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 200449026: Two foreign entities denied late classification elections
A parent company intended a foreign subsidiary and an arrangement created by that subsidiary to be disregarded for federal tax purposes. Neither filed a timely Form 8832. The IRS found that the…
PLR 200449025: Corporation gets 45 days to file dual consolidated loss paperwork
A corporation and its predecessors had interests in dual resident corporations that incurred dual consolidated losses. A tax preparer misread the rules and did not timely file the elections, annual…
PLR 200449024: Trust gets more time for GST severance and reverse QTIP election
After a decedent's estate timely filed its estate tax return, its attorney had not severed a QTIP trust or made a reverse QTIP election. The successor trustee sought to split the trust into portions…
PLR 200449023: Partnership gets 60 days to make late basis adjustment election
Three related entities filed partnership returns after one distributed cash to some of its partners. The distributing partnership made a § 754 basis adjustment election, but the other two omitted it…
PLR 200449022: Spouses get time to allocate GST exemptions to trust gifts
One spouse made cash gifts to a trust for their children and descendants in three years. The spouses elected gift splitting on returns for the first two years, but their accounting firms did not…
PLR 200449021: Late S corporation election effective from incorporation
A corporation intended to be taxed as an S corporation from its incorporation date but did not file its election on time. The IRS found reasonable cause for the late filing and granted relief under…
PLR 200449020: Merger of older family trusts preserves GST exemption and asset basis
Two irrevocable trusts for the same daughter and beneficiaries had substantially similar terms and were both created before September 25, 1985. Their trustees proposed merging them to reduce…
PLR 200449019: Combining grandfathered trusts leaves GST status and tax basis intact
A settlor created two irrevocable trusts before September 25, 1985, for the same daughter and other beneficiaries. Their trustees sought to merge them because separate administration duplicated…
PLR 200449018: City insurance premium financing company has excluded income
An association of city governments formed a stock corporation to let cities and other qualifying government entities spread insurance premium payments over as many as nine months. The company would…
PLR 200449017: Trust held annuity treated as owned by its individual beneficiary
A trust for a settlor's grandchild held an annuity contract as its only asset, naming the grandchild as annuitant. The trust terms allowed the beneficiary to request distributions of trust principal…
PLR 200449016: Grandchild's trust annuity treated as held by a natural person
A trust established for a settlor's grandchild held an annuity contract as its only asset. The trust was the named owner, but the grandchild was the annuitant and sole beneficiary while living. The…
PLR 200449015: Beneficiary treated as natural person owner of trust annuity
A settlor established a trust solely for a grandchild and the trustee invested the trust's only asset in an annuity, later exchanged twice. The trust was named as owner, while the grandchild was the…
PLR 200449014: Annuity transfer to beneficiary's separate trust avoids assignment rule
A trust established for a grandchild held an annuity as its only asset. At age 30, the beneficiary could decline a principal withdrawal, causing the trustee to hold that share in a separate trust…
PLR 200449013: Multiple trust annuities treated as held by individual beneficiary
A trust established solely for a grandchild held annuity contracts, including four deferred variable annuity policies acquired in an exchange. The trust was the named owner, but the grandchild was…
PLR 200449012: Pre IPO stock units qualify for transition relief after shareholder meeting
A corporation adopted a stock incentive plan before its initial public offering and disclosed the plan in its prospectus. It granted restricted stock units before the first later shareholder meeting…
PLR 200449011: Trust annuities treated as held by a natural person
A trust for a grandchild held annuity contracts as its only assets. The trustee had exchanged earlier annuities, including a partial exchange into three deferred variable annuity policies, and named…
PLR 200449010: Partnership gets more time to make a section 754 election
Three related partnerships prepared their returns as though each had elected under § 754 to adjust the basis of partnership property. One partnership made the election, but the other two…
PLR 200449009: Modified corporate distributions retain prior tax rulings
A corporate group sought supplemental rulings after changing the steps and timing of two planned stock distributions following a domestication. The IRS replaced one ruling from its earlier letter…
PLR 200449008: Revised nuclear decommissioning fund schedule approved
A utility sought a revised schedule of amounts it could contribute to a qualified nuclear decommissioning fund for a plant interest it had transferred to a related owner. The IRS concluded that its…
PLR 200449007: Late entity classification and S corporation elections accepted
A company and its shareholders intended S corporation treatment from the company's first tax year but failed to file both its entity classification election and S corporation election on time. They…
