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 200329034: Former resident's departure found not driven by U.S. tax avoidance
A former U.S. long-term resident relinquished that status and returned with her spouse to the country where she was born. Her net worth exceeded the threshold that, under the law addressed in the…
PLR 200329033: Former resident's departure found not driven by U.S. tax avoidance
A former U.S. long-term resident relinquished that status and returned with a spouse to the taxpayer's country of birth. The taxpayer's net worth exceeded the threshold that, under the law addressed…
PLR 200329032: Co-op residents' off-site parking payments count toward income test
A cooperative housing corporation had no parking garage on its property. It proposed leasing spaces in a nearby garage and charging resident stockholders for the parking rights, without collecting…
PLR 200329031: 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…
PLR 200329030: Entity may elect partnership status within five-year waiting period
An entity had elected corporate tax classification after initially being treated as a partnership. A later ownership restructuring led it to seek partnership classification again before the usual…
PLR 200329029: Late S corporation election accepted if Form 2553 is filed
A corporation intended to be taxed as an S corporation but discovered that it had missed the election deadline. It asked the IRS to treat the election as timely for the tax year it identified. The…
PLR 200329028: Preferred shares do not count as stock for affiliated group test
A parent corporation owned all the common shares of a subsidiary that planned to sell preferred shares to outside investors. The group asked whether those preferred shares would count as stock when…
PLR 200329027: Taxpayers may revoke election out of installment reporting
A married couple sold stock for a note payable in a later year, but their accountant reported the entire gain in the year of sale. That return effectively elected out of installment reporting. After…
PLR 200329026: Taxpayers may revoke election out of installment reporting
A married couple sold stock for a note payable in a later year, but their accountant reported the entire gain in the year of sale. That return effectively elected out of installment reporting. After…
PLR 200329025: Former resident's departure lacked a principal tax avoidance purpose
A former U.S. permanent resident returned with his wife to their country of birth after taking a job there. They later surrendered their green cards because they did not plan to live or work in the…
PLR 200329024: Late S election relief requires matching shareholder return
A corporation intended to be an S corporation from its first tax year and filed an S corporation return, but it never filed Form 2553. A shareholder had also amended an individual return in a way…
PLR 200329023: Fund tender offers will not cause deemed distributions
Two closed-end investment funds proposed separate tender offers to repurchase some of their shares at net asset value. They represented that the offers were isolated transactions driven by business…
PLR 200329022: Active office building rents excluded from S corporation passive income
An S corporation with accumulated earnings and profits owned an interest in a partnership that managed and operated a commercial office building. The partnership's employees performed building…
PLR 200329021: Deferred exchange of facility for improved leasehold qualifies
A corporate property owner proposed to sell a facility and acquire a leasehold with a newly constructed facility through a qualified intermediary and an exchange accommodation titleholder. The…
PLR 200329020: Extension granted for closing of the books election
A corporation had an ownership change and missed the deadline to elect a closing of the books allocation of its change year income and losses under the § 382 regulations. The IRS found that it had…
PLR 200329019: Tax treatment of Alaska Native settlement trust approved
An Alaska Native corporation planned to fund a settlement trust for its shareholders' benefit and asked how the trust and contributions would be taxed. The IRS classified the arrangement as a trust…
PLR 200329018: Tax treatment of settlement trust for elder shareholders approved
An Alaska Native corporation planned to establish a settlement trust that would make quarterly payments to qualifying elder shareholders. It asked how the trust and its contributions would be taxed.…
PLR 200329017: Fund's late dividend election treated as timely
A fund intended to elect under § 855(a) to treat dividends paid after its tax year as paid during that year. Its adviser missed the deadline to file an extension for the fund's return, then…
PLR 200329016: Bankruptcy plan trust classified as a liquidating trust
A Chapter 11 bankruptcy plan created a trust to collect and liquidate assets and distribute proceeds to beneficiaries. Its governing document limited investments, required continuing efforts to…
PLR 200329015: Late S corporation election accepted if Form 2553 is filed
A corporation intended to be taxed as an S corporation but discovered that it had missed the election deadline. It asked the IRS to treat the election as timely for the tax year it identified. The…
PLR 200329014: Employer medical reimbursement plan benefits excluded from income
