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 200416014: Extension to recharacterize ineligible Roth IRA conversion
A taxpayer converted two traditional IRAs to a Roth IRA, but the couple's income exceeded the limit for a qualified conversion. The taxpayer and their tax preparer discovered the problem after the…
PLR 200416013: Foundation asset transfer avoids termination and excise taxes
A private foundation proposed transferring about 15% of its net assets to a second foundation after disagreements about its management. The IRS ruled that the transfer would not terminate the first…
PLR 200416012: Foundation asset transfer avoids termination and excise taxes
A private foundation proposed transferring about 15% of its net assets to a second foundation after disagreements about its management. The IRS ruled that the transfer would not terminate the first…
PLR 200416011: Late rollover relief for survivor's pension distribution
A surviving spouse received a pension distribution after the plan participant died and missed the 60-day deadline to roll it into an IRA. The taxpayer had initially deposited the payment in a…
TAM 200416010: Synthetic fuel testing supports reliance on earlier rulings
IRS examiners questioned whether a company's tests showed enough chemical change when coal was turned into synthetic fuel to qualify under former § 29. The IRS concluded that the company's experts…
TAM 200416009: Insurer cannot adjust annuity mortality table for lower mortality
A life insurer reduced the mortality rates in the standard table used to calculate tax reserves for its annuity contracts, based on its own experience. Under § 807(d)(2), an insurer may adjust the…
PLR 200416008: Australia treaty exempts retirement plan distribution
An Australian citizen working in the United States planned to retire, return to Australia, and receive payments from a U.S. employer's nonqualified retirement plan. The IRS ruled that Article 18 of…
PLR 200416007: Consent to reelect foreign earned income exclusion
A taxpayer used the foreign earned income exclusion while working in one country, then revoked it and claimed a foreign tax credit. After moving to a different country for a new job, she asked to…
PLR 200416006: Vehicle service contracts treated as insurance
A company selling vehicle service agreements would pay for covered breakdown repairs but would not perform the repairs itself. The IRS ruled that the agreements were insurance contracts because they…
PLR 200416005: Public entity insurance pool income excluded from tax
An association provided property and liability coverage to public entities, mostly school districts, and reinsured their risks with commercial insurers. It asked whether its income qualified for the…
PLR 200416004: Late S corporation election treated as timely
A corporation and its shareholders intended S corporation treatment from the start of its first tax year but did not file Form 2553 on time. They filed returns consistent with S corporation status.…
PLR 200416003: Late historic status application treated as timely
A property owner rehabilitated a building in a historic district and intended to claim the historic rehabilitation credit. It failed to request certification of the building's historic status before…
PLR 200416002: Patents and related trademarks fall outside section 197
A company proposed buying patents it already licensed, together with associated trademarks, from their owner. The IRS ruled that the purchase did not amount to buying a trade or business or a…
PLR 200416001: Extension for historic building certification application
A property owner rehabilitated a building in a historic district for use as a restaurant and intended to claim the historic rehabilitation credit. It filed the certification application after…
PLR 200415012: Waiver for widow's late IRA rollover
A husband withdrew funds from his IRA and died before completing a rollover. His widow, the sole IRA beneficiary, later moved the funds from his bank account into an IRA in her name, but the deposit…
PLR 200415011: Executor's return of IRA funds is not a rollover
An IRA owner received distributions shortly before her death. Her son, acting as executor, later returned some of the funds to her IRA and asked whether the payment qualified as a rollover. The IRS…
PLR 200415010: Foundation asset transfer and later termination avoid excise taxes
A private foundation proposed transferring all its assets to a public charity and then notifying the IRS that it would terminate. The IRS ruled that the transfer itself would not terminate the…
PLR 200415009: Derivatives can hedge deferred compensation obligations
An employer's nonqualified deferred compensation plan measured future payments using the values of selected investments. The employer proposed derivative contracts to manage the risk that those…
CCA 200415008: Client companies may owe unpaid employment taxes after payroll firm bankruptcy
A professional employer organization handled payroll for client companies, then entered bankruptcy with unpaid employment taxes. Chief Counsel advised that a client company could be liable for taxes…
CCA 200415007: Vessel lien filing needs no Coast Guard notice
An IRS office asked whether it also had to file a notice with the Coast Guard's vessel registry after filing a federal tax lien against a ship. Chief Counsel advised that filing the tax lien under §…
PLR 200415006: Alternative basis recovery approved for contingent asset sale
