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 200336023: State tax credit does not reduce federal wind power credit
A taxpayer planned to operate a wind energy facility and sell its electricity to unrelated buyers. It also expected a refundable state income tax credit based in part on property taxes and increased…
PLR 200336022: Reasonable cause allows late S corporation election
A corporation intended S corporation status from the start of a specified taxable year, but discovered its election had not been filed on time. The IRS found reasonable cause for the failure under…
PLR 200336021: S corporation status preserved after missed Form 2553
A corporation intended to be an S corporation from its first taxable year, but its Form 2553 was not filed on time. Correspondence with legal advisors supported that intent. The IRS ruled that the…
PLR 200336020: Estate may deduct specified income set aside for charities
An estate received an IRA distribution, an unpaid required minimum distribution, and proceeds from redeemed HH bonds after the decedent's death. The will directed the remaining estate to three…
PLR 200336019: Agency's turbine purchase is outside nongovernmental output property rule
A municipal power agency planned to acquire two turbine generator sets originally ordered by a private power producer. The producer decided to sell them before their component parts were fully…
PLR 200336018: Late S election for a single-shareholder company receives relief
A company with one shareholder intended to be an S corporation from a specified taxable year, but did not file its election on time. The IRS found reasonable cause for the omission under section…
PLR 200336017: Missed Form 2553 receives reasonable cause relief
A corporation's sole shareholder intended S corporation status from the incorporation date. The company even indicated S status on its employer identification number application, but did not file…
PLR 200336016: Missed S election treated as effective from incorporation
A corporation's shareholders intended S corporation status from its incorporation date but did not file the election on time. The IRS found reasonable cause for the omission under section…
PLR 200336015: Late S election effective from incorporation
A corporation's shareholders intended to elect S corporation status from its incorporation date, but the election was filed late. The IRS found reasonable cause for the delay and granted relief…
PLR 200336014: Estate's marital trust election covered an omitted residence parcel
An estate requested more time to elect qualified terminable interest property treatment for part of a residence. After filing its estate tax return, the estate learned that the decedent still owned…
PLR 200336013: Partnership receives more time to elect basis adjustment
A partner died and their partnership interest passed to an estate. The partnership intended to elect a basis adjustment under section 754 for that year, but inadvertently omitted the election from…
PLR 200336012: Partnership treated LLC gets more time for basis election
A member of a limited liability company treated as a partnership died, and the interest passed to an estate. The company intended to file a section 754 basis adjustment election for that year but…
PLR 200336011: Partnership receives more time to elect basis adjustment
A partner died and their partnership interest passed to an estate. The partnership intended to elect a basis adjustment under section 754 for that year, but inadvertently omitted the election from…
PLR 200336010: Partnership receives more time to elect basis adjustment
A partner died and their partnership interest passed to an estate. The partnership intended to elect a basis adjustment under section 754 for that year, but inadvertently omitted the election from…
PLR 200336009: Partnership treated LLC gets more time for basis election
A member of a limited liability company treated as a partnership died, and the interest passed to an estate. The company intended to file a section 754 basis adjustment election for that year but…
PLR 200336008: Partnership receives more time to elect basis adjustment
A partner died and their partnership interest passed to an estate. The partnership intended to elect a basis adjustment under section 754 for that year, but inadvertently omitted the election from…
PLR 200336007: Partnership receives more time to elect basis adjustment
A partner died and their partnership interest passed to an estate. The partnership intended to elect a basis adjustment under section 754 for that year, but inadvertently omitted the election from…
PLR 200336006: Partnership receives more time to elect basis adjustment
A partner died and their partnership interest passed to an estate. The partnership intended to elect a basis adjustment under section 754 for that year, but inadvertently omitted the election from…
PLR 200336005: Late S election effective from incorporation
A corporation's shareholders intended to elect S corporation status from its incorporation date, but the election was filed late. The IRS found reasonable cause for the delay and granted relief…
PLR 200336004: State cash flow warrants qualify as obligations
A state planned to issue short term debt to cover a cash shortfall. If it lacked enough money at maturity, banks and broker dealers would purchase warrants from the state under advance agreements.…
PLR 200336003: Unused GST exemption automatically allocated to trust
