
PLR 200519003: Company may stop using alternative research credit method
A corporation had elected the alternative incremental method for calculating the research credit on behalf of itself and its controlled group. It asked the IRS to let it revoke that election for a…
PLR 200519002: City's tax incentives require reporting only for food and beverage payments
A city paid businesses development incentives based on property, sales, and food and beverage taxes. It asked whether it had to issue information returns for those payments. The IRS said the city…
PLR 200519001: Corporation receives relief for missing S corporation election
A corporation's sole shareholder intended S corporation treatment from the date of incorporation, and the company filed an S corporation tax return for its first year. The IRS service center had no…
PLR 200518087: IRS denies late IRA rollover after check remained in drawer
A taxpayer withdrew money from an IRA while considering a move to a different home because of medical concerns. The taxpayer left the distribution check uncashed in a desk drawer and later decided…
200518086: IRS grants a conditional minimum funding waiver after a company fire
A wholesale floral company sought relief from its pension plan's minimum funding requirement for the plan year ending June 30, 2004. The IRS granted a waiver under IRC § 412(d) and ERISA § 303 after…
PLR 200518085: IRS denies late rollover of unused IRA withdrawal
A taxpayer took a partial IRA distribution to help buy a home and prepare office space for a spouse. After spending only part of the distribution, the taxpayer sought to roll the unused amount back…
PLR 200518084: IRS grants rollover waiver after bank opened the wrong account
A taxpayer withdrew money from an IRA intending to deposit it into another IRA at a bank. The taxpayer said bank personnel supplied the forms used to open the new account, but the money went into a…
PLR 200518083: IRS grants rollover waiver after check went to wrong address
A taxpayer withdrew money from one IRA and opened another IRA for a rollover. The taxpayer wrote a check payable to the new IRA custodian within the 60-day period but mailed it to the custodian's…
PLR 200518082: IRS confirms church plan status after health ministry restructuring
A tax-exempt health care ministry asked whether its retirement plans and 16 welfare plans retained church plan status after changes to their sponsors, participating employers, and plan…
PLR 200518081: Cemetery may own insurance subsidiary without losing exemption
A tax-exempt cemetery planned to form and wholly own a for-profit company that would sell final expense insurance. The company would have its own board, financial systems, and day-to-day employee,…
PLR 200518080: Foundation's scholarship and related grant procedures approved
A private foundation asked the IRS to approve procedures for grants to graduating high school seniors from low-income families who had overcome hardships. Its program included college scholarships,…
CCA 200518079: Faxed consent can extend the tax assessment period
IRS Appeals questioned whether faxed signatures on Forms 872 validly extended the assessment periods for a taxpayer's 1999 and 2000 tax years. Chief Counsel advised that a faxed signature can…
CCA 200518078: Former shortline operator ceased to be a railroad carrier employer
The Railroad Retirement Board advised the IRS that a business had stopped operating a shortline railroad. Chief Counsel agreed that, as of a redacted date, the business ceased to be an employer as a…
CCA 200518077: Railroad employer status applies only to specified service
The Railroad Retirement Board told the IRS that a business became an employer under two railroad statutes only for employee service performed in a particular activity. Chief Counsel agreed that the…
CCA 200518076: Business was not a railroad tax employer
The Railroad Retirement Board concluded that a business was not an employer under the Railroad Retirement Act or the Railroad Unemployment Insurance Act, and that its employees' service was not…
CCA 200518075: Businesses ceased to be railroad tax employers
The Railroad Retirement Board advised the IRS that several businesses had ceased to be employers under the Railroad Retirement Act and Railroad Unemployment Insurance Act. Chief Counsel agreed that…
CCA 200518074: Business ceased to be a railroad tax employer
The Railroad Retirement Board advised the IRS that a business had ceased to be an employer under the Railroad Retirement Act and Railroad Unemployment Insurance Act. After reviewing that opinion,…
CCA 200518073: Business became a railroad tax employer
The Railroad Retirement Board advised the IRS that a business became an employer under the Railroad Retirement Act and Railroad Unemployment Insurance Act. Chief Counsel agreed that the business…
CCA 200518072: New railroad business became a tax employer
The Railroad Retirement Board advised the IRS that a business became an employer under the Railroad Retirement Act and Railroad Unemployment Insurance Act. Chief Counsel concluded that it also…
CCA 200518071: Guam tax transfers on military couples' joint returns depend on income and residence
Chief Counsel analyzed how the United States should transfer income tax collections to Guam when a military member and a working civilian spouse file a joint return. Under IRC § 7654(d), tax…
PLR 200518070: Late S corporation election granted relief for reasonable cause
A corporation's shareholders wanted S corporation treatment from a specified effective date, but the election was not filed on time. The IRS found reasonable cause for the late filing and granted…
PLR 200518069: Coal synthetic fuel facility retained tax credit eligibility after ownership changes
A partnership that operated a coal synthetic fuel facility sought confirmation that ownership changes and a change in chemical reagent did not affect earlier favorable rulings. The IRS concluded…
PLR 200518068: Corporation received relief for late S election
A corporation intended to elect S corporation treatment from the date it was incorporated but did not file the election on time. The IRS found reasonable cause for the late filing and granted relief…
PLR 200518067: Foreign company received more time to elect disregarded entity status
A foreign private limited company with one shareholder intended to be treated as a disregarded entity for U.S. tax purposes, but its shareholder failed to file Form 8832 on time. The IRS found that…
PLR 200518066: Sale to private buyer qualified as made under threat of condemnation
A company owned property within an area that a city had approved for public development. Before the city began condemnation proceedings, a private buyer offered to purchase the property. The IRS…
PLR 200518065: Late S corporation election allowed from incorporation date
A corporation's shareholder intended S corporation treatment from its incorporation date, but the election was filed late. The IRS found reasonable cause and granted relief under IRC § 1362(b)(5).…
