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 200324024: Cooperative housing corporation may allocate new shares to convertible space
A cooperative housing corporation planned to issue shares tied to commercial space that could be converted to residential use, distribute those shares to existing tenant stockholders, and allow the…
PLR 200324023: Surviving spouse may renounce income interest in one divided QTIP trust
A surviving spouse held an income interest in a trust for which her late husband's estate had elected qualified terminable interest property (QTIP) treatment. The parties proposed dividing that…
PLR 200324022: Corporation receives relief for a late S corporation election
A corporation intended to be taxed as an S corporation from its first taxable year but did not file Form 2553 on time. It filed an S corporation income tax return for that year and asked the IRS to…
PLR 200324021: Former permanent resident's move did not have a principal tax avoidance purpose
A foreign citizen who had held a U.S. green card returned to his home country after his employer permanently reassigned him there. He later surrendered the green card and asked whether avoiding U.S.…
PLR 200324020: Buyer and sellers receive time to file a section 338(h)(10) election
A buyer acquired all the shares of an S corporation, and the buyer and sellers intended to elect under section 338(h)(10) to treat the stock purchase as a deemed asset sale. They missed the deadline…
PLR 200324019: Late S corporation election accepted for incorporation date
A newly incorporated company intended to be an S corporation from its incorporation date but missed the filing deadline for its election. It asked for relief under section 1362(b)(5). The IRS found…
PLR 200324018: Rollover IRA trust powers and required distributions receive mixed rulings
A widow planned to transfer assets from her rollover IRA to a new IRA structured as a revocable trust, name her daughter to a limited representative role, and leave a separate trust as beneficiary…
PLR 200324017: Company receives relief for an S election missed at formation
The owner of a newly formed company intended to elect S corporation treatment from the formation date, but the election was not filed on time. The company requested late election relief under…
PLR 200324016: Corporation gets relief for late S election at incorporation
A corporation's shareholders intended it to be an S corporation from its incorporation date, but the election was not filed on time. The corporation asked the IRS for late election relief under…
PLR 200324015: Late S corporation election may begin on incorporation date
The shareholders of a newly incorporated company wanted S corporation treatment to begin on the incorporation date, but they did not file the election on time. The company requested relief under…
PLR 200324014: Corporation may treat late S election as timely
A corporation intended to be an S corporation from its incorporation date but failed to file the election on time. It requested relief under section 1362(b)(5). The IRS found reasonable cause and…
PLR 200324013: Sellers substantially complied with election to defer gain on ESOP stock sale
A married couple sold company stock to the company's employee stock ownership plan (ESOP) and bought replacement securities, intending to defer gain under section 1042. Their original tax return…
PLR 200324012: Late election accepted for corporation's first taxable year
A corporation's shareholders intended S corporation status for its first taxable year, but no Form 2553 was filed on time. The corporation asked for relief under section 1362(b)(5). The IRS found…
PLR 200324011: Planned surgery qualifies as medical care under section 213
A taxpayer with a redacted diagnosis planned a surgery and asked whether its cost counted as medical care for the medical expense deduction. The IRS concluded that the surgery affected a structure…
PLR 200324010: Trust modification preserves generation skipping tax exemption
The trustees of an irrevocable trust created before September 25, 1985, wanted to amend its distribution terms. The trust already permitted discretionary income payments to a beneficiary and her…
PLR 200324009: Trust modification preserves generation skipping tax exemption
The trustees of an irrevocable trust created before September 25, 1985, wanted to amend its distribution terms. The trust already permitted discretionary income payments to a beneficiary and her…
PLR 200324008: Trust modification preserves generation skipping tax exemption
The trustees of an irrevocable trust created before September 25, 1985, wanted to amend its distribution terms. The trust already permitted discretionary income payments to a beneficiary and her…
PLR 200324007: Trust modification preserves generation skipping tax exemption
The trustees of an irrevocable trust created before September 25, 1985, wanted to amend its distribution terms. The trust already permitted discretionary income payments to a beneficiary and her…
PLR 200324006: Trust modification preserves generation skipping tax exemption
The trustees of an irrevocable trust created before September 25, 1985, wanted to amend its distribution terms. The trust already permitted discretionary income payments to a beneficiary and her…
PLR 200324005: Trust modification preserves generation skipping tax exemption
The trustees of an irrevocable trust created before September 25, 1985, wanted to amend its distribution terms. The trust already permitted discretionary income payments to a beneficiary and her…
