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 200348021: Late S corporation election accepted from incorporation date
A corporation's shareholder intended S corporation treatment from its incorporation date, but the election was filed late. The IRS found reasonable cause for the delay and granted relief under IRC §…
PLR 200348020: Elective cash and stock distribution is taxable as property
A corporation planning to elect REIT status proposed a distribution to clear its earnings and profits from earlier years. Shareholders could choose cash, stock, or a combination, subject to a limit…
PLR 200348019: Late S corporation election accepted for reasonable cause
A corporation intended to elect S corporation status, but it did not file the election on time. The IRS found reasonable cause for the delay and granted relief under section 1362(b)(5). The…
PLR 200348018: More time to elect bond treatment after housing property sales
A taxpayer disposed of properties for which it had claimed low-income housing credits but failed to file the bond election forms and post surety bonds on time. The IRS granted an extension to file…
PLR 200348017: More time to elect bond treatment after housing property sales
A taxpayer disposed of properties for which it had claimed low-income housing credits but failed to file the bond election forms and post surety bonds on time. The IRS granted an extension to file…
PLR 200348016: Partnership receives more time to elect basis adjustments
An LLC treated as a partnership missed the deadline for a section 754 election after a member died. Its manager said an adviser had given it incorrect information when the election was due. The IRS…
PLR 200348015: Late S corporation election treated as timely
A corporation and its shareholders intended S corporation treatment from the corporation's formation date, but the election was not filed on time. The IRS found reasonable cause for the delay and…
PLR 200348014: Partnership receives extension for section 754 election
A limited partnership filed its tax return without a section 754 election after a partner died. It said its tax preparer had failed to explain the availability and benefits of that election. The IRS…
PLR 200348013: Late S corporation election treated as timely
A corporation with one shareholder intended S corporation treatment from the corporation's formation date, but the election was not filed on time. The IRS found reasonable cause for the delay and…
PLR 200348012: Restructuring does not trigger parachute payment rules for two corporations
Corporations planned a split-off or spin-off followed by a merger and asked whether those transactions would trigger the golden parachute rules. The IRS ruled that the first transaction would not…
PLR 200348011: Trust remainder disclaimer will not be a taxable gift
A young trust beneficiary planned to disclaim her right to receive trust property when the trust ends, while retaining her separate right to possible discretionary distributions during its term.…
PLR 200348010: Estate receives relief for late alternate valuation election
An estate filed its tax return on time but did not elect to value its assets using the alternate valuation date under section 2032. Its return preparer had not considered or discussed the election…
PLR 200348009: Late trust election preserves corporation's S status
An S corporation's stock passed to trusts that were incorrectly treated as grantor trusts, and the required electing small business trust elections were missed. The IRS concluded that the…
PLR 200348008: Entity receives more time to elect disregarded status
A company and its parent intended for the company to be disregarded as a separate entity for federal tax purposes, but the company inadvertently failed to file Form 8832. The IRS found that the…
PLR 200348007: Active property rental income is not passive investment income
An S corporation with accumulated earnings and profits operated and managed commercial rental property. It described extensive maintenance, repair, and tenant services performed by its staff and…
PLR 200348006: Partnership merger does not substantially modify old transfer restrictions
A limited partnership planned to merge into a newly formed LLC and replace its partnership units with corresponding membership units. Agreements governing transfers and other rights of the…
PLR 200348005: Estate may correct GST exemption allocations to trust
A decedent made gifts to a trust over six years, but the gift tax returns omitted or understated allocations of generation-skipping transfer (GST) tax exemption. The estate said the accountant had…
TAM 200348004: Advance payments distort foreign sales corporation income
A company and its related foreign sales corporation (FSC) used advance payments for products delivered in a later year. The arrangement caused the FSC to report sales receipts before deducting its…
PLR 200348003: More time to file dual consolidated loss elections
The parent of a consolidated group missed elections, agreements, and an annual certification related to dual consolidated losses of two indirectly owned entities. The group had assigned reporting…
PLR 200348002: Purchased state tax credits count as payment of state income tax
An individual planned to purchase transferable state historic rehabilitation tax credits and use them against state income tax. The IRS ruled that surrendering the purchased credit certificate to…
PLR 200348001: Irish reinsurer qualifies for treaty excise tax relief
