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 200351019: Partnership's late tax year change application is treated as timely
A partnership filed Form 1128 late to change its 52 to 53 week tax year from one ending near December 31 to one ending near September 30. It attributed the delay to an error or misunderstanding and…
PLR 200351018: Partnership's late tax year change application is treated as timely
A partnership filed Form 1128 late to change its 52 to 53 week tax year from one ending near December 31 to one ending near September 30. It attributed the delay to an error or misunderstanding and…
PLR 200351017: Partnership's late tax year change application is treated as timely
A partnership filed Form 1128 late to change its 52 to 53 week tax year from one ending near December 31 to one ending near September 30. It attributed the delay to an error or misunderstanding and…
PLR 200351016: Partnership's late tax year change application is treated as timely
A partnership filed Form 1128 late to change its 52 to 53 week tax year from one ending near December 31 to one ending near September 30. It attributed the delay to an error or misunderstanding and…
PLR 200351015: Commercial property rents are not passive investment income
An S corporation owned five commercial rental properties and provided extensive property, tenant, and leasing services through a management company. It asked whether its rent counted as passive…
PLR 200351014: Contract dentist is an employee for federal employment tax purposes
A dentist asked the IRS to determine employment tax status for services provided to a federal agency under a contract. The contract gave the agency day-to-day supervisory authority, set work hours…
PLR 200351013: Corporation receives relief for missed S election
A corporation's sole shareholder intended S corporation treatment from formation, but the corporation never filed Form 2553 and later filed a corporate income tax return on its preparer's advice.…
PLR 200351012: Spouses receive time to allocate GST exemptions to trust gift
A settlor transferred a partnership interest to a family trust, and the settlor and spouse reported the gift as split between them on timely gift tax returns. Their preparers did not allocate either…
PLR 200351011: S corporation receives time to elect QSub treatment
An S corporation wholly owned a newly incorporated subsidiary and intended to elect qualified subchapter S subsidiary treatment for it. The parent failed to file Form 8869 on time. The IRS granted…
PLR 200351010: Estate receives time for reverse QTIP election and GST allocations
An estate made a QTIP election for a marital trust but omitted a reverse QTIP election and generation-skipping transfer tax exemption allocations from its estate tax return. It proposed dividing the…
PLR 200351009: Smallwares safe harbor applies to regularly staffed beverage service
A company supplied coffee, other refreshments, and small appliances at customer sites. It asked whether it could use the restaurant smallwares accounting safe harbor for those appliances and service…
PLR 200351008: Bankruptcy successor trust qualifies as a settlement fund
A contractor facing asbestos injury claims planned to transfer insurance rights and other assets to a successor trust under its bankruptcy reorganization plan. The trust would pay the claims and…
PLR 200351007: Late S corporation election treated as timely if filed within 60 days
A corporation and its shareholders intended to elect S corporation status from the corporation's first taxable year, but no Form 2553 was filed on time. The IRS found reasonable cause for the late…
PLR 200351006: Town development corporation's income is excluded under section 115
A town formed a nonprofit corporation to promote local business, employment, and cultural events. Town officials controlled its board and budget, and its remaining assets would go to the town if it…
PLR 200351005: Two distributions separate business segments without recognized gain
A corporate group planned to separate two business segments so each could operate independently. One subsidiary would transfer a segment to a new corporation and distribute that corporation's stock…
PLR 200351004: Former resident's expatriation was not principally for tax avoidance
A long-term U.S. resident surrendered her green card and became a tax resident in the country where she was born. Her net worth exceeded the threshold that would ordinarily create a presumption of…
PLR 200351003: Advance choice to convert future paid leave does not trigger current income
A tax exempt employer planned to combine its leave policies into one paid time off plan. Employees could irrevocably choose, before a new year began, to receive cash during that year for a limited…
PLR 200351002: State leave plan can send unused leave value to retirement plans
A state planned to add paid leave through collective bargaining and automatically contribute the value of unused leave to employees' retirement plans when they left service. Employees could use the…
PLR 200351001: Corporate group gets extra time to elect consolidated filing
A newly formed parent and four subsidiaries missed the deadline to elect consolidated federal income tax filing. The IRS found that they had reasonably relied on a qualified tax professional and…
PLR 200350022: Pro rata timberland partition is not foundation self-dealing
A private foundation and family trusts held undivided interests in timberland. The trusts were disqualified persons under the private foundation self-dealing rules. The owners proposed to divide…