PLR 200449006: Division of older trusts preserves generation skipping tax exemption
A grantor created 15 irrevocable family trusts before September 25, 1985. Their trustees proposed to move all assets into nine new trusts organized around three grandchildren and their families. The…
PLR 200449005: LLC receives relief for late corporate and S elections
An LLC intended to elect corporate tax classification and then S corporation status, both effective when it was formed, but missed the filing deadlines for Forms 8832 and 2553. The IRS gave it 60…
PLR 200449004: Foreign company gets time for entity classification election
A foreign limited company wanted a U.S. tax classification different from its default classification, effective from its incorporation date. It had inadvertently missed the deadline to file Form…
PLR 200449003: Tax treatment of nuclear plant sale and decommissioning funds
A utility and a buyer asked how the sale of a nuclear plant, its decommissioning obligations, and its qualified and nonqualified decommissioning funds would be taxed. The IRS used its discretion…
PLR 200449002: Donors may make late GST exemption allocations to trust gift
Taxpayers established an irrevocable trust and contributed property, but did not file gift tax returns or allocate their generation skipping transfer tax exemptions to the gift. They said they had…
TAM 200449001: Excess paid to bankruptcy creditors may be deductible interest
A company reorganizing under Chapter 11 satisfied certain creditor claims with cash, notes, and newly issued stock. Some creditors received property worth more than their allowed claims, and the…
PLR 200448055: Manufacturer receives conditional pension funding waiver
A manufacturer sought relief from the minimum funding requirement for its pension plan for the 2003 plan year. The IRS granted a conditional waiver under § 412(d), citing the company's temporary…
PLR 200448054: Hospital plan gets conditional funding waiver and revised prior condition
A nonprofit hospital and related nursing home sought relief from minimum funding requirements for their pension plan. The IRS granted a conditional waiver for a plan year and changed the…
PLR 200448053: Piston ring maker receives conditional pension funding waiver
A manufacturer of replacement piston rings received a conditional waiver of its pension plan's minimum funding requirement for the 2003 plan year. The IRS cited temporary substantial business…
PLR 200448052: Broker error qualifies for IRA rollover deadline waiver
A retiree withdrew funds from an IRA and tried to roll part of them into another IRA. A broker or dealer mistakenly put the intended rollover amount in a non-IRA account. The IRS waived the usual…
PLR 200448051: Foundation's passive holding company is not a business enterprise
A private foundation owned stock in a holding company formed to invest in a business that manages private equity funds. The IRS ruled that the holding company was not itself a business enterprise…
PLR 200448050: Foundation's passive holding company is not a business enterprise
A private foundation owned stock in a holding company formed to invest in a business that manages private equity funds. The IRS ruled that the holding company was not itself a business enterprise…
PLR 200448049: Foundation's passive holding company is not a business enterprise
A private foundation owned stock in a holding company formed to invest in a business that manages private equity funds. The IRS ruled that the holding company was not itself a business enterprise…
PLR 200448048: Health charity's physician ventures preserve exemption
A public charity providing treatment services proposed two joint ventures with local physicians to expand care in its community. It would contribute equipment, appoint a majority of each venture's…
TAM 200448047: Two transaction notes aggregated for issue price and basis
In a business sale, the buyer issued one note to the seller for the business and two other notes to the seller's subsidiary for cash. The IRS advised that the two notes issued to the subsidiary must…
TAM 200448046: Insurer cannot use Connecticut's larger annuity death benefit reserves for tax
A life insurer used a Connecticut method for calculating reserves on minimum guaranteed death benefits in deferred variable annuities. That method assumed a one-third fall in asset value even when…
CCA 200448045: Overstated withholding credits and the tax assessment deadline
Chief Counsel generally agreed that the IRS could assess overstated withholding credits using the math error procedures, though the credits themselves were not math errors. It also cautioned that a…
PLR 200448044: Ineligible trust shareholder does not end S corporation treatment
An S corporation transferred some stock to a trust that was not an eligible S corporation shareholder, terminating its S election. After discovering the issue, the corporation redeemed the trust's…
PLR 200448043: Estate gets time to divide trust and make reverse QTIP election
An estate claimed a marital deduction for a trust benefiting the surviving spouse, but its attorney did not advise the executor about dividing the trust or making a reverse QTIP election for…
PLR 200448042: Changing trustees and dividing older trust preserves GST exemption
An irrevocable family trust created before September 25, 1985, was to be divided into trusts for three grandchildren and their descendants. A court approved changes replacing a corporate co-trustee…
PLR 200448041: Shares issued to ineligible entity do not end S treatment
