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 200343006: Charity's deferred compensation plan qualifies under section 457
A tax-exempt employer proposed a deferred compensation plan for a select group of management and highly compensated employees. The plan set limits on annual deferrals and generally postponed…
PLR 200343005: Delayed executive stock purchase leaves earlier rulings intact
Earlier IRS rulings covered a corporate stock distribution and related transactions, including a plan for senior executives to buy stock in a controlled company. Unexpected developments delayed an…
PLR 200343004: Missed trust distributions receive S termination relief
Seven trusts that held S corporation stock failed to make required income distributions for a tax year. That failure caused the corporation's S election to terminate when the trusts ceased to…
PLR 200343003: Missed trust distributions receive S termination relief
Seven trusts that held S corporation stock failed to make required income distributions for a tax year. That failure caused the corporation's S election to terminate when the trusts ceased to…
TAM 200343002: Retained corporate earnings remain in alternate estate value
An estate elected to value its assets six months after the decedent's death. The decedent had owned all of a corporation's stock, and the corporation earned profits during those six months. The…
TAM 200343001: Prepaid phone services remain subject to communications tax
A company sold prepaid phone service to customers, who used personal identification numbers to place calls. It argued that the communications excise tax did not apply because customers bought the…
PLR 200342009: Government plan contributions qualify as employer pickup
A hospital authority and its affiliates had a retirement plan that required employee contributions. The authority proposed to pay those amounts itself, with employees unable to choose cash instead.…
PLR 200342008: Foundation asset transfer and court-approved payments
A private foundation trust planned to transfer all its assets to a commonly controlled nonprofit corporation. It also sought to pay trustees for work defending its interests in an estate, reimburse…
PLR 200342007: Garnishment for a federal criminal fine does not disqualify a retirement plan
A federal court ordered an employer to pay part of an employee's retirement plan account to the United States to satisfy a criminal fine. The employer asked whether obeying the garnishment order…
PLR 200342006: Conditional minimum funding waiver for a hospital pension plan
A nonprofit hospital and nursing home reported financial hardship after several years of losses and asked for relief from a pension plan's minimum funding requirement. The IRS granted a conditional…
PLR 200342005: Funding waiver denied, with partial excise tax relief
A company in bankruptcy asked for a waiver of its pension plan's minimum funding requirement and relief from excise taxes on the funding shortfall. The IRS denied the funding waiver because the…
PLR 200342004: Business sale proceeds qualify for partial liquidation treatment
A closely held corporation planned to distribute proceeds from selling the assets of one business while continuing another. The IRS ruled that a timely distribution of the net sale proceeds would…
PLR 200342003: Partial annuity exchange qualifies for tax-free treatment
An annuity owner planned to transfer one-third of an existing contract's account value directly to an unrelated insurer for a second annuity contract. The IRS ruled that the partial transfer…
PLR 200342002: Extension to elect disregarded entity status
A foreign company owned by a domestic corporation intended to elect treatment as an entity disregarded from its owner but missed the Form 8832 deadline. The IRS found that the company met the…
PLR 200342001: Late allocation of generation-skipping transfer exemption
A grantor funded an irrevocable trust but did not allocate generation-skipping transfer tax exemption to the gift. The omission came to light after the trust assets had grown, and the grantor's…
PLR 200341024: Youth board stipends are not taxable expenditures
A private foundation supporting young people in and leaving foster care planned grants to public charities with youth boards, plus direct stipends for youth serving on its national board and…
PLR 200341023: Disregarded subsidiary employees may join a 403(b) plan
A tax-exempt hospital owned all of a company that had not elected corporate tax treatment and was disregarded as a separate entity. The hospital wanted the company's employees to participate in its…
PLR 200341022: Relief from 100 percent pension funding excise tax
A company withdrew its request for a pension minimum funding waiver after entering bankruptcy and having its plan terminated by the Pension Benefit Guaranty Corporation. It also sought relief from…
PLR 200341021: IRS modifies security condition for pension funding waiver
A company asked the IRS to modify a condition in an earlier ruling concerning its pension plan. The IRS granted the request. As modified, the condition requires the company to provide the plan with…
PLR 200341020: IRS modifies security condition for pension funding waiver
A company asked the IRS to modify a condition in an earlier ruling concerning its pension plan. The IRS granted the request. As modified, the condition requires the company to provide the plan with…