A company sold substantially all its assets for cash, assumed liabilities, and payments tied to the buyer's future sales. It asked to recover its tax basis in proportion to estimated payments…
PLR 200415005: Former resident's departure lacked a tax avoidance purpose
A former U.S. long-term resident surrendered his green card after moving to the country where his wife was born. His net worth exceeded the threshold that could trigger a presumption of tax…
TAM 200415004: Cash paid in insurer merger was nondeductible consideration
Policyholders of a mutual insurance company received cash and ownership interests when their company merged into another mutual insurer. The companies treated the cash as deductible policyholder…
TAM 200415003: Merger changed ownership of a corporation's assets
A corporation merged into another corporation, and its former shareholders received less than half of the surviving corporation's stock in the merger. Some already owned shares in the survivor,…
PLR 200415002: Spouses receive time to allocate GST tax exemptions
A married couple transferred partnership and corporate interests to a trust for their children and filed gift tax returns. Their preparer inadvertently omitted the notices needed to allocate their…
PLR 200415001: Business separation qualifies as a tax-free corporate distribution
A corporation proposed placing one business line in a new subsidiary and distributing the subsidiary's stock to its shareholders. It sought to separate that line from risks and liabilities of its…
PLR 200414050: Foundation's educational intellectual property excluded from investment base
A private foundation inherited intellectual property used in educational television programs for children and families. It planned to license the property without royalties to a public charity that…
PLR 200414049: One-day-late separate business line notice accepted
A financial services group used qualified separate lines of business when testing its retirement plans against employee coverage rules. Its new professional advisor knew a revised Form 5310-A was…
PLR 200414048: Restricted pension benefit may roll into secured IRAs
A highly compensated former employee wanted a lump sum from a defined benefit plan, but plan rules restricted how much he could receive without a repayment safeguard. He proposed rolling the payment…
PLR 200414047: Late recharacterization allowed for ineligible Roth conversion
A taxpayer converted a traditional IRA to a Roth IRA in 2001, when the couple's income exceeded the limit for conversion. They learned of the problem after the usual deadline to reverse it and…
CCA 200414046: Counsel outlines grounds to disallow a loss on transferred inventory
A corporation claimed a loss after related companies transferred inventory to it in exchange for stock. It argued that the inventory was subject to bank debt exceeding its basis, so the transferors…
CCA 200414045: Open loss years permit a proceeding over earlier partnership items
Partners claimed losses in later years that depended on the tax basis of assets distributed by a partnership in an earlier year. The assessment periods for the earlier year had expired, but the…
PLR 200414044: Late S corporation election accepted for reasonable cause
A corporation's sole shareholder intended it to be an S corporation from its formation, but the corporation did not file Form 2553 on time. The IRS found reasonable cause for the late election under…
PLR 200414043: Investment fund may redeem shares with portfolio securities without recognizing gain or loss
A closed-end regulated investment company proposed tender offers that would let shareholders redeem shares for portfolio securities. It planned to distribute securities largely in proportion to its…
PLR 200414042: Late S election granted with a different effective date
A corporation's sole officer and shareholder intended to elect S corporation status, but no timely election was made. He had reported the business's income and losses on his individual returns as if…
PLR 200414041: Late S corporation election effective from incorporation
A corporation's shareholder wanted S corporation treatment from the date of incorporation, but the election was not filed on time. The IRS found reasonable cause for the delay and granted relief…
PLR 200414040: Late S corporation election effective from incorporation
A corporation's shareholder wanted S corporation treatment from the date of incorporation, but the election was not filed on time. The IRS found reasonable cause for the delay and granted relief…
PLR 200414039: Seminary scholarships are not payment for services
A theological seminary proposed scholarships for degree candidates in a program teaching fundraising and other ministry stewardship skills. Students would identify potential donors, but their…
PLR 200414038: Actively managed rental income is not passive investment income for S corporation purposes
A real estate business planning an S corporation election owned rental properties directly and through partnerships and other entities. It described extensive tenant, maintenance, and property…
PLR 200414037: Business separation qualifies as a tax-free corporate reorganization
An S corporation proposed to separate two operating businesses so it could obtain bank financing for an expansion. It would transfer one business to a newly formed corporation and distribute that…
