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 200333022: Newly formed company receives late S election relief
A company's owner intended to elect S corporation status from the date the company was formed, but the election was not filed on time. The IRS found reasonable cause for the missed deadline under §…
PLR 200333021: Partnership gets time to elect corporate tax treatment
A corporation converted into a general partnership under state law but intended to keep its federal corporate tax classification. It failed to file Form 8832 by the normal deadline. The IRS found…
PLR 200333020: Revised restructuring leaves earlier IRS rulings intact
A parent company had received two earlier rulings on a restructuring that would move much of its business into partnership form. Industry regulations led it to keep one subsidiary as a corporation…
PLR 200333019: Estate gets time to allocate generation-skipping exemption
A decedent made two gifts to a trust for her daughter and later beneficiaries, but her accountant failed to allocate generation-skipping transfer tax exemption to either gift. Her estate also sought…
PLR 200333018: Business spin-off qualifies for tax-free reorganization treatment
A public company planned to put one of its businesses into a new subsidiary and distribute all of that subsidiary's stock to its shareholders. The businesses had different management and capital…
PLR 200333017: Late S election denied because tax years were closed
A corporation's sole shareholder intended S corporation treatment from its formation date but never filed Form 2553. The shareholder claimed the company's first-year loss, while the company later…
PLR 200333016: Historic status application treated as timely filed
A partnership rehabilitated a property it believed qualified for the historic rehabilitation credit, but it did not apply for historic certification before placing the property in service. It later…
PLR 200333015: Corporate group gets time to elect consolidated filing
A parent corporation and its subsidiary failed to elect to file a consolidated federal income tax return. The parent had relied on a tax professional who did not make or recommend the election. The…
PLR 200333014: Group gets time to elect restoration of subsidiary value
After a merger, a corporate parent's value for the § 382 loss limitation was reduced by the value of its foreign subsidiary's stock. The parent and subsidiary intended to elect to restore that value…
PLR 200333013: Divorce-related trust split preserves charitable remainder treatment
A divorcing couple proposed to divide a charitable remainder unitrust into two equal trusts, one for each spouse. The IRS ruled that the division would not cause the trusts to fail § 664, trigger…
PLR 200333012: Foreign entity gets late classification election relief
A foreign entity defaulted to federal tax treatment as an association taxable as a corporation when it was formed. It intended to file Form 8832 to elect a different classification but missed the…
PLR 200333011: Housing partnership gets time to elect credit period start
A limited partnership received a low-income housing credit allocation and placed its project in service, but failed to elect its intended credit period start on Form 8609. The IRS granted relief…
PLR 200333010: Group gets time to file dual consolidated loss elections
An affiliated group relied on an outside accounting firm for its tax returns and election advice. The firm failed to advise the group to file an election and agreement, and a related annual…
PLR 200333009: Foreign entity gets late classification election relief
A foreign entity defaulted to federal tax treatment as an association taxable as a corporation when it was formed. It intended to file Form 8832 to elect a different classification but missed the…
PLR 200333008: Recreational organization may qualify retroactively as a tax-exempt social club
A longstanding member-owned recreational organization had filed tax returns as a taxable corporation. It asked whether it could qualify retroactively as a tax-exempt social club under § 501(c)(7)…
PLR 200333007: Late S corporation election accepted for incorporation date
A corporation intended to elect S corporation status from its incorporation date, but it missed the election deadline. The IRS found reasonable cause for the late filing under § 1362(b)(5). It ruled…
PLR 200333006: Corporation may revoke alternative research credit election
A corporation had elected the alternative incremental method for calculating its research credit under § 41(c)(4). It asked to revoke that election before the due date of the return for the year…
PLR 200333005: Reserve transfer for disabled employees avoids welfare plan excise tax
A taxpayer revised a previously ruled plan for an insurance reserve fund. It proposed moving the portion covering disabled employees to a separate insurance reserve fund, while transferring the…
PLR 200333004: Fund receives more time for regulated investment company election
A fund intended to make an election under § 855(a) on its return, but the firm handling its filing sent the IRS an unsigned request for a return extension. The fund later filed the return and…
CCA 200333003: Required salary contributions to a 403(b) plan count as FICA wages
Employees of a state employer could choose a § 403(b) retirement plan instead of another retirement plan. The § 403(b) plan required contributions from their salaries, and the employer sought…
