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 200403088: Revised decommissioning fund schedule approved for a utility
A utility with a direct ownership interest in a nuclear plant requested a revised schedule of payments to its decommissioning fund. The IRS concluded that the schedule met section 468A's…
PLR 200403087: Generator's intertie transfer excluded from utility income
A generator connected its project to a utility's grid and reimbursed the utility for equipment it built and owned. The IRS ruled that the transferred intertie property met the safe harbor for…
PLR 200403086: Utility may exclude a generator's intertie contribution
A generator reimbursed a utility for a new substation bay, meters, and circuit breakers needed to connect a power project to the utility's grid. The IRS ruled that the intertie transfer met its…
PLR 200403085: Generator's intertie qualifies as a capital contribution
A utility agreed to build and own an intertie connecting a generator's project to its grid, with the generator reimbursing construction costs. The IRS ruled that the intertie transfer met its…
PLR 200403084: Intertie transfer excluded as a capital contribution
A utility built an intertie to connect a generator's power project to its grid, and the generator reimbursed the utility for the cost. The generator sold power to third parties, with ownership…
PLR 200403083: Actively managed rents are not passive investment income
A company planning to elect S corporation status owned and leased commercial property. Its shareholders and contractors handled maintenance, cleaning, repairs, landscaping, and other property…
PLR 200403082: Late tax year application treated as timely filed
A taxpayer filed Form 1128 late to request an October 31 tax year. The filing occurred within 90 days of the deadline, and the taxpayer said the delay resulted from an error or misunderstanding…
PLR 200403081: Inadvertent S corporation termination relieved
An S corporation issued stock to an ineligible shareholder, which ended its S election. Management discovered the problem later, and the ineligible shareholder distributed its shares to its own…
PLR 200403080: Late GST exemption allocations allowed for two trusts
A husband transferred partnership interests and later cash to two trusts benefiting grandchildren. He intended to allocate generation-skipping transfer (GST) tax exemption, but his accountant made…
PLR 200403079: Late entity, S corporation, and QSub elections allowed
Two owners contributed an S corporation to a new business trust and intended the trust to be taxed as a corporation, elect S status, and treat the former corporation as a qualified subchapter S…
PLR 200403078: Commercial rents excluded from S corporation passive income
An S corporation with accumulated earnings and profits owned commercial rental properties. A related management company and contractors provided building maintenance, security, leasing, and other…
PLR 200403077: Late GST exemption allocation allowed for three trusts
A grantor created three irrevocable trusts for her children and their descendants and intended to allocate generation-skipping transfer (GST) tax exemption to the gifts. Her attorney had advised her…
PLR 200403076: Generator's grid connection excluded as a capital contribution
An investor-owned utility and a generator each built part of the facilities connecting a power plant to the utility's grid. The generator reimbursed the utility for the part the utility constructed,…
PLR 200403075: Irish reinsurer qualifies for treaty excise tax relief
An Irish reinsurance company asked whether premiums on policies covering U.S. risks were exempt from the federal insurance excise tax under the U.S.-Ireland tax treaty. The IRS concluded, based on…
PLR 200403074: Late election to waive consolidated loss carryback allowed
A former parent of a consolidated corporate group intended to waive the carryback period for the group's net operating loss but failed to file a valid election with its return. The IRS found that…
PLR 200403073: Intertie transfer excluded, upgrade payment ruling declined
A generator building a power project arranged to connect it to a utility's grid and to sell excess electricity to third parties. The generator would build and transfer part of the intertie and…
PLR 200403072: Late GST allocation and trust severance approved
A donor's estate sought to correct a missed generation-skipping transfer (GST) tax exemption allocation to one of two trusts for a daughter and her descendants. The IRS granted 60 days to make the…
PLR 200403071: Decommissioning fund schedule approved after plant transfer
A company acquired an interest in a nuclear plant and its decommissioning fund from an affiliated utility, which continued collecting decommissioning costs from customers. The IRS approved a…
PLR 200403070: Decommissioning fund schedule approved for transferred plant interest
A company acquired an interest in a nuclear plant and its decommissioning fund from an affiliated utility. The utility continued to collect decommissioning charges from customers and remit them to…
PLR 200403069: Decommissioning fund schedule follows plant transfer
A company acquired part of a nuclear plant and its decommissioning fund from an affiliated utility. The utility remained authorized to collect decommissioning charges from customers and required to…
PLR 200403068: Nuclear decommissioning schedule approved for new owner
