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 200328024: Late S corporation election accepted with timely filing
A corporation's founders intended S corporation status from its first tax year but did not timely file Form 2553. Their employer identification application said they believed it was an S…
PLR 200328023: Late historic-status application treated as timely
A property owner sought the historic rehabilitation credit but applied for federal historic-status certification only after placing its renovated building in service. The owner said it had known…
PLR 200328022: Late first-year S corporation election accepted
A corporation's sole shareholder intended S corporation status from its first tax year, but Form 2553 was not filed on time. The IRS found reasonable cause for the missed deadline. It ruled that the…
PLR 200328021: Estate receives time to allocate GST exemption to earlier gifts
A donor made annual transfers to a family trust, but her law firm failed to allocate her generation-skipping transfer tax exemption to them. After her death, the estate asked for more time to make…
PLR 200328020: Late S corporation election accepted after attorney filing gap
A corporation's sole shareholder intended S corporation status from its first tax year and believed the corporation's attorney had filed Form 2553. No timely filing appeared in the records, although…
PLR 200328019: Late GST exemption allocation for insurance trust allowed
A decedent made gifts to an irrevocable life insurance trust and allocated generation-skipping transfer tax exemption to gifts in several years. For one year's gift, the return allocated only part…
PLR 200328018: Late partnership classification election allowed
The owners of a limited liability company intended partnership tax treatment from its formation and engaged an accountant to make the entity classification election. The accountant missed the filing…
PLR 200328017: Late S corporation election relief granted
A corporation's shareholders intended S corporation treatment, but its election was not filed on time. The IRS found reasonable cause for the delay and granted relief under § 1362(b)(5). The letter…
PLR 200328016: Spouses may make late GST exemption allocations to trust gift
A grantor transferred stock to a trust benefiting children and later generations, and the grantor's spouse consented to split the gift. The couple relied on an accounting firm to prepare gift tax…
PLR 200328015: QTIP trust division and limited income-interest transfer approved
A surviving spouse sought to divide a qualified terminable interest property trust into two trusts, then give her income interest in the smaller trust to her three sons. The IRS ruled that the…
PLR 200328014: Late partnership basis election allowed for unsold property
A family limited partnership missed the deadline for a § 754 election after a partner died and heirs received the partnership interest. Its tax adviser had not told it the election was available.…
PLR 200328013: Late disregarded-entity election allowed for foreign subsidiary
A domestic corporation agreed to acquire a foreign company's wholly owned foreign subsidiary. The parties intended the subsidiary to elect disregarded-entity treatment before the acquisition, but it…
PLR 200328012: Late family-owned business estate deduction election allowed
A decedent's estate consisted chiefly of a farming operation. Its law firm initially decided the estate did not meet the threshold for the § 2057 qualified family-owned business deduction and…
PLR 200328011: Late disregarded-entity election allowed for foreign subsidiary
A domestic corporation agreed to acquire a foreign company's wholly owned foreign subsidiary. The parties intended the subsidiary to elect disregarded-entity treatment before the acquisition, but it…
PLR 200328010: Late S corporation election accepted from incorporation
A corporation's shareholders intended S corporation status from its incorporation date, but the election was not filed on time. The IRS found reasonable cause for the delay and ruled that the…
PLR 200328009: Late S corporation election relief granted
A business owner intended S corporation treatment from the date the business was formed, but the election was not filed on time. The IRS found reasonable cause for the delay and granted relief under…
PLR 200328008: Late S corporation election effective on intended date
A corporation was incorporated and began business on separate redacted dates. Its shareholders wanted S corporation treatment from a third date but did not file the election on time. The IRS found…
PLR 200328007: Late S corporation election accepted from incorporation
A corporation's sole shareholder intended S corporation status from its incorporation date, but the election was not filed on time. The IRS found reasonable cause for the delay and ruled that the…
TAM 200328006: Later annuity reserve guideline cannot apply to older contracts
A life insurer used Actuarial Guideline 33 to strengthen tax reserves for annuity contracts issued before the guideline took effect. The IRS advised that § 807 requires the annuity reserve method in…
PLR 200328005: Late S corporation election effective on requested date
A corporation was formed on one redacted date, and its shareholders intended S corporation treatment from another. The election was not filed on time. The IRS found reasonable cause for the missed…
PLR 200328004: Late S corporation election effective from 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 missed deadline and ruled…
