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 200444016: Late GST exemption allocations allowed for gifts to trusts
Two spouses sought to allocate their generation-skipping transfer tax exemptions to gifts made to five trusts for their children. Their gift tax returns had omitted the allocations, and some of the…
PLR 200444015: Late S corporation election treated as timely
A corporation said it had signed an S corporation election when it was formed and that it and its shareholders filed their first tax returns as though the election were in effect. The IRS had no…
PLR 200444014: S election preserved after trust missed QSST election
An S corporation shareholder placed stock in a revocable trust. After the shareholder died, the trust remained an eligible shareholder for two years, but the beneficiary did not file an election to…
PLR 200444013: S election preserved after trust missed QSST election
An S corporation shareholder placed stock in a revocable trust. After the shareholder died, the trust remained an eligible shareholder for two years, but the beneficiary did not file an election to…
PLR 200444012: S election preserved after trust missed QSST election
An S corporation shareholder placed stock in a revocable trust. After the shareholder died, the trust remained an eligible shareholder for two years, but the beneficiary did not file an election to…
PLR 200444011: Entity receives time to elect corporate tax treatment
An entity wanted to be taxed as a corporation from the date it was formed, but it inadvertently missed the deadline for the entity classification election. The IRS concluded that the requirements…
PLR 200444010: Parent receives time to file subsidiaries' LIFO elections
A parent corporation acquired two subsidiaries that used the last-in, first-out method for different inventories. It failed to attach the required Form 970 elections to its consolidated returns,…
PLR 200444009: Late GST exemption allocation allowed for gift to trust
A husband gave company stock to a trust for his descendants. He and his wife elected to split the gift on their gift tax returns, but his accountant failed to advise him to allocate…
PLR 200444008: Late S corporation election allowed for newly formed company
A company's sole shareholder said the company was intended to be an S corporation from its formation date, but no Form 2553 was filed on time. The IRS found reasonable cause for the missed deadline.…
PLR 200444007: S election preserved after trust delayed stock distribution
An S corporation shareholder's grantor trust continued to hold company stock after the shareholder died. The trustee delayed distributing the shares to the beneficiaries because it could not find a…
PLR 200444006: Foreign entity receives time to elect partnership treatment
A foreign entity with two owners said it was eligible to choose its U.S. federal tax classification, but had inadvertently missed the deadline to file Form 8832. It requested partnership treatment…
PLR 200444005: Foreign subsidiary receives time to elect disregarded status
A foreign company wholly owned by another foreign company said it was eligible to choose its U.S. federal tax classification. It inadvertently missed the deadline to elect treatment as an entity…
PLR 200444004: Settlement funds may share claims processing through cooperative
A qualified settlement fund proposed to join other settlement funds in a corporation that would process their claims at cost. It would contribute its claims processing facility and receive stock,…
PLR 200444003: Trust receives time to elect earlier charitable deduction
A trust named charities as eight of its ten beneficiaries. It had income in one tax year but paid the charities in the following year, when it incorrectly treated the payments as beneficiary…
CCA 200444002: Tax issues to examine in a corporate bankruptcy plan
Chief Counsel reviewed a corporate debtor's proposed bankruptcy plan and identified issues for future audits of the debtor and its successor. Debt cancellation in a bankruptcy case may be excluded…
CCA 200444001: Payroll tax assessments against forfeited corporation remain valid
A business kept filing payroll tax returns under a corporate name after its charter had been forfeited. The IRS assessed the reported liabilities and filed a tax lien, then asked whether it could…
PLR 200443046: IRA rollover deadline waived after broker failed to complete transfer
An IRA owner asked her broker to move funds into another IRA through a purchase of U.S. securities. The broker did not verify the rollover requirements or tell her that an authorized IRA custodian…
PLR 200443045: Foundation grant to school may help repay founder's loan
A private foundation proposed an unrestricted grant to a public charity school. The school could use the money to repay an interest-free loan from the foundation's founder, who had helped finance…
PLR 200443044: Foundation set-aside qualifies for three charitable projects
A private foundation asked to reserve income for three charitable projects involving medical research, research awards, and assistance. It said that each project needed time to develop operating…
PLR 200443043: Pension plan minimum funding waiver denied
An employer sought a waiver of the minimum funding standard for its defined benefit pension plan. Its representative told the IRS that the plan was terminating. The IRS found that the submitted…
