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 200439039: Late S corporation election accepted for incorporation date
A corporation intended to elect S corporation status from its incorporation date but missed the filing deadline. The IRS found reasonable cause for the late election and granted relief under §…
PLR 200439038: Wind project advance payment does not reduce production credit
A wind electricity project agreed to transfer environmental attributes to a trust in exchange for an advance payment earned as electricity was delivered. The project also expected to receive a…
PLR 200439037: Corporation granted relief for late S election
A corporation intended to elect S corporation status effective on its incorporation date but did not file the election on time. The IRS found reasonable cause for the delay and granted late election…
PLR 200439036: Extra time granted to split marital trust and elect reverse QTIP treatment
An estate filed its estate tax return with a QTIP election for a marital trust, but did not split that trust into GST exempt and nonexempt shares or make a reverse QTIP election. Part of the…
PLR 200439035: Late S election relief from incorporation date
A corporation's shareholder intended S corporation treatment from the date of incorporation, but the election was not filed on time. The IRS found reasonable cause for the failure and granted relief…
PLR 200439034: Invalid S election treated as effective after missed trust elections
Two trusts held shares when a corporation elected S status, but their trustees had not filed electing small business trust elections. They had believed the trusts were grantor trusts owned by their…
PLR 200439033: Municipal power group's income excluded but returns required after exemption ends
A nonprofit corporation whose members were political subdivisions operating municipal utilities pooled resources to buy, generate, and sell electric power. The IRS ruled that its income was excluded…
PLR 200439031: Estate gets extra time to allocate GST exemption to two trusts
A taxpayer transferred stock to two trusts, but her tax advisers did not allocate her generation-skipping transfer exemption on the gift tax returns. After her death, the estate requested time to…
PLR 200439030: LLC gets time to elect corporate tax classification
A single owner LLC learned that an anticipated tax effect required it to be classified as an association rather than as a disregarded entity. It sought more time to file Form 8832 electing treatment…
PLR 200439029: Trust division preserves exemption from generation-skipping tax
A settlor created a revocable trust before the 1986 generation-skipping transfer tax changes and died before 1987. The trustee proposed to divide one child's trust into separate trusts for that…
PLR 200439028: Proposed stock transfers preserve S corporation status
Two individuals jointly held stock in an S corporation and proposed to transfer their separate shares through partnerships, LLCs, and trusts. The IRS concluded that each trust would be a grantor…
PLR 200439027: Grantor trusts and disregarded entities preserve S election
A shareholder of an S corporation proposed to transfer stock through three trusts, a partnership, and an LLC. The IRS concluded that the trusts would be grantor trusts treated as owned by the…
PLR 200439026: Synthetic fuel credit continues after ownership and site changes
An owner of a coal to synthetic fuel facility sought confirmation of earlier § 29 credit rulings after an investor bought an indirect ownership interest. The IRS reaffirmed under its stated ruling…
PLR 200439025: S election accepted from incorporation date if Form 2553 is filed
A corporation's shareholders wanted S corporation treatment beginning on the incorporation date, but the election was not filed on time. The IRS found reasonable cause for the failure and granted…
PLR 200439024: Late entity classification election granted
A business entity intended to elect treatment as a corporation from its organization date, but Form 8832 was not filed on time. The IRS found the requirements for discretionary filing relief…
PLR 200439023: Partnership gets time to make late basis adjustment election
A limited partnership filed its return without a § 754 election after a partner died. It said its tax adviser had not explained the election's availability or benefits. The IRS found that the…
PLR 200439022: Partnership gets more time to elect a basis adjustment
A limited partnership filed its return without a § 754 election after a partner died. Its general partner said a professional tax adviser had failed to explain the election's availability and…
PLR 200439021: Partnership gets more time to elect a basis adjustment
A limited partnership filed its return without a § 754 election after a partner died. Its general partner said a professional tax adviser had failed to explain the election's availability and…
PLR 200439020: Partnership gets more time to elect a basis adjustment
A limited partnership filed its return without a § 754 election after a partner died. Its general partner said a professional tax adviser had failed to explain the election's availability and…
PLR 200439019: Partnership gets more time to elect a basis adjustment
A limited partnership filed its return without a § 754 election after a partner died. Its general partner said a professional tax adviser had failed to explain the election's availability and…
