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 200438029: Securities partnership may aggregate certain gain and loss allocations
Family trusts contributed traded securities to a partnership formed to centralize investment management. The partnership proposed a partial netting method that would combine gains and losses from…
PLR 200438028: Split marital trust and charitable gift retain tax treatment
An estate had elected qualified terminable interest property treatment for a marital trust benefiting the surviving spouse, with a charity as remainder beneficiary. A court ordered the trust divided…
PLR 200438027: More time to file dual resident loss election documents
A taxpayer missed the deadline to file election agreements and annual certifications required by the dual resident corporation regulations. It sought relief under Treasury Regulation § 301.9100-3…
PLR 200438026: Equal trust division creates no gain or gift and preserves GST exemption
Settlors created an irrevocable trust before September 25, 1985 for two children and their descendants. The trustees proposed to divide its assets equally and proportionately between two new trusts…
PLR 200438025: Bond issuer gets more time for volume cap carryforward election
A bond issuer received an allocation of unused private activity bond volume cap for a qualified residential rental project. It missed the Form 8328 filing deadline because it believed the state…
PLR 200438024: Late tax year election accepted for S corporation
An S corporation intended to elect a tax year other than its required year by filing Form 8716. It hired tax professionals to handle the filing, but a misunderstanding between them caused the form…
PLR 200438023: Late S corporation election granted for reasonable cause
A corporation intended to elect S corporation status but its president did not file Form 2553 on time. The IRS found reasonable cause for the late election under section 1362(b)(5). It ruled that…
PLR 200438022: Late dual consolidated loss filings receive 45 day extension
A taxpayer sought extra time to file election agreements for dual consolidated losses in two tax years and an annual certification for one entity's earlier loss. A partner at the accounting firm…
PLR 200438021: Revised funding schedule approved for nuclear decommissioning fund
An electric utility requested a revised schedule of annual amounts it could contribute to a nuclear decommissioning fund under section 468A. Five public utility commissions regulated its rates, and…
PLR 200438020: Utility receives revised nuclear decommissioning fund schedule
A utility requested another revision to the annual funding schedule for its share of a nuclear plant's decommissioning costs. Two public utility commissions regulated the plant, but this request…
PLR 200438019: Revised nuclear decommissioning schedule approved
An electric utility requested a revised schedule of amounts for its nuclear decommissioning fund. Five public utility commissions regulated its rates, and one had aligned the plant's estimated…
PLR 200438018: Revised schedule approved for nuclear decommissioning fund
A utility requested a revised schedule of annual contributions to a nuclear decommissioning fund for its interest in a power plant. Two public utility commissions regulated the plant, and the…
PLR 200438017: Utility's revised nuclear fund schedule is approved
A utility sought a revised schedule of ruling amounts for contributions to a nuclear plant decommissioning fund. Two public utility commissions regulated the plant, and the requested change related…
PLR 200438016: Revised nuclear decommissioning fund schedule is approved
An electric utility requested a revised annual funding schedule for decommissioning a nuclear plant in which it owned an interest. Five public utility commissions oversaw its rates, and one had…
PLR 200438015: Restructured corporate group may file a consolidated return
An S corporation owned the parent of a group that filed consolidated federal income tax returns. The proposed restructuring would dissolve that parent and another member, then place the remaining…
PLR 200438014: Estate gets more time to elect alternate valuation
An estate filed its estate tax return without electing to value its property at the alternate valuation date. Its attorney later realized that the election would have lowered both the estate's…
PLR 200438013: Revised nuclear fund schedule approved with a five-year limit
A utility that owned an interest in a nuclear plant requested a revised schedule for payments to its decommissioning fund. Two public utility commissions had approved decommissioning costs for…
PLR 200438012: Dividing an older trust preserves its GST exemption
A trust became irrevocable before September 25, 1985, and its beneficiaries proposed dividing it equally into three trusts for the decedent's living children and their descendants. Each new trust…
PLR 200438011: Late accounting period application treated as timely
An investment partnership sought to change its tax year end from November 30 to December 31, but filed Form 1128 after the deadline because of an error or misunderstanding. The IRS found that the…
PLR 200438010: Revised regional agreements do not trigger taxable gain
A company asked the IRS to supplement an earlier ruling after changing the agreements for a regional business restructuring. A partnership would assume regional operating duties and hire another…