PLR 200350021: Medical center retirement plan qualifies as a church plan since 1975
A nonprofit medical center asked whether its employee retirement plan was a church plan. It described ties to two churches through its chaplaincy, pastoral education, board representation, and…
PLR 200350020: Merger would upset nonelecting church plan status
A church affiliated corporation maintained a pension plan that had not elected to follow the ordinary retirement plan rules under IRC § 410(d). It proposed to merge into that plan another hospital's…
PLR 200350019: Routing vacation fund contributions into a 401(k) would disqualify the arrangement
A collectively bargained retirement plan proposed to let employees direct amounts otherwise destined for a vacation and holiday fund into its cash or deferred arrangement. The fund normally paid…
PLR 200350018: County excess benefit plan qualifies under section 415(m)
A county pension system could not pay some promised benefits from its qualified plan because of the annual benefit limits in IRC § 415. The county created a separate arrangement to pay only the…
PLR 200350017: Employer stock dividends deductible when paid or reinvested under employee elections
A company proposed to let retirement plan participants choose whether dividends on company stock in their accounts would be paid to them in cash or retained and reinvested in the company stock fund.…
CCA 200350016: Bankruptcy asset transfer fails G reorganization and section 351 tests
A corporation in bankruptcy transferred division assets to a new corporation, with stock and notes distributed to creditor classes. Chief Counsel advised that the transaction did not qualify as a…
PLR 200350015: Generator's payments for utility grid upgrades are capital contributions
A power generator paid for upgrades to a utility's transmission system so its new facility could connect to the grid and sell electricity to third parties. The utility designed and owned the…
PLR 200350014: Corporation receives conditional relief for late S election
A corporation's shareholders intended S corporation status from the date of incorporation, and its corporate minutes recorded that intent. The corporation filed an S corporation tax return but…
PLR 200350013: Missed S election deadline receives conditional relief
A corporation's shareholders intended to elect S corporation status from the date of incorporation. Its minutes reflected that plan, and it filed an S corporation tax return, but it did not file…
PLR 200350012: Proposed charitable trust reformation fails estate deduction rules
An estate proposed to reform a trust that paid the decedent's grandsons during their lives and left the remainder to charity. The proposed terms would fund a charitable remainder annuity trust with…
PLR 200350011: Missing trust elections caused an inadvertent S corporation termination
Shares of an S corporation passed to three trusts after a shareholder died. The trusts' beneficiaries missed the deadline to elect qualified subchapter S trust treatment, which terminated the…
PLR 200350010: Restricted foundation gift does not bring trust assets into donor's estate
Trustees of a donor's irrevocable trust proposed to make a cash gift to a private foundation where the donor served as a director. The foundation would hold the gift in a restricted fund, with…
PLR 200350009: Trust gift to donor's foundation avoids estate inclusion
Trustees of an irrevocable trust planned to give cash to a private foundation where the trust's donor was a director. The foundation would keep the gift in a restricted fund. A special committee…
PLR 200350008: Actively managed property rents are not passive investment income
An S corporation owned two rental properties and used employees to manage them. It provided regular maintenance, cleaning, inspections, and substantial repairs and replacements. The IRS ruled that…
PLR 200350007: Sole shareholder's late S election receives conditional relief
A corporation's sole shareholder intended S corporation status from the date the company was formed. The corporation filed an S corporation income tax return, but its election was late. The IRS…
PLR 200350006: Two subsidiary stock distributions qualify for nonrecognition
A corporate group planned to place its business segments under separate subsidiaries to address management and reporting problems. One subsidiary would distribute stock of two controlled companies,…
PLR 200350005: Former resident receives more time to request an expatriation ruling
A former U.S. resident asked for more time to request a ruling under IRC § 877 after surrendering her green card. She had relied on an accounting firm for U.S. tax matters, but the firm did not…
PLR 200350004: LLC receives more time to elect corporate tax treatment
A limited liability company wanted to be taxed as a corporation from a specified date as part of a restructuring. It had previously been disregarded for federal tax purposes, but its Form 8832…
PLR 200350003: Corporation receives relief for a late S election
A corporation's shareholders wanted S corporation tax treatment from the date it began business, but the company did not file its election on time. The IRS found reasonable cause for the late filing…
PLR 200350002: Stock split-off qualifies for nonrecognition
A public company planned to separate one of its businesses by exchanging stock of a controlled subsidiary for one class of its own outstanding shares. A buyer would acquire other stock of that…
