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 200346018: Extra time granted to allocate generation-skipping tax exemption
A taxpayer transferred property to a trust and asked an accountant to prepare the required tax returns. The accountant inadvertently failed to prepare the gift tax return, so the taxpayer's…
PLR 200346017: S corporation business spin-off qualifies as tax-free reorganization
An S corporation planned to place one of its two businesses in a new corporation and distribute the new company's shares to its existing shareholders. It said the separation would protect that…
PLR 200346016: Conditional relief for possible inadvertent S corporation termination
An S corporation converted to a limited partnership that elected corporate tax treatment. The conversion might have created a second class of stock and ended its S election. After learning of that…
PLR 200346015: Couple may reelect foreign earned income exclusion for 1999
A married couple elected the foreign earned income exclusion on their 1999 tax return. An accountant later prepared an amended return claiming a foreign tax credit instead, without explaining that…
PLR 200346014: Late S corporation election accepted for first tax year
A corporation's shareholders intended S corporation treatment from the date of incorporation, but its Form 2553 election was not filed on time. The IRS found reasonable cause for the missed deadline…
PLR 200346013: Three business split-offs qualify, with gain on one asset transfer
An S corporation's shareholders disagreed over management of its business. It proposed creating three new corporations, transferring parts of the business to them, and exchanging their shares with…
PLR 200346012: S corporation election relief from incorporation date
A corporation intended S corporation treatment from its incorporation date but did not file its election on time. The IRS found reasonable cause for the missed deadline and granted relief under §…
PLR 200346011: Extra time granted for joint stock purchase election
A buyer acquired all of a target company's stock from a seller, and both parties intended to make a joint § 338(h)(10) election to treat the purchase as a deemed asset sale. They missed the election…
PLR 200346010: Former resident's green card surrender was not tax motivated
A former U.S. long-term resident surrendered his green card and lived in a country where he was a citizen and subject to tax on worldwide income and his estate. His net worth exceeded a threshold…
PLR 200346009: Former resident's green card surrender was not for tax avoidance
A former U.S. long-term resident gave up her green card and returned to the country where she was born and was a citizen. She was subject there to tax on her worldwide income and estate. Her net…
PLR 200346008: Three older trusts retain generation-skipping tax exemption after changes
A family trust had become irrevocable before September 25, 1985, and three portions remained in separate trusts for three sons and their families. The trustees sought rulings about a court order…
TAM 200346007: Tax treatment of a headquarters building sale and leaseback
A company sold its headquarters building and leased it back, prompting a dispute over whether the transaction was a real sale or a financing arrangement. The IRS advised that the answer depends on…
CCA 200346006: Overlapping bankruptcy suspensions do not extend collection time twice
Chief Counsel addressed how to calculate the IRS collection deadline when a taxpayer files a second bankruptcy less than six months after the first bankruptcy's automatic stay ends. Section…
CCA 200346005: When U.S. military sales retain foreign sales corporation treatment
Chief Counsel gave general guidance on whether sales of military products to the U.S. government can produce qualifying foreign trading gross receipts for a foreign sales corporation. The statutory…
PLR 200346004: Supplemental filing extension for dual consolidated loss agreements
A taxpayer had already received extra time to file agreements and certifications concerning dual consolidated losses. Several entities were inadvertently omitted from the schedule attached to that…
PLR 200346003: Extension granted for dual consolidated loss agreements
A taxpayer and its advisers had interpreted a regulation to mean that agreements were unnecessary for certain dual consolidated losses. They later learned that the agreements should have been filed.…
PLR 200346002: County insurance pool service provider is a government instrumentality
A nonprofit supplied management, claims, and risk prevention services to self-insurance pools created by participating counties. It asked whether it was a government instrumentality for Social…
PLR 200346001: Shareholder split-off qualifies as tax-free reorganization
Two equal shareholders disagreed about how to run their corporation. To separate their businesses, the corporation proposed transferring half its net assets and liabilities to a new company, then…
PLR 200345050: Corporate spin-off and debt exchange qualify for tax-free treatment
A public company planned to separate two active businesses by converting a subsidiary into a corporation and distributing its shares to the parent company's shareholders. Before that distribution,…
PLR 200345049: Bankruptcy restructuring distributions qualify as G reorganizations
A company in chapter 11 planned to separate several business segments into a new corporation and distribute its stock and securities to its parent and creditors. A related distribution would then…