A company acquired a nuclear plant interest and its decommissioning fund from an affiliated utility, which continued collecting decommissioning charges from customers. The IRS approved a schedule of…
PLR 200403067: Fund payment schedule approved after nuclear plant transfer
A company took ownership of a nuclear plant interest and its decommissioning fund from an affiliated utility. The utility remained responsible for collecting decommissioning charges from customers…
PLR 200403066: Revised decommissioning fund schedule approved for transferee
A company received a nuclear plant interest and related decommissioning fund from an affiliated utility. The utility continued to collect decommissioning charges in regulated rates and remit them to…
PLR 200403065: Five-year nuclear decommissioning fund schedule approved
A utility owning part of a nuclear plant requested a revised schedule of payments to its decommissioning fund after ten years under its prior schedule. Four rate-setting bodies had approved…
PLR 200403064: Revised nuclear decommissioning fund schedule approved
A utility owning a share of a nuclear plant requested a new schedule of payments to its decommissioning fund, ten years after its previous schedule. Four rate-setting bodies had included…
PLR 200403063: Five-year decommissioning fund payment schedule approved
A utility that owned part of a nuclear plant requested a new schedule of decommissioning fund payments because ten years had passed since its previous schedule. Four rate-setting bodies had…
PLR 200403062: Revised decommissioning fund schedule approved for five years
A utility owning an interest in a nuclear plant sought a new schedule of payments to its decommissioning fund after ten years under an earlier schedule. Four rate-setting bodies had authorized the…
PLR 200403061: Late application to change tax year treated as timely
A corporation filed Form 1128 late to request a change from a December 31 tax year to a September 30 tax year. It attributed the late filing to an error or misunderstanding and had sent the IRS a…
PLR 200403060: Business separation qualifies for spin-off tax treatment
A publicly traded parent planned to separate two businesses because customers of one were reluctant to buy from a company affiliated with their competitor in the other. The plan moved subsidiaries…
PLR 200403059: Intertie contribution excluded, upgrade ruling declined
A generator reimbursed a utility for an intertie the utility built and owned to connect a power project to its grid. Power from the project would be sold to a marketer or another buyer before…
PLR 200403058: Generator intertie excluded, separate upgrade issue unresolved
A utility built and owned an intertie connecting a generator's project to its grid, and the generator reimbursed its cost. Electricity from the project would be sold to a marketer or another buyer…
PLR 200403057: Generator intertie excluded, separate upgrade issue unresolved
A utility built and owned an intertie connecting a generator's project to its grid, and the generator reimbursed its cost. Electricity from the project would be sold to a marketer or another buyer…
PLR 200403056: Retired partners' payments excluded from self-employment earnings only when statutory conditions hold
A law firm asked whether payments from its unfunded retirement program for former partners could be left out of their net earnings from self-employment. The IRS found the program to be a bona fide…
PLR 200403055: Half of shared rail trench costs may remain allocated to public streets
A public authority sought to preserve an earlier ruling on tax exempt bonds for a port transportation corridor after it changed the fees railroads would pay. The corridor's trench supports both…
PLR 200403054: Foreign entity gets 60 more days to elect its tax classification
A foreign limited liability partnership intended to elect a federal tax classification different from its default classification but did not file Form 8832 on time. It asked the IRS for an extension…
PLR 200403053: Foreign company gets 60 more days to elect its tax classification
A foreign private limited company owned by one entity intended to be disregarded for federal tax purposes from its incorporation date but did not file Form 8832 on time. It asked the IRS for an…
PLR 200403052: Foreign company gets 60 more days to elect its tax classification
A foreign limited company owned by one individual intended to be disregarded for federal tax purposes from its incorporation date but did not file Form 8832 on time. It asked the IRS for an…
PLR 200403051: Early trust termination avoids excise taxes; beneficiaries realize capital gain
A trustee sought rulings before ending a charitable remainder unitrust early under a court order. The plan would pay two lifetime beneficiaries the actuarial value of their interests and give the…
PLR 200403050: College tuition reduction plans qualify for income exclusion
A college offered two undergraduate tuition reduction plans for employees' family members, one for study at the college and another for study elsewhere. It asked whether the benefits were excluded…
PLR 200403049: Court ordered family move qualifies for reduced home sale exclusion
Homeowners asked about selling their new residence before meeting the usual two year ownership and use period. After they bought it, a court ordered a family member to live there under house arrest,…
PLR 200403048: Corporate split-offs qualify as reorganizations, with a liability gain exception
