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 200330045: Late Roth IRA recharacterization granted after ineligible conversion
A taxpayer converted a traditional IRA to a Roth IRA in 1999 even though the married couple's income exceeded the conversion limit. They said the financial company had not explained the limit and…
PLR 200330044: Pension funding waiver conditions revised after late payment
The IRS had granted a pension plan a conditional waiver of its minimum funding standard, requiring a contribution by April 7, 2003. The company sent the payment three days late, so it had to be…
PLR 200330043: After-tax pension contribution basis follows direct plan transfer
An employer proposed moving employees' accumulated after-tax contributions from a defined benefit pension plan to separate, fully vested accounts in a defined contribution plan. The employees would…
PLR 200330042: Related for-profit employees may join a church retirement plan
A church-affiliated hospital asked whether employees of three related for-profit companies could participate in its retirement plan without jeopardizing the plan's church plan status. The companies…
CCA 200330041: A later foreclosure does not end the IRS redemption right from an earlier sale
Chief Counsel considered a property subject to two senior deeds of trust and a junior federal tax lien. In the hypothetical, one senior creditor foreclosed after giving the IRS proper notice, and…
PLR 200330040: Extension granted for dual consolidated loss elections
A taxpayer missed several elections, agreements, and annual certifications related to dual consolidated losses. It said its tax professionals had failed to advise it to make the filings, and it…
PLR 200330039: Irish reinsurer qualifies for treaty relief from insurance excise tax
An Irish reinsurer sought an exemption from the U.S. excise tax on premiums for policies covering U.S. risks. Based on its representations about Irish tax residence, taxation, and active insurance…
PLR 200330038: Extension granted for dual consolidated loss filings
A taxpayer sought more time to file an election and agreement for two tax years and an annual certification for another year concerning an entity's losses. The taxpayer provided statements…
PLR 200330037: Late S corporation election treated as timely if filed within 60 days
A corporation intended to elect S corporation treatment, but its accountant failed to advise it properly and Form 2553 was not filed on time. The IRS found reasonable cause for the late election…
PLR 200330036: Expatriation found not principally motivated by U.S. tax avoidance
A former U.S. citizen sought a ruling that avoiding U.S. tax was not a principal purpose of relinquishing citizenship. His net worth exceeded the statutory threshold, but he had become a citizen of…
PLR 200330035: Irish reinsurer receives treaty relief from U.S. insurance excise tax
An Irish reinsurer requested treaty relief from U.S. excise tax on premiums tied to U.S. risks. Based on its representations that it was taxed in Ireland and conducted an active insurance business…
PLR 200330034: Late application to change tax year treated as timely
A taxpayer sought to change its federal income tax year from December 31 to September 30. It submitted Form 1128 shortly after the filing deadline because of an error or misunderstanding. The IRS…
PLR 200330033: State university deferred compensation plan qualifies under section 457
A state university system asked the IRS to review its employee deferred compensation plan. The IRS ruled that the plan qualified as an eligible governmental plan under section 457(b). Deferred…
PLR 200330032: Parent company receives 60 days to file eight QSub elections
An S corporation intended to treat eight wholly owned subsidiaries as qualified subchapter S subsidiaries, but the required elections were not filed on time. The IRS found that the company satisfied…
PLR 200330031: Irish insurer qualifies for treaty exemption from premiums tax
An Irish insurance company requested relief from U.S. excise tax on premiums for policies covering U.S. risks. Based on the company's representations about Irish residence, taxation, and insurance…
PLR 200330030: Missed S corporation election receives late filing relief
A corporation's sole shareholder decided that the company should elect S corporation status, but Form 2553 was never filed. The IRS found reasonable cause for the missed election under section…
PLR 200330029: Late S corporation election effective from incorporation
A corporation's shareholder intended S corporation status from the company's incorporation date, but the election was filed late. The IRS found reasonable cause for the failure and ruled that the…
PLR 200330028: Reformed trusts qualify for estate tax charitable deduction
An estate proposed to reform two trusts so a son would receive unitrust payments for life and charities would receive the remainder. The existing trust terms did not qualify for the estate tax…
PLR 200330027: Estate receives time to divide QTIP trust and make reverse election
An estate's return made a QTIP election for a marital trust but omitted a reverse QTIP election for generation-skipping transfer tax purposes. The omission was discovered while preparing the…
PLR 200330026: Estate receives time to allocate GST exemption to a trust
A decedent had funded a trust for descendants, but the gift tax return was filed late and no generation-skipping transfer tax exemption was allocated on time. The estate said miscommunication among…
