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 200452003: Spouses may make late GST exemption allocations to family trust
A taxpayer transferred life insurance policies and later premium amounts to a trust benefiting his spouse and descendants. He and his spouse said their first attorney had not advised them to file…
PLR 200452002: Foreign subsidiary combinations qualify for reorganization treatment
A corporate group proposed combining four foreign subsidiaries and separating two businesses into new companies in the same country. The IRS treated the steps for U.S. tax purposes as transfers of…
PLR 200452001: Parent receives 30 days to file subsidiary's LIFO election
A subsidiary had consistently used the LIFO inventory method for its division from its first tax year, including for financial reporting, but its consolidated group parent omitted the required Form…
CCA 200451042: Voided perjury declaration invalidates electronic return
Chief Counsel advised on an electronic return followed by a signed Form 8453 on which the taxpayer had marked the perjury declaration “void.” The added statement preserving constitutional rights…
CCA 200451041: Wisconsin dairy investment credit reduces deductible state tax
Chief Counsel analyzed Wisconsin's nonrefundable, nontransferable dairy investment tax credit for farm modernization or expansion. The advice treated the credit as a reduction of state tax liability…
PLR 200451040: Credit union account error earns retirement rollover waiver
A former employee received a distribution from an employer plan and intended to roll part of it into an IRA at a credit union. The credit union instead placed the money in a money market account…
PLR 200451039: Severe illness supports waiver of IRA rollover deadline
An individual withdrew amounts from two IRAs intending to roll them over, but a severe attack of chronic irritable bowel syndrome prevented a visit to the credit union as the 60 day period ended.…
PLR 200451038: Unexplained plan check receives rollover deadline waiver
A former employee unexpectedly received a check from a plan trustee years after leaving the employer, with no explanation of its source or the 60 day rollover deadline. The employee later learned it…
PLR 200451037: Pension plan receives conditional minimum funding waiver
A company with declining revenue and an underfunded defined benefit pension plan received a conditional waiver of the plan's minimum funding standard for one plan year. The waived amount was the…
PLR 200451036: Paper company's pension plan receives funding waiver
A company operating a recycled paper mill, converting facilities, and a wastewater treatment plant received a waiver of the minimum funding standard for its defined benefit pension plan for one plan…
PLR 200451035: Printing company's pension plan receives funding waiver
A commercial insert printing and mailing company received a waiver of the minimum funding standard for its defined benefit pension plan for one plan year. The letter says a slowing economy and…
PLR 200451034: Textile company's pension funding waiver carries contribution conditions
The IRS granted a textile company's pension plan a waiver of its minimum funding standard for the plan year ending December 31, 2003. The company reported weak sales, costly domestic manufacturing,…
PLR 200451033: Bank error leads to extra time for two IRA rollovers
A taxpayer asked to move money in a Roth IRA and a simplified employee pension IRA from certificates of deposit into Series I savings bonds. The bank instead treated the bond purchases as IRA…
Determination 200451032: Benefits administrator denied employee association exemption
A limited liability company sought federal tax exemption as a voluntary employees' beneficiary association under section 501(c)(9). It administered collectively bargained benefit funds for workers…
PLR 200451031: Boating club's sale and liquidation preserve its tax exemption
A tax exempt boating club planned to sell its property, distribute the remaining assets to members, and dissolve because membership had declined and operating costs had risen. The IRS ruled that the…
CCA 200451030: Tax treatment of investor payments and losses in a Ponzi scheme
Chief Counsel analyzed payments and losses from a scheme that began as a legitimate resale business and later used new investors' money to pay earlier investors. Payments received as interest…
PLR 200451029: Estate receives more time for trust split and GST elections
An estate elected the marital deduction for a trust but omitted Schedule R from its estate tax return. The omission meant it did not make the intended reverse QTIP election or allocate the…
PLR 200451028: REIT receives more time to elect subsidiary status
A real estate investment trust (REIT) had filed an election to treat a corporation it owned as a taxable REIT subsidiary and listed other subsidiaries on the form. During merger due diligence, its…
PLR 200451027: Acquiring company may keep using standard research credit method
A corporation had always used the standard method for calculating its research credit. It acquired a company that had elected the alternative incremental method and merged it into a subsidiary. The…
PLR 200451026: New corporate group gets more time to elect consolidated filing
A transaction replaced the parent of a corporate group, creating a new affiliated group that missed the deadline to elect consolidated federal income tax filing for its first year. The IRS found…
