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.
No determinations match these filters
Try fewer or different words, check the spelling, or clear the filters to browse everything.
PLR 200441018: Grandchildren's trust division kept GST exemption
The trustee of a trust created before the generation-skipping transfer tax took effect proposed a court-approved reformation and division into separate trusts for the beneficiaries. The IRS…
PLR 200441017: Late S corporation election treated as timely
A company and its shareholders intended S corporation status from the company's start, but Form 2553 was not filed on time. They had filed their first tax returns consistent with the intended S…
PLR 200441016: Late S corporation election relief granted
A corporation's shareholders wanted S corporation status from incorporation, but the corporation did not file the election on time. The IRS found reasonable cause for the missed deadline and granted…
PLR 200441015: Merger of similar S corporation shareholder trusts approved
Two qualified Subchapter S trusts with the same beneficiary and substantially identical terms held shares of the same S corporation. The trustee proposed merging one trust into the other to simplify…
PLR 200441014: Merger of two nonexempt QSSTs approved
Two grantor retained annuity trusts had produced separate exempt and nonexempt trusts holding S corporation shares. The two nonexempt qualified Subchapter S trusts had the same beneficiary and…
PLR 200441013: Merger of exempt QSSTs preserved GST treatment
Two qualified Subchapter S trusts with the same beneficiary held shares of the same corporation and each had a zero generation-skipping transfer tax inclusion ratio. One proposed to merge into the…
PLR 200441012: Revised nuclear decommissioning fund schedule approved
A utility sought a revised schedule of amounts it could contribute to a nuclear plant decommissioning fund after a regulator changed the expected date the plant would leave its rate base. The IRS…
PLR 200441011: Utility's revised decommissioning schedule approved
A utility requested a revised schedule for contributions to its nuclear plant decommissioning fund after a public utility commission changed the expected date the plant would leave the rate base.…
PLR 200441010: Possible S corporation termination treated as inadvertent
A corporation's share transfers and shareholder agreements may have created a second class of stock, which could have ended its S corporation election. After discovering the issue, it amended an…
PLR 200441009: Invalid trust shareholders received S election relief
Two trusts received shares of an S corporation and their beneficiaries made qualified Subchapter S trust elections. The trust terms could have allowed distributions to others, so the trusts were…
PLR 200441008: Extension granted for dual resident loss filings
A corporate taxpayer failed to file agreements and annual certifications required under the dual resident corporation regulations. Its tax department had relied on tax professionals who did not…
PLR 200441007: Independent stock redemptions were not a coordinated plan
A corporation proposed amending its charter to allow holders to redeem varying numbers of voting shares. Individual agents would request redemptions, and the board would decide each request based on…
PLR 200441006: Time extended for dual consolidated loss agreements
A corporate taxpayer and its accounting firm missed required agreements for dual consolidated losses involving two entities and several tax years. They attributed the omission to staff turnover and…
PLR 200441005: Trust extension for disabled beneficiary kept GST exemption
A trust created before the generation-skipping transfer tax rules took effect was due to distribute its property to a grandson at a specified age. The grandson had since become mentally…
PLR 200441004: Active rental income was not passive investment income
A real estate company with accumulated earnings and profits planned to elect S corporation status. It asked whether rent from its commercial and residential properties counted as passive investment…
PLR 200441003: Serviced property rentals were not passive investment income
An S corporation with accumulated earnings and profits planned to acquire a rental property and operate it much as the current owner did. The property operation involved staff, cabin cleaning,…
CCA 200441002: Postmark and check issue dates control refund interest
A corporation mailed a return showing an overpayment on its extended filing deadline, and the IRS received it two days later. Chief Counsel advised that the return was deemed filed on the postmark…
PLR 200441001: Five-year decommissioning fund schedule approved
A utility requested a new schedule of allowable contributions to a nuclear plant decommissioning fund after an earlier schedule expired. The IRS approved a revised schedule under § 468A based on the…
PLR 200440031: Retirement plan payouts could use eldest grandchild's life expectancy
A deceased participant named a trust for his grandchildren as beneficiary of two retirement plans. The trust could pay estate expenses, and a state court required plan proceeds paid to the trust to…
PLR 200440030: IRA rollover deadline waived after account deposit error
An IRA owner tried to move funds directly from one custodian to another. The receiving company deposited the money into a money market account rather than an IRA, and the owner discovered the…
