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 200408013: First-year S election may be filed late
The sole shareholder of a newly formed company intended S corporation treatment from the first day of its first tax year. The election was not filed by the usual deadline. The IRS found reasonable…
PLR 200408012: Research credit method election may be revoked
A corporate group used the alternative incremental method to calculate its research credit for four tax years. It asked the IRS for permission to revoke that election starting with a later year. The…
PLR 200408011: Ineligible shareholder does not end S status after relief
A corporation elected S status and elected to treat two wholly owned companies as qualified S subsidiaries. A partnership, which could not be an S corporation shareholder, held some of the parent's…
PLR 200408010: Partnership keeps fuel credit after coal facility relocation
A partnership moved a coal-to-synthetic-fuel facility to a new site and considered transferring it to a subsidiary partnership. It asked whether the relocation and possible transfer affected earlier…
PLR 200408009: Stock recapitalization and spinoff receive tax-free treatment
A public holding company planned to separate a partly owned operating company from its other businesses. It would first recapitalize the operating company's stock into two classes with different…
PLR 200408008: Three coal facilities qualify for synthetic fuel credit
A partnership operating three relocated coal processing facilities asked whether a reformulated chemical reagent would still produce qualifying synthetic fuel. The submitted tests showed a…
PLR 200408007: Revised coal process qualifies for synthetic fuel credit
A partnership that had relocated a coal processing facility and added an investor asked whether a reformulated chemical reagent would still yield qualifying fuel. An expert's tests showed a…
PLR 200408006: Relocated coal facility and partnership retain fuel credit
A partnership that acquired and relocated a coal processing facility sought several rulings on the section 29 synthetic fuel credit. The IRS concluded that the described process produces qualifying…
PLR 200408005: Parents receive time to allocate GST exemption to trusts
Two parents made gifts over several years to trusts for children and later descendants. Their accountant omitted generation-skipping transfer (GST) exemption allocations on some gift tax returns and…
PLR 200408004: Coal facility purchase and partnership changes preserve credit
A partnership bought a coal-to-synthetic-fuel facility and asked whether its fuel and ownership arrangements qualified for the section 29 credit. The IRS ruled that the described process produces…
PLR 200408003: Late historic status application treated as timely
A property owner rehabilitated a building and intended to claim the historic rehabilitation credit. The firm hired to handle historic status mistakenly waited for a district designation and failed…
PLR 200408002: Split of two financial services businesses qualifies for tax-free treatment
A financial services company proposed moving one of its two businesses into a new corporation and distributing that corporation's stock to certain shareholders. The split was intended to retain a…
PLR 200408001: Taxpayer receives more time for dual consolidated loss filings
A taxpayer missed agreements and annual certifications required for an entity's dual consolidated losses over several tax years. The taxpayer said its outside tax advisor had not known about the…
PLR 200407025: Medical problems and brokerage misunderstanding justify IRA rollover waiver
An older IRA owner with medical and hearing problems intended to diversify investments, but a misunderstanding with a brokerage firm led to money being transferred from his IRA to a personal…
PLR 200407024: Foundation gets five more years to sell inherited business holdings
A private foundation inherited a complex group of businesses and sold many assets, but still held one active business that could create excess business holdings. It told the IRS that regulatory…
PLR 200407023: Bank advice supports waiver of IRA rollover deadline
An IRA owner withdrew funds intending to roll them into another IRA, but a bank employee advised her to put the money in a regular account instead. She learned while preparing her tax return that…
PLR 200407022: School agency pension contributions qualify as employer pick-ups
A government school agency arranged to pay mandatory employee contributions to a money purchase pension plan through reductions in employee compensation. Employees could make a one-time, irrevocable…
PLR 200407021: Pension plan briefings satisfied notice rule for contribution cut
A company reduced its contributions to a money purchase pension plan from 15% to 7% of participant compensation. It asked whether employee briefings about the change met the notice requirements of…
CCA 200407020: Child tax credit denials require deficiency procedures even when refunds are held
Chief Counsel considered how to deny additional child tax credit claims on returns filed by Puerto Rico residents when the IRS either had paid the refund or had held it for review. It advised using…
CCA 200407019: Pre-levy hearing is required to collect a Tax Court frivolous-position penalty
Chief Counsel considered whether the IRS must offer a collection due process hearing before levying to collect a penalty imposed by the Tax Court for frivolous conduct under IRC § 6673(a)(1). It…