PLR 200451025: Corporation retains S status after ineligible shareholders acquired stock
Two corporations acquired shares of an S corporation, causing its S election to terminate because they were ineligible shareholders. After new management discovered the problem, the shares were…
PLR 200451024: Trustee receives more time to report spouse's citizenship
A surviving spouse became a U.S. citizen after a qualified domestic trust had been established for her benefit. She asked her attorney to prepare the paperwork to end the trust's special estate tax…
PLR 200451023: Taxpayer gets more time for dual consolidated loss election
A taxpayer missed the election and agreement needed to take a branch's dual consolidated loss into account on its U.S. consolidated return. Its officer did not know the rule, and a tax manager…
PLR 200451022: Disability care reimbursements excluded from family income
A nonprofit regional center reimbursed families for certain items they bought to care for relatives with developmental disabilities. The reimbursements came from a government welfare fund, varied…
PLR 200451021: Trusts may allocate stock redemption proceeds to principal and divide
Three trusts holding stock in an S corporation planned to receive proceeds from a proportional stock redemption. The trustee proposed to treat the proceeds as trust principal, then divide each trust…
PLR 200451020: Former exempt club not treated as exempt user of retained property
A tax exempt social club planned to renovate its historic building, convert to a taxable corporation, lease the building to a partnership, and lease it back. It asked whether its prior exemption…
PLR 200451019: Corporation gets relief for late S election
A corporation's shareholders intended S corporation treatment from its formation date, but its Form 2553 was filed late. The company said it and its shareholders had consistently filed tax returns…
PLR 200451018: Former permanent resident's departure lacked tax avoidance purpose
A person born abroad became a U.S. permanent resident for work, then retired and moved back to his home country, where he was taxed on worldwide income. He later surrendered his green card. His net…
PLR 200451017: S corporation gets more time to elect subsidiary treatment
An S corporation wholly owned a newly formed subsidiary and intended to treat it as a qualified subchapter S subsidiary from its formation date. It missed the deadline to file a proper election. The…
PLR 200451016: Late subsidiary election allowed after S corporation acquisition
An S corporation acquired all interests in another company and intended to treat it as a qualified subchapter S subsidiary from the acquisition date. The parent missed the deadline to file a proper…
PLR 200451015: S corporation receives late subsidiary election relief
An S corporation intended to treat a newly formed, wholly owned company as a qualified subchapter S subsidiary from its formation date. The parent inadvertently missed the deadline to file the…
PLR 200451014: Public safety consolidation preserves some workers' Medicare exception
Several political subdivisions consolidated fire and emergency services in a newly created public entity. The IRS ruled that the consolidation did not, by itself, end the Medicare tax continuing…
PLR 200451013: Buyout ends old parent's consolidated tax group
A buyout placed a new holding company above the former parent of a consolidated corporate group, then bought out the public shareholders. The IRS ruled that the old consolidated group ended on the…
PLR 200451012: Business spin off qualifies as a tax free reorganization
A corporation planned to place one of its two businesses into a new company and distribute that company's stock to shareholders. On the represented facts, the IRS ruled that the contribution and…
PLR 200451011: Ineligible shareholder's stock purchase inadvertently ends S election
A shareholder transferred S corporation stock to a C corporation without the parties realizing that the buyer was ineligible to hold it. The transfer ended the S election, and the buyer later agreed…
PLR 200451010: Active property services keep lease payments outside S corporation passive income
An S corporation leased mineral property, processing facilities, and equipment to a tenant. It also provided services under the lease, including environmental compliance, equipment advice,…
PLR 200451009: Late S corporation election gets 60 day filing window
A corporation's sole shareholder intended S corporation treatment from a specified date, but the company missed the deadline to file Form 2553. The IRS found reasonable cause for the late filing. If…
PLR 200451008: Partnership gets 30 days to file missed LIFO election
A partnership continued using the last in, first out (LIFO) inventory method after receiving assets from related companies, but did not attach the required election form to its first return. It said…
PLR 200451007: Family trust split preserves tax exemption and asset basis
A trust created before September 25, 1985, proposed to divide into two equal trusts for separate family lines. The IRS ruled that the split would preserve the trust's exemption from generation…
PLR 200451006: Family trust split preserves tax exemption and asset basis
A trust created before September 25, 1985, proposed to divide into two equal trusts for separate family lines. The IRS ruled that the split would preserve the trust's exemption from generation…