PLR 200330025: Five funds' late dividend elections treated as timely
Five investment funds sought relief after unsigned return extension forms were mistakenly mailed to the IRS, leaving their returns without timely extensions. The funds later filed returns making…
PLR 200330024: Additional time granted for GST exemption allocations to three trusts
A married couple transferred partnership interests to three trusts for their children and descendants. Their gift tax returns allocated too little generation-skipping transfer tax exemption to keep…
PLR 200330023: Housing project receives time to make income test election
A taxpayer's preparer failed to make the required income test election for a low-income housing project under section 42(g)(1). The IRS found that the taxpayer met the standards for late election…
PLR 200330022: Foreign entity gets more time to elect disregarded status
A foreign entity intended to elect treatment as a disregarded entity for federal tax purposes, but Form 8832 was not filed on time. The entity represented that it was eligible to make the election.…
PLR 200330021: Foreign entity gets more time to elect partnership status
A foreign entity intended to elect partnership treatment for federal tax purposes, but its Form 8832 was not filed on time. The entity represented that it was eligible to make the election. The IRS…
PLR 200330020: Foreign entity granted extension for partnership election
A foreign entity missed the deadline for Form 8832 to elect partnership status for federal tax purposes. It represented that it was eligible for partnership treatment. The IRS found that the entity…
PLR 200330019: Late S corporation election allowed for first taxable year
A corporation's sole shareholder intended it to be an S corporation for its first taxable year, but Form 2553 was not filed on time. Based on the submitted facts, the IRS ruled that the election…
CCA 200330018: State retirement system meets benefit accrual safe harbor
Chief Counsel reviewed whether a state defined benefit retirement system met the minimum benefit rules tied to Social Security coverage of public employees. The system excluded certain cash payments…
PLR 200330017: Parent gets time to elect QSub status for acquired company
An S corporation acquired all the shares of another corporation and intended to treat it as a qualified subchapter S subsidiary from the acquisition date. The parent failed to file Form 8869 on…
PLR 200330016: Couple receives time for GST exemption allocations to descendants' trust
Two taxpayers made gifts of company shares and partnership units to a trust for their descendants over several years. Their advisers failed to allocate any generation-skipping transfer tax exemption…
PLR 200330015: Extension granted for subsidiary's QSub election
An S corporation intended to elect qualified subchapter S subsidiary treatment for its wholly owned subsidiary but failed to file the election on time. The IRS found that the requirements for late…
PLR 200330014: Late QSub filing receives 60-day extension
An S corporation intended qualified subchapter S subsidiary treatment for a wholly owned subsidiary, but its election was not filed on time. The IRS found that the late election standards were met…
PLR 200330013: S corporation gets time for subsidiary QSub election
An S corporation wanted its wholly owned subsidiary treated as a qualified subchapter S subsidiary, but it missed the Form 8869 deadline. The IRS concluded that the requirements for an extension…
PLR 200330012: Missed S election treated as effective at incorporation
A corporation's shareholders intended S corporation treatment from its incorporation date, but the election was not filed on time. The IRS found reasonable cause for the late election under section…
PLR 200330011: Tax-exempt employer's deferred compensation plan qualifies under section 457
A tax-exempt employer asked about its amended deferred compensation plan, which related tax-exempt affiliates could also adopt. The plan kept deferred amounts and earnings as the employer's…
PLR 200330010: Water facility management contract avoids private business use
A city planned to finance water treatment facilities with bonds and hire a private manager to build and operate them. The IRS found that the proposed management contract did not meet the safe harbor…
TAM 200330009: Insurance company gets partial relief from retroactive application
A property and casualty insurer asked the IRS to apply a later technical advice memorandum only prospectively because it conflicted with earlier advice on retrospective premium adjustments. The IRS…
PLR 200330008: Late entity election and inadvertent S termination relief
An S corporation converted to a limited partnership and later converted back to a corporation. During the partnership period, it meant to elect corporate tax classification but failed to file Form…
PLR 200330007: Entity election extension preserves conditional S treatment
An S corporation converted to a limited partnership, then later converted back to a corporation. It intended the partnership to elect classification as a corporation for federal tax purposes but…
PLR 200330006: Late corporate classification election and S status relief
An S corporation converted to a limited partnership and then back to a corporation. It intended the partnership to elect corporate tax classification but did not file Form 8832. The IRS granted a…
PLR 200330005: S corporation conversion receives election relief