PLR 200333002: Corporation receives relief for a late S election
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 under § 1362(b)(5) and ruled that the…
TAM 200333001: Dump truck sales are subject to the retail excise tax
A retailer sold dump trucks commonly used to haul coal from a mine to a tipple without paying the heavy truck excise tax. It argued that the trucks were offhighway vehicles and relied on buyers'…
PLR 200332026: IRA rollover deadline waived after funds went to taxable accounts
An IRA owner withdrew funds from two IRAs and intended to place them in new IRA accounts. The funds instead went into taxable accounts, and the owner and spouse discovered the error after the 60-day…
TAM 200332025: Universal telephone service payments are taxable income
A telecommunications holding company sought to treat federal and state universal service payments received for its subsidiaries' low-income and high-cost area service as nonshareholder capital…
PLR 200332024: Former permanent resident's departure lacked a tax avoidance purpose
A foreign national became a U.S. permanent resident for work, then returned with his family to his birth country after the assignment ended and relinquished his green card. His net worth exceeded a…
IRS determination 200332022: Conditional minimum funding waivers granted for pension plans
The IRS notified a company that it had granted conditional waivers of the minimum funding standard for several defined benefit pension plans for the plan years ending December 31, 1996. The notice…
PLR 200332021: Conditional funding waiver granted for a pension plan
A company requested a minimum funding waiver for its pension plan for the plan year ending November 30, 2002. The IRS found that requiring full funding would harm participants' interests in the…
PLR 200332020: Foundation gets more time to dispose of excess business holdings
A private foundation inherited stock in a company that owned clubs and related real estate, creating excess business holdings under § 4943. It had sold two clubs but said capital improvements,…
PLR 200332019: Foundation's scholarship grants qualify as charitable distributions
A private foundation funded a statewide college scholarship program administered by a public charity, with community foundations nominating students. The program rules require local decision makers…
PLR 200332018: Scholarships to local officials' relatives preserve charity status
A public charity administered a statewide scholarship program using nominees from community foundations. It asked whether scholarships for relatives of local foundation leaders would threaten exempt…
PLR 200332017: Late S election treated as timely from the first tax year
A corporation intended S corporation treatment from incorporation and had executed Form 2553, but the IRS had no record of receiving the election. The corporation had also filed S corporation…
PLR 200332016: Managed property rents and partnership rents receive different S corporation treatment
A real estate company planning to elect S corporation status asked whether its rental income was passive investment income under § 1362. It directly owned properties for which a related manager…
PLR 200332015: Shareholders split three businesses after a stock redemption
A holding company planned to redeem one shareholder for cash and other assets, distribute three subsidiary companies to three other shareholders in exchange for their stock, and then liquidate. The…
PLR 200332014: Mutual insurer may revoke its small company tax election
A mutual property insurer asked the IRS to consent to revoking its § 831(b) election to be taxed only on investment income. Since making that election, the insurer had expanded the kinds and…
PLR 200332013: Purchaser receives more time to file a stock purchase election
A corporation acquired all the stock of a foreign company and intended to make a § 338(g) election, which can treat a qualifying stock purchase as an asset acquisition for tax purposes. It missed…
PLR 200332012: Late S corporation election treated as timely if filed within 60 days
A corporation intended to elect S corporation status for its first tax year but did not file Form 2553 on time. Its president pointed to a financial proposal describing the business as a Sub S…
PLR 200332011: Business spin-off qualifies for nonrecognition treatment
A corporation with two businesses planned to place one business in a new subsidiary and distribute the subsidiary's stock to its existing shareholders. It said the separation would help retain key…
PLR 200332010: Actively managed property rents are not passive investment income
A commercial real estate company planning to elect S corporation status asked whether rent from its properties would count as passive investment income under § 1362. Its employees and contractors…
PLR 200332009: Late GST exemption allocations receive a 60-day extension
A taxpayer transferred stock and cash to a trust for his daughter and her descendants. His accountant failed to prepare and file the gift tax return for that year, so the taxpayer's…
PLR 200332008: Swiss insurer receives treaty relief from U.S. premium excise tax
A Swiss insurance and reinsurance company asked whether premiums on U.S. risks were exempt from the federal excise tax on policies issued by foreign insurers. The IRS found that the company…
PLR 200332007: Unfiled S corporation election gets late election relief