PLR 200328003: Retroactive qualified electing fund elections for indirect PFIC interests
Several U.S. taxpayers held indirect interests in six passive foreign investment companies through a foreign partnership. The partnership attempted QEF elections for three of the companies, but the…
PLR 200328002: Pharmaceutical manufacturers must retain inventory accounting
Six subsidiaries made drug delivery systems and packaging for pharmaceutical customers. They asked to stop using inventory accounting, deduct most production costs as incurred, and treat materials…
TAM 200328001: LIFO inventory ruling revoked with limited retroactive effect
A distributor received consent to change its LIFO inventory calculations to an earliest acquisition method and to use a month near the start of its fiscal year for price indexes. It instead used two…
PLR 200327068: Government plan may treat irrevocable payroll contributions as picked up
A government retirement plan allowed eligible employees to make additional contributions through an irrevocable payroll authorization. Participating employers would designate and pay those amounts…
PLR 200327067: Hospitals may operate a joint neonatal intensive care unit without losing exemption
Two tax-exempt hospitals planned to operate a neonatal intensive care unit through a jointly owned limited liability company. One hospital already had advanced neonatal expertise, while the other…
PLR 200327066: Moving retiree medical reserves to benefit trusts avoids income and reversion tax
A life insurance company held reserves under its policies to pay retired employees' medical benefits. It proposed moving amounts for two groups of retirees into separate tax-exempt employee benefit…
PLR 200327065: Hospitals may operate a joint neonatal intensive care unit without losing exemption
Two tax-exempt hospitals planned to operate a neonatal intensive care unit through a jointly owned limited liability company. One hospital already had advanced neonatal expertise, while the other…
PLR 200327064: IRA rollover deadline waived after an investment manager took the funds
A married couple's investment manager caused cash distributions from three IRAs and took the money without their knowledge. The couple discovered the distributions after the normal 60-day rollover…
PLR 200327063: Moving retiree medical reserves to benefit trusts avoids income and reversion tax
A life insurance company held reserves under its policies to pay retired employees' medical benefits. It proposed moving amounts for two groups of retirees into separate tax-exempt employee benefit…
PLR 200327062: Foundation may count camp construction funds as a qualifying set-aside
A private operating foundation set aside funds for construction and improvements at a family camping and activity facility for young people. Some construction had been delayed, so the foundation…
PLR 200327061: County plan's required employee contributions qualify as employer picked up payments
A county maintained a retirement plan requiring employee contributions and specified that the county would pick up those payments. Employees could not choose to receive the contributed amounts as…
PLR 200327060: Unrestricted basketball awards for past achievement are not taxable expenditures
A private foundation planned to give awards to basketball coaches and their schools after each season. It would select recipients using team records, grades, and community service hours. Coaches…
PLR 200327059: Disclaimed IRA interest passing through an estate must follow the five-year payout rule
An IRA owner died before his required distribution age. His surviving spouse disclaimed part of two IRAs, and the disclaimed amounts were transferred to an IRA for a trust. The trustee sought to…
PLR 200327058: Cooperative may sell shares tied to convertible commercial units
A housing cooperative proposed selling new shares and proprietary leases for several commercial units in its building. The leases would let buyers use the units commercially or convert them to…
PLR 200327057: Business separation and stock spin-offs receive stated tax treatment
A corporate group planned to separate two businesses through an internal stock distribution, a contribution of one business to a new corporation, an initial public offering, and a distribution of…
PLR 200327056: Fund receives more time to elect prior-year treatment for a dividend
A regulated investment fund claimed a dividend paid deduction that included an amount to be paid in the next fiscal year under § 855(a). After the fund liquidated, its company discovered that it had…
PLR 200327055: Company may revoke its alternative research credit election
A company in a controlled corporate group had elected the alternative incremental method for calculating its research credit. It asked the IRS for consent to revoke that election for a later tax…
PLR 200327054: Foreign subsidiary stock distribution receives spin-off treatment with an income caveat
A corporate parent planned to combine one business with an unrelated company's business in a joint venture. As a first step, its foreign subsidiary would distribute stock of another foreign…
CCA 200327053: Retiree medical payments do not qualify for claim of right relief
A manufacturer paid medical expenses for former production workers and argued that the payments were costs of goods sold in earlier years. It sought the special tax calculation under § 1341, which…
