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 200320026: Medical college property lease avoids debt-financed income tax
A tax-exempt title holding corporation planned to borrow to build property for a medical college and lease the property to a related tax-exempt organization at fair market rent. The IRS treated the…
PLR 200320025: Late trust election does not end corporation's S status
A shareholder died and her stock passed to a trust. The trust's beneficiary did not know a qualified subchapter S trust election was required, so the corporation's S election terminated. The IRS…
PLR 200320024: Environmental cleanup trusts qualify as settlement funds with excluded income
A corporation's bankruptcy settlement proposed two trusts to fund closure and cleