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 200445031: IRA rollover deadline waived after spouse's serious illness
A taxpayer's spouse had managed their finances, but a serious illness left him unable to do so. She discovered a check from the liquidation of her IRA only after it had sat at their home, then…
PLR 200445030: Rollover deadline waived after IRA owner's hospitalization and death
An IRA owner was hospitalized, became unable to manage his financial affairs, and died. His spouse found an IRA liquidation check at home and deposited it in a separate account; the funds were not…
PLR 200445029: Rollover deadline waived after firm put IRA transfer in wrong account
A taxpayer directed a financial firm to transfer funds from one IRA to a traditional IRA at the firm. The firm instead placed the funds in an account that was not an IRA, and the taxpayer discovered…
PLR 200445028: Conditional pension funding waiver granted amid company hardship
A company requested relief from the minimum funding standard for its pension plan after losses, negative net worth and working capital, remediation costs, and the loss of its largest customer. The…
PLR 200445027: Excise taxes waived for pension plan liquidity shortfalls
A company's pension plan had liquidity shortfalls in several quarters. Its actuarial consulting firm had information that could have revealed the shortfalls but did not make the calculations or…
TAM 200445026: IRS revokes retailer's inventory accounting ruling over missing records
A consumer electronics retailer had received permission to value its inventories using the retail method. During an audit, the IRS found that the retailer had not kept records showing the selling…
CCA 200445025: Foreign trust stock sales and reporting obligations analyzed
Chief Counsel analyzed whether a U.S. person had to report gains from stock sales by several foreign trusts and a foundation he had established. The advice concluded that gains from two trusts were…
PLR 200445024: College gifts remain deductible despite limited donor investment control
An individual and a limited liability company proposed giving cash and publicly traded securities to a tax-exempt college. Each donor or its investment manager could manage the contributed assets…
PLR 200445023: College gifts remain deductible despite limited donor investment control
An individual and a limited liability company proposed giving cash and publicly traded securities to a tax-exempt college. Each donor or its investment manager could manage the contributed assets…
PLR 200445022: Extra time granted to file dual resident corporation statements
Two taxpayers sought more time to file statements required by regulations concerning dual resident corporations. They said they had relied on their accounting firm to prepare and file the statements…
PLR 200445021: Late S corporation election accepted if filed within 60 days
A corporation's sole shareholder intended it to be an S corporation from its incorporation date, but the Form 2553 election was not filed on time. The IRS found reasonable cause for the delay under…
PLR 200445020: Bankruptcy stock exchange does not create a section 382 owner shift
A corporate group in chapter 11 proposed a liquidation plan that would replace existing common and preferred stock with new classes carrying the same distribution priorities. Separate trusts would…
PLR 200445019: Investment fund's late spillback dividend election treated as timely
A regulated investment fund declared and paid dividends after its fiscal year ended and intended to elect under section 855(a) to treat them as paid in that earlier year. During a staff relocation,…
PLR 200445018: Late accounting year change application treated as timely
A taxpayer filed Form 1128 late to request a change from a December 31 to a November 30 tax year. The letter says the late filing resulted from an error or misunderstanding. The IRS found that the…
PLR 200445017: Late tax year change application denied after 90-day delay
A corporation asked to treat a late Form 1128 as timely so it could change from an August 31 to a December 31 tax year. It had missed the filing deadline and waited more than 90 additional days to…
PLR 200445016: Related corporation merger qualifies as a type D reorganization
A foreign parent proposed contributing its shares of one U.S. subsidiary to another U.S. subsidiary, followed by a merger of the first subsidiary into a limited liability company owned by the…
PLR 200445015: Internal transfers avoid low-income housing credit recapture
A subsidiary planned to move its interests in three partnerships holding low-income housing credit property through a chain of wholly owned subsidiaries. The IRS ruled that the transfers alone would…
PLR 200445014: Business split-off qualifies for specified reorganization treatment
Two managing shareholders disagreed about a closely held corporation's operations. The corporation transferred assets to a new controlled corporation and proposed distributing its stock to two…
PLR 200445013: Group gets more time for section 382 value restoration election
A parent company and its controlled foreign subsidiaries missed the deadline to elect how value is restored within a controlled group for section 382 loss limitation purposes. The parent said it had…
PLR 200445012: Group gets more time for section 382 value restoration election
A parent company and its controlled foreign subsidiaries missed the deadline to elect how value is restored within a controlled group for section 382 loss limitation purposes. The parent said it had…