An individual bought shares of an S corporation but asked that they be issued in the name of an entity that could not hold S corporation stock. After discovering the problem, the corporation…
PLR 200448040: Dividing two older trusts into six preserves tax treatment
Two trusts created by spouses were to be divided into six trusts, one under each original trust for each of their daughter's three children. Each asset would be split equally, and the beneficiaries'…
PLR 200448039: Company may use the regular research credit after an unintended election
A company intended to calculate its research credit under the regular method in Section 41(a), but a clerical error caused its return to use the alternative incremental research credit method. The…
PLR 200448038: Estate's marital deduction did not make a QTIP election
An estate claimed a marital deduction for the surviving spouse's life interest in property that ultimately passed to children and a trust. It listed the property in the part of the estate tax return…
PLR 200448037: Company can keep S corporation status after passive income termination
An S corporation had accumulated earnings from its earlier C corporation years and exceeded the passive investment income threshold for three consecutive years. Its S election therefore terminated…
PLR 200448036: Qualifying exchange market makers count as securities futures dealers
An exchange asked whether two classes of its securities futures market makers would be treated as dealers under Section 1256. Both classes had to meet trading, registration, recordkeeping, and…
PLR 200448035: Company gets 45 days to file dual consolidated loss elections
A company and its predecessor had failed to file elections, agreements, and annual certifications involving a foreign subsidiary's dual consolidated losses. The predecessor had believed the losses…
PLR 200448034: Exchange qualifies and its market makers count as securities futures dealers
An exchange designated by the Commodity Futures Trading Commission to list securities futures contracts asked about its status and the tax classification of its market makers. The exchange required…
PLR 200448033: Corporation receives relief for a late S election
A corporation's shareholders intended it to be an S corporation from its incorporation date, but the corporation did not file Form 2553 on time. The IRS found reasonable cause for the late election…
PLR 200448032: Company receives more time to elect corporate tax treatment
A company formed as part of converting a predecessor into a limited liability company intended to be taxed as a corporation. Its representatives inadvertently failed to file Form 8832 to elect that…
PLR 200448031: Former resident gets more time to request an expatriation ruling
A former U.S. lawful permanent resident returned to her country of citizenship and engaged a CPA firm to seek a ruling under Section 877. The firm did not submit the request within the period set by…
PLR 200448030: Sole-shareholder company receives late S election relief
A corporation's sole shareholder intended the company to be an S corporation, but Form 2553 was not filed on time. The IRS concluded that there was reasonable cause for the missed deadline. It…
PLR 200448029: Estate gets more time to elect the family-owned business deduction
An estate's advisers prepared and timely filed its estate tax return but failed to tell the executor about the election for the qualified family-owned business deduction under Section 2057. The…
PLR 200448028: Corporation may revoke alternative research credit election
A corporation had elected the alternative incremental method for calculating its research credit. It asked for permission to revoke that election for a later tax year and following years. Because…
PLR 200448027: Estate's QDOT election stands and late assignment is allowed
An estate claimed a marital deduction for assets intended for a qualified domestic trust (QDOT) for a surviving spouse who was not then a U.S. citizen. The assets were listed on the timely estate…
PLR 200448026: Former resident's expatriation lacked a tax-avoidance purpose
A former U.S. resident surrendered her green card and returned to the country where she was born, lived, held citizenship, and was taxed on worldwide income. Her net worth exceeded a threshold that…
PLR 200448025: Former resident's green card surrender lacked a tax-avoidance purpose
A former U.S. resident surrendered his green card and lived in the country where he was born and held citizenship. He was taxed there on his worldwide income. His net worth exceeded a threshold that…
PLR 200448024: Trust-owned partnership may aggregate specified securities gains and losses
Two trusts with the same beneficiaries contributed actively traded assets to a limited liability company taxed as a partnership. The company planned to revalue the assets regularly and allocate book…
PLR 200448023: Merging two older trusts preserves GST exemption and asset tax attributes
Two trusts created before September 25, 1985, had the same beneficiaries and nearly identical terms. Their trustees proposed merging them to reduce duplicate administration, subject to court…
PLR 200448022: Merging two older trusts preserves GST exemption and asset tax attributes
Two trusts created before September 25, 1985, had the same beneficiaries and nearly identical terms. Their trustees proposed merging them to reduce duplicate administration, subject to court…
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.