A corporation planned to place assets in two new subsidiaries and distribute their shares to groups of its shareholders to separate businesses amid management and shareholder disputes. The IRS ruled…
PLR 200403047: Planned expatriation lacks a principal tax avoidance purpose
A U.S. citizen who also held citizenship in another country planned to give up her U.S. citizenship. Her net worth exceeded the threshold that would normally create a presumption of tax avoidance…
PLR 200403046: Part of disability settlement legal costs excluded from income
A policyholder paid disability insurance premiums with after tax funds, was denied benefits, and later settled a lawsuit against the insurer. The settlement included past and future disability…
PLR 200403045: Former resident's green card surrender lacked tax avoidance purpose
A former U.S. long term resident surrendered her green card and returned to the country where she was born, whose tax system covered her worldwide income. Her net worth exceeded the threshold that…
PLR 200403044: Proposed habitat easement is a qualified conservation contribution
A landowner proposed granting a perpetual conservation easement over a largely undeveloped tract with wetlands and wildlife habitat. The easement reserved limited building and road rights, but…
PLR 200403043: Acquired companies may use standard research credit method
A taxpayer acquired three companies from a corporate group that had elected the alternative incremental research credit method. The buyer's group had used the standard method under section 41(a),…
PLR 200403042: Entity gets 60 days to file late corporate classification election
An eligible business entity intended to elect federal tax treatment as an association taxable as a corporation from its formation date, but failed to file Form 8832 on time. The entity requested a…
PLR 200403041: Later stock recapitalization does not disturb earlier tax free distribution
A corporation had distributed a subsidiary's high vote shares to its shareholders after creating two classes of subsidiary stock. An earlier IRS ruling treated the distribution as tax free under…
PLR 200403040: Parent receives 45 days to file late section 338 election
A U.S. parent of a foreign purchaser intended to elect asset sale treatment under section 338(g) after the purchaser bought a foreign target's stock, but the election was missed. The IRS found that…
PLR 200403039: Consolidated group gets 45 days to waive loss carryback
A consolidated corporate group intended to give up the carryback period for a consolidated net operating loss but omitted the required election statement from its timely return. The IRS found that…
PLR 200403038: LLC gets 60 days to file late corporate classification election
A limited liability company wanted to be taxed as a corporation from a specified date but inadvertently missed the Form 8832 filing deadline. It requested relief under the regulatory election…
PLR 200403037: Generator intertie excluded, upgrade payments left unresolved
A utility received payments from a generator to build an intertie connecting a new facility to its transmission grid. The utility expected the agreement to last at least ten years, kept the intertie…
PLR 200403036: S corporation gets 60 days to elect subsidiary treatment
An S corporation wholly owned another corporation and intended to treat it as a qualified subchapter S subsidiary from the parent's formation date. It inadvertently missed the deadline to file the…
PLR 200403035: Former resident gets more time to request expatriation ruling
A former U.S. long term resident surrendered his green card and missed the deadline to request a ruling under the then applicable expatriation guidance. His adviser had been unaware of the relevant…
PLR 200403034: LLC receives extension for late corporate classification election
A limited liability company intended to be taxed as a corporation from its formation date but did not timely file Form 8832. It asked for an extension under the regulatory election relief rules.…
PLR 200403033: Loan help for graduates working abroad is foreign source income
A college planned to help foreign graduates repay education loans when they took low paying jobs outside the United States. Payments would depend on their debt and income, and participants would…
PLR 200403032: Former citizen's expatriation lacked tax avoidance purpose
A person born abroad to a U.S. citizen later gave up her U.S. citizenship and lived in her birth country, where her worldwide income was taxable. Her net worth exceeded the threshold that would…
PLR 200403031: Reformed trusts qualify for S stock and preserve GST exemptions
A corporation's shares were held by eight trusts whose trustees proposed court ordered changes so the trusts could hold S corporation stock. The IRS ruled that each trust, as reformed, would meet…
PLR 200403030: Earlier REIT earnings deficit offsets later corporate surplus
A corporation planned to elect real estate investment trust status and needed to clear accumulated earnings and profits from its non-REIT years. Its predecessor had an earnings and profits deficit…
PLR 200403029: Interconnection facilities excluded; upgrade deposits unresolved
A power generator paid for facilities connecting its plant to a utility's transmission system, with the utility owning those facilities. The agreement was long term, the facilities stayed out of the…
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.