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 200511001: Homeowners association gets time to make missed tax elections
A residential real estate management association had not filed income tax returns for several years. Its officers said they were unaware of the filing requirement after a developer transferred…
IRS determination 200510044: Planned debt management business denied charity status
A new credit counseling organization applied for exemption under IRC § 501(c)(3). It planned to spend half its resources running debt management plans and expected most of its support from clients…
PLR 200510043: Seminary retirement plans qualify as church plans after amendments
A seminary maintained two retirement plans for its faculty and employees and asked whether they were church plans under IRC § 414(e). The IRS found that the tax exempt seminary was associated with…
PLR 200510042: Same Treasury rate applies to two pension contribution deduction limits
An employer maintained both defined benefit and defined contribution retirement plans, so its contributions were subject to an individual plan deduction limit and a combined plan limit under IRC §…
IRS determination 200510041: Pension plan gets conditional funding extension
An employee owned company asked for more time to amortize an unfunded liability in its frozen defined benefit pension plan. It reported losses in three of five years, falling revenue, and pension…
PLR 200510040: IRS conditionally waives a pension plan's minimum funding requirement
A company asked the IRS to waive the minimum funding requirement for its defined benefit pension plan for the year ended March 31, 2004. The company reported losses and debt problems, sold property,…
PLR 200510039: Surviving spouse may roll inherited plan assets into her IRA
A deceased participant named his estate as beneficiary of his qualified retirement plan. His surviving spouse was both the estate’s sole residual beneficiary and its personal representative. She…
PLR 200510038: IRS waives a pension plan's minimum funding requirement
A company sought a waiver of the minimum funding requirement for its defined benefit pension plan. It reported falling sales, higher costs, and efforts to cut costs and find new markets. The IRS…
PLR 200510037: IRS waives late IRA rollover deadline during family illness
An IRA owner missed the 60 day deadline to move an IRA distribution into another IRA. During the rollover period, his wife was undergoing leukemia treatment and developed an infection, while his…
PLR 200510036: IRS waives IRA rollover deadline during owner's illness
An IRA owner missed the 60 day deadline to move a distribution into another IRA. During that period, she had leukemia treatment and an infection, while her pregnant daughter suffered toxemia,…
PLR 200510035: Retiree may roll a TEFRA election payout into an IRA
A retirement plan participant made a distribution election in 1983 under a TEFRA transition rule. He planned to retire and take his full plan balance as a lump sum, then move it into an IRA. The IRS…
PLR 200510034: Extra time granted to reverse an ineligible Roth IRA conversion
A taxpayer moved money from a traditional IRA and an existing Roth IRA into a new Roth IRA. The traditional IRA transfer counted as a Roth conversion, but his and his spouse's combined income…
PLR 200510033: Rollover deadline waived after custodian deposited shares in the wrong account
A retiree asked to roll shares from an employer retirement plan into an IRA. He said he signed and returned the stock certificate to the custodian, but the custodian put the shares in his ordinary…
PLR 200510032: Surviving spouse may transfer retirement accounts through estate to her IRA
A deceased plan participant named his estate as beneficiary of two retirement plans and an IRA. His surviving spouse was both the estate's sole beneficiary and its personal representative. She…
200510031: IRS denies exemption to debt management organization
A credit counseling organization applied for tax exemption under § 501(c)(3). The IRS found that it primarily sold debt management plans, charged customers fees, and showed little evidence of public…
PLR 200510030: Trade show services through disregarded LLC avoid unrelated business income
A tax exempt industry association ran trade shows and wanted more control over services used by exhibitors. It proposed to provide those services through a wholly owned, single member LLC that would…
PLR 200510029: Sale of charity's surplus farmland excluded from unrelated business income
A nonprofit that cares for and educates disadvantaged children planned to sell farmland it had used for decades to help feed children in its programs. The land was no longer needed, and the…
TAM 200510028: Unidentified interest rate swaps produced capital losses
A taxpayer entered into interest rate swaps to reduce the risk of rate changes on floating rate debt, but did not identify the original swaps as hedging transactions in its books and records. It…
CCA 200510027: Valid representative remains authorized on form listing an ineligible preparer
A taxpayer's Form 2848 named two representatives: one qualified to practice before the IRS and an unenrolled return preparer who had not prepared the return at issue. Chief Counsel advised that the…
PLR 200510026: Attached trust agreement sufficed for GST exemption allocation
A taxpayer and spouse funded a trust for their sons and later descendants. The taxpayer filed a timely gift tax return but left its GST exemption allocation schedule blank. The attached trust…
PLR 200510025: Late S corporation election accepted for intended effective date