PLR 200439018: Late S corporation election accepted
A corporation intended to be treated as an S corporation from its incorporation date, but it filed its election late. The IRS found reasonable cause for the delay and granted relief under §…
PLR 200439017: Earthquake settlement treated as owners' recovery of capital
Condominium associations received insurance settlement proceeds for earthquake damage to property owned by their members. The IRS ruled that the associations held the proceeds as agents for the unit…
PLR 200439016: Pre-1979 annuity rights receive date-of-death basis
A man bought two deferred annuity contracts before October 21, 1979, and died before either began paying an annuity. The IRS applied the rule governing those older contracts and concluded that the…
PLR 200439015: Corporation may make a late S election
A corporation's sole shareholder intended S corporation treatment from incorporation, but the corporation did not file Form 2553 on time. The corporation filed S corporation returns, and its…
PLR 200439014: Buyer gets more time for section 338(g) election
A corporate parent and its foreign subsidiary acquired two corporate groups but missed the deadline for a § 338(g) election, which can treat a stock purchase as an asset acquisition. The IRS found…
PLR 200439013: Late S corporation election receives relief
A corporation's sole shareholder wanted S corporation treatment from the incorporation date, but the election was not filed on time. The IRS found reasonable cause for the delay and granted relief…
PLR 200439012: Late S corporation election accepted
A corporation intended to be treated as an S corporation from its incorporation date, but it filed its election late. The IRS found reasonable cause for the delay and granted relief under §…
PLR 200439011: Couple may allocate GST exemptions to earlier trust gifts
A married couple transferred stock to a trust for descendants and reported the gifts, but their accountant failed to allocate their generation-skipping transfer (GST) tax exemptions. The IRS granted…
PLR 200439010: Late S election allowed with amended returns
A corporation's shareholders intended to elect S corporation treatment, but its Form 2553 was not filed on time. The IRS found reasonable cause for the delay and granted relief under § 1362(b)(5).…
PLR 200439009: Proposed corporate spin-off receives favorable rulings
A corporation proposed distributing its stock in a subsidiary to its shareholder to separate two businesses and reduce risk. Based on the submitted facts and representations, the IRS ruled that…
PLR 200439008: Late S election may take effect in intended tax year
A corporation's sole shareholder intended S corporation treatment for a specified tax year, but the IRS service center had no record of a timely Form 2553. The corporation had received a state…
PLR 200439007: IRA ownership does not prevent S corporation relief
A corporation elected S status and qualified subchapter S subsidiary treatment for its wholly owned subsidiary, but some of its shares were held in shareholders' individual retirement accounts.…
PLR 200439006: Active rental income is not passive investment income
An S corporation with accumulated earnings and profits owned and operated commercial rental property. It described extensive maintenance, inspection, repair, and leasing services. Based on those…
PLR 200439005: Former green card holder gets time to request a section 877 ruling
A taxpayer surrendered his green card and moved abroad. His former tax adviser had not told him about the one-year deadline to request a ruling under § 877; a new adviser discovered the missed…
PLR 200439004: Group may file late election to waive loss carryback
A consolidated corporate group intended to waive the carryback period for a consolidated net operating loss, but it omitted the required election statement from its timely return. The IRS found…
PLR 200439003: Holding company merger qualifies as a reorganization
A publicly traded corporation proposed creating a holding company and merging into a new subsidiary, with its shareholders receiving holding company voting stock. Provided the merger qualifies as a…
PLR 200439002: Donor may make late GST exemption allocations to family trusts
A donor made gifts to separate trusts for a son and two grandchildren, but the accounting firm that prepared the gift tax return omitted the donor's generation-skipping transfer (GST) exemption…
PLR 200439001: Donor may make late GST exemption allocations to family trusts
A donor made gifts to separate trusts for a son and two grandchildren, but the accounting firm that prepared the gift tax return omitted the donor's generation-skipping transfer (GST) exemption…
PLR 200438051: Spouse receives more time to roll over inherited IRA proceeds
A surviving spouse received a distribution from her late husband's individual retirement annuity and missed the 60-day IRA rollover deadline. She said her financial adviser had not explained the…
PLR 200438050: Late Roth IRA recharacterization allowed
A taxpayer converted a traditional IRA to a Roth IRA while expecting to file a joint return. After separating from his spouse, he filed separately and was ineligible for the conversion. He…
PLR 200438049: Beneficiary taxed as annuity payments arrive