PLR 200440029: Pension funding penalty waivers granted in part
A company sought relief from excise taxes arising from accumulated funding deficiencies in its pension plan. The IRS granted waivers of the additional 100 percent tax under § 4971(b) for three plan…
PLR 200440028: County pension contributions qualify for prospective pick up treatment
A county asked whether employee contributions to its pension plan could be treated as employer contributions. The IRS ruled that contributions picked up under the proposed county resolution would be…
PLR 200440027: Late IRA rollover allowed after account holder's illness
An IRA owner took a distribution and failed to redeposit it within 60 days because of a medical condition. The owner's daughter, acting under a power of attorney, requested a waiver of the rollover…
PLR 200440026: Rollover deadline waived after brokerage sent wrong application
A former employee intended to roll a retirement plan distribution into an IRA. The receiving company sent an application for a brokerage account instead, so the distribution remained outside an IRA.…
PLR 200440025: Surviving spouse may roll inherited IRA proceeds through estate into her IRA
A deceased IRA owner's two accounts passed to his estate because he had named no IRA beneficiary. His surviving spouse was the estate's executor and residuary beneficiary. She proposed to distribute…
PLR 200440024: Surviving spouse may roll IRA proceeds paid through a trust into his own IRA
A woman named a trust as beneficiary of her IRA. After her death, her surviving husband became the trust's sole trustee and surviving grantor, with the right to withdraw its assets. He proposed to…
TAM 200440023: Casino license fee liability arises when the required estimate is paid
A casino operator paid monthly state license fees based on estimated gaming revenue. State law required advance payment to keep its license, then applied later adjustments against fees due. The IRS…
PLR 200440022: Partnership receives more time to elect a property basis adjustment
A partnership made a liquidating distribution but missed the deadline for electing a basis adjustment under Section 754. Its accountant had failed to advise it that the election was available. The…
PLR 200440021: Corporation receives relief for a late S election
A corporation's sole shareholder intended S corporation status from the date of incorporation, but the corporation filed no timely election. The IRS found reasonable cause for the missed deadline…
PLR 200440020: Donor receives time to allocate GST exemption to family trusts
A donor and spouse split gifts to trusts for their descendants. The donor's tax preparer omitted generation skipping transfer tax exemption allocations for gifts to three trusts, and the donor…
PLR 200440019: Donor receives time to allocate GST exemption to descendant trusts
A donor and spouse split gifts to trusts for their descendants. A tax preparer omitted the donor's generation skipping transfer tax exemption allocations for gifts to three trusts. The donor sought…
PLR 200440018: REIT receives more time to elect subsidiary tax treatment
A real estate investment trust held direct or indirect interests in four corporations that it wanted treated as taxable REIT subsidiaries. It missed or could not confirm timely joint elections, in…
PLR 200440017: Corporation gets 60 days to file a late S election
A corporation's shareholders intended S corporation status from its incorporation date, but no timely Form 2553 was filed. The IRS found reasonable cause for the missed election deadline under…
PLR 200440016: Bond authority can correct its unused volume cap election
A public bond authority meant to carry forward unused private activity bond volume cap for qualified mortgage bonds. Its timely Form 8328 mistakenly named qualified student loan bonds, which the…
PLR 200440015: Late S election treated as effective from incorporation
A corporation's shareholders intended it to be an S corporation from incorporation, but the election was not filed on time. The IRS found reasonable cause for the missed deadline and ruled that the…
PLR 200440014: Partnership gets more time for a Section 754 basis election
A partner died, creating a transfer of an interest in a limited partnership. The partnership filed its return without a Section 754 election to adjust the basis of partnership property, after its…
PLR 200440013: Partnership gets more time for a Section 754 basis election
A partner died, creating a transfer of an interest in a limited partnership. The partnership filed its return without a Section 754 election to adjust the basis of partnership property, after its…
PLR 200440012: Gold hedge gains can count toward a fund's qualifying income
Four investment funds held shares of gold related companies and proposed to use gold options and futures to hedge those holdings. The IRS ruled that gains on the gold contracts would count as…
PLR 200440011: Utility receives a revised nuclear decommissioning fund schedule
A utility that partly owned a nuclear plant asked for a revised schedule of permitted payments to its nuclear decommissioning fund. The IRS approved the proposed schedule under Section 468A based on…
PLR 200440010: Foreign entity gets more time to elect disregarded status
A single owner acquired a foreign entity that later changed its legal form. The entity said it became eligible for disregarded entity treatment when that change took effect, but it missed the…
PLR 200440009: Stock exchange in foreign acquisition may avoid immediate gain