A corporation intended to be treated as an S corporation from its incorporation date but failed to file the election on time. It requested relief under § 1362(b)(5). The IRS found reasonable cause…
PLR 200510024: S corporation status preserved after transfers to ineligible owners
An S corporation issued stock to a trust that had not made the required electing small business trust election. A shareholder later transferred stock to two IRAs, which also could not hold S…
PLR 200510023: S status continues despite missing trust shareholder election
After a shareholder died, shares of an S corporation moved from his grantor trust to two other trusts. The trustee of one receiving trust did not make the election required for that trust to be a…
PLR 200510022: Family business separation receives specified reorganization rulings
Family branches that owned an S corporation proposed separating after disputes had affected business decisions. The corporation would transfer asset groups to three new subsidiaries, distribute each…
PLR 200510021: Expatriate avoids tax avoidance presumption, but purpose remains undecided
A former U.S. citizen who had become a citizen of her husband's birth country sought a ruling that avoiding U.S. taxes was not a principal purpose of her expatriation. Her net worth exceeded the…
PLR 200510020: S election preserved after trust missed QSST election
After a shareholder died, some of an S corporation's stock passed from the estate to a trust created by the shareholder's will. The shareholders intended the trust to qualify as a QSST, but the…
PLR 200510019: Former resident avoids expatriation tax presumption, with purpose undecided
A former U.S. lawful permanent resident gave up that status and returned to her birth country, where she was a citizen and subject to tax on worldwide income. Her net worth exceeded the statutory…
PLR 200510018: Couple's estate gets more time to allocate GST exemption to trust gifts
A married couple made stock gifts to a trust for descendants and filed timely gift tax returns treating each gift as made half by each spouse. Their accountant inadvertently omitted notices…
PLR 200510017: Business divestiture and merger receive specified reorganization rulings
A publicly traded corporate group proposed divesting one business by moving assets into a controlled company, distributing that company's stock to its shareholders, and then merging the company into…
PLR 200510016: City tourism association qualifies for governmental income exclusion
A city formed a nonprofit association to promote tourism and operate city owned facilities, funding most of its work with a city hotel tax. The IRS found that its economic development work was a…
PLR 200510015: Invalid S election relieved after ineligible shareholder transferred stock
A corporation discovered that an ineligible shareholder held some of its stock when it made an S corporation election. That meant the election was ineffective from its intended start date. After tax…
PLR 200510014: Late S election effective from incorporation date
A corporation's shareholders intended S corporation treatment from its incorporation date, but the election was not filed on time. The corporation sought relief under § 1362(b)(5). The IRS found…
PLR 200510013: Foreign entity gets more time to elect partnership classification
A foreign entity with four owners intended to elect partnership classification for U.S. federal tax purposes from the date it began accepting investments. Its Form 8832 was not filed on time because…
PLR 200510012: Holding company merger qualifies as an F reorganization
A corporation proposed merging into a newly formed single member LLC owned by a new holding company. Its equity shares would become holding company stock, while a second class representing trading…
PLR 200510011: Conditional S election relief for treatment of restricted stock
An S corporation issued restricted stock to three employees and treated them as shareholders even though none elected under § 83(b). New tax advisers told the corporation that treatment was wrong,…
PLR 200510010: S corporation gets time to decline bonus depreciation for all five year property
An S corporation wanted to opt out of the 30 percent additional first year depreciation for certain equipment. Its return skipped the deduction on some five year property but claimed it on other…
PLR 200510009: S status preserved during trust's missing QSST election
After an S corporation shareholder died, a family trust was divided and some corporate stock passed to a new trust for the surviving spouse. That trust was intended to be a QSST, but its beneficiary…
PLR 200510008: Power cost adjustment accrues in delivery year despite later calculation
A rural electric cooperative bought wholesale power under a contract that used approximate invoices during the year. Its supplier calculated a final positive or negative cost adjustment about 75…
PLR 200510007: Company gets 45 days to file dual consolidated loss elections
A domestic corporation had foreign entity interests associated with dual consolidated losses and found that required election statements, agreements, and an annual certification had not been filed.…
PLR 200510006: Former citizen escapes expatriation presumption, but purpose is undecided
A person born abroad to a U.S. citizen later renounced U.S. citizenship and lived in the country where he was born. His net worth exceeded the expatriation threshold, and he sought a ruling that…
PLR 200510005: Expatriation presumption removed without ruling on actual purpose