A beneficiary of a deceased brother's retirement plan could take a lump sum or have the plan buy a nontransferable annuity for the beneficiary. The IRS ruled that if the beneficiary chooses the…
PLR 200438048: Illness supports waiver of IRA rollover deadline
A taxpayer withdrew money from an IRA for expected medical expenses but later found that he did not need part of it. Ill health, hospitalization, home nursing, and physical therapy prevented him…
PLR 200438047: Partial plan distribution gets rollover deadline waiver
A former employee received a retirement plan distribution and misunderstood the rollover deadline. His son's hospitalization and other family expenses led him to retain the money, and he used part…
PLR 200438046: Broker error permits rollover of excess IRA withdrawal
A broker told an IRA owner to withdraw 26.2 percent for a required minimum distribution instead of calculating the distribution with a divisor of 26.2. The mistake caused the owner to withdraw more…
PLR 200438045: Surviving spouse may roll over elected share of inherited IRA assets
A surviving spouse elected under state law to receive one-third of her deceased husband's net estate, including portions of his IRA assets that had been designated for their children. Some of those…
PLR 200438044: Surviving spouse's life expectancy governs plan distributions through a trust
A deceased participant named a trust as beneficiary of his retirement plan. The trust paid income and potentially principal to his surviving spouse, with remainder interests for his three adult…
PLR 200438043: Foundation gets five more years to sell excess business holdings
A private foundation received a 50 percent membership interest in a securities and futures clearing firm as a gift. That interest exceeded the business holdings a private foundation may keep under…
PLR 200438042: Foundation receives five-year extension to sell excess holdings
A private foundation received a membership interest in a securities and futures clearing firm as a gift. Its interest exceeded the business holdings permitted for a private foundation under section…
PLR 200438041: Foundation may terminate by transferring all assets to a public charity
A private foundation planned to transfer all its assets to a public charity and dissolve. The charity had held its qualifying status for more than 60 months, and the foundation would place no…
PLR 200438040: Conditional funding waiver for a pension plan
A company sought a waiver of the minimum funding standard for its pension plan for the year ending December 31, 2003. It reported worsening sales, losses, reduced cash, and increased debt, and it…
PLR 200438039: Conditional funding waiver for a pension plan
A company requested a waiver of the minimum funding standard for its pension plan for the year ending December 31, 2003. The company cited falling sales, losses, debt, and an equipment failure, and…
TAM 200438038: Failed merger termination fee is ordinary income
A company received a termination fee after another bidder acquired the business it had agreed to buy. The company first reported the fee as capital gain, then sought a refund on the theory that it…
PLR 200438037: Former resident's departure did not have a principal tax avoidance purpose
A former U.S. permanent resident gave up his green card after retiring and returning to his birth country, where he was taxed on worldwide income. His net worth exceeded the threshold that could…
PLR 200438036: Estate gets more time to elect farm special use valuation
A decedent had transferred two farms to a son while retaining a life estate. The estate's advisers treated the transfer as a prior gift and did not include the farms in the gross estate, so the…
PLR 200438035: Two asset transfers qualify as Type D reorganizations
A corporation planned to form two subsidiaries, transfer assets and parts of its existing business to them, and distribute all their stock to its shareholders. It said the separation would preserve…
PLR 200438034: Late trust election receives S corporation termination relief
A trust acquired stock in an S corporation, but its trustees failed to file the election needed for it to qualify as an electing small business trust. That made the trust an ineligible shareholder…
PLR 200438033: Convertible commercial units may qualify in housing cooperative
A housing cooperative planned to issue stock tied to units then leased for commercial use. The new stockholders would have the right to convert and occupy those units as homes, and the cooperative…
PLR 200438032: Trust settlement preserves generation skipping tax exemption
A trust created before September 25, 1985 was exempt from generation skipping transfer tax, and the family proposed a court approved settlement of disputes over its administration and terms. The…
PLR 200438031: Family trust settlement retains generation skipping tax exemption
A family trust established before September 25, 1985 was exempt from generation skipping transfer tax. After a dispute over its administration, family members negotiated a court approved settlement…
PLR 200438030: Settlement leaves original family trust exempt from GST tax
An irrevocable trust established before September 25, 1985 was exempt from generation skipping transfer tax. Family members settled litigation about its administration and proposed changes to…
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.