PLR 200518064: REIT received extra time to elect taxable subsidiary status
A real estate investment trust formed a corporation to provide property management services and intended it to be a taxable REIT subsidiary. An officer misunderstood when the joint election on Form…
PLR 200518063: REIT received extension for taxable subsidiary election
A REIT indirectly acquired stock in a corporation and failed to file a timely election to treat it as a taxable REIT subsidiary. The REIT mistakenly thought the corporation qualified automatically,…
PLR 200518062: Corrected stock exchange terms received supplemental rulings
A company asked the IRS to update an earlier ruling after the final amounts in an exchange offer for units became known. The IRS withdrew three rulings from its prior letter and substituted rulings…
PLR 200518061: Policy transfer between one person's grantor trusts was disregarded
A taxpayer proposed moving a life insurance policy on the taxpayer's life from one grantor trust to another for valuable consideration. The taxpayer was treated as the owner of both trusts' assets…
PLR 200518060: Utility's wind power sales to customers met unrelated buyer rule
A public utility planned to connect a new wind facility to an independent power grid, where its electricity would mix with other power before reaching the utility's customers. The IRS ruled that…
PLR 200518059: Late S election could take effect from incorporation
A corporation's sole shareholder intended S corporation treatment from the date of incorporation, but the corporation filed Form 2553 late. The IRS found reasonable cause and granted relief under…
PLR 200518058: S corporation status preserved after shares went to ineligible trusts
Shareholders transferred S corporation stock to several trusts that were not eligible S corporation shareholders. The IRS concluded that the first transfers terminated the S election and that later…
PLR 200518057: Partnership received time to elect September tax year
A taxpayer intended to elect a taxable year ending September 30 but did not file Form 8716 by its original deadline. The IRS found that the taxpayer had acted reasonably and in good faith after…
PLR 200518056: Coal synthetic fuel partnership retained credit rulings after changes
A partnership producing solid synthetic fuel from coal asked the IRS to confirm earlier IRC § 29 credit rulings after membership, operating agreement, and chemical reagent changes. The IRS concluded…
PLR 200518055: Another partner received coal synthetic fuel credit confirmation
A partner in a coal synthetic fuel partnership asked the IRS to confirm earlier IRC § 29 credit rulings after membership, operating agreement, and chemical reagent changes. The IRS concluded that…
PLR 200518054: Another partner received coal synthetic fuel credit confirmation
A partner in a coal synthetic fuel partnership asked the IRS to confirm earlier IRC § 29 credit rulings after membership, operating agreement, and chemical reagent changes. The IRS concluded that…
PLR 200518053: Coal synthetic fuel partnership retained credit rulings after changes
A partnership producing solid synthetic fuel from coal asked the IRS to confirm earlier IRC § 29 credit rulings after membership, operating agreement, and chemical reagent changes. The IRS concluded…
PLR 200518052: Invalid S election received inadvertence relief after corporate owner sold shares
A corporation's S election was invalid from its intended start date because another corporation held some of its shares. After learning of the problem, that corporate shareholder transferred its…
PLR 200518051: Single owner LLC received time to elect corporate tax status
An individual formed a wholly owned domestic limited liability company that intended to be taxed as a corporation from its formation date. The company did not file Form 8832 on time, which would…
PLR 200518050: Group received time to file election affecting loss limitation value
A parent company and controlled foreign subsidiaries missed the deadline for an election to restore value among controlled group members when calculating an IRC § 382 loss limitation. The parent…
PLR 200518049: Limited online unit matching did not create an established securities market
An LLC taxed as a partnership planned an online system for matching buyers and sellers of membership units. An unrelated registered broker-dealer would operate it, with quarterly matching and board…
PLR 200518048: Group received time to waive loss carryback period
The parent of a consolidated group intended to waive the carryback period for a consolidated net operating loss but did not file a valid election statement with its timely return. The IRS found that…
PLR 200518047: Active real estate businesses qualified for estate tax installments, idle land did not
An estate asked which of a decedent's golf course, commercial property, management, and development interests counted as closely held businesses for installment payment of estate tax under IRC §…
PLR 200518046: Corporation received relief for late S election
A corporation intended to elect S corporation treatment from the date it was incorporated but did not file the election on time. The IRS found reasonable cause for the late filing and granted relief…
PLR 200518045: New owners allowed early S corporation reelection
A corporation had revoked its S election and was sold to an entirely new group of shareholders. The new owners wanted to elect S status before the usual five-year waiting period expired. The IRS…
PLR 200518044: Foreign company retained qualified resident status after parent acquisition
A foreign corporation held interests in U.S. real estate partnerships and sought qualified resident status for branch profits tax purposes after its parent was acquired by a company in another…
PLR 200518043: Foreign company received extension to elect corporate tax status
A domestic LLC formed and wholly owned a foreign unlimited liability company. The foreign company intended to be classified as a corporation for U.S. federal tax purposes from its formation date but…
PLR 200518042: Partnership's late tax year change form treated as timely
A partnership sought to change its tax year after one partner acquired a majority interest, making that partner's tax year relevant to the partnership's required year. It missed the deadline to file…
PLR 200518041: Active equipment leasing rents excluded from S corporation passive investment income
A company planning to elect S corporation status earned rent from leasing information technology equipment through subsidiaries. Its employees selected, structured, serviced, and sometimes reworked…
PLR 200518040: Customer cash deposits into seller's bank account did not trigger Form 8300
A wholesale telecommunications company asked whether its customers' payments triggered cash transaction reporting under IRC § 6050I. Most customers put cash directly into the company's bank accounts…
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.