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 200509019: Bankruptcy plan trust qualifies as a liquidating grantor trust
Debtors in a Chapter 11 case proposed a trust to pursue litigation claims, turn its assets into cash, and distribute the proceeds to creditors. The trust would not carry on a business and generally…
PLR 200509018: Corporation receives relief for a late S election
A corporation intended to elect S corporation status effective on a specified date but did not file the election on time. The IRS found reasonable cause for the late filing and granted relief under…
PLR 200509017: Partnership receives 60 days to make an omitted basis adjustment election
A partnership timely filed its return after a partner died but inadvertently omitted a section 754 election to adjust the basis of partnership property. The IRS found that the requirements for…
PLR 200509016: Corporation receives relief for a late S election
A corporation intended to elect S corporation status effective on its incorporation date but did not file the election on time. The IRS found reasonable cause for the late filing and granted relief…
PLR 200509015: Corporation receives relief for a late S election
A corporation intended to elect S corporation status effective on its incorporation date but did not file the election on time. The IRS found reasonable cause for the late filing and granted relief…
PLR 200509014: Investment funds may revoke distribution calculation elections
Ten regulated investment companies had elected to use their November tax year end when measuring capital gains for the section 4982 distribution requirement. They sought consent to revoke those…
PLR 200509013: Closed end fund may redeem tendered shares with appreciated securities without recognizing gain
A closed end regulated investment company proposed future tender offers in which redeeming shareholders could receive portfolio securities instead of cash. The IRS ruled that distributing…
PLR 200509012: Parents receive time to allocate missed GST exemptions to children's trusts
Two spouses funded irrevocable trusts for their children and reported the gifts on their gift tax returns, but their accounting firm omitted allocations of their generation skipping transfer tax…
PLR 200509011: Parents receive time to allocate missed GST exemptions to three trusts
Two spouses funded three irrevocable trusts for their children and reported the gifts on their gift tax returns, but their accounting firm omitted allocations of their generation skipping transfer…
PLR 200509010: Corporation receives relief for a late S election
A corporation intended to elect S corporation status effective on its incorporation date but did not file the election on time. The IRS found reasonable cause for the late filing and granted relief…
PLR 200509009: Foreign entity receives more time to elect partnership classification
A foreign entity with two owners intended to elect partnership treatment for U.S. federal tax purposes when it began accepting investments. Its Form 8832 was inadvertently filed late. The IRS found…
PLR 200509008: Inadvertently invalid S election receives relief despite partnership shareholder
A partnership owned shares in a corporation that sought S corporation status, making the corporation's election invalid. The partnership was dissolved shortly after becoming a shareholder. The IRS…
PLR 200509007: Inadvertently invalid S election receives relief despite partnership shareholder
A partnership owned shares in a corporation that sought S corporation status, making the corporation's election invalid. The partnership was dissolved shortly after becoming a shareholder. The IRS…
PLR 200509006: S corporation continues after ineligible shareholders and entity conversion
Shares of an S corporation were transferred to ineligible shareholders on the same day it converted to a limited partnership. The corporation later moved the shares to eligible owners and…
PLR 200509005: Vehicle service agreements are insurance contracts for federal tax purposes
A company proposed to issue agreements that would cover the cost of specified mechanical breakdowns in motor vehicles beyond warranty coverage. It would owe indemnity for covered losses, while a…
PLR 200509004: Former green card holder avoids expatriation presumption, with actual purpose unresolved
A man relinquished his U.S. green card after returning to his country of birth and citizenship to work in a family business. His net worth exceeded the threshold that could trigger a presumption…
PLR 200509003: Corporation receives 45 days to file a consent dividend election
A corporation and its parent reorganized their accounting functions, delaying financial statements that would have shown the need for a section 565 consent dividend election. The election could…
PLR 200509002: Pro rata division of grandfathered family trust preserves tax treatment
Trustees proposed to divide a family trust created before the generation skipping transfer tax cutoff into three trusts, one for each child's family line. Each asset would be divided proportionally,…
PLR 200509001: Bankruptcy plan amendment leaves earlier section 382 rulings intact
A taxpayer asked whether a later amendment to its bankruptcy plan changed earlier IRS rulings on ownership changes under section 382. The earlier letter had addressed stock exchanges and interests…
Determination 200508031: 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,…