A foreign corporation planned to acquire a U.S. corporation through a merger that would give the U.S. company's shareholders shares of the foreign acquirer. The IRS ruled that U.S. shareholders who…
PLR 200440008: County ambulance provider qualifies for excise tax exemptions
A nonprofit ambulance provider managed emergency and other medical transportation for a county under a service agreement. It served everyone regardless of ability to pay, treated some county…
PLR 200440007: Managed property rents are not passive S corporation income
An S corporation owned and managed residential rental properties and had accumulated earnings and profits. It asked whether rents from those properties counted as passive investment income under the…
PLR 200440006: Former resident's departure lacked a principal tax avoidance purpose
A former U.S. lawful permanent resident relinquished his green card and lived in his country of citizenship, where he was taxed on worldwide income. His net worth exceeded the threshold that could…
PLR 200440005: Borrowed share delivery defers one gain but triggers another
A subsidiary used borrowed shares to settle contracts requiring delivery of company stock, while keeping shares it already owned. The IRS treated delivery of the borrowed shares as a short sale that…
PLR 200440004: Merger preferred shares avoid nonqualified stock classification
Two corporations with overlapping owners planned to merge, giving the shareholders of one corporation a new class of preferred shares in the other. A stock classification question mattered because…
PLR 200440003: Merger preferred shares avoid nonqualified stock classification
Two corporations with overlapping owners planned to merge, giving the shareholders of one corporation a new class of preferred shares in the other. A stock classification question mattered because…
PLR 200440002: Related partnerships may each complete a like kind exchange
Two related partnerships planned linked real estate exchanges through qualified intermediaries. One would exchange its building for the other's building; the other would exchange that building for…
PLR 200440001: Transferred wind facility cannot claim electricity production credit
A taxpayer acquired an existing wind facility whose electricity was sold to a utility under a power purchase agreement originally signed before 1987. It argued that the facility's original placed in…
PLR 200439050: IRA owner gets a 60 day rollover waiver after surgery
An IRA owner withdrew funds intending to roll them into another IRA. Surgery restricted her travel, and the staff member able to open an IRA at a bank was unavailable when she tried to complete the…
PLR 200439049: Two former employees receive a retirement plan rollover waiver
Two former employees received checks from their employer's retirement plan to roll into IRAs. A representative told them there was no deadline as long as they kept the checks uncashed and out of…
PLR 200439048: Public employer pension contributions count as employer payments
A public water and sewer employer agreed to pay its employees' mandatory contributions to a governmental pension plan. Its resolution said the payments would replace employee contributions and that…
PLR 200439047: IRA owner gets rollover waiver after illness and account closure
An IRA owner undergoing cancer treatment could no longer manage her finances. Her daughter closed the IRA while moving the owner's bank accounts, unaware that it was a retirement account, and…
PLR 200439046: IRA rollover deadline waived after bank opened the wrong accounts
An IRA owner asked a bank to place a distribution from an existing IRA into a rollover IRA. The owner sent the check to the bank within the 60 day rollover period, but the bank opened five…
PLR 200439045: Pension benefit reduction amendment denied
A pension plan sought approval for an amendment that would reduce future service credit for active employees and remove a 15% post-retirement benefit improvement for retirees. The IRS denied the…
PLR 200439044: IRA rollover waiver after agent bought a nonqualified annuity
An IRA owner told an insurance agent that he wanted to move his retirement assets without current income tax. The agent placed the IRA distribution in an annuity identified as nonqualified rather…
PLR 200439043: Certification program is unrelated business but does not end exemption
A scientific and educational organization planned a professional certification program with an exam, required training, experience, ethics review, and continuing education. It asked whether the…
TAM 200439042: Settlements of charitable trust claims are not business deductions
An insurer made three payments to settle lawsuits arising from mergers with organizations that had operated as nonprofits. The lawsuits alleged that assets acquired through the mergers were subject…
TAM 200439041: Serviced mortgages are excluded from a bank's bad debt reserve
A bank sold mortgages but retained the rights to service them. It counted the mortgages owned by others as outstanding loans when calculating its reserve for bad debts under § 585. The IRS advised…
PLR 200439040: Former resident's departure was not principally for tax avoidance
A foreign citizen who had become a U.S. permanent resident for work planned to return to his birth country, where he would be taxed on worldwide income. His net worth exceeded the threshold that…
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.