A decedent left the residue of an estate to a trust for a son and his descendants. The estate tax return did not allocate the decedent's unused generation-skipping transfer tax exemption. The IRS…
PLR 200336002: Late S election effective from formation
A company's owner intended to elect S corporation status from its formation date, but the election was not filed on time. The IRS found reasonable cause for the delay and granted relief under…
PLR 200336001: Cable distribution of college programming is not private use of bond financed facilities
A public education district produced some programming at facilities financed with tax exempt bonds and arranged for a cable company to distribute the programs. The company could not control the…
PLR 200335037: Community grants counted by banks preserve charity status
A supporting charity made community grants that affiliated banks might ask regulators to count toward their Community Reinvestment Act ratings. The IRS ruled that this treatment would not jeopardize…
PLR 200335036: Late recharacterization of ineligible Roth IRA conversion
A taxpayer converted a traditional IRA to a Roth IRA in 1998 after receiving advice that a higher income limit applied. The taxpayers later learned that their joint income exceeded the applicable…
PLR 200335035: Plan transfers can buy public employees' service credit
A state proposed letting employees transfer vested money directly from its 401(k) plans to its defined benefit retirement systems to buy prior or additional service credit. The IRS ruled that the…
CCA 200335034: Tax treatment of fishing settlement proceeds and transferred claims
After an environmental event harmed commercial fishing, a settlement fund paid claims for lost income and reduced values of boats and fishing permits. Chief Counsel advised that lost fishing income…
PLR 200335033: Transferring a short position does not start a new short sale
A broker planned to receive a customer's brokerage account, including open short positions, from another broker. To release the first broker's collateral, the receiving broker would borrow…
TAM 200335032: Cash distribution remains a dividend despite later recapitalization
A corporate shareholder chose cash from a distribution that shareholders could receive in cash or stock. It later exchanged its remaining common shares for preferred shares. IRS technical advice…
PLR 200335031: Late S election allowed from incorporation date
A corporation's shareholder wanted S corporation treatment from the date of incorporation, but the election was not filed on time. The IRS found reasonable cause for the delay under section…
PLR 200335030: Bond financed rehabilitation changes housing credit rate
A partnership planned to buy a low income housing building and unfinished rehabilitation work, financing much of the rehabilitation with tax exempt bonds. The IRS ruled that the rehabilitation could…
PLR 200335029: Employees recognize gains from insurance demutualization trust
An employer held group insurance policies funded by employees. When the insurer demutualized, shares issued for the policies were placed in a trust for eligible employees and later sold. The IRS…
PLR 200335028: Foreign LLC gets more time for entity classification election
A foreign limited liability company intended to choose its federal tax classification but did not file Form 8832 on time. The IRS found that it met the requirements for late election relief. It gave…
PLR 200335027: Former resident's departure lacked a tax avoidance purpose
A former U.S. permanent resident returned with family to the country of birth and became subject to tax there on worldwide income. The person's net worth exceeded the threshold that could trigger a…
PLR 200335026: Revised nuclear decommissioning fund payment schedule approved
A utility that owned part of a nuclear plant requested a revised schedule for payments to its decommissioning fund. The utility had sold its interest in the plant, so the proposed amount for the…
PLR 200335025: Late accounting year application treated as timely filed
A taxpayer filed Form 1128 late to seek a change from a December 31 to a February 28 tax year. The IRS found that the delay resulted from an error or misunderstanding and that late filing relief was…
PLR 200335024: Late GST exemption allocations effective from stock gifts
Two taxpayers gave stock to an irrevocable trust for their son. Their gift tax returns were timely, but their accountant omitted allocations of their generation-skipping transfer tax exemptions. The…
PLR 200335023: Later stock changes leave earlier spin-off ruling intact
After a corporate distribution covered by an earlier IRS ruling, a government agency partly denied subsidy benefits because of overlapping stock ownership. The parties proposed sales of shares in…
PLR 200335022: Late S election effective on intended date
A corporation's shareholders intended S corporation treatment from a specified date, but the election was not filed on time. The IRS found reasonable cause for the omission under section 1362(b)(5).…
PLR 200335021: Late entity classification and S corporation elections allowed
A single-owner entity intended to elect corporate tax classification and then S corporation status, both effective when it was formed. It missed the filing deadlines for both elections. The IRS…
PLR 200335020: Extension granted for late QSub election
