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 200432025: IRS denies late rollover waiver after home purchase
A retiree took a distribution from a 401(k) plan to buy a new residence. A credit union temporarily held the deposited check, delaying the home closing, and the retiree later borrowed money to make…
PLR 200432024: Annual IRA payment recalculation qualifies for early withdrawal exception
An IRA owner asked whether annually recalculated withdrawals would qualify as substantially equal periodic payments under section 72(t). The proposed calculation amortized the prior December 31…
PLR 200432023: Annual IRA annuitization recalculation qualifies for early withdrawal exception
An IRA owner asked whether annual withdrawals recalculated with an annuity factor would qualify as substantially equal periodic payments under section 72(t). Each year, the owner proposed to divide…
PLR 200432022: IRA rollover deadline waived after unauthorized withdrawals
An IRA owner's son withdrew and took funds from the owner's IRA without consent. The owner was receiving cancer treatment, learned of the withdrawals after the 60-day rollover deadline, and lacked…
PLR 200432021: Annual IRA amortization recalculation qualifies for early withdrawal exception
Two IRA owners proposed to recalculate their annual payments using an amortization method and updated account balances, life expectancies, and interest rates. Each owner would use the prior December…
PLR 200432020: Roth IRA recharacterization deadline extended after income limit error
A taxpayer converted a traditional IRA to a Roth IRA after mistakenly relying on the higher income limit for annual Roth contributions. The married couple later learned that their income exceeded…
PLR 200432019: Conditional minimum funding waiver for a retirement plan
A company sought a waiver of its retirement plan's minimum funding requirement after cash flow problems and investment losses. The IRS granted a waiver under section 412(d), conditioned on an…
PLR 200432018: Pension contributions may revert without disqualifying the plan
An employer asked for a determination under Revenue Procedure 90-49 concerning contributions to a defined benefit pension plan. The IRS determined that the specified contributions could be treated…
PLR 200432017: Corporate separation and stock distributions receive tax rulings
A corporate group proposed to move several businesses into a controlled corporation and distribute its stock through two distributions, separating those operations from the group's core business.…
TAM 200432016: Gift tax paid for gift exactly three years before death excluded from estate
A decedent paid gift tax on a split gift made on a date exactly three calendar years before death. The estate excluded that gift tax from the gross estate, and the IRS addressed whether section…
TAM 200432015: Life insurance proceeds included in estate without marital deduction
A decedent transferred a life insurance policy to a family limited liability company within three years of death. The IRS concluded that the transfer was not a bona fide sale for adequate…
TAM 200432014: Acquired company's interest expense counts in equity reduction calculations
A parent corporation acquired another company and asked how the corporate equity reduction transaction rules limit interest deductions included in a net operating loss. The IRS advised that the…
PLR 200432013: Extra time granted to file accounting method forms with IRS
A parent company attached two Forms 3115 to its timely filed return, but its accountant failed to send the required copies to the IRS national office. The forms sought accounting method changes for…
PLR 200432012: Retiree health coverage qualifies for the health coverage tax credit
After an employer's bankruptcy, a retiree committee negotiated replacement health coverage through a trust in settlement of COBRA obligations. The IRS ruled that this coverage qualified for the…
PLR 200432011: Revised nuclear decommissioning funding schedule approved
A utility requested a revised schedule for payments to its nuclear plant decommissioning fund after its regulator changed the decommissioning costs included in rates. The IRS found that the utility…
PLR 200432010: LLC receives more time to elect corporate tax classification
An LLC's owner intended to elect treatment as an association taxable as a corporation, but no Form 8832 was filed. The IRS found that the requirements for discretionary election relief were met. It…
PLR 200432009: Fractional trust severance preserves tax treatment
Trustees proposed to split several trusts into new trusts on a fractional basis to address beneficiaries' differing distribution and investment needs. The IRS ruled that the severance would preserve…
PLR 200432008: Fractional trust severance preserves tax treatment
Trustees proposed to split several trusts into new trusts on a fractional basis to address beneficiaries' differing distribution and investment needs. The IRS ruled that the severance would preserve…
PLR 200432007: Fractional trust severance preserves tax treatment
Trustees proposed to split several trusts into new trusts on a fractional basis to address beneficiaries' differing distribution and investment needs. The IRS ruled that the severance would preserve…
PLR 200432006: Fractional trust severance preserves tax treatment
Trustees proposed to split several trusts into new trusts on a fractional basis to address beneficiaries' differing distribution and investment needs. The IRS ruled that the severance would preserve…