TAM 200407018: Estate must include painting previously claimed for marital deduction
One estate claimed a marital deduction for a painting on the premise that the surviving spouse had a life interest and a general power to dispose of it. After that spouse died, her estate said the…
PLR 200407017: Revised funding schedule approved for nuclear decommissioning fund
A regulated utility requested a revised schedule of deductible payments to its nuclear decommissioning fund after one utility commission increased the plant's decommissioning costs included in…
PLR 200407016: Unneeded QTIP election is disregarded for surviving spouse's estate
An estate treated real property left to the surviving spouse for life as qualified terminable interest property on its estate tax return. The surviving spouse asked the IRS to disregard that QTIP…
CCA 200407015: Interest netting depends on which corporation bears each tax liability
Chief Counsel analyzed whether several related corporations could net interest on tax overpayments and underpayments under IRC § 6621(d). It advised that a surviving corporation in the described §…
TAM 200407014: Wheelchair transport driver remains an employee despite lease agreement
A wheelchair transportation firm changed a driver's arrangement from hourly employment to a vehicle lease that let him keep fares and tips after paying a fixed fee. The firm argued that the driver…
PLR 200407013: Six-way business split receives reorganization and distribution rulings
Six equal shareholders proposed combining two businesses, then dividing the assets among six new corporations so each shareholder could operate independently and end management disputes. Based on…
PLR 200407012: Inadvertent S election errors receive conditional relief
A corporation elected S status and elected qualified subchapter S subsidiary treatment for three subsidiaries, but two trust shareholders had not made the required qualified subchapter S trust…
PLR 200407011: Late trust elections receive inadvertent S termination relief
An S corporation's sole shareholder transferred nonvoting shares to two trusts, but the required qualified subchapter S trust elections were not filed on time. The IRS concluded that the stock…
PLR 200407010: Former resident's departure was not principally for tax avoidance
A former U.S. permanent resident returned with her family to her birth country, where she was taxed on worldwide income, and later surrendered her green card. Her net worth exceeded the threshold…
PLR 200407009: Former resident's return home was not principally for tax avoidance
A foreign citizen became a U.S. permanent resident for work, then returned with his family to his birth country after finishing the assignment and surrendered his green card. His net worth exceeded…
PLR 200407008: Family business split qualifies for tax-free transfer and distribution
Two family shareholder groups disagreed about expansion, borrowing, and control of a corporation's businesses. The corporation proposed moving part of its assets and related liabilities to a new…
PLR 200407007: Business sale with a § 338(h)(10) election yields deemed sale and reorganization
A corporate group planned to separate two businesses and sell the stock of the company holding one business to an unrelated buyer. With timely § 338 elections and the other stated conditions, the…
PLR 200407006: Consolidation and voting stock split preserve one class of S corporation stock
Two family-owned S corporations planned to consolidate into a new company and exchange their shares for voting and nonvoting common stock. The new shares would have identical rights to distributions…
PLR 200407005: Estate receives extra time to allocate GST exemption to a trust
A donor's attorney omitted a generation-skipping transfer (GST) exemption allocation from the donor's gift tax return for a trust. The estate later allocated exemption on the estate tax return,…
PLR 200407004: Late S corporation election accepted for intended effective date
A corporation's shareholder intended to elect S corporation treatment from the date the company was incorporated, but the election was filed late. The IRS found reasonable cause for the delay and…
PLR 200407003: Late GST exemption allocations may take effect on original gift date
A donor created a trust for descendants, later divided into shares for a son and daughter, but the donor's attorney omitted a generation-skipping transfer (GST) exemption allocation from the…
PLR 200407002: Bankruptcy trust qualifies as a liquidating and grantor trust
A bankruptcy reorganization plan created a trust to pursue claims, liquidate assets, and distribute the proceeds to beneficiaries. The trust represented that it would distribute net income and sale…
PLR 200407001: Synthetic fuel partnership may claim and allocate § 29 credits
A partnership bought and relocated a facility that turns coal into synthetic fuel. The IRS ruled that fuel made through the described process qualified for the § 29 credit and that the partnership's…
PLR 200406056: Family medical emergency warrants IRA rollover deadline waiver
An IRA owner withdrew funds by cashier's check when a bank was sold, but did not complete a rollover within 60 days. His wife's serious injury, surgery, and difficult recovery disrupted his ability…
PLR 200406055: IRA rollover deadline waived after account owner's medical impairment
An IRA owner withdrew funds and deposited them in a checking account after heart valve surgery left him with lasting mental and physical difficulties. His son, who had power of attorney, learned of…