PLR 200350001: Insurer receives waivers for life insurance contract errors
A life insurer requested waivers for flexible premium policies that failed requirements under IRC § 101(f) or § 7702 because excess premiums were not corrected on time. The insurer attributed the…
PLR 200349009: Inherited IRA may be divided for two daughters
A mother died before her required beginning date and left an IRA to a trust for her two daughters. The trustee proposed direct transfers that would divide the IRA into two inherited IRAs, both…
PLR 200349008: Conservation fund management remains exempt activity
A conservation organization established by Congress managed funds for government agencies, including permit fees and payments from environmental enforcement. It asked whether those agreements…
PLR 200349007: Awards for past space achievements are not taxable expenditures
A private foundation planned periodic cash awards recognizing practical achievements in commercial space activities. It asked the IRS to approve its grant procedures under IRC § 4945(g). The IRS…
PLR 200349006: Pension plan receives a conditional funding waiver
A company with declining sales, losses, and a pension plan whose assets were below its current liability sought relief from the minimum funding standard. The IRS granted a conditional waiver under…
PLR 200349005: Pension amendment approved in part and funding waiver granted
A company facing financial hardship asked to apply a pension plan amendment retroactively so it could stop required contributions, and also requested a minimum funding waiver. The IRS approved the…
PLR 200349004: Architecture firm's pension plan receives a conditional funding waiver
An architecture and engineering firm had suffered repeated losses and reduced staff and pension benefit accruals. Its pension plan also had accumulated funding deficiencies. The IRS granted a…
PLR 200349003: Pension funding waiver depends on paying past excise taxes
A company with declining sales and repeated losses sought a minimum funding waiver for its pension plan. The IRS granted a conditional waiver under IRC § 412(d) for the plan year ending December 31,…
PLR 200349002: Revised pension funding waiver drops security condition
A company had received a pension funding waiver that required a security arrangement with the Pension Benefit Guaranty Corporation. It then contributed $800,000 to the plan for the same plan year,…
PLR 200349001: Which truck body charges enter the retail excise tax base
A seller of refuse truck bodies asked which installation, warranty, and transportation charges could be left out of the price subject to the heavy truck retail excise tax. The IRS allowed actual…
PLR 200348031: Government pension service purchases qualify as employer picked-up contributions
A city and a government retirement plan proposed paying employees' installment contributions to buy or restore pension service credit through irrevocable payroll agreements. The IRS ruled that…
PLR 200348030: Church-affiliated hospital pension plan qualifies as a church plan
A nonprofit corporation that sponsors a pension plan for its employees and two nonprofit hospital affiliates asked whether the plan is a church plan under IRC § 414(e). The IRS found that the…
PLR 200348029: Cancer care organizations retain tax status after merger
Several affiliated cancer care and research nonprofits proposed merging two organizations into a third, which would continue their charitable activities under a new name. Two supporting…
PLR 200348028: Tax-exempt employer's deferred compensation plan qualifies under section 457
A tax-exempt employer proposed a deferred compensation plan for selected management and highly compensated employees. The IRS ruled that the plan qualifies as an eligible plan under IRC § 457(b).…
PLR 200348027: Late S corporation election accepted from incorporation date
A corporation's shareholders intended to elect S corporation treatment from its incorporation date, but the election was filed late. The IRS found reasonable cause for the delay and granted relief…
PLR 200348026: Foreign entity receives more time to elect partnership status
A foreign entity missed the deadline to file Form 8832 to elect partnership treatment for federal tax purposes. The IRS found that it met the requirements for discretionary filing relief under…
PLR 200348025: Buyer and sellers receive more time for a stock acquisition election
A buyer acquired all shares of an S corporation and merged it into the buyer. The buyer and sellers intended to make a joint IRC § 338(h)(10) election, and their tax returns reflected that…
PLR 200348024: Late S corporation election accepted from formation date
A corporation's shareholders intended S corporation treatment from the incorporation date, but missed the election deadline. The IRS found reasonable cause for the late filing and granted relief…
PLR 200348023: Generator-funded grid connection excluded from utility's income
An electricity generator funded a high-voltage connection to a regulated utility's transmission grid, with payments routed through an independent system operator. The generator's electricity was…
PLR 200348022: Controlled group receives more time for section 382 value election
A parent corporation and foreign subsidiaries missed the deadline to elect how value would be restored within their controlled group after an ownership change. The election affects the IRC § 382…
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.