PLR 200438009: Late S corporation election granted conditional relief
A corporation's sole shareholder intended to elect S corporation status from the date of incorporation, but the corporation never filed Form 2553. The IRS found reasonable cause for the missed…
PLR 200438008: Synthetic fuel credit survives ownership sale and facility relocation
A partnership that made synthetic fuel from coal asked whether a proposed sale of one ownership interest changed its earlier section 29 credit rulings. The IRS confirmed that fuel made with the…
PLR 200438007: Partnership receives relief for late tax year election
A data entry partnership relied on a tax professional to file Form 8716 to elect a tax year other than its required year, but the form was filed late. The year in which the election should have been…
PLR 200438006: Inadvertently missed S corporation election gets relief
A corporation's president and sole shareholder intended to elect S corporation status but inadvertently missed the Form 2553 filing deadline. The IRS found reasonable cause for the failure. It ruled…
PLR 200438005: Life insurance contract rounding error qualifies for waiver
A life insurer asked for relief after discovering that factors printed in some policy endorsements had been rounded to two decimal places, potentially causing the policies to fail section 7702's…
PLR 200438004: S corporation status restored after missed trust election
A corporation's sole shareholder transferred all his shares to a trust intended to qualify as a shareholder of an S corporation. The trust's income beneficiary failed to make the required qualified…
PLR 200438003: Late S corporation election may take effect as requested
The shareholders of a newly incorporated company intended it to be an S corporation for a specified tax year, but its Form 2553 was not filed on time. The IRS found reasonable cause for the missed…
PLR 200438002: Actively managed rental income is not passive investment income
A real estate company with accumulated earnings and profits planned to elect S corporation status. It asked whether rents from its commercial and residential properties would count as passive…
PLR 200438001: Trust may switch from ESBT back to QSST status
A trust initially elected qualified subchapter S trust status, then elected to be an electing small business trust. Less than 36 months later, its trustee and beneficiary sought to revoke the ESBT…
TAM 200437040: Religious organization keeps exemption but loses church classification
The IRS reviewed a religious organization's tax exemption, political broadcasts, and classification as a church. It advised that the organization had not developed a substantial nonexempt purpose…
PLR 200437039: Conditional waiver of pension plan minimum funding granted
A company facing temporary financial hardship received a conditional waiver of its pension plan's minimum funding requirement for the plan year beginning October 1, 2002. The IRS cited the company's…
PLR 200437038: Proposed IRA payment formula fails early distribution exception
A retiree proposed calculating IRA withdrawals using a ladder of hypothetical Treasury zero coupon bonds and asked whether the payments would avoid the 10 percent tax on early distributions. The IRS…
PLR 200437037: Uncompleted IRA conversions cannot be treated as Roth rollovers
Two taxpayers instructed a financial company to convert their traditional IRAs to Roth IRAs in 1998, but the company did not complete the conversions. They asked the IRS to treat the attempted…
PLR 200437036: Senior living reorganization preserves exemptions and related income treatment
An exempt senior living organization planned to separate its independent living operation from its assisted living and nursing facilities under a new nonprofit parent. The IRS ruled that all three…
TAM 200437035: Direct labor cannot allocate all raw material storage costs
A manufacturer used direct labor as the base for allocating inventory overhead, including storage and handling costs. That method assigned no such costs to raw materials held for future production,…
TAM 200437034: Net scrap cost allocation is reasonable for this manufacturer
A manufacturer generated both waste scrap and salvageable scrap, which it routinely sold in small amounts. It reduced factory overhead by the proceeds from salvageable scrap before allocating the…
TAM 200437033: Distribution limits do not prevent a Subpart F inclusion
A U.S. group financed an acquisition through foreign entities, including a controlled foreign corporation with common and preferred units. Its agreement barred distributions on the common units…
TAM 200437032: Bequest to a person under a vow of poverty is not a charitable bequest
A decedent left the residue of an estate to a sibling who belonged to a religious order and had taken a vow of poverty. The sibling later transferred the estate's securities and cash to the order.…
TAM 200437031: Assembling prehung doors is production under the inventory cost rules
A building materials seller assembled doors and frames to customers' specifications. The IRS advised that the cutting, framing, routing, and hinge installation transformed the materials into prehung…
TAM 200437030: Grocery gift coupons are taxable employee benefits
A tax-exempt employer replaced annual holiday gifts of food with $35 coupons redeemable at several grocery stores. The IRS advised that the coupons were cash equivalents, even though they could not…
