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 200434023: Blood service pension plan receives conditional funding waiver
A nonprofit blood service requested relief from a pension plan minimum funding standard after financial losses, weak working capital, and difficulty obtaining a bank loan. The IRS granted a…
PLR 200434022: Separate year plan distributions prevent stock appreciation exclusion
A retiree received employer stock from a plan in 2002 but left the plan's mutual fund accounts in place until a direct transfer to an IRA in February 2003. The retiree believed a single form had…
TAM 200434021: Bank must count all subsidiary bonds in interest expense limits
A bank placed investment assets in a wholly owned subsidiary that held tax-exempt bonds. The bank counted its subsidiary stock and some of the subsidiary's bonds in calculating interest expense…
TAM 200434020: Feed semitrailer floor assembly remains taxable chassis property
A manufacturer sold a bulk feed semitrailer with a tank body that qualified for the section 4053(2) excise tax exemption. It argued that an aluminum assembly forming the tank floor was part of the…
TAM 200434019: Antidumping offset is not a contribution to capital
A domestic manufacturer received a payment from antidumping duties collected under the Continued Dumping and Subsidy Offset Act. It had not included the payment in income and argued that the payment…
PLR 200434018: Foreign company gets more time for partnership election
A foreign limited liability company intended to be treated as a partnership for U.S. federal tax purposes but inadvertently missed the deadline to file Form 8832. The IRS found that the requirements…
PLR 200434017: Parent receives more time to file accounting method forms
A parent company timely attached three Forms 3115 to its consolidated return to request accounting method changes for itself and its subsidiaries. Its accountant inadvertently failed to send the…
PLR 200434016: Late S corporation election treated as timely if filed
A corporation intended to elect S corporation status from its formation date but did not file Form 2553 on time. Based on the submitted facts and representations, the IRS found reasonable cause for…
PLR 200434015: Synthetic fuel partnership retains section 29 credit rulings
A partnership producing synthetic fuel from coal asked the IRS to confirm prior section 29 credit rulings after changes in ownership and proposed changes to chemical reagents. The IRS reissued…
PLR 200434014: Coal fuel credit rulings reaffirmed after partnership changes
A partnership asked the IRS to reconfirm earlier section 29 synthetic fuel credit rulings after ownership changes and possible changes to the chemical reagents used at its coal processing…
PLR 200434013: Company gets relief for late corporate and S elections
The owners of a domestic limited liability company intended to elect corporate tax classification and S corporation treatment from its formation date, but inadvertently missed both filing deadlines.…
PLR 200434012: Trust asset transfer disregarded if both trusts are grantor owned
A person created two irrevocable trusts for descendants, and one trust proposed to transfer its assets to the other in exchange for a promissory note of equal value. Both trust arrangements included…
PLR 200434011: Former resident's green card surrender lacked tax avoidance purpose
A former U.S. permanent resident returned with her husband to a country where she was taxed on her worldwide income and surrendered her green card. Her net worth exceeded the threshold that could…
PLR 200434010: Deemed distributions of two subsidiaries' stock qualify under section 355
A publicly traded foreign corporation proposed a series of transactions after its shareholders would exchange their shares for stock of a new domestic parent. The IRS treated the series as two…
PLR 200434009: Taxpayer receives more time to file dual consolidated loss agreements
A taxpayer missed the deadlines for an election agreement and annual certifications concerning two entities' dual consolidated losses. Its tax director and outside CPA had failed to prepare or…
PLR 200434008: Church's deferred compensation trust does not trigger current employee income
A church created a revocable trust to help pay benefits under a nonqualified deferred compensation plan. Participants remained general unsecured creditors, and the trust assets were available to the…
PLR 200434007: Utility may remove prior owner's deferred tax balances after deemed asset purchase
A regulated natural gas business was acquired in a stock purchase with a section 338(h)(10) election, causing a deemed taxable sale of its assets. The new owner removed the former owner's…
PLR 200434006: Ineligible initial shareholder does not prevent S corporation treatment
A corporation elected S corporation status for its first tax year, but one of its original shareholders was ineligible. That shareholder transferred its shares to eligible shareholders within the…
PLR 200434005: Utility receives more time for nuclear decommissioning fund election
A utility's regulator reduced the amount it could collect for nuclear plant decommissioning, and the utility missed a deadline connected with a revised schedule of ruling amounts. It sought extra…
PLR 200434004: Convertible commercial space can qualify under housing cooperative rules
A housing cooperative planned to issue stock tied to commercial space that could be converted into residential units. The purchaser's proprietary lease would allow either commercial or residential…