PLR 200324004: Trust modification preserves generation skipping tax exemption
The trustees of an irrevocable trust created before September 25, 1985, wanted to amend its distribution terms. The trust already permitted discretionary income payments to a beneficiary and her…
TAM 200324003: Utility may not combine separate assets for transition investment credit
A public utility sought an investment tax credit under a transition rule from the Tax Reform Act of 1986. It wanted to combine separately operating assets installed at different times into larger…
CCA 200324002: Counsel considers mitigation and recoupment for at-risk losses
An area counsel asked Chief Counsel whether equitable recoupment or the tax code's mitigation rules might apply in a pending Tax Court case. The released memorandum discusses how losses limited by…
PLR 200324001: Court approved trust changes would preserve generation skipping exemption
The trustee of a trust created under a will before September 25, 1985, proposed asking a court to clarify and revise several distribution provisions. The changes addressed payments to grandnieces, a…
PLR 200323048: Medical center pension plan qualifies as a church plan
A medical center affiliated with a religious order asked whether its employee pension plan qualified as a church plan under section 414(e), including back to January 1, 1974. The IRS found that the…
PLR 200323047: Foundation settlement transfers avoid self-dealing tax
Two private foundations created by the same person sought rulings on a court-approved settlement of disputes among their trustees and family members. One foundation would move its assets to a new…
PLR 200323046: Foundation settlement transfers avoid self-dealing tax
Two private foundations created by the same person sought rulings on a court-approved settlement of disputes among their trustees and family members. One foundation would move its assets to a new…
PLR 200323045: Foundation gets more time to dispose of donated stock
A private foundation received shares in a public company from a major donor who also owned more than half the company. The donor’s ownership meant the shares could become excess business holdings if…
PLR 200323044: Return of pension contributions approved up to $584,000
An employer asked whether it could recover contributions to its defined benefit pension plan for the plan year beginning January 1, 2002. The IRS determined that $584,000 could be treated as…
PLR 200323043: Pension funding waiver granted with payment conditions
A manufacturer sought relief from the minimum funding standard for its defined benefit pension plan for the plan year beginning July 23, 2001. The company reported losses during a decline in…
PLR 200323042: Late trust election treated as inadvertent S corporation termination
An estate transferred S corporation shares to a trust intended to be a qualified subchapter S trust, but the trust's beneficiary did not file the required election on time. That omission terminated…
PLR 200323041: Farm business split qualifies for tax-free reorganization treatment
Two heirs expected to inherit equal shares of a corporation that operated two farms, but they disagreed about how to run the business. The corporation proposed transferring one farm and half its…
PLR 200323040: Couple gets more time to allocate GST exemptions to trust gifts
A couple transferred company shares to a trust for their children and descendants. Their trustee mistakenly thought the gifts had no gift tax consequences, so the accounting firm did not file gift…
PLR 200323039: Late S corporation election granted after Form 2553 omission
A corporation's shareholders intended to elect S corporation status and filed an S corporation tax return, but their attorney failed to file Form 2553. The corporation asked the IRS to treat the…
PLR 200323038: Late Form 2553 accepted for S corporation election
A corporation's shareholders intended it to be an S corporation and filed Form 1120S for the intended year, but their attorney did not file the required Form 2553. The corporation sought…
PLR 200323037: Late GST exemption allocations allowed for trust transfer
A taxpayer funded a trust for a daughter and later descendants. The taxpayer and spouse filed gift tax returns and elected to split gifts, but their accounting firm omitted allocations of their…
PLR 200323036: Late S corporation election allowed for sole shareholder
A corporation's sole shareholder intended S corporation status from a specified date in its first tax year. The corporation filed an S corporation return for that year but had not filed Form 2553 to…
PLR 200323035: Late S election allowed after corporation changed owners
A corporation's founder intended S corporation status from its incorporation date but did not file Form 2553 on time. A later buyer acquired all its stock believing the election had been made. The…
PLR 200323034: Nuclear decommissioning funds retain tax treatment after plant transfer
A utility group planned to transfer a nuclear plant and its qualified decommissioning funds to an affiliated generation company as part of a business restructuring. The utility would keep collecting…
PLR 200323033: Affiliates get more time to file branch profits tax waivers
Two affiliated corporations believed, based on a tax adviser's advice, that they owed no branch profits tax for a tax year. They did not use the complete-termination rule or file waivers extending…