PLR 200432005: Fractional trust severance preserves tax treatment
Trustees proposed to split several trusts into new trusts on a fractional basis to address beneficiaries' differing distribution and investment needs. The IRS ruled that the severance would preserve…
PLR 200432004: Corporate group receives rulings on business separations
A corporate group proposed a series of mergers, contributions, and stock distributions to separate two businesses from its remaining operations. The IRS issued rulings on the tax treatment of…
PLR 200432003: Dividing two older trusts preserves GST exemption without gain
Beneficiaries proposed to divide two trusts created before September 25, 1985, into four trusts with corresponding assets allocated on a pro rata basis. The IRS ruled that the division would not…
PLR 200432002: Extension granted for consolidated group loss carryover election
A consolidated group failed to file an election to treat part of an acquired subsidiary's loss carryovers as expiring immediately before it joined the group. The IRS found that the parent reasonably…
PLR 200432001: Late election to treat entity as disregarded granted
An eligible entity had elected corporate tax treatment and later intended to be treated as disregarded from its single owner. It discovered that the Form 8832 for the change had not been filed on…
CCA 200431023: Tax exemption analysis for credit counseling organizations
Chief Counsel analyzed whether credit counseling organizations with commercial activities qualify for section 501(c)(3) exemption. The memorandum advises developing case-specific evidence of…
PLR 200431022: Rollover deadline waived after distribution check went to old address
A former employee did not receive a retirement plan distribution check mailed to her old address and learned of it after contacting the plan custodian. The uncashed check was canceled and replaced,…
PLR 200431021: Rollover deadline waived after a distribution check was mistaken for paperwork
A retired employee elected a direct rollover of his retirement plan distribution to an IRA. The plan's service provider instead mailed him statements with the actual distribution check attached, and…
PLR 200431020: Medical plan surplus may fund other benefits in an exempt trust
A tax-exempt employee benefits trust planned to end an inactive medical plan and divide its remaining assets equally among the trust's dental, life, and long-term disability plans. The IRS ruled…
PLR 200431019: Rollover deadline waived for after-tax account earnings sent to a personal account
After a layoff, an employee directed his retirement plan to send his after-tax contributions to a personal account and roll taxable amounts into an IRA. The payout forms did not clearly separate…
PLR 200431018: Foundation may operate a university program through a subsidiary
A private operating foundation proposed to acquire equipment and lease facilities for a university program through a wholly owned limited liability company. The university would manage the program…
PLR 200431017: More time granted to undo an ineligible Roth IRA conversion
A taxpayer converted a traditional IRA to a Roth IRA for 1998. An IRS examination later proposed adjustments that would put the couple's modified adjusted gross income above the $100,000 limit for…
PLR 200431016: Couple granted more time to reverse ineligible Roth IRA conversions
A married couple converted traditional IRAs to Roth IRAs after receiving distributions from their company's pension plan. Their accountant omitted company loans from their income. During an IRS…
CCA 200431015: When an unenrolled return preparer may represent a taxpayer on a liability offer
Chief Counsel addressed whether an unenrolled return preparer may sign a power of attorney to represent a taxpayer on an offer in compromise based on doubt as to liability. The advice permits…
CCA 200431014: One economic loss cannot support duplicate consolidated return deductions
Chief Counsel considered whether a consolidated group could deduct a loss on subsidiary stock and also deduct the same underlying loss when the subsidiary disposed of an asset. The memorandum says…
CCA 200431013: Illinois CPA certificate alone does not authorize IRS representation
Chief Counsel considered whether someone with an Illinois CPA certificate but no public accountant license may practice before the IRS. Illinois issues the certificate after the CPA exam, but…
CCA 200431012: FEMA flood mitigation grants are taxable to property owners
Chief Counsel analyzed FEMA grants used to elevate flood-prone buildings under three mitigation programs. It concluded that owners must include the cash amount of the grant in gross income under…
PLR 200431011: Partnership granted more time to elect a basis adjustment
A family limited liability company treated as a partnership filed its return for the year an owner died without a section 754 election. Its professional tax return preparer had inadvertently failed…
PLR 200431010: More time granted for low-income housing basis election
A low-income housing project taxpayer missed an election under section 42(i)(2)(B) because of its external tax advisor's error. The election excludes certain subsidized financing from the building's…
PLR 200431009: Coal synthetic fuel facility qualifies for section 29 credit after relocation
A partnership sought rulings on a facility that makes solid synthetic fuel from coal and planned to move it to a new site. The IRS ruled that the specified process and reagents produce qualified…