An Irish insurer reinsured U.S. variable annuity risks and sought relief from the federal excise tax on insurance premiums under the United States-Ireland tax treaty. Based on the insurer's…
PLR 200347025: Late trust election restores S corporation treatment
An S corporation's stock passed to a trust intended to be a qualified subchapter S trust, but its beneficiary did not make the required election. The IRS found that this caused the corporation's S…
CCA 200347024: Which synthetic fuel equipment keeps its placed-in-service date after relocation
Chief Counsel advised on the section 29 credit for facilities making solid synthetic fuel from coal. It defined a qualifying facility as the equipment that directly converts coal into fuel, with…
TAM 200347023: Abatement advised for private foundation excise taxes
A private foundation owned a for-profit subsidiary holding a hotel and made stock grants to other organizations, relying on counsel's advice. An earlier IRS memorandum found violations involving…
PLR 200347022: Governmental employer pickup of retirement contributions is excluded from current wages
A public hospital authority and its subsidiaries proposed to pay required employee contributions to their retirement plan directly. Under the plan amendment, employees could not choose to receive…
PLR 200347021: Museum gallery pledge qualifies as a foundation set-aside
A private foundation pledged funds for an exhibit gallery in a state history museum and asked to count the amount set aside as a qualifying distribution for its current tax year. It planned to pay…
PLR 200347020: State pension contributions and direct plan transfers receive favorable treatment
A state asked about mandatory contributions to a pension plan and payroll deductions used to buy additional service credit. The IRS ruled that amounts the state paid directly to the plan in place of…
PLR 200347019: Federal agency may establish a 401(k) plan for its employees
A federal agency asked whether it could establish a 401(k) plan for a group of people it contracts with for work abroad. The IRS ruled that the restriction on 401(k) plans maintained by state and…
PLR 200347018: Museum gallery set-aside qualifies as a charitable distribution
A private foundation planned to set aside funds for an exhibit gallery and an exhibit in a state history museum. It would pay a supporting charity over four years as construction and exhibit work…
PLR 200347017: Foundation grant for medical malpractice reinsurance approved
A private foundation formed a for-profit reinsurance company to help physicians obtain medical malpractice coverage during a state insurance crisis. It planned to grant funds to the company under a…
PLR 200347016: Remote early repayment does not bar debt and swap integration
A partnership planned to hold debt backed by credit card receivables and pair it with an interest rate swap to create fixed rate cash flows. Ordinarily, debt whose principal can be repaid early…
PLR 200347015: Missed trust election treated as inadvertent S corporation termination
An S corporation's stock passed to a trust whose beneficiary did not file a qualified subchapter S trust election. That made the trust an ineligible shareholder and terminated the corporation's S…
TAM 200347014: Utility excludes sale gains it must return to ratepayers
A regulated utility sold power generation assets during a state-mandated restructuring. State law and the utility regulator required it to use proceeds above the assets' book value, and earnings on…
PLR 200347013: Share class merger leaves prior spin-off ruling intact
A company had previously split its controlled subsidiary's stock into two classes with different director voting rights before distributing one class in a spin-off. The high-vote shares later traded…
PLR 200347012: Conditional relief for S corporation conversion to a partnership
An S corporation converted to a state limited partnership that elected corporate tax classification. Its owners later learned that the partnership's different equity interests might have ended its S…
PLR 200347011: Shorter annual withdrawal window preserves trust GST exemption
A trust became irrevocable before September 25, 1985, and its beneficiary could withdraw the greater of $5,000 or five percent of its principal each year. The trustee proposed limiting that…
PLR 200347010: Police duty disability and survivor benefits excluded from income
A city police benefit fund asked whether its duty-related disability and survivor payments were taxable to recipients. The IRS ruled that the city charter's disability and survivor provisions were…
PLR 200347009: Exclusive research license triggers private business use of bond facility
A tax-exempt research institute built a laboratory with bond proceeds and planned to give a for-profit company an exclusive, perpetual license to its research. The company would also receive a share…
PLR 200347008: Pro rata subsidiary stock distribution receives tax-free treatment
A holding company planned to distribute all stock of a wholly owned subsidiary to its shareholders in proportion to their existing holdings. It represented that the distribution would help reduce…
PLR 200347007: Late trust election receives inadvertent S termination relief
An S corporation's stock moved to a trust whose beneficiary failed to elect qualified subchapter S trust treatment. The trust was therefore an ineligible shareholder and the company's S election…
PLR 200347006: Late trust election receives inadvertent S termination relief