PLR 200434003: Coal based synthetic fuel production remains eligible for section 29 credit
A partnership that operated two coal based synthetic fuel facilities asked the IRS to confirm earlier credit rulings after changes in ownership, production reagents, and facility location. The IRS…
PLR 200434002: S corporation receives relief after issuing shares to IRAs
An S corporation issued some of its stock to individual retirement account trusts, which were ineligible S corporation shareholders. It redeemed those shares after discovering the mistake. The IRS…
CCA 200434001: IRS may compromise Tax Court frivolous litigation penalties in limited cases
Chief Counsel considered whether the IRS could accept an offer in compromise for a penalty imposed by the Tax Court under section 6673(a)(1). It advised that section 7122 gives the IRS legal…
PLR 200433031: Trust may end private foundation status by transferring assets to a college
A charitable trust planned to transfer all its assets to a college that had qualified as a public charity for at least 60 months. The IRS ruled that the transfer would terminate the trust's private…
PLR 200433030: Mistaken bank account deposit qualifies for rollover deadline waiver
After receiving a distribution from an employer retirement plan, an individual took the check to a bank within 60 days intending to open a rollover IRA. The bank instead placed the funds in an…
PLR 200433029: IRA rollover deadline waiver denied after personal use of funds
An individual received an IRA distribution and initially placed it in another IRA within 60 days. Later, the individual withdrew money from that IRA for property, family support, and personal…
PLR 200433028: Foundation may gradually sell donated bank shares and pay trustee
A private foundation received most of its assets as stock in a bank whose affiliate served as its trustee. It planned to sell the stock gradually and diversify its investments while paying the…
PLR 200433027: IRA rollover deadline waived after broker omitted timing information
An IRA owner took a distribution and believed there were 90 days to roll it over. The brokerage firm did not supply information about the 60-day deadline, and the owner placed the money in a non-IRA…
PLR 200433026: Surviving spouse may roll inherited IRA proceeds through estate and trust
A deceased IRA owner's estate was the named beneficiary of his IRA. His surviving spouse, acting as personal representative, planned to allocate the proceeds to a marital trust, withdraw them as the…
PLR 200433025: Late notice of separate business lines treated as timely
An employer organized two qualified separate lines of business to provide different retirement benefits to their employees. Its consultants and counsel evaluated the arrangement, but neither…
PLR 200433024: IRA rollover deadline waived after mistaken levy
A bank sent proceeds from two IRAs to a county sheriff under a writ of execution. The IRA owner challenged the levy, and a court found the accounts exempt and ordered the funds released. By then,…
PLR 200433023: Incorrect 90-day advice leads to partial IRA rollover waiver
An individual received distributions from a simplified employee pension and an IRA. An investment specialist said the individual had 90 days to roll them over and suggested temporarily depositing…
PLR 200433022: Financial hardship does not justify IRA rollover deadline waiver
An individual withdrew money from an IRA to pay medical and household expenses and debts that threatened retention of the family home. The individual hoped to replace the money with proceeds from a…
PLR 200433021: Retirement plan for church affiliated health care employees qualifies as a church plan
A church affiliated health care system asked whether a retirement plan covering employees of its hospitals and other health care organizations qualified as a church plan. The participating…
PLR 200433020: Late rollover allowed after faulty advice on employer stock distribution
A former employee received company stock from a qualified retirement plan after financial advisers said the stock's net unrealized appreciation would receive favorable tax treatment. A prior plan…
PLR 200433019: Child may use life expectancy for inherited IRA distributions after retitling
A parent named a trust as beneficiary of two IRAs, with the parent's only child entitled to the remaining trust property. The child asked whether required minimum distributions could use her life…
PLR 200433018: Unrequested IRA check qualifies for rollover deadline waiver
An IRA owner signed a distribution form that said she would tell her financial consultant when she wanted the cash. The custodian sent a check before she gave that instruction. She worked with the…
PLR 200433017: Missed trust election treated as inadvertent S corporation termination
After a shareholder died, company stock passed through a trust to two other trusts. One trust needed a qualified subchapter S trust election, but its beneficiary did not file one on time,…
PLR 200433016: Trust receives extension to elect REMIC status
A trust was set up to hold interests issued by other real estate mortgage investment conduits, or REMICs, but its trustee failed to file the return needed to elect REMIC status. An administrator had…
PLR 200433015: Late S corporation election accepted for first taxable year
A newly incorporated company intended to elect S corporation status, but its attorney did not file a completed Form 2553 on time. The IRS found reasonable cause for the late election under section…