PLR 200445011: Group gets more time for section 382 value restoration election
A parent company and its controlled foreign subsidiaries missed the deadline to elect how value is restored within a controlled group for section 382 loss limitation purposes. The parent said it had…
PLR 200445010: Estate gets time to complete QDOT filings for retirement plan
A U.S. citizen left a savings plan to a surviving spouse who was not a U.S. citizen. The estate listed the plan as qualified domestic trust property on its estate tax return, but its return preparer…
PLR 200445009: Business sale proceeds may fund partial liquidation redemptions
A parent corporation planned to sell a subsidiary's business, receive its proceeds through a subsidiary liquidation, and use the cash to redeem some parent shares. Assuming the subsidiary…
PLR 200445008: S election treated as timely after IRS found no filing record
A company's shareholder said the company had timely filed Form 2553 to elect S corporation status from its first tax year. The IRS later notified the company that it had no record of receiving the…
PLR 200445007: Partnership gets 60 days to make section 754 election
A partnership omitted a section 754 election from its return after a partner's death caused a deemed transfer of the partnership interest. The partnership said it relied on an accountant who had not…
PLR 200445006: Partnership gets 60 days to make section 754 election
A partnership omitted a section 754 election from its return after a partner's death caused a deemed transfer of the partnership interest. The partnership said it relied on an accountant who had not…
PLR 200445005: Partnership gets 60 days to make section 754 election
A partnership omitted a section 754 election from its return after a partner's death caused a deemed transfer of the partnership interest. The partnership said it relied on an accountant who had not…
PLR 200445004: Utility may defer gain on condemnation relocation payments
A public utility had to move power and gas equipment when a state acquired land for a highway project. It would receive payments for property rights and relocation costs from the state agency and…
PLR 200445003: Late tax year change form accepted, with corrected form due
A corporation filed Form 1128 late to request a change from an October 31 to a June 30 tax year. It filed within 90 days of the deadline and said an error or misunderstanding caused the delay. The…
PLR 200445002: Assigned litigation proceeds excluded while claims remain contingent
A corporation proposed giving a private foundation half of its interest in four claims in pending litigation. The assignment would take effect only after the stated conditions were met and before…
PLR 200445001: Estate receives more time to divide marital trust and elect reverse QTIP treatment
An estate made a QTIP election for a marital trust but did not divide it into generation-skipping transfer (GST) tax exempt and nonexempt trusts or make a reverse QTIP election. The IRS determined…
PLR 200444046: Hospital retirement plans qualify as church plans
A tax-exempt hospital asked whether its defined benefit plan and tax-deferred annuity plan were church plans. The hospital and participating affiliates were associated with a religious denomination,…
PLR 200444045: Additional pension payments qualify for rollover treatment
After a company tried to terminate its defined benefit plan, the Pension Benefit Guaranty Corporation determined that some participants were owed additional benefits. The company created a separate…
PLR 200444044: Charity may market its software through a taxable subsidiary
A publicly supported charity developed software for tracking services to older people and proposed transferring it to a new, wholly owned for-profit subsidiary for marketing. The IRS ruled that…
PLR 200444043: Return of excess pension contributions will preserve plan status
An employer sought a determination that certain contributions to a defined benefit plan could be treated as disallowed deductions for the limited purpose of returning them to the employer. The IRS…
PLR 200444042: Passive holding company is not a business enterprise
A private foundation invested in a holding company formed to hold a non-managing interest in an investment manager. The IRS ruled that the holding company itself was not a business enterprise for…
PLR 200444041: Court order permits a foundation to set aside its required distribution
A former hospital had become a private foundation, but a state court order restricted the use of its assets while malpractice claims and potential claims remained. It asked to set aside its required…
PLR 200444040: IRS conditionally extends pension funding amortization periods
A construction company's defined benefit pension plan had unfunded liabilities, and the company sought more time to amortize them. The IRS conditionally granted extensions of two, six, and five…
PLR 200444039: Scholarship procedures meet the individual grant rules
An organization proposed to fund scholarships for eligible students through a public charity that would select recipients and supervise their grants. The charity would assess academic performance,…
PLR 200444038: Employee family scholarships meet the grant procedures rule
An organization agreed to sponsor scholarships for children and other relatives of a company's employees through a public charity's academic competition. The charity would select recipients…