PLR 200508030: Illness and death in family justify waiver of 60 day rollover deadline
A former employee received a distribution from a retirement plan and intended to deposit it in an IRA, but it went into a regular savings account instead. At the time, the employee was caring for a…
PLR 200508029: Spouse receives a waiver for a late inherited IRA rollover
A surviving spouse received a payment from her deceased husband's IRA but believed it was life insurance because the beneficiary claim statement did not identify it as an IRA distribution. She…
PLR 200508028: Special pension contributions preserve plan status and deductibility
A multiemployer pension plan proposed to accept special employer contributions and track them in separate, notional accounts. The accounts would affect employers' potential withdrawal liability, but…
PLR 200508027: IRS denies a late retirement distribution rollover
A surviving spouse received lump sum payments from two retirement funds and chose mandatory 20 percent tax withholding instead of a direct rollover. She later learned that more federal income tax…
PLR 200508026: IRS grants a conditional pension funding waiver
The IRS granted a defined benefit pension plan a conditional waiver of its minimum funding standard for the plan year ended June 30, 2004, under IRC § 412(d). The company cited financial pressure…
PLR 200508025: IRS waives an IRA rollover deadline for an impaired taxpayer
An 80-year-old IRA owner with mental impairment moved money from his IRA to a checking account while trying to consolidate bank accounts. He did not understand the tax consequences or the 60-day…
PLR 200508024: IRS waives IRA rollover deadline after spouse's deception
An IRA owner allowed her husband to use money from her simplified employee pension IRA for a short loan to his son. Her husband took the distribution and later falsely told her the loan had been…
PLR 200508023: IRS grants nonprofit pension plan a funding waiver
The IRS granted a defined benefit pension plan a waiver of its minimum funding standard for the plan year ended December 31, 2003, under IRC § 412(d). The employer was a nonprofit serving families…
IRS determination 200508022: Trust denied tax exempt status
The IRS issued a final adverse ruling on a trust's claim to federal income tax exemption under IRC § 501(c)(3). The trust had not executed amended documents, so the IRS found that it failed the…
IRS determination 200508021: Trust denied exemption and supporting organization status
The IRS issued a final adverse ruling on a trust's claim to federal income tax exemption under IRC § 501(c)(3). It found that some net earnings benefited private individuals and that more than an…
IRS determination 200508020: Trust denied tax exempt status
The IRS issued a final adverse ruling on a trust's claim to federal income tax exemption under IRC § 501(c)(3). The trust had not executed amended documents, so the IRS found that it failed the…
IRS determination 200508019: Trust denied tax exempt status
The IRS issued a final adverse ruling on a trust's claim to federal income tax exemption under IRC § 501(c)(3). The trust had not executed amended documents, so the IRS found that it failed the…
PLR 200508018: Loan and investment income counts as public support
A tax exempt organization made loans and equity investments to support economic development in a country identified only as R. While winding down its operations, it asked whether dividend and…
IRS determination 200508017: Shopping portal denied charitable exemption
An organization operated a shopping website that earned commissions when visitors bought goods from online retailers. It promised to pass the commissions to nonprofits chosen by shoppers and sought…
IRS determination 200508016: Craft makers' group denied business league exemption
An association of makers of a handcrafted product sought exemption as a business league under IRC § 501(c)(6). It maintained websites and a brochure featuring members' names, addresses, and…
TAM 200508015: Live entertainment venues are not amusement parks for depreciation
A taxpayer operated outdoor venues for concerts and other live entertainment and sought to classify their assets as theme and amusement park property for depreciation. The IRS concluded that the…
TAM 200508014: Transmix processor must register as a fuel refiner
A company bought transmix, a mixture formed during pipeline transport, and used a distillation unit to separate it into gasoline and diesel fuel. The fuels were stored in tanks and removed at a…
PLR 200508013: Late S corporation election accepted for incorporation date
A corporation intended to elect S corporation treatment from its incorporation date but did not file the election on time. The IRS found reasonable cause for the late filing and granted relief under…
PLR 200508012: Relief for S corporation after missed trust election
A trust bought shares in an S corporation, but its sole income beneficiary did not file the planned qualified subchapter S trust election on time. The IRS concluded that the corporation's S election…
PLR 200508011: Corporation may revoke alternative research credit election
A corporation had elected to calculate its research credit under the alternative incremental research credit rules of IRC § 41(c)(4). It asked for consent to revoke that election before its return…
PLR 200508010: Former resident avoids expatriation tax presumption, but receives no ruling on tax-avoidance purpose