PLR 200345048: Pension plan receives conditional minimum funding waiver
A manufacturer requested a waiver of the minimum funding standard for its pension plan's 2000 plan year. The company reported several years of losses and falling sales, and the IRS determined that…
PLR 200345047: Pension plan receives conditional minimum funding waiver
A manufacturer requested a waiver of the minimum funding standard for its pension plan's 2000 plan year. The company reported several years of losses and falling sales, and the IRS determined that…
PLR 200345046: Pension plan receives conditional minimum funding waiver
A manufacturer requested a waiver of the minimum funding standard for its pension plan's 2000 plan year. The company reported several years of losses and falling sales, and the IRS determined that…
PLR 200345045: Pension plan receives conditional minimum funding waiver
A manufacturer requested a waiver of the minimum funding standard for its pension plan's 2000 plan year. The company reported several years of losses and falling sales, and the IRS determined that…
PLR 200345044: Late Roth IRA recharacterization receives a 60-day extension
An individual converted a traditional IRA to a Roth IRA in 1998 after her accountant believed she could claim an alimony recapture deduction. An IRS examination later found that the deduction was…
PLR 200345043: Adding corporation employees would harm governmental pension plan status
A state asked whether community officers employed by nonprofit corporations could join its governmental pension plan. It also asked whether the state could treat their mandatory employee…
PLR 200345042: State pension contributions qualify as employer picked-up payments
A state asked about mandatory employee contributions to its defined benefit pension plan and payroll deductions used to buy additional service credit. The IRS ruled that the state could pick up both…
PLR 200345041: Student loan securitization income avoids unrelated business tax
A tax-exempt supporting organization planned to buy student loans from the public-purpose organization it supported and finance those purchases by issuing certificates backed by the loans. The…
PLR 200345040: Public school annuity plan contributions excluded from current income
A public school corporation asked whether its salary reduction annuity plan satisfied the rules for a § 403(b) program. The IRS concluded that the plan met the applicable requirements and that…
PLR 200345039: Utility receives revised nuclear decommissioning fund schedule
An electric utility that owned part of a nuclear plant requested a revised schedule of amounts it could pay into its nuclear decommissioning fund. The IRS concluded that the proposed schedule met §…
PLR 200345038: Spouses receive time to allocate GST exemptions to family trusts
A husband transferred property to three trusts benefiting his wife and children. The spouses elected gift splitting, but their tax preparer inadvertently omitted allocations of their…
PLR 200345037: Company receives relief for a late S corporation election
A company and its shareholders intended the company to be an S corporation from its inception, but they had not filed Form 2553 on time. They reported income for one tax year consistently with S…
PLR 200345036: Utility receives revised nuclear decommissioning funding schedule
An electric utility asked the IRS to approve a revised schedule of payments to its nuclear decommissioning fund. The IRS found that the utility owned a qualifying interest in the plant and that the…
PLR 200345035: Utility receives revised schedule for nuclear decommissioning fund
A utility with ownership and leasehold interests in a nuclear power plant asked the IRS to revise its schedule of payments to a decommissioning fund. A public utility commission had determined the…
PLR 200345034: Parent receives time to elect QSub status for its subsidiary
A corporation intended to elect qualified subchapter S subsidiary (QSub) status for its wholly owned subsidiary after a business restructuring, but missed the filing deadline. The IRS found that the…
PLR 200345033: Parent receives time to elect QSub status for its subsidiary
A corporation intended to elect qualified subchapter S subsidiary (QSub) status for its wholly owned subsidiary after a business restructuring, but missed the filing deadline. The IRS found that the…
PLR 200345032: Parent receives time to elect QSub status for its subsidiary
A corporation intended to elect qualified subchapter S subsidiary (QSub) status for its wholly owned subsidiary after a business restructuring, but missed the filing deadline. The IRS found that the…
PLR 200345031: Parent receives time to elect QSub status for its subsidiary
A corporation intended to elect qualified subchapter S subsidiary (QSub) status for its wholly owned subsidiary after a business restructuring, but missed the filing deadline. The IRS found that the…
PLR 200345030: Parent receives time to elect QSub status for its subsidiary
A corporation intended to elect qualified subchapter S subsidiary (QSub) status for its wholly owned subsidiary after a business restructuring, but missed the filing deadline. The IRS found that the…
PLR 200345029: Parent receives time to elect QSub status for its subsidiary
A corporation intended to elect qualified subchapter S subsidiary (QSub) status for its wholly owned subsidiary after a business restructuring, but missed the filing deadline. The IRS found that the…