A former U.S. citizen who was born abroad to a U.S. citizen renounced his U.S. citizenship and resided in his birth country. His net worth exceeded the relevant expatriation threshold. He requested…
PLR 200510004: Former resident avoids tax avoidance presumption after surrendering green card
A woman who had been a U.S. lawful permanent resident for eight and a half years surrendered her green card and returned to her birth country. Her net worth exceeded the expatriation threshold, and…
PLR 200510003: Green card holder avoids expatriation presumption, with purpose unresolved
A man relinquished his U.S. green card and returned to the country where he was born and held citizenship. His net worth exceeded the threshold that otherwise triggered a tax avoidance presumption…
PLR 200510002: Office building cleaning arrangements preserve qualifying REIT rents
A real estate investment trust asked whether changing how it provides cleaning services at its office buildings would affect its qualifying rental income. The IRS ruled that its employees could…
PLR 200510001: Former dual citizen establishes that expatriation was not for tax avoidance
A woman who had held U.S. citizenship and citizenship in her birth country since birth relinquished her U.S. citizenship while living abroad. Her net worth exceeded the threshold that could trigger…
PLR 200509034: Surviving spouse may move inherited plan benefits and IRA through trust into her own IRAs
A deceased participant named a family trust as beneficiary of three retirement plans and an IRA. His surviving spouse became the trust's sole trustee and could demand all the assets allocated to one…
PLR 200509033: IRS grants pension plan a minimum funding waiver for 2003
The IRS granted a defined benefit pension plan a waiver of its minimum funding standard for the plan year ending December 31, 2003. The plan sponsor operated a skilled nursing and outpatient…
PLR 200509032: Switching between employer stocks within 90 days preserves net unrealized appreciation treatment
A company retirement plan held stock of the sponsoring company and stock received after a merger involving a former parent company. Participants could direct the plan trustee to sell the merger…
Determination 200509031: Trust denied tax exemption and supporting organization status
The IRS issued a final adverse ruling on a trust's claim for exemption under section 501(c)(3). It found that the trust had not shown it was organized and operated exclusively for exempt purposes,…
Determination 200509030: Trust denied tax exemption and supporting organization status
The IRS issued a final adverse ruling on a trust's claim for exemption under section 501(c)(3). It found that the trust had not shown it was organized and operated exclusively for exempt purposes,…
Determination 200509029: Trust denied tax exemption and supporting organization status
The IRS issued a final adverse ruling on a trust's claim for exemption under section 501(c)(3). It found that the trust had not shown it was organized and operated exclusively for exempt purposes,…
Determination 200509028: Trust denied tax exemption and supporting organization status
The IRS issued a final adverse ruling on a trust's claim for exemption under section 501(c)(3). It found that the trust had not shown it was organized and operated exclusively for exempt purposes,…
Determination 200509027: Organization denied charitable exemption and supporting organization status
The IRS issued a final adverse ruling on an organization's claim for exemption under section 501(c)(3). It found that the organization had not established that it was organized and operated…
PLR 200509026: Wholly owned property subsidiary treated as part of exempt title holding parent
An exempt title holding organization asked how the IRS would treat a subsidiary it formed to hold real property. The parent had owned all of the subsidiary's stock throughout its existence. The IRS…
PLR 200509025: Employee child scholarship procedures approved under foundation grant rules
A private foundation sought advance approval of a scholarship program for children of a company's employees. An independent charity would collect applications, select recipients using academic and…
PLR 200509024: Employee child scholarship procedures approved under foundation grant rules
A private foundation sought advance approval of a scholarship program for children of a company's employees. An independent charity would collect applications, select recipients using academic and…
TAM 200509023: Domestic company denied treaty exclusions and potentially related foreign tax credits
A U.S. corporate group included a subsidiary on its consolidated return while that subsidiary claimed residence in another country under a tax treaty. It sought to exclude gains from transferring…
TAM 200509022: Stock linked debt and shares form straddles, with financing payments treated as carrying costs
A corporation held stock in two companies and issued debt instruments whose payments depended on the value of each company's stock. The IRS advised that each debt instrument was a position paired…
CCA 200509021: IRS agrees that business became a rail carrier employer
The Railroad Retirement Board told the IRS that a business had become a rail carrier employer under the Railroad Retirement Act and the Railroad Unemployment Insurance Act. After reviewing the…
CCA 200509020: IRS agrees with railroad employer status determination
The Railroad Retirement Board informed the IRS that a business had become an employer under the Railroad Retirement Act and the Railroad Unemployment Insurance Act. Chief Counsel reviewed the…
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.