An S corporation's stock moved to a trust whose beneficiary failed to elect qualified subchapter S trust treatment. The trust was therefore an ineligible shareholder and the company's S election…
PLR 200347005: Late trust election receives inadvertent S termination relief
An S corporation's stock moved to a trust whose beneficiary failed to elect qualified subchapter S trust treatment. The trust was therefore an ineligible shareholder and the company's S election…
CCA 200347004: Respite care pay is taxable and payer may handle wage reporting
Government agencies paid temporary caregivers to relieve foster care providers. Chief Counsel concluded that the respite caregivers' payments did not qualify for the § 131 foster care exclusion and…
PLR 200347003: Employee salary reduction for office parking is tax-free
An employer offered employees parking in a lot adjoining its office in exchange for a $150 monthly salary reduction. Employees elected the benefit in writing before the month began, and the election…
PLR 200347002: Acquired group may switch to tax book asset values for interest expense
A corporation that used tax book values to apportion interest expense acquired a group that had used fair market values. The acquired group needed IRS authorization to change its asset valuation…
PLR 200347001: Business separation qualifies as a tax-free reorganization and spin-off
A corporation operating two businesses through partnerships planned to place one business's assets and partnership interests into a newly formed subsidiary. It would distribute the subsidiary's…
PLR 200346032: Late recharacterization allowed for ineligible Roth conversions
A married couple converted traditional IRAs to Roth IRAs in 1999, when their combined income exceeded the $100,000 limit for conversions. Their tax preparer received information about the…
PLR 200346031: Conditional pension funding waiver granted for 2001 plan year
A manufacturer sought a waiver of its pension plan's minimum funding requirement for the plan year beginning December 1, 2001. The IRS granted a conditional waiver after considering several years of…
PLR 200346030: Conditional pension funding waiver granted for 2001 plan year
A manufacturer sought a waiver of its pension plan's minimum funding requirement for the plan year beginning December 1, 2001. The IRS granted a conditional waiver after considering several years of…
PLR 200346029: Conditional pension funding waiver granted for 2001 plan year
A manufacturer sought a waiver of its pension plan's minimum funding requirement for the plan year beginning December 1, 2001. The IRS granted a conditional waiver after considering several years of…
PLR 200346028: Nonprofit pension plan receives a minimum funding waiver
A nonprofit agency requested a waiver of its pension plan's minimum funding requirement for the plan year beginning January 1, 2002. The IRS granted the waiver after considering the agency's…
PLR 200346027: Conditional pension funding waiver granted for 2001 plan year
A manufacturer sought a waiver of its pension plan's minimum funding requirement for the plan year beginning December 1, 2001. The IRS granted a conditional waiver after considering several years of…
PLR 200346026: Multiemployer pension contributions deductible under anticipated contribution rule
The trustees of a collectively bargained multiemployer pension plan asked whether employers could deduct their full $434,226 of contributions for the 2001 plan year, even though that total exceeded…
PLR 200346025: Surviving spouse may roll inherited IRA proceeds through trust into own IRA
A surviving spouse was the sole trustee of a trust named as beneficiary of the deceased spouse's IRA. The IRA proceeds were to pass through the trust's Survivor's Trust, whose terms let the spouse…
PLR 200346024: Combined deduction limit applies across six overlapping employer plans
A corporate group maintained six qualified retirement plans, including defined benefit, profit sharing, and money purchase plans. Some employees had benefits in more than one plan. The group asked…
PLR 200346023: Stock transfer does not trigger deferred branch profits tax
A foreign corporation transferred its U.S. branch operations to a domestic corporation and deferred branch profits tax under the applicable regulations. It later moved the domestic corporation's…
PLR 200346022: Late S corporation election treated as timely
A corporation's shareholders intended to elect S corporation treatment when the business began, but no election was filed by the deadline. The IRS found reasonable cause for the missed deadline and…
PLR 200346021: Late S corporation election allowed for first tax year
A corporation's sole shareholder intended S corporation treatment from the corporation's first tax year and filed an S corporation return for that year. No Form 2553 election was filed on time. The…
PLR 200346020: Five-year revised schedule approved for nuclear decommissioning fund
A utility that owned an interest in a nuclear plant requested a revised schedule for deductible payments to its decommissioning fund. The IRS found that the utility's proposed schedule met § 468A…
PLR 200346019: Tax treatment of a regulated investment company's master fund investment
A regulated investment company planned to contribute a diversified portfolio to a master fund organized as a partnership. The IRS ruled that the investing fund could count its share of the master…
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.