An S corporation formed a subsidiary and intended to elect qualified subchapter S subsidiary (QSub) treatment from the subsidiary's formation date. It missed the filing deadline for Form 8869. The…
PLR 200335019: Corporate conversion qualifies as a Type F reorganization
A corporation planned to convert under state law into a limited partnership while electing to remain a corporation for federal tax purposes. The IRS ruled that the conversion and simultaneous…
PLR 200335018: Rental receipts from actively managed properties are not passive income
An S corporation owned and managed commercial and residential rental properties. Its employees and contractors performed repairs, maintenance, landscaping, and pest control, and the corporation paid…
PLR 200335017: Stock donation to charitable remainder trust receives conditional tax treatment
A retiree proposed giving employer stock distributed from a profit sharing plan to a charitable remainder unitrust. Assuming the trust qualified, the IRS ruled that the contribution itself would…
PLR 200335016: Dual citizen's expatriation lacked a principal tax avoidance purpose
A person who had been a U.S. citizen and a citizen of another country since birth gave up U.S. citizenship. Her net worth exceeded the threshold that presumptively treated expatriation as tax…
PLR 200335015: Divorce agreement does not release testamentary appointment power
A trust beneficiary held a testamentary general power of appointment over a trust. As part of a divorce settlement, he proposed agreeing to treat one daughter at least as favorably as other children…
PLR 200335014: Active commercial rentals excluded from S corporation passive income
A company that owned commercial rental properties expected to elect S corporation status. Its officer and contractors maintained buildings, systems, grounds, and parking areas and handled leasing…
PLR 200335013: Foreign corporate demerger qualifies as Type D reorganization and spin-off
A controlled foreign corporation proposed transferring two businesses to a new foreign corporation and distributing the new company's shares to its shareholders. The IRS ruled that the contribution…
PLR 200335012: Foreign corporate demerger qualifies as Type D reorganization and spin-off
A controlled foreign corporation proposed transferring two businesses to a new foreign corporation and distributing the new company's shares to its shareholders. The IRS ruled that the contribution…
PLR 200335011: Foreign corporate demerger qualifies as Type D reorganization and spin-off
A controlled foreign corporation proposed transferring two businesses to a new foreign corporation and distributing the new company's shares to its shareholders. The IRS ruled that the contribution…
PLR 200335010: Foreign corporate demerger qualifies as Type D reorganization and spin-off
A controlled foreign corporation proposed transferring two businesses to a new foreign corporation and distributing the new company's shares to its shareholders. The IRS ruled that the contribution…
PLR 200335009: Foreign corporate demerger qualifies as Type D reorganization and spin-off
A controlled foreign corporation proposed transferring two businesses to a new foreign corporation and distributing the new company's shares to its shareholders. The IRS ruled that the contribution…
PLR 200335008: Foreign corporate demerger qualifies as Type D reorganization and spin-off
A controlled foreign corporation proposed transferring two businesses to a new foreign corporation and distributing the new company's shares to its shareholders. The IRS ruled that the contribution…
PLR 200335007: Foreign entity receives more time for classification election
A foreign entity owned through another foreign corporation intended to elect a federal tax classification effective from its formation date. It failed to file Form 8832 on time. The IRS concluded…
PLR 200335006: Foreign entity receives more time for classification election
A foreign entity owned through another foreign corporation intended to elect a federal tax classification effective from its formation date. It failed to file Form 8832 on time. The IRS concluded…
PLR 200335005: Foreign entity receives more time for classification election
A foreign entity owned through another foreign corporation intended to elect a federal tax classification effective from its formation date. It failed to file Form 8832 on time. The IRS concluded…
PLR 200335004: Foreign entity receives more time for classification election
A foreign entity owned through another foreign corporation intended to elect a federal tax classification effective from its formation date. It failed to file Form 8832 on time. The IRS concluded…
PLR 200335003: Foreign entity receives more time for classification election
A foreign entity owned through another foreign corporation intended to elect a federal tax classification effective from its formation date. It failed to file Form 8832 on time. The IRS concluded…
PLR 200335002: Foreign entity receives more time for classification election
A foreign entity owned through another foreign corporation intended to elect a federal tax classification effective from its formation date. It failed to file Form 8832 on time. The IRS concluded…
PLR 200335001: Foreign entity receives more time for classification election
A foreign entity owned through another foreign corporation intended to elect a federal tax classification effective from its formation date. It failed to file Form 8832 on time. The IRS concluded…
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.