PLR 200437029: Business split-off qualifies as a tax-free reorganization
A corporation transferred one of its businesses to a newly formed subsidiary and planned to give that subsidiary's stock to two shareholders in exchange for their stock in the parent. The IRS ruled…
PLR 200437028: Tax treatment of city firefighter and police disability benefits
A city benefit fund asked whether disability and survivor payments to firefighters and police officers could be excluded as workers' compensation under section 104(a)(1). The IRS distinguished…
PLR 200437027: LLC receives more time to elect corporate tax status
A corporation converted to a single-member LLC, and its owner intended it to remain classified as a corporation for federal tax purposes. A miscommunication with the tax adviser meant that no Form…
PLR 200437026: Entity receives extension to elect corporate classification
An eligible entity failed to file its election to be treated as a corporation on time. It asked for relief under Treasury Regulation § 301.9100-3. Based on the submitted facts and representations,…
PLR 200437025: Entity receives extension to elect corporate classification
An eligible entity failed to file its election to be treated as a corporation on time. It asked for relief under Treasury Regulation § 301.9100-3. Based on the submitted facts and representations,…
PLR 200437024: Settlement preserves older trusts' GST tax exemption
Family members settled disputes over the administration and terms of trusts established before September 25, 1985. The court-approved agreement would modify income rights, trustee selection,…
PLR 200437023: Family trust settlement preserves GST tax exemption
A beneficiary sought a ruling on a family settlement that would change the terms of two trusts established for that beneficiary after the original family trusts were created. The original trusts…
PLR 200437022: Family trust settlement preserves GST tax exemption
A beneficiary sought a ruling on a family settlement that would change the terms of two trusts established for that beneficiary after the original family trusts were created. The original trusts…
PLR 200437021: Family trust settlement preserves GST tax exemption
A beneficiary sought a ruling on a family settlement that would change the terms of two irrevocable trusts created for that beneficiary before September 25, 1985. The trusts had received no later…
PLR 200437020: Settlement preserves a family trust's GST tax exemption
A trustee sought a ruling on a settlement that would change the terms and administration of a trust established under an equalization provision for a later-born grandchild. The original family…
PLR 200437019: Settlement preserves a family trust's GST tax exemption
A trustee sought a ruling on a settlement that would change the terms and administration of a trust established under an equalization provision for a later-born grandchild. The original family…
PLR 200437018: Settlement preserves a family trust's GST tax exemption
A trustee sought a ruling on a settlement that would change the terms and administration of an irrevocable trust created for a grandchild before September 25, 1985. The letter says no additions were…
PLR 200437017: Settlement preserves a family trust's GST tax exemption
A trustee sought a ruling on a settlement that would change the terms and administration of an irrevocable trust created for a grandchild before September 25, 1985. The letter says no additions were…
PLR 200437016: Settlement preserves a family trust's GST tax exemption
A trustee sought a ruling on a settlement that would change the terms and administration of an irrevocable trust created for a grandchild before September 25, 1985. The letter says no additions were…
PLR 200437015: Settlement preserves a family trust's GST tax exemption
A trustee sought a ruling on a settlement that would change the terms and administration of a trust established under an equalization provision for a later-born grandchild. The original family…
PLR 200437014: Settlement preserves a family trust's GST tax exemption
A trustee sought a ruling on a settlement that would change the terms and administration of a trust established under an equalization provision for a later-born grandchild. The original family…
PLR 200437013: Settlement preserves a family trust's GST tax exemption
A trustee sought a ruling on a settlement that would change the terms and administration of an irrevocable trust created for a grandchild before September 25, 1985. The letter says no additions were…
PLR 200437012: Trust settlement preserves GST exemption without gift or gain
A trustee and beneficiaries settled disputed interpretations of a trust that became irrevocable before September 25, 1985. A court order clarified the beneficiaries' interests and changed…
PLR 200437011: Dividing an older trust into twelve shares preserves key tax results
Trustees proposed dividing an irrevocable trust created before September 25, 1985, into twelve shares for its current income beneficiaries. The plan also revised the charitable distribution formula…
PLR 200437010: Bond issuer gets 45 more days for volume cap election
A public bond issuer received an allocation of unused private activity bond volume cap for solid waste disposal facility bonds. It inadvertently missed the deadline to file Form 8328 to carry 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.