PLR 200341019: Foreign insurer may use nine regulatory reserve categories
A U.S. parent asked how its controlled foreign life insurer should measure income under the exception for qualified insurance income. The foreign insurer had to maintain nine categories of…
PLR 200341018: Late S corporation election may take effect as intended
A corporation and its sole shareholder intended S corporation status to begin when the corporation was formed, but its Form 2553 was filed late. The corporation asked the IRS for relief under IRC §…
PLR 200341017: Cooperative may offset patronage losses against member equity
A cooperative in bankruptcy had patronage losses and outstanding qualified written notices of allocation issued to its members and patrons. Its bylaws allowed the board to apply patronage losses…
PLR 200341016: Unused GST exemption allocates to grandchild trust
A decedent's will created a trust intended to use his available generation-skipping transfer tax exemption and a separate residuary trust for his daughter. The estate asked whether the unused…
PLR 200341015: Investment funds receive more time for dividend elections
Two regulated investment funds intended to make elections under IRC § 855(a), but the firm handling their returns failed to record them in its filing tracker and missed the deadline for requesting…
PLR 200341014: Fund's in-kind tender redemptions avoid gain recognition
A closed-end regulated investment company proposed a tender offer under which shareholders could request redemption and receive portfolio securities instead of cash. The fund said it would…
PLR 200341013: Unused GST exemption allocates to family trust
A decedent's will created a family trust that could benefit her surviving spouse and daughter, with its remaining assets later passing into a trust for the daughter and ultimately to younger…
PLR 200341012: Owner receives time to elect disregarded entity status
An owner formed a foreign limited-liability company and intended to elect to treat it as disregarded for U.S. federal tax purposes. The owner expected tax professionals to file Form 8832, but the…
PLR 200341011: Administrative trust changes preserve GST exemption
A trust created before September 25, 1985, proposed changes to how trustees could be replaced and how the trust could invest its assets. The trustee wanted current income beneficiaries to replace a…
PLR 200341010: Corporation can make late S election for first tax year
A corporation intended to be an S corporation from its first tax year, as reflected in its directors' minutes, and filed an S corporation return for that year. It did not file Form 2553 to make the…
PLR 200341009: Inadvertent S election termination gets relief
An S corporation's stock was transferred from eligible trusts to a limited-liability company taxed as a partnership. Because the partnership was an ineligible shareholder, the transfer terminated…
PLR 200341008: Gas guzzler tax does not apply to described vehicle sales
An importer asked whether its sales of certain four-wheeled vehicles were subject to the gas guzzler tax under IRC § 4064. The letter explains that the tax can apply to a qualifying vehicle at or…
PLR 200341007: Late S election relief requires amended returns
Three shareholders intended their corporation to be an S corporation from a specified date, but the corporation did not file Form 2553 on time. The IRS found reasonable cause for the missed election…
PLR 200341006: Estate receives time for reverse QTIP election
An estate elected qualified terminable interest property treatment for a marital trust but omitted a reverse QTIP election on Form 706. Its tax preparer said the omission resulted from a…
TAM 200341005: Stock financing arrangement is not a current stock sale
A shareholder contributed corporate stock to a partnership, which transferred stock to a sub-trust connected to financial instruments sold to investors. The IRS advised that the stock transfer…
TAM 200341004: Fastener settlement costs are not product liability losses
A fastener manufacturer settled customer claims after discovering deficiencies in how some fasteners were manufactured and tested. Customers sought costs of buying replacements, lost profits,…
TAM 200341003: Luxury tow vehicles are taxable tractors
A seller marketed heavy vehicles as luxury tow vehicles and argued that their cargo space made them trucks exempt from the retail excise tax under IRC § 4051(a)(2). The IRS found that their towing…
TAM 200341002: Charities' trust withdrawal rights do not shield gifts
A donor funded a trust for family members and four charities, giving each charity a short period to withdraw a share of each contribution. None of the charities exercised those rights, and…
PLR 200341001: Taxpayers get time to seek branch profits tax ruling
A parent and two corporations had completed related transfers of U.S. branch operations and corporate shares. Their tax advisers later realized they should have sought an IRS ruling on whether a…
PLR 200302044: Changes to stock offering and intercompany debt leave prior spin-off rulings intact
A taxpayer sought a supplemental ruling about corporate distributions previously addressed under sections 355 and 368. The taxpayer said one controlled corporation would not make a public stock…
PLR 200340030: Converted employer stock retains NUA treatment