PLR 200451005: Family trust split preserves tax exemption and asset basis
A trust created before September 25, 1985, proposed to divide into two equal trusts for separate family lines. The IRS ruled that the split would preserve the trust's exemption from generation…
PLR 200451004: Family trust split preserves tax exemption and asset basis
A trust created before September 25, 1985, proposed to divide into two equal trusts for separate family lines. The IRS ruled that the split would preserve the trust's exemption from generation…
PLR 200451003: Family trust split preserves tax exemption and asset basis
A trust created before September 25, 1985, proposed to divide into two equal trusts for separate family lines. The IRS ruled that the split would preserve the trust's exemption from generation…
PLR 200451002: Wife receives more time to allocate GST exemption to trust transfer
A married couple treated a trust contribution by the husband as a gift made half by each spouse, but their return preparer failed to allocate either spouse's generation skipping transfer (GST) tax…
PLR 200451001: Husband receives more time to allocate GST exemption to trust transfer
A married couple treated a trust contribution by the husband as a gift made half by each spouse, but their return preparer failed to allocate either spouse's generation skipping transfer (GST) tax…
PLR 200450058: Pension deduction limit includes full year benefit accruals
A company with a fiscal tax year that differs from its pension plan year asked how to calculate the deduction limit for a planned contribution to its defined benefit plan. The IRS ruled that current…
PLR 200450057: Widow's inherited IRA rollover keeps early withdrawal exception
A surviving spouse planned to move her deceased husband's profit sharing plan balance directly into an IRA maintained in his name, with herself as beneficiary. The IRS ruled that the direct rollover…
PLR 200450056: State pension lump sum receives special basis treatment
A state pension system lets some retirees elect a partial lump sum when they begin monthly benefits. It allowed employees to withdraw their contributions on termination in May 1986. The IRS ruled…
PLR 200450055: IRA owner receives waiver for transfer to living trust
An IRA owner instructed her custodian to move her IRA assets into her living trust after receiving generic transfer letters from her attorney. She said she had not meant to close the IRA and had…
PLR 200450054: Government pension pick up excludes contributions from current wages
A governmental employer adopted an ordinance to pay mandatory employee contributions to its pension plan in place of the employees. Employees could not choose to receive the amounts as cash. The IRS…
PLR 200450053: Teacher pension lump sum receives special basis treatment
A state pension system for public school teachers lets some retirees elect a partial lump sum when they begin monthly benefits. The IRS ruled that the lump sum qualifies for the special rule in §…
PLR 200450052: Illness supports waiver of missed IRA rollover deadline
An IRA owner withdrew funds intending to roll them into another IRA, but missed the 60 day deadline after illnesses interfered. He said the funds remained in a savings account and requested a waiver…
PLR 200450051: Hospital pension plan receives conditional funding waiver
A nonprofit hospital experiencing financial hardship received a conditional waiver of the minimum funding standard for its pension plan. The waived amount was the contribution otherwise needed to…
PLR 200450050: Company pension plan receives conditional funding waiver
A company with operating losses and a pension plan funding shortfall received a conditional waiver of its minimum funding requirement under § 412(d). The company had to make enough contributions to…
IRS determination 200450049: Pension funding waiver request closed after payment
A pension plan sponsor had requested a waiver of its minimum funding requirement under § 412(d). Its representative later reported that the required contribution for the plan year had been paid on…
IRS determination 200450048: Pension funding waiver request closed after payment
A pension plan sponsor had requested a waiver of its minimum funding requirement under § 412(d). Its representative later reported that the required contribution for the plan year had been paid on…
PLR 200450047: Company pension plan receives conditional 2003 funding waiver
A company facing losses and a reduced cash position received a conditional waiver of the minimum funding standard for its pension plan's 2003 plan year. The waived amount was the contribution…
PLR 200450046: Company gains 2003 funding waiver and changes earlier waiver terms
The IRS granted a company a conditional waiver of its pension plan's minimum funding standard for the plan year ended December 31, 2003. The company must make quarterly contributions on time and…
IRS determination 200450045: Planned grant foundation denied tax exemption
An organization formed as part of a group of related entities applied for recognition as a charity under § 501(c)(3). It planned to receive and invest donations, then send funds to a related…
IRS determination 200450044: Planned grant administrator denied tax exemption
An organization formed with several related entities applied for recognition as a charity under § 501(c)(3). It planned to administer grants funded by a related foundation but had not begun…
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.