An S corporation converted to a limited partnership and later converted back. The partnership had intended to elect corporate classification for federal tax purposes, but Form 8832 was not filed.…
PLR 200330004: Corporate classification extension after S corporation conversion
An S corporation converted to a limited partnership, then later converted back to a corporation. The partnership had intended to elect corporate tax classification but failed to file Form 8832. The…
PLR 200330003: Partnership receives time to elect corporate tax classification
A domestic limited partnership intended to elect treatment as a corporation for federal tax purposes from its formation date, but Form 8832 was not filed on time. The IRS found that it met the…
TAM 200330002: Short-term gains in mutual fund dividends count as insurer investment income
A life insurer's segregated accounts held shares in regulated investment companies (RICs) to support variable contracts. The insurer excluded part of the RIC dividends from investment income because…
TAM 200330001: Research credit after a merger uses each company's applicable tax period
Two corporate groups combined when one corporation merged into another, and the surviving corporation became the parent of the consolidated group. The group asked how to compute its alternative…
PLR 200329049: Securities lending collateral excluded from foundation payout asset base
A private foundation lent securities and received collateral held by its bank custodian. New financial accounting rules led it to show both the collateral and an equal obligation to return it on its…
PLR 200329048: Inherited IRA may be split, with distributions based on oldest trust beneficiary
A deceased IRA owner had named a trust for her four children as beneficiary. The trustee proposed dividing the IRA into four inherited IRAs, one for each child, and distributing them out of the…
PLR 200329047: Couple receives more time to reverse ineligible Roth IRA conversions
Two taxpayers converted traditional IRAs to Roth IRAs for 2001 before confirming whether their joint income met the conversion limit. Their income exceeded the limit, and they missed the deadline to…
PLR 200329046: Governmental excess benefit plan and its trust receive requested tax treatment
A state retirement system proposed a separate arrangement to pay benefits that its qualified plan could not pay because of the limits in § 415. Employers would fund a separate trust each year, and…
PLR 200329045: New court-supervised claims trust qualifies as a settlement fund
A bankruptcy reorganization proposed a new trust to resolve existing and future injury and property damage claims. The trust would receive cash, property, and a note under a court-approved plan. The…
PLR 200329044: Corporation receives relief for a late S election
A corporation intended to be taxed as an S corporation from the date it was incorporated, but did not file its election on time. The IRS found reasonable cause for the late filing and ruled that the…
PLR 200329043: Multistep corporate spin-off receives tax-free treatment
A publicly traded corporate group proposed separating one business from another by moving assets into a new corporation and distributing its stock through several corporate tiers to the public…
PLR 200329042: Vehicle partnership receives time to file its LIFO election
Four vehicle dealers combined their used-vehicle inventory in a joint venture but did not file a partnership return or Form 970 to elect the LIFO inventory method for the venture's first tax year.…
PLR 200329041: Late GST exemption allocation allowed for omitted trust gift
Two spouses made gifts to a family trust and elected to treat the gifts as made equally by both of them. Their tax professionals omitted one gift from their Forms 709 and did not allocate…
PLR 200329040: Insurer receives waiver for life insurance test errors
A life insurer found that some flexible-premium policies failed the tax law's life insurance requirements because of data-entry mistakes and its method for adjusting guideline premiums after policy…
PLR 200329039: Late GST exemption allocation allowed for omitted trust gift
Two spouses made gifts to a family trust and elected to treat the gifts as made equally by both of them. Their tax professionals omitted one gift from their Forms 709 and did not allocate…
PLR 200329038: More time granted for Canadian retirement plan deferral elections
The taxpayers had Canadian registered retirement savings plans before becoming U.S. residents. They filed U.S. returns without electing deferral of U.S. tax on current plan earnings under Rev. Proc.…
PLR 200329037: Foreign entity receives time to elect disregarded status
A domestic partnership formed an entity in another country and intended it to be disregarded as separate from the partnership for federal tax purposes. Its attorneys advised making the election but…
PLR 200329036: Foreign entity receives time to elect disregarded status
A domestic partnership formed an entity in another country and intended it to be disregarded as separate from the partnership for federal tax purposes. Its attorneys advised making the election but…
PLR 200329035: Charity may transfer pooled fund remainder interests to its parent
A charity planned to amend its pooled income fund's trust document and transfer its remainder interests to a parent organization formed to support the charity. The parent would replace the charity…
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.