An employer offered a medical reimbursement plan funded entirely by the employer for employees who chose its health insurance. The plan reimbursed substantiated medical expenses, carried forward…
PLR 200329013: Late S corporation election accepted if Form 2553 is filed
A corporation intended to be taxed as an S corporation but discovered that it had missed the election deadline. It asked the IRS to treat the election as timely for the tax year it identified. The…
PLR 200329012: S status preserved if shareholder clause caused termination
An S corporation's shareholder agreement included an anti-dilution clause that might have created a second class of stock and ended its S election. The clause was never used, and the agreement was…
PLR 200329011: Mixed built-in gain rulings for law firm's S conversion
A cash basis personal injury law firm converted from a C corporation to an S corporation and asked how contingent fees and litigation costs would be treated under the built-in gains tax. The IRS…
PLR 200329010: Extension granted to elect corporate classification
An entity converted under state law from a corporation to a limited partnership and intended to keep corporate tax classification. It missed the deadline to file the required entity classification…
PLR 200329009: Late S corporation election accepted if Form 2553 is filed
A corporation intended to be taxed as an S corporation but discovered that it had missed the election deadline. It asked the IRS to treat the election as timely for the tax year it identified. The…
PLR 200329008: Extension granted to elect corporate classification
An entity converted under state law from a corporation to a limited partnership and intended to keep corporate tax classification. It missed the deadline to file the required entity classification…
PLR 200329007: Extension granted to elect corporate classification
An entity converted under state law from a corporation to a limited partnership and intended to keep corporate tax classification. It missed the deadline to file the required entity classification…
PLR 200329006: Extension granted to elect corporate classification
An entity converted under state law from a corporation to a limited partnership and intended to keep corporate tax classification. It missed the deadline to file the required entity classification…
PLR 200329005: Five funds receive extension for dividend elections
Five funds intended to make § 855 elections on their tax returns, but their return preparer mailed extension requests three days late. The funds later filed their returns and asked for relief for…
PLR 200329004: Operating expense payments excluded from output contract test
An issuer operated an electric generating facility and planned bonds to finance improvements. Customers under output contracts paid shares of the facility's operating costs and debt service. The…
PLR 200329003: Lump sum to settle spousal support deductible as alimony
A divorced taxpayer had been making monthly support payments under a settlement agreement incorporated into the divorce decree. The agreement allowed a lump sum payment instead, which would end the…
PLR 200329002: Foreign entity may file late disregarded entity election
A foreign company with one owner intended to be disregarded as separate from that owner for U.S. federal tax purposes, but inadvertently missed the Form 8832 filing deadline. The IRS concluded that…
PLR 200329001: Executive partnership units nontaxable at grant and vesting
A real estate investment trust's operating partnership planned to award executives partnership units for their services. The units would be subject to vesting and forfeiture, and the partnership…
PLR 200328050: Hospital pension plan receives conditional funding waiver
A small hospital requested relief from the minimum funding standard for its defined benefit pension plan for the plan year ending in 2001. The hospital's cash flow had fallen after a drop in patient…
PLR 200328049: Foundation may set aside funds while court bars distributions
A private foundation received rental property from an estate, but relatives challenged the will and trust transfers. A court order and a receiver's limited powers prevented the foundation from…
PLR 200328048: Insurance trust surplus transfer avoids specified taxes
A trade association planned to close a group insurance trust and transfer its surplus, including stock received when an insurer demutualized, to an educational charity. The IRS ruled that the…
PLR 200328047: Return of excess pension contributions approved within limit
An employer asked about returning contributions made to its defined benefit pension plan for the plan year beginning in 2002. The IRS determined that $19,979,778 in contributions could be considered…
PLR 200328046: Insurance trust surplus transfer avoids specified taxes
A trade association planned to close a group insurance trust and transfer its surplus, including stock received when an insurer demutualized, to an educational charity. The IRS ruled that the…
PLR 200328045: Insurance trust surplus transfer avoids specified taxes
A trade association planned to close a group insurance trust and transfer its surplus, including stock received when an insurer demutualized, to an educational charity. The IRS ruled that the…
PLR 200328044: Return of specified pension contributions approved