PLR 200414036: Parent receives 45 days to file a missed stock basis statement
A parent corporation missed the deadline for a statement connected to its basis in subsidiary stock after the subsidiary left its consolidated group. It said it had relied on a tax professional and…
PLR 200414035: Foreign entity gets more time to elect disregarded status
A foreign entity with one owner intended to elect treatment as a disregarded entity from its formation. Its accountant did not file the required Form 8832 on time. The IRS concluded that the…
PLR 200414034: Relinquishment of citizenship lacked a principal tax avoidance purpose
A former U.S. citizen asked whether giving up her citizenship had a principal purpose of avoiding U.S. tax under the expatriation rules in section 877. She had lived for many years in another…
PLR 200414033: Late S election takes effect from incorporation
A corporation's shareholders intended it to be an S corporation from its incorporation date, but its election was not filed on time. The IRS found reasonable cause for the delay and granted relief…
PLR 200414032: Planned loss of permanent resident status lacked a tax avoidance purpose
A long-term U.S. resident planned to retire, return to his country of citizenship, and surrender his green card. He had obtained permanent resident status while working in the United States and said…
PLR 200414031: Five-company division to resolve shareholder disputes qualifies as a reorganization
A corporation's shareholders had disputes that were harming its business. The proposed settlement would place portions of the business in five new corporations, distribute their stock to the…
PLR 200414030: Extension granted for dual consolidated loss agreements
A taxpayer's tax professional believed that agreements under the dual consolidated loss rules were unnecessary. A later review by a new adviser concluded that the agreements should have been filed.…
PLR 200414029: Late S election takes effect from incorporation
A corporation's sole shareholder intended it to be an S corporation from its incorporation date, but its election was not filed on time. The IRS found reasonable cause for the delay and granted…
PLR 200414028: Acquired company gets more time to elect disregarded status
A company acquired a foreign limited liability company that was eligible to elect treatment as a disregarded entity for federal tax purposes. The required Form 8832 was inadvertently not filed on…
PLR 200414027: Generator-funded grid connection excluded as a capital contribution
A power generator paid a utility's costs to build grid facilities needed to connect the generator's plant and transmit its electricity to customers. The utility asked whether the deemed transfer of…
PLR 200414026: Late S corporation election granted for requested year
A corporation intended to be treated as an S corporation from a specified date, but its election was not filed on time. The IRS found reasonable cause for the missed deadline under section…
PLR 200414025: Guarantor substitution payment excluded from REIT income tests
A real estate investment trust expected a payment for allowing a different company to guarantee leases on healthcare properties after a corporate spin-off. The payment was taxable income under…
PLR 200414024: Late S corporation election accepted for reasonable cause
A corporation's sole shareholder intended it to be an S corporation from its formation, but the corporation did not file Form 2553 on time. The IRS found reasonable cause for the late election under…
PLR 200414023: Four business divisions qualify as reorganizations
An S corporation proposed to transfer parts of one business into four new corporations and distribute their shares to certain existing shareholders in exchange for their original shares. The purpose…
PLR 200414022: Discounted stock purchases do not create income under section 305
A partnership bought corporate stock at a discount through a plan open to existing shareholders. The plan also allowed dividend reinvestment, but shareholders could choose the discounted purchase…
PLR 200414021: State program bonds satisfy a redacted provision
A state agency asked whether bonds it planned to issue under a state program would satisfy a specified provision. The IRS discussed the general rules for tax-exempt state and local bonds and private…
PLR 200414020: Late S election accepted for the requested taxable year
A corporation's shareholders intended S corporation treatment from incorporation, but no timely Form 2553 was filed. The IRS found reasonable cause for the delay. It ruled that the election would be…
PLR 200414019: Liquidating cooperative avoids income from unpaid patronage equity
A cooperative in bankruptcy planned to sell all its assets and use the proceeds to pay creditors. Its holders of patronage equity, issued as qualified written notices of allocation, would receive…
PLR 200414018: Stock distribution qualifies for tax-free treatment
An S corporation planned to distribute shares of one operating subsidiary to one shareholder while giving cash and notes to its other shareholder. A key employee would also buy shares of the…
PLR 200414017: Late S corporation election accepted if filed within 60 days
A corporation's sole shareholder intended S corporation status from the corporation's formation, and board minutes recorded that intent. The corporation did not file Form 2553 on time. The IRS found…
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.