PLR 200327052: Foreign insurers may use required reserves to measure insurance income
Two foreign insurance subsidiaries held reserves for life insurance and annuity contracts as required by their country's insurance regulator. They asked whether those reserves could be used when…
PLR 200327051: Bank holding company may spin off a separate business to raise capital
A publicly traded holding company owned a bank and a separate business. It proposed distributing the separate company's stock to its shareholders so it could raise more capital to expand the bank.…
PLR 200327050: Buyer and sellers receive more time for a section 338(h)(10) election
A corporation bought all the stock of an S corporation from its shareholders, and the buyer and sellers intended to elect § 338(h)(10) treatment. A tax professional failed to file a valid election…
PLR 200327049: Later share redemption does not disturb an earlier spin-off ruling
An earlier IRS letter addressed a corporation's distribution of a subsidiary's stock to shareholders. After the distribution, family members holding a class of the corporation's shares faced…
PLR 200327048: Parking facility receipts qualify as REIT real property rents
A real estate investment trust asked whether its share of receipts from parking facilities at or near its rental properties would count as rents from real property. The facilities could serve…
PLR 200327047: German reinsurer's qualifying premiums receive treaty excise tax relief
A German reinsurance company sought a ruling and closing agreement so premiums on U.S. insurance and reinsurance risks could be treated as exempt from the federal insurance excise tax under the…
PLR 200327046: Late S corporation election allowed after missing Form 2553
A corporation intended to elect S corporation status for its first tax year but never filed Form 2553. Its board records showed that intent, and it filed an S corporation return for the year. The…
PLR 200327045: Corporation granted relief for late S election
A corporation's sole shareholder wanted S corporation status to begin on the corporation's incorporation date, but the election was not filed on time. The IRS found reasonable cause for the late…
PLR 200327044: Missed S corporation election treated as timely if filed within 60 days
A corporation's shareholders intended to elect S corporation status, and the corporation filed an S corporation return for its first tax year. Its accountant inadvertently failed to file the…
PLR 200327043: Estate granted time to make alternate valuation election
An estate filed its estate tax return on time. Its attorney later realized he had failed to advise the executors that electing alternate valuation under § 2032 would benefit the estate, so the…
PLR 200327042: Revised nuclear decommissioning fund payment schedule approved
A utility with an ownership interest in a nuclear plant requested a revised schedule of permitted payments to its nuclear decommissioning fund for one public utility commission's jurisdiction.…
PLR 200327040: Late GST exemption allocations to family trust allowed
Two donors made gifts to a trust for their daughter and later descendants. Their accountant omitted generation-skipping transfer (GST) exemption allocations from the gift tax returns, and…
PLR 200327039: Leased property exchange program qualifies under section 1031
A business that buys, sells, and leases personal property proposed a program to exchange disposed leased property for replacement property under § 1031. A qualified intermediary would receive…
PLR 200327038: Buyer and seller given more time for section 338 election
A corporate buyer acquired all the stock of a former S corporation, but the buyer and seller missed the deadline for a joint § 338(h)(10) election. That election would treat the stock purchase as a…
PLR 200327037: Insurers' life policy compliance failures found to be reasonable errors
Two related life insurers discovered that some universal life policies exceeded the premium limits needed to satisfy the federal tax definition of life insurance under § 7702. The failures came from…
PLR 200327036: Late dual consolidated loss certifications allowed
A taxpayer missed annual certifications tied to dual consolidated losses from interests in two foreign entities. It asked for more time to file the certifications for the specified tax years before…
PLR 200327035: Corporate buyer and seller receive extension for section 338 election
A corporate buyer acquired all the stock of a target from another corporation, but the parties missed the deadline for a joint § 338(h)(10) election. The election would generally treat the stock…
PLR 200327034: Section 338 election extension covers target and deemed subsidiary acquisitions
A corporation bought the stock of an S corporation that owned two subsidiaries. The buyer and selling shareholders missed the deadline for a joint § 338(h)(10) election covering the target and the…
PLR 200327033: Acquired company may use standard research credit method
A corporation previously elected the alternative incremental method for calculating its research tax credit. After a parent company acquired it, the corporation joined a consolidated group whose…
PLR 200327032: Late S corporation election accepted for incorporation date
A corporation with three shareholders intended to elect S corporation status beginning on its incorporation date, but did not file Form 2553 on time. Its treasurer represented that this had been the…
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.