PLR 200406054: Snowstorm warrants one-day IRA rollover deadline waiver
An IRA owner withdrew cash to buy a condominium, changed her mind, and planned to put the money back into her IRA. A national holiday delayed her bank visit, and a major snowstorm made travel unsafe…
PLR 200406053: Ineligible Roth conversion may be recharacterized after deadline
A taxpayer converted a traditional IRA to a Roth IRA in 1998 after a tax preparer advised that proceeds from a home sale assistance program did not put her over the income limit. The IRS concluded…
PLR 200406052: Misrouted IRA transfer and family illness warrant rollover waiver
An IRA owner instructed his bank to move an IRA to another bank, but the first bank instead put the funds in his checking account without explaining the rollover deadline. His wife's critical heart…
PLR 200406051: Unrequested plan distribution receives rollover deadline waiver
A retired county employee received a tax form reporting an unrequested distribution from a § 457 plan but never received the original check. The plan administrator issued a replacement check after…
PLR 200406050: Misidentified IRA death benefit receives rollover deadline waiver
A surviving spouse received a check from an insurer while recovering from heart surgery. The check said “Death Benefit” and gave little indication that it came from her late spouse's IRA annuity, so…
PLR 200406049: Disability prevented a timely IRA rollover
A taxpayer withdrew money from an IRA while experiencing a serious psychiatric illness. He put the money in a checking account and later transferred it to another IRA in two installments, both after…
PLR 200406048: Surviving spouse may roll over IRA proceeds paid through an estate
A deceased IRA owner's estate, rather than his surviving spouse, was named as the IRA beneficiary. The spouse was both the estate's sole executrix and its sole residuary beneficiary. She planned to…
PLR 200406047: Excise tax waivers for pension plan liquidity shortfalls
A company failed to meet its pension plan's quarterly liquidity requirements in 2000 and 2001. It learned of the shortfalls later, contributed to the plan, requested excise tax relief, and adopted a…
CCA 200406046: Investors' equipment losses depend on the transaction's substance
Investors bought equipment from a company and leased it back before the company entered bankruptcy. Chief Counsel advised that the known facts did not establish theft, so the investors could not…
PLR 200406045: Proposed residence trust qualifies under gift tax rules
A settlor proposed to transfer a residence to a trust while retaining its use for up to six years. The trust would later pass the property to another trust, and its terms provided for an annuity if…
PLR 200406044: Trustee restructuring preserves estate and generation skipping tax treatment
Trustees proposed to restructure three irrevocable trusts created for grandchildren before September 25, 1985. The plan updated trustee removal and appointment rules and allowed a family connected…
PLR 200406043: Revised trustee rules preserve estate and generation skipping tax results
Trustees proposed to revise two irrevocable family trusts for the grantors' children and to allow a family connected trust company to serve as an independent trustee. The trust terms and company…
PLR 200406042: Grandchildren's trust changes preserve zero GST inclusion ratios
Trustees proposed to revise several irrevocable trusts for grandchildren and appoint a family connected trust company as an independent trustee. The trust documents and company bylaws would prevent…
PLR 200406041: Restructured pre-1985 trusts keep zero GST inclusion ratios
Trustees proposed to restructure two irrevocable trusts established before September 25, 1985, including distributions into successor trusts and revised rules for trustee powers. The trust documents…
PLR 200406040: Older trusts retain GST exemption after trustee changes
Trustees proposed to revise two irrevocable trusts established before September 25, 1985, and to appoint a family connected trust company as an independent trustee. The revised trust terms and the…
PLR 200406039: Estate receives more time to elect alternate valuation
An estate's attorney filed its federal estate tax return without electing alternate valuation under § 2032 and had not advised the personal representative about the election. The representative…
PLR 200406038: Estate representative may disclaim an LLC interest
A decedent's mother inherited her entire estate under state intestacy law, including an LLC interest. She proposed to disclaim that interest so it would pass to the decedent's brothers and nephews.…
PLR 200406037: Revised nuclear decommissioning fund schedule approved
A utility requested a revised schedule of ruling amounts for its nuclear decommissioning fund after a regulator reduced the costs recoverable from customers and changed the expected rate base period…
PLR 200406036: Nuclear fund schedule approved after utility restructuring
A corporate restructuring moved a nuclear plant and its decommissioning fund to one subsidiary while another subsidiary collected decommissioning charges from customers. Under a regulatory order,…
PLR 200406035: Revised decommissioning schedule for a transferred plant
After a corporate restructuring, one subsidiary owned a nuclear plant and its decommissioning fund while another subsidiary collected the related charges from customers. A commission order required…
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.