An employer asked about returning contributions made to its defined benefit pension plan for the plan year beginning in 2002. The IRS determined that $143,916 in contributions could be considered…
PLR 200328043: Additional teachers' plan contributions may be picked up by employers
A governmental teachers' pension plan asked whether employers could pick up members' additional contributions made through binding, irrevocable payroll deductions. The IRS ruled that the…
PLR 200328042: Insurance trust surplus transfer avoids excise and unrelated business income taxes
A trade association's group insurance trust expected to receive stock when an insurer demutualized. The association planned to end the trust and transfer its surplus, including that stock, to an…
PLR 200328041: Conditional $24.3 million pension funding waiver granted
A company facing operating losses and reduced liquidity requested a waiver of its defined benefit pension plan's 2003 minimum funding requirement. The IRS granted a conditional waiver of $24.3…
PLR 200328040: Airline pension funding waiver granted with security conditions
An airline facing losses sought a waiver of its collectively bargained pension plan's 2003 minimum funding requirement. The IRS conditionally waived the contribution needed to bring the plan's…
PLR 200328039: Conditional 2003 pension funding waiver granted
A company with losses requested a waiver of its pension plan's 2003 minimum funding requirement. The IRS granted a conditional waiver of the contribution needed to bring the funding standard account…
PLR 200328038: Return of certain pension contributions approved
An employer asked to recover contributions to its defined benefit pension plan for the 2002 plan year. The IRS determined that a redacted amount could be treated as disallowed solely for Rev. Rul.…
PLR 200328037: Conditional 2002 pension funding waiver granted
A company facing losses and reduced liquidity asked for a waiver of its defined benefit pension plan's minimum funding standard for the 2002 plan year. The IRS granted a conditional waiver of the…
PLR 200328036: Duty-related disability benefits partly excluded from income
A local government asked whether disability benefits for injured police officers and firefighters were excluded from federal income. The IRS found that the state statute governing benefits for…
PLR 200328035: Partition of jointly owned property does not realize gain
Family members and a trust held interests in one contiguous property and proposed dividing it into separately owned parcels. They represented that each parcel would match the value of its owner's…
PLR 200328034: Partition of jointly owned property does not realize gain
Family members and a trust held interests in one contiguous property and proposed dividing it into separately owned parcels. They represented that each parcel would match the value of its owner's…
PLR 200328033: Tax reimbursement from disability-benefit settlement excluded from income
A retired public employee's family received a settlement after the city corrected the date when duty-disability benefits should have converted to taxable retirement benefits. For years still open,…
PLR 200328032: Pro rata division of grandfathered trust preserves tax treatment
Trustees proposed dividing a trust created before September 25, 1985 into four trusts, one for each child's family line, by giving each new trust a proportional share of every asset. The IRS ruled…
PLR 200328031: Former resident's expatriation lacked a tax-avoidance purpose
A former U.S. long-term resident relinquished her green card and moved to a country where she was a citizen and would be taxed on worldwide income. Her net worth exceeded the threshold that raised a…
PLR 200328030: Retained charity-selection power defeats proposed trust tax benefits
A settlor proposed a charitable lead unitrust that would pay five percent of its annual asset value to charity for 20 years, with remaining assets going to family. The settlor kept the power to…
IRS record 200328029: Pulled for wrong inspection date
The official IRS PDF contains only the handwritten number 200328029 and a notice that the record was pulled because of a wrong inspection date. It does not contain a determination, facts, an issue…
PLR 200328028: Former resident's expatriation lacked a tax-avoidance purpose
A former U.S. long-term resident surrendered his green card and lived in his country of citizenship, where he would be taxed like other citizens and residents. His net worth exceeded the threshold…
PLR 200328027: Insurer may correct life policy premium-test errors
An insurer discovered that some fixed-premium universal life policies failed § 7702 because its actuaries used the wrong cash value when calculating guideline premiums. It proposed adding an…
PLR 200328026: Trust construction including adopted grandchildren preserves GST exemption
A trust's will excluded adopted children from its definition of “descendants” but did not define “grandchildren.” The family and trustees sought a court-approved construction recognizing two adopted…
PLR 200328025: Actively managed property rents are not passive investment income
An S corporation with accumulated earnings and profits asked whether rent from its commercial, industrial, and residential properties counted as passive investment income. It used eleven employees…
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.