PLR 200443042: Excise taxes waived for pension plan liquidity shortfalls
A company did not meet the quarterly liquidity requirement for its pension plan during several periods. Its consulting firm had information suggesting potential shortfalls but failed to calculate or…
PLR 200443041: Conditional minimum funding waiver for a pension plan
The IRS granted a company a conditional waiver of the minimum funding standard for its pension plan's year beginning October 1, 2002. The company had reported losses and negative working capital and…
PLR 200443040: Extra time to roll retirement plan money into an IRA
A taxpayer instructed her employer to roll her 401(k) plan balance directly into an IRA at a bank. The bank received the check but placed the money in a savings account after a conversation that the…
PLR 200443039: Rollover waiver denied for a contract distribution
A taxpayer withdrew money from an IRA to buy a contract that was not an IRA or another eligible retirement plan. She later requested a partial distribution from the contract, but an error in her…
PLR 200443038: Rollover waiver for mistaken internet transfers from IRAs
A taxpayer tried to change investments in a traditional IRA and a SEP IRA using an online account. The transactions instead moved money into a regular investment account, and the error came to light…
PLR 200443037: IRA rollover waiver after bank opened a certificate of deposit
A widow moved funds from her deceased husband's IRA into her own IRA, then closed that account intending to open another IRA at a more convenient bank. The bank put part of the money into a…
PLR 200443036: Extra rollover time for an uncashed IRA check
A taxpayer withdrew money from her IRA to put it in a proposed self directed IRA real estate program. Before depositing the check, she learned that the program would not accept the funds as she had…
PLR 200443035: Surviving spouse may roll over IRA assets passing through a trust
An IRA owner named his revocable trust as the beneficiary of his IRA. After his death, the IRA assets moved through a trust account to another IRA held for the trust. His surviving spouse was the…
PLR 200443034: Rollover relief after an excessive IRA distribution
A taxpayer asked a financial firm to calculate and distribute the remaining required minimum amount from his IRA. The firm overlooked two earlier withdrawals and sent him a check for more than the…
200443033: Final denial of an organization's tax exemption
The IRS issued a final adverse ruling on an organization's claim for exemption under section 501(c)(3). It said the organization had not shown that it would operate exclusively for exempt purposes…
TAM 200443032: Corporate gain measured by distributed assets, not partnership interest discounts
A corporation transferred manufacturing assets to limited partnerships and distributed partnership interests to its shareholders. It argued that its gain under section 311(b) should reflect…
PLR 200443031: Synthetic fuel credit after relocating a coal processing facility
A partnership sought rulings about the section 29 credit for synthetic fuel produced from coal at a facility moved to a new site. The IRS ruled that the described fuel qualified, the construction…
PLR 200443030: Surviving spouse's disclaimer of a trust property interest qualifies
A surviving spouse disclaimed the deceased spouse's half interest in property held by their revocable family trust. The trust directed disclaimed property to another trust in which she would retain…
PLR 200443029: Look through to assets held by insurance fund portfolios
Investment trusts proposed portfolios that would buy shares of other funds and serve as investment choices for variable annuities and variable life insurance policies. The IRS ruled that insurance…
PLR 200443028: Late S corporation election treated as timely
A corporation with one shareholder missed the deadline to file Form 2553 for S corporation status. The shareholder represented that S corporation treatment had always been intended. The IRS found…
PLR 200443027: Estate may correct QTIP elections for two trusts
An estate's return claimed a qualified terminable interest property election for both a credit shelter trust and a marital trust. The IRS agreed to disregard the election for the credit shelter…
PLR 200443026: Partnership gets more time to make a basis adjustment election
A limited partnership missed the deadline to elect a section 754 basis adjustment for the year in which an ownership interest was purchased. Its tax professional said they had not advised the…
PLR 200443025: Estate receives more time for reverse QTIP election and GST allocation
An estate asked for more time to make a reverse QTIP election and allocate generation skipping transfer tax exemption to a share of a marital trust. The IRS concluded that the marital trust had been…
PLR 200443024: Late S corporation election accepted with Form 2553 filing
A sole shareholder intended a corporation to be taxed as an S corporation from its formation date, but the corporation missed the Form 2553 filing deadline. The IRS found reasonable cause for the…
PLR 200443023: Tax effects of permitting sales of trust remainder interests
A trust's remainder beneficiaries proposed to sell some of their interests and sought a court construction allowing the sales despite a spendthrift clause. The IRS ruled that the construction and…