A former U.S. permanent resident relinquished his green card after retiring abroad. His net worth exceeded a threshold that would ordinarily create a presumption that he left to avoid U.S. taxes…
PLR 200508009: Partnership interest transfer does not restart housing credit holding period
A partnership owned an apartment project that a buyer intended to rehabilitate and claim low-income housing credits for. A transfer of more than half of the partnership interests might have caused…
PLR 200508008: Taxpayer gets 45 more days to file dual consolidated loss certifications
A taxpayer discovered that it had not filed annual certifications required for dual consolidated losses in earlier tax years. It asked for more time under the regulatory election relief rules. The…
PLR 200508007: Active commercial rental income is not passive investment income for S corporation rule
A company that owned and managed commercial properties planned to elect S corporation status. Because it had accumulated earnings and profits, it asked whether its rents counted as passive…
PLR 200508006: Former citizen escapes expatriation presumption, with actual purpose unresolved
A former U.S. citizen living abroad renounced his citizenship. His net worth exceeded a threshold that would ordinarily trigger a presumption of tax avoidance under the expatriation rules in IRC §…
PLR 200508005: Municipal deferred compensation plan qualifies under section 457(b)
A municipality amended and restated its employee deferred compensation plan and asked whether it remained an eligible plan under IRC § 457(b). The plan set deferral limits, provided catch-up…
PLR 200508004: Foreign employee benefit fund is classified as a trust
An entity organized in another country provided disability, old-age, and death benefits to covered employees and their surviving relatives. It was funded by employee and employer contributions and…
PLR 200508003: Former resident rebuts expatriation tax presumption, but purpose remains open
A former U.S. permanent resident returned to the country of his birth and citizenship, where he would be taxed on worldwide income. His net worth exceeded a threshold that would ordinarily raise a…
PLR 200508002: Variable insurance accounts may look through two tiers of investment funds
Seven affiliated insurers offered variable life insurance or annuity contracts through separate investment accounts. Some accounts invested directly in regulated investment companies, while others…
PLR 200508001: Fractional division of marital trust preserves GST exemption allocation
An estate had elected qualified terminable interest property treatment for a marital trust and allocated some of the deceased spouse's generation-skipping transfer (GST) tax exemption to it. The…
PLR 200507023: Incorrect bank advice leads to extra time for retirement plan rollover
A former spouse received a retirement plan distribution under a qualified domestic relations order. A bank representative told her she had 90 days to roll it over, but the applicable deadline was 60…
PLR 200507022: IRA owner gets extra rollover time after funds entered an ordinary bank certificate
An IRA owner withdrew money and used it, along with other funds, to buy a bank certificate of deposit. He said he intended an IRA rollover and believed the bank had placed the money in an IRA. He…
PLR 200507021: Outside payment of IRA wrap fees does not count as a contribution
A broker and investment adviser offered five account programs for traditional and Roth IRA clients. Each charged a recurring fee based on account assets rather than a separate commission for each…
PLR 200507020: Bank's full IRA payout leads to a limited rollover deadline waiver
An IRA owner requested a normal distribution for the year, but her bank paid out the entire IRA. She deposited the proceeds remaining after that year's required minimum distribution into an ordinary…
PLR 200507019: Stroke leads to waiver for a late partial retirement plan rollover
A retiree received a lump sum from an employer retirement plan and deposited it in a checking account. He later moved part of the money to an investment account and then to a rollover IRA, well…
PLR 200507018: IRA custodian's account transfer gets a rollover deadline waiver
An IRA owner moved money from a matured certificate of deposit in an IRA to a money market account at the same custodian. The new account was not an IRA, but the owner said the move was not…
PLR 200507017: Beneficiary gets more time to roll over inherited IRA annuity proceeds
A woman inherited an IRA annuity after her husband's death. On her son's advice, she claimed its death benefit, but neither he nor a company representative told her it was an IRA annuity that could…
PLR 200507016: ESOP may use 612 days to replace spun-off shares
A company planned to spin off a subsidiary, leaving its employee stock ownership plan (ESOP) with shares of a company that would no longer be its employer. The IRS agreed that the spun-off shares…
PLR 200507015: IRA owner gets more time to roll over withdrawn funds
An IRA owner withdrew funds while believing he was taking money from an ordinary account. He said the account name on his statements and check did not identify the IRA, and he later learned of the…
200507014: Flying club denied social club tax exemption
A flying club sought exemption as a social club under section 501(c)(7). Its members shared the cost and use of one aircraft, and the club reported occasional social gatherings and community…
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.