PLR 200345028: Parent receives time to elect QSub status for its subsidiary
A corporation intended to elect qualified subchapter S subsidiary (QSub) status for its wholly owned subsidiary after a business restructuring, but missed the filing deadline. The IRS found that the…
PLR 200345027: Parent receives time to elect QSub status for its subsidiary
A corporation intended to elect qualified subchapter S subsidiary (QSub) status for its wholly owned subsidiary after a business restructuring, but missed the filing deadline. The IRS found that the…
PLR 200345026: Community property annuity receives no basis step-up at spouse's death
Spouses bought a deferred variable annuity with community funds and placed it in a revocable trust. After one spouse died, the survivor asked whether both halves of the contract received a basis…
PLR 200345025: Merger does not trigger parachute payment rules for one company
Two publicly traded companies combined in a merger, and the former shareholders of one company held more than half of the resulting company's stock. That company asked whether the merger changed its…
PLR 200345024: Utility receives limited revised decommissioning funding schedule
An electric utility asked the IRS to revise the approved payments to its nuclear decommissioning fund for the portion of its plant regulated by one public utility commission. The IRS found that the…
PLR 200345023: Utility receives five-year decommissioning funding schedule
A utility that owned part of a nuclear power plant requested a revised schedule of payments to its decommissioning fund for one public utility commission's jurisdiction. The IRS found that the…
PLR 200345022: Corporate and intermediary leases do not disqualify rental project
A bond-financed apartment project planned to lease some units to corporate tenants for their workers and to businesses that would sublease units to the public. The IRS ruled that the described…
PLR 200345021: Utility receives five-year decommissioning funding schedule
A utility that owned part of a nuclear power plant requested a revised schedule of payments to its decommissioning fund for one public utility commission's jurisdiction. The IRS found that the…
PLR 200345020: IRS approves faster basis recovery on contingent sale payments
The members of an energy broker sold their ownership interests for payments tied to the broker's future earnings. The sale agreement stated a maximum price much higher than the amount the broker…
PLR 200345019: Partnership's share of property agreement income is qualifying income
A publicly traded partnership owned an interest in another partnership that operated and leased property. The second partnership received payments under an agreement with an unrelated corporation.…
PLR 200345018: Utility receives revised nuclear decommissioning funding schedule
A utility that operated and partly owned a nuclear power plant requested a revised payment schedule for its decommissioning fund. The IRS found that the utility had a qualifying ownership interest…
PLR 200345017: IRS approves five-year nuclear decommissioning payment schedule
A utility that operated and partly owned a nuclear power plant asked to revise the annual payments to its decommissioning fund. The IRS found that the utility's schedule used the decommissioning…
PLR 200345016: Electricity interconnection transfer excluded from utility's income
A power generator paid for an interconnection between its facility and a regulated utility's transmission grid, then transferred the interconnection to the utility. The utility asked whether it…
PLR 200345015: Foreign entity receives more time to elect disregarded status
A foreign investment company with one domestic owner missed the deadline to elect treatment as an entity disregarded from its owner for federal tax purposes. Its accountants had prepared the same…
PLR 200345014: Union health fund benefits excluded, wage assessments included
A union's locals assessed working members' wages to pay for health coverage for furloughed members. The union kept the assessments in a separate fund and used them only for that coverage. The IRS…
PLR 200345013: Loan repayment recipient was not an employee of sponsoring firm
A health professional received loan repayment payments under a two-year agreement that required work at an approved site. The professional found and kept a position at the site independently, then…
PLR 200345012: Later bonus payments do not defeat pre-meeting awards
A company granted performance bonus awards before the first shareholder meeting in the fifth year after shareholders had approved the plan's performance goals. Shareholders did not reapprove the…
PLR 200345011: Former resident gets more time to request an expatriation ruling
A former U.S. lawful permanent resident relinquished that status and later learned of a deadline to request a ruling under IRC § 877. The taxpayer had relied on a tax professional who failed to…
PLR 200345010: Asset transfers avoid gain, but stock redemption triggers gain
A closely held corporate group proposed to move operating assets into subsidiaries and then into a partnership while redeeming an outside shareholder's stock. The IRS ruled that the first transfer…
PLR 200345009: Trust reformation preserves generation-skipping tax exemption
Four trusts created before September 25, 1985 sought to narrow the group of charities eligible to receive trust distributions. A court ordered the change, subject to a favorable IRS ruling, so 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.