PLR 200431008: Late S corporation election accepted from incorporation date
A corporation's shareholders intended S corporation status from its incorporation date, but the election was filed late. The IRS found reasonable cause under section 1362(b)(5) and ruled that the…
PLR 200431007: Late application to change a corporation's tax year accepted
An oil and gas corporation wanted to change from a June 30 tax year to a December 31 tax year, effective December 31, 2001. It filed Form 1128 more than 90 days after the deadline because of an…
PLR 200431006: Dividing two pre-1985 trusts preserves GST tax exemption
Two irrevocable trusts established before September 25, 1985, were to be divided into three family subtrusts each under a court order. The IRS found that the divisions would not shift beneficial…
PLR 200431005: Estate given more time to allocate GST exemption to a charitable remainder trust
A taxpayer funded a charitable remainder annuity trust for a younger recipient and a charity. A miscommunication between the attorney and trustee bank left the taxpayer's generation-skipping…
PLR 200431004: Late S corporation election accepted for requested effective date
A corporation intended to be treated as an S corporation from a specified date but did not file its election on time. The IRS found reasonable cause for the delay under section 1362(b)(5). It ruled…
PLR 200431003: Synthetic fuel credit survives facility moves and ownership changes
A partnership owned a coal synthetic fuel facility through a disregarded company after the facility had moved between sites and owners. The IRS ruled that the described process produced qualified…
PLR 200431002: Parent company granted time to elect consolidated return filing
A parent corporation acquired another corporate group and missed the deadline to elect consolidated return filing for the acquisition year. The IRS found that the parent had reasonably relied on a…
PLR 200431001: Refunding bonds avoid private activity bond status after tax agreements end
An issuer planned to refund bonds whose proceeds had provided land for a corporation's office complex. The earlier bonds met the private business use test, and agreements involving the corporation's…
CCA 200430044: Revaluing non-inventory assets after a UNICAP accounting change
Chief Counsel considered how a taxpayer changing its section 263A capitalization method should revalue self-constructed assets that are not inventory. The taxpayer must use the facts and…
PLR 200430043: Building-grant set-aside qualifies as a distribution
A private foundation asked whether it could count money reserved for a grant to another charity as a qualifying distribution before paying it. The grant would help construct a building adjoining the…
PLR 200430042: Waiver permits late rollover of a deceased spouse's IRA distribution
A surviving spouse withdrew money from the deceased spouse's IRA after receiving confusing instructions from a bank. Believing liquidation was needed to put the account in the survivor's name, the…
PLR 200430041: Grief after spouse's death justifies a late IRA rollover
An IRA owner deposited a distribution in a bank account while intending to reinvest it in another IRA. The owner's spouse, who had managed the family's finances, had recently died after a long…
PLR 200430040: Health hardships justify a late retirement-plan rollover
A retirement-plan participant withdrew money during hardships caused by two individuals' health problems and confusion over rollover rules. The participant deposited the net proceeds in a money…
PLR 200430039: Family illness and death justify late IRA and plan rollovers
Two taxpayers received distributions from several IRAs and a former employer's 401(k) plan. Soon afterward, one taxpayer's mother became gravely ill and died, while the family also cared for her…
PLR 200430038: Medical conditions justify a late IRA rollover
An IRA owner moved a distribution into a certificate of deposit that was not an IRA, despite intending a tax-free rollover. The owner was 74 and had dementia and diabetes that affected financial…
PLR 200430037: Medical problems and a move justify late IRA rollovers
Two spouses took distributions from their IRAs and planned to return the funds within 60 days. They were moving to a new home while coping with one spouse's short-term memory loss and the other's…
PLR 200430036: Broker's incorrect 90-day advice justifies IRA rollover waiver
An IRA owner withdrew funds intending to return them to the IRA without tax. A broker's representative repeatedly said the rollover deadline was 90 days, although the law allowed 60. The funds were…
PLR 200430035: Broker information leads to IRA rollover waiver
An IRA owner sought funds to manage mortgages on condominium units after a zoning issue reduced rental capacity. The owner tried to stop the IRA withdrawal after receiving tax advice, but the…
PLR 200430034: Supplemental benefit plan leaves pension trust's status intact
A collectively bargained pension plan proposed a separate trust to pay benefits above the limits in section 415. The IRS ruled that adopting and funding the supplemental plan would not by itself…
PLR 200430033: Health problems justify late IRA rollover
A widow with health problems liquidated an investment portfolio, including an IRA, without realizing the IRA withdrawal was a mistake. After treatment, she recognized the error, but the 60-day…
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.