A corporation's sole shareholder intended S corporation status from the start of its business, and the corporation hired an accountant and attorney to help file the election. Form 2553 was never…
PLR 200332006: Late GST exemption allocations to two family trusts allowed
A taxpayer made gifts to separate trusts for her daughter and son and timely filed a gift tax return. Her accountant inadvertently omitted allocations of the taxpayer's generation-skipping transfer…
PLR 200332005: Preferred share dividend designations keep grandfathered treatment
A regulated investment company planned to raise the maximum dividend rate on older remarketed preferred shares. It asked whether this charter change would affect its ability to designate preferred…
PLR 200332004: Spouses receive more time to combine rental real estate activities
Two spouses intended to elect to treat all their rental real estate interests as one activity but omitted the required statement from their joint return. The IRS found that they met the standards…
PLR 200332003: S corporation may file late election for a September tax year
A corporation elected S corporation status but missed the deadline to file Form 8716, which it needed to keep its historical September 30 tax year. It had engaged a tax professional, whose error or…
PLR 200332002: Employee owned partnership will not be publicly traded
A corporation planned to merge into a limited partnership whose interests would be held mainly by its former shareholders and employees. The partnership would issue additional employee interests and…
PLR 200332001: Farm cooperative may use a committee to divide crop pool proceeds
A farmers' marketing cooperative used separate crop pools for two groups of growers and wanted a new method to set the annual difference between their pool proceeds. The proposed method gave growers…
PLR 200331010: Health care system pension plan qualifies as a church plan
A nonprofit health care system affiliated with a church asked whether its money purchase pension plan qualified as a church plan under § 414(e). The plan also covered employees of a subsidiary, and…
PLR 200331009: Defined benefit plan receives minimum funding waiver
The IRS granted a defined benefit pension plan a waiver of its minimum funding standard for the plan year ended November 30, 2002. The sponsoring company reported a severe budget and cash problem,…
PLR 200331008: Foundation housing funds qualify as charitable distributions
A private foundation proposed grants and loans to public charities to help finance housing projects in blighted downtown areas. The charities could lend funds to developers, but the agreements…
PLR 200331007: Foundation housing funds qualify as charitable distributions
A private foundation proposed grants and loans to public charities to help finance housing projects in blighted downtown areas. The charities could lend funds to developers, but the agreements…
PLR 200331006: Foundation housing funds qualify as charitable distributions
A private foundation proposed grants and loans to public charities to help finance housing projects in blighted downtown areas. The charities could lend funds to developers, but the agreements…
PLR 200331005: Foundation housing funds qualify as charitable distributions
A private foundation proposed grants and loans to public charities to help finance housing projects in blighted downtown areas. The charities could lend funds to developers, but the agreements…
PLR 200331004: Late Roth IRA recharacterizations accepted for ineligible contributions
A married couple converted a traditional IRA to a Roth IRA in 1998 and made Roth IRA contributions in 2000 and 2001 even though their income exceeded the applicable limits. They said they relied on…
PLR 200331003: Governmental retirement contributions treated as employer payments
A state retirement fund asked whether participating employers could pay mandatory employee contributions to two governmental retirement plans and have those payments treated as employer…
CCA 200331002: Patent infringement damages do not qualify for claim of right relief
A manufacturer paid damages and interest after a court found that its products infringed another party's patents. It argued that section 1341 should reduce its tax because the payment related to…
TAM 200331001: Foreign gross receipts tax denied a U.S. tax credit
A U.S. corporation claimed foreign tax credits for a special tax paid by its subsidiary, which held an exclusive concession in another country. The special tax was based on gross receipts, while the…
CCA 200327041: Depreciation method change denied for qualified rental housing
A partnership operating a low-income rental housing project asked to switch its depreciation from the general system to the alternative system. It argued that tax-exempt bond financing required the…
PLR 200330047: Multiemployer pension contributions remain deductible despite later increase
The trustees of a collectively bargained multiemployer pension plan asked whether employers could deduct their full contributions for the 2000 and 2001 plan years. At the start of each year, the…
PLR 200330046: Separate excess benefit plan preserves pension plan qualification
A multiemployer pension plan created a separate plan to pay benefits that exceeded the limits applicable to its qualified plan. Contributions were allocated between the two plans, and assets could…
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.