PLR 200444037: Scholarship procedures for employees' children are approved
An organization proposed to fund scholarships for a company's employees' children through a public charity that would choose recipients and supervise the awards. The charity would evaluate…
PLR 200444036: Archival facility set-aside qualifies as a charitable distribution
A private foundation planned to design and build a conservation and storage facility for federal audiovisual collections. It sought to set aside funds for the first phase of construction and count…
PLR 200444035: Bank's account error justifies late IRA rollover waiver
An IRA owner directed a bank to receive his rollover into a new IRA, but the bank opened an ordinary certificate of deposit instead. He believed the transfer was complete until a later interest…
PLR 200444034: Direct transfers may divide an inherited IRA between two nieces
A deceased IRA owner's trust named her sister as a lifetime beneficiary, with two nieces to receive the assets afterward. The sister disclaimed her IRA interest, and the trustees proposed to…
PLR 200444033: Direct transfer may create an inherited IRA for a niece
A deceased IRA owner's trust named her sister as a lifetime beneficiary, then two nieces. After the sister disclaimed her IRA interest, the trustees proposed direct transfers into separate IRAs held…
PLR 200444032: Surviving spouse may roll estate payable 403(b) funds into her IRA
A deceased participant had named his estate as beneficiary of a 403(b) plan. His surviving spouse was both the estate's sole personal representative and its sole residuary beneficiary. Ordinarily,…
PLR 200444031: IRS waives late rollover deadline for disability related plan payment
A former employee had rolled a retirement plan distribution into an IRA after leaving work because of serious health problems. The employer later paid an additional, smaller plan benefit. Confused…
PLR 200444030: Rehabilitation center's health facility furthers charitable purposes
A tax exempt rehabilitation organization proposed a health center offering patient rehabilitation, supervised exercise, research, and community education. It planned affordable memberships, charity…
PLR 200444029: Widow receives limited waiver for late IRA rollover
An IRA owner tried to roll part of a distribution back into a previously closed IRA. The receiving firm returned his check after mistaking it for an ordinary contribution. He deposited the money in…
PLR 200444028: IRS waives late IRA rollover after mistaken insurance purchase
A surviving spouse withdrew funds from her late husband's IRA after a financial adviser recommended life insurance policies. She believed the funds had gone into tax deferred accounts, then learned…
PLR 200444027: Couple receives more time to roll unused IRA withdrawals back
Two IRA owners withdrew three amounts from their respective IRAs and deposited them in joint bank accounts. They said a financial adviser had told them to withdraw funds only if they planned to roll…
CCA 200444026: Interest on overdue child support is usually taxable to recipient
IRS counsel considered interest paid on overdue child support, including payments collected through a state enforcement agency. It concluded that the custodial parent generally must include the…
CCA 200444025: Deficiency procedures can address improper foreign income exclusion refunds
IRS counsel reconsidered how to recover refunds issued after taxpayers claimed a foreign earned income exclusion for income earned domestically. It concluded that the IRS may use deficiency…
TAM 200444023: One trust qualifies for estate tax marital deduction, another does not
A deceased husband's estate claimed a marital deduction for his interests in two trusts benefiting his surviving wife. The IRS concluded that Trust 1 qualified because the wife could demand its…
TAM 200444022: Software cost sharing payments and export tax benefits
A U.S. software company gave its foreign subsidiary rights to use existing software in a cost sharing arrangement and to make and sell software products in its territory. The IRS advised that the…
TAM 200444021: Estate cannot deduct income tax on IRA distributions
An estate withdrew money from the deceased person's IRAs to pay estate tax and reported the distributions as income on its own income tax return. It then sought an estate tax deduction for income…
CCA 200444020: Dates retained when a cash bond deposit moves to another tax year
A taxpayer made a deposit designated as a cash bond while an income tax deficiency was being examined. After part of the deposit paid the assessed tax and interest, the taxpayer asked the IRS to…
CCA 200444019: Hand-delivered refund claim letter did not start suit deadline
A taxpayer received a hand-delivered letter about the proposed disallowance of its refund claim and later signed an agreement extending the time to sue. Chief Counsel advised that the letter did not…
PLR 200444018: S corporation election restored after stock briefly entered a trust
Before selling his shares in an S corporation, a shareholder transferred them to a trust that was not an eligible S corporation shareholder. That transfer terminated the company's S election, but…
PLR 200444017: S corporation election restored after stock briefly entered a trust
Before selling his shares in an S corporation, a shareholder transferred them to a trust that was not an eligible S corporation shareholder. That transfer terminated the company's S election, but…
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.