A qualified plan held stock that originated as employer securities in a predecessor plan, then became stock of a former parent after a spin-off. A merger would exchange those shares for stock of…
PLR 200340029: Pension plan receives conditional funding waiver
A company sought relief from the minimum funding standard for its pension plan's year ending April 30, 2003. The IRS granted a conditional waiver under IRC § 412(d), citing temporary substantial…
PLR 200340028: Pension funding waiver requires security and excise tax payment
A company facing temporary substantial business hardship requested minimum funding waivers for its pension plan's 2001 and 2002 plan years. The IRS granted a conditional waiver under IRC § 412(d),…
PLR 200340027: Pension plan receives conditional funding waiver
The IRS granted a conditional minimum funding waiver for a pension plan's year ending April 30, 2003. The company had experienced temporary substantial business hardship, including income losses and…
PLR 200340026: Nurse grants qualify under approved foundation procedures
A private foundation proposed grants to recent nursing graduates who would work full-time at nonprofit hospitals in a specified area. It planned up to twenty grants of no more than $2,500 a year per…
PLR 200340025: Direct retirement plan transfers and picked-up contributions approved
A city asked about allowing employees and certain former employees to transfer benefits from its qualified defined benefit plan to an optional defined contribution plan. The IRS ruled that the…
PLR 200340024: Partnership may allocate unsecured real estate debt among properties
A real estate partnership planned to refinance property mortgages and fund acquisitions with unsecured debt and a line of credit. The IRS allowed it to allocate the debt and each credit advance…
PLR 200340023: Late S corporation election granted after missing Form 2553
A corporation intended to elect S corporation status for its first tax year, but the IRS had no record of receiving its Form 2553 and the corporation could not prove delivery. The corporation and…
PLR 200340022: Divorce-related division of charitable remainder trust approved
A divorcing couple proposed splitting their charitable remainder unitrust into two trusts, each holding half of every asset and paying one former spouse. The IRS ruled that the division itself would…
PLR 200340021: Estate receives time to allocate donor's GST exemption
A donor's accountant filed a timely gift tax return for a transfer to a trust but inadvertently omitted an allocation of the donor's generation-skipping transfer (GST) exemption. The accountant…
PLR 200340020: Inadvertently invalid S election relieved after missed QSST election
A corporation had a trust shareholder whose income beneficiary failed to make a timely qualified subchapter S trust (QSST) election. The IRS concluded that the trust was an ineligible shareholder,…
PLR 200340019: Inherited home purchase option adds to property's basis
A mother's will gave her daughter an option to buy the family home from the estate for less than its estate tax value. The estate let the daughter exercise the option for a different stated amount.…
PLR 200340018: Late corporate classification election granted
A single-owner entity intended to elect corporate tax classification from its formation date but missed the deadline for filing Form 8832. The IRS found that it met the standards for an extension…
PLR 200340017: Late corporate classification election granted
A single-owner entity intended to elect corporate tax classification from its formation date but missed the deadline for filing Form 8832. The IRS found that it met the standards for an extension…
PLR 200340016: Thirty-day extension granted for dual consolidated loss elections
A taxpayer missed the election and agreement filings required for dual consolidated losses incurred by two entities. It submitted affidavits explaining that its tax advisers had not recognized the…
PLR 200340015: Trust additions and proposed GST severance receive tax rulings
A nonresident donor funded a trust for a family with cash held outside the United States. The IRS ruled that the beneficiaries and trustees were not owners of the trust at its initial funding. Their…
PLR 200340014: Late QSub election filing granted
An S corporation intended to elect qualified subchapter S subsidiary (QSub) status for its wholly owned subsidiary but missed the Form 8869 filing deadline. The IRS found that the parent met the…
PLR 200340013: Late GST exemption allocations to two family trusts allowed
A donor created two trusts for his sons and made transfers that he and another taxpayer treated as split gifts on timely Forms 709. Their accountant inadvertently omitted allocations of their…
PLR 200340012: Active apartment rental business qualifies for estate tax installments
A decedent owned interests in eight apartment properties and, with his son and employees, had performed extensive management and maintenance services. The IRS found that those activities went beyond…
PLR 200340011: Automobile service contracts treated as insurance
An automobile dealership planned to form a separate company to issue extended service contracts covering repair costs after covered mechanical breakdowns. The company would pay claims but provide no…
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.