PLR 200323032: Taxpayer gets 30 days to file missed elections and certifications
A taxpayer missed election agreements and annual certifications required for two entities over several tax years under section 1.1503-2 of the regulations. Its tax professionals described the…
PLR 200323031: Late S election allowed after filing miscommunication
Three shareholders intended their new corporation to elect S status from its incorporation date. Correspondence and corporate records showed that intent, but miscommunication with their attorneys…
PLR 200323030: Former resident's departure found not driven by tax avoidance
A former long-term U.S. resident gave up lawful permanent resident status and had net worth above the threshold in section 877(a)(2). He became a resident subject to income tax in his birth country…
PLR 200323029: Prospective expatriation and home-sale exclusion approved
A long-term U.S. resident planned to relinquish her green card. She was living in her birth country, where she would be taxed on worldwide income. Her net worth exceeded the threshold in section…
PLR 200323028: New corporation's tax-exempt conversion avoids deemed asset sale
A tax-exempt parent planned to acquire the remaining shares of a for-profit corporation and convert it into a nonprofit corporation. Ordinarily, a taxable corporation's change to tax-exempt status…
PLR 200323027: Planned expatriation and home-sale exclusion approved
A long-term U.S. resident who had come for employment planned to surrender his green card. He was living in his birth country, where he would be taxed on worldwide income, and his net worth exceeded…
TAM 200323026: Captive insurer payments fail the insurance premium deduction test
A parent company and its manufacturing subsidiaries paid a related foreign captive for pollution coverage. They also paid an unrelated insurer for workers' compensation coverage that the insurer…
PLR 200323025: Late GST allocations allowed for life insurance trust gifts
A taxpayer created an irrevocable life insurance trust and made cash and policy transfers to it over five years. The taxpayer and spouse did not file gift tax returns or allocate their…
CCA 200323024: Levy on income received by a tribal member depends on treaty and income source
Chief Counsel addressed whether the IRS could levy on income received by a tribal member to collect tax assessed on other income. Section 6334 generally limits levy exemptions to the property it…
PLR 200323023: Federal park attendant treated as an employee for employment taxes
A federal agency engaged a park attendant through a contract awarded after bidding and asked the IRS to determine the worker's employment tax status. The agency trained the attendant, set hours,…
PLR 200323022: Federal park attendant treated as an employee for employment taxes
A federal agency engaged a park attendant through a contract awarded after bidding and asked the IRS to determine the worker's employment tax status. The agency trained the attendant, set hours,…
PLR 200323021: Late S corporation election allowed after adviser failed to file
A corporation's sole shareholder intended S corporation treatment from its formation, and company records and an employer identification number application reflected that intent. Its tax adviser did…
CCA 200323020: Start date for refund interest after insurer's tax exemption
A mutual insurance company paid estimated federal income taxes before the IRS determined it was exempt. The IRS approved refund claims, leaving a dispute over when interest on the refunds began. The…
PLR 200323019: Late S corporation election granted for first tax year
A corporation's sole shareholder intended S corporation treatment from the date of incorporation, but the corporation did not timely file Form 2553. The IRS found reasonable cause for the missed…
PLR 200323017: State deferred compensation plan qualifies under section 457
A state asked whether its deferred compensation plan for employees and participating political subdivisions qualified under section 457. The plan provided limits on deferrals and distributions,…
PLR 200323016: Irish reinsurer qualifies for treaty exemption from premium tax
An Irish reinsurance company sought exemption under the United States-Ireland tax treaty from the federal excise tax on premiums for U.S. risks. The company represented that it was subject to the…
PLR 200323015: Tax-exempt bond pool and partnership receive mixed rulings
A corporate group proposed placing tax-exempt obligations in a pool trust and issuing two classes of interests through a second entity. The IRS ruled that the pool would be a grantor trust and the…
PLR 200323014: Generator's grid facilities are capital contribution, upgrade payment is loan
An independent power generator agreed to pay for facilities connecting its plant to a utility's transmission system and to advance the cost of separate system upgrades. The utility would own the…
PLR 200323013: Actively managed property rents excluded from S corporation passive income
A commercial real estate company planning to elect S corporation status asked whether rents from its properties counted as passive investment income under section 1362. Its employee, contractors,…
PLR 200323012: Survivor may exchange two trust annuities for one without gain
A married couple placed two deferred annuity contracts in a revocable trust, and one spouse died before annuity payments began. The surviving spouse controlled the trust assets and proposed to…
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.