PLR 200443022: Reasonable cause relief for a late S corporation election
A corporation intended to elect S corporation treatment from a specified effective date but did not file the election on time. The IRS found reasonable cause for the delay. It ruled that the…
PLR 200443021: S election effective from incorporation despite late filing
A corporation intended S corporation treatment from its incorporation date but failed to file its election on time. The IRS found reasonable cause for the missed deadline and granted relief under…
PLR 200443020: LLC receives time to elect corporate classification and S status
A limited liability company intended to be taxed as an S corporation from its formation date but failed to file both the entity classification and S election forms. The IRS granted 60 days from the…
PLR 200443019: More time to allocate a spouse's GST exemption to a trust
A husband made two cash gifts to a trust, and the spouses elected to split those gifts on their gift tax returns. The wife's accountant failed to allocate her generation skipping transfer tax…
PLR 200443018: Late S election accepted after first year S return
A corporation's shareholders intended S corporation treatment from its first tax year, and the corporation filed a Form 1120S for that year. It had not filed the required Form 2553 on time. The IRS…
PLR 200443017: Company may revoke alternative incremental research credit election
A corporation had elected the alternative incremental research credit method for itself and its controlled group. It asked the IRS for consent to revoke that election for a later tax year and all…
PLR 200443016: Indirect purchase does not change synthetic fuel facility's service date
An owner of a coal-based synthetic fuel facility asked the IRS to confirm earlier rulings after a buyer acquired an indirect interest in the ownership chain. The IRS concluded that the described…
PLR 200443015: Spouse gets more time to allocate GST exemption to trust gift
A married couple had previously reported a gift to a trust for their descendants and allocated generation-skipping transfer (GST) tax exemption. After a later gift, the wife's accountant failed to…
PLR 200443014: Corporation receives relief for late S election
A corporation intended to elect S corporation status from a specified date but did not file its election on time. The IRS found reasonable cause for the delay and granted relief under § 1362(b)(5).…
PLR 200443013: Former resident's expatriation lacked a tax avoidance purpose
A former U.S. long-term resident gave up his green card and returned to the country of his birth and citizenship. His net worth exceeded the threshold that normally created a presumption of tax…
PLR 200443012: LLC gets time for corporate classification and S elections
A single-owner LLC intended to elect corporate tax classification, but it did not file Form 8832 on time. Its S corporation election was then rejected because the corporate classification election…
PLR 200443011: Husband gets more time to allocate GST exemption to trust gift
A married couple had previously reported a gift to a trust for their descendants and allocated generation-skipping transfer (GST) tax exemption. After a later gift, the husband's accountant failed…
PLR 200443010: Wife may make late GST exemption allocation for stock gift
A husband transferred company stock to a trust for descendants, and the spouses elected to split the gift for gift tax purposes. The wife's accountant did not advise her to allocate…
PLR 200443009: Group gets extension to waive net operating loss carryback
The parent of a consolidated corporate group intended to waive the carryback period for a consolidated net operating loss but failed to file a valid election with its timely return. The IRS found…
PLR 200443008: Group gets extension to waive net operating loss carryback
The parent of a consolidated corporate group intended to waive the carryback period for a consolidated net operating loss but failed to file a valid election with its timely return. The IRS found…
PLR 200443007: Estate gets time to allocate GST exemption to trust gifts
A husband made cash gifts to a trust in two years. He and his wife reported the gifts and elected to split them, but his accountant failed to allocate his generation-skipping transfer (GST) tax…
PLR 200443006: Subsidiary merger preserves deferred intercompany gain
A consolidated group had deferred a gain from an earlier transfer of subsidiary stock. It proposed merging one subsidiary into another and asked how the new stock received by the common parent would…
PLR 200443005: Utility receives revised nuclear decommissioning funding schedule
A utility acquired an interest in a nuclear power plant and sought a revised schedule of amounts it could pay to a qualified decommissioning fund. The IRS found that the utility had a qualifying…
PLR 200443004: Estate may make late reverse QTIP election
An estate's attorney reported two marital trusts as one on the estate tax return and omitted the schedule needed for a reverse qualified terminable interest property (QTIP) election. The IRS gave…
PLR 200443003: Sale of nuclear plant and transfer of decommissioning funds
Two utilities planned to sell their interests in a nuclear power plant to a buyer that would assume decommissioning duties. The IRS ruled that transferring the sellers' qualified decommissioning…
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.