PLR 200433014: Court approved trust settlement preserves tax treatment
A trustee and beneficiaries settled a dispute over how an older family trust should be administered after one of the grantor's children died. The proposed court order would divide the trust into…
PLR 200433013: Former resident's departure lacked a principal tax avoidance purpose
A former U.S. permanent resident returned with his wife to the country where he was born and relinquished his green card. His net worth exceeded the threshold that raised a tax avoidance presumption…
PLR 200433012: Two shareholder trusts qualify as S corporation trusts
Two trusts held shares of a company that intended to elect S corporation status. Each trust had one income beneficiary, and court approved exercises of powers of appointment had removed other…
PLR 200433011: Trust severances preserve GST exemption and avoid gain recognition
Trustees proposed to divide older family trusts into separate trusts to address beneficiaries' different distribution needs and investment goals. The new trusts would keep the original terms and…
PLR 200433010: Digital expense receipts accepted with paper receipt exceptions
An employer asked whether employees could use digital credit card records and online expense descriptions instead of paper receipts to substantiate business expenses. The IRS ruled that the system…
PLR 200433009: Pro rata split of older trusts avoids gain and preserves GST exemption
Two older trusts had two grandchildren as current income beneficiaries. The beneficiaries proposed to divide each trust into separate trusts for their respective families, giving each resulting…
PLR 200433008: REIT receives extension to elect acquired taxable subsidiary status
A real estate investment trust acquired another REIT and its taxable REIT subsidiary in a merger. The acquiring REIT believed the existing subsidiary election carried over and did not file a new…
PLR 200433007: Supplemental ruling accepts revised foreign business separation
A company had received an earlier ruling on a holding company arrangement and internal restructuring. It then learned that its planned foreign business separation would trigger tax under the foreign…
PLR 200433006: Late tax year change application treated as timely filed
A corporation sought to change its tax year end from December 31 to September 30 but filed Form 1128 after the deadline for the required short period return. It requested relief shortly after…
PLR 200433005: REIT receives more time to elect subsidiary treatment
A real estate investment trust indirectly acquired more than 10 percent of a corporation that owned assisted living facilities. Its advisers initially did not identify the need for a taxable REIT…
PLR 200433004: Nuclear decommissioning fund election receives filing extension
An owner of a nuclear power plant missed a deadline to request a revised schedule of ruling amounts after the regulator reduced decommissioning cost collections. It sought relief for the schedule…
PLR 200433003: Successor REIT receives extension for predecessor's subsidiary election
A REIT acquired another REIT in a merger and discovered that the predecessor had not elected taxable REIT subsidiary treatment for a corporation it indirectly owned. The successor and the…
PLR 200433002: On duty disability benefits excluded only prospectively
A disability benefit fund asked about payments to retirees with at least 20 years of service and to survivors. A statute let the fund review earlier disability retirements and determine whether the…
PLR 200433001: Late S corporation election allowed after accountant's omission
A corporation filed S corporation income tax returns for its first affected year and later years, but its accountant had not filed Form 2553 to elect S status. The IRS found reasonable cause for the…
PLR 200432031: IRS waives IRA rollover deadline after funds were obtained by deception
An elderly IRA owner with dementia withdrew funds while his daughter was with him. The daughter obtained the funds through false representations, deposited them in her account, and initially refused…
PLR 200432030: IRS grants time to undo an ineligible Roth IRA conversion
A taxpayer converted a traditional IRA to a Roth IRA in 2001, believing his income was below the then applicable $100,000 limit. A serious illness delayed his meeting with a tax adviser until 2003,…
PLR 200432029: Eldest child sets inherited IRA payout period through a trust
An IRA owner named a trust as beneficiary and died before his required distribution date. The trust provided for his three children but could also pay estate expenses and taxes. The trustee withdrew…
PLR 200432028: Eldest child's life expectancy controls another child's inherited IRA
An IRA owner left his account to a trust for his three children. The trust paid known estate and administration costs before the beneficiary determination date, and the trustee planned to split the…
PLR 200432027: Eldest child's life expectancy controls a sibling's inherited IRA
An IRA owner named a trust for his three children as the account beneficiary. The trustee used part of the IRA to pay known estate and trust costs, then proposed dividing the remaining IRA into…
PLR 200432026: Foundation may use property loan proceeds for grants
A private foundation and two partnerships in which it held interests planned to borrow against apartment properties. The partnerships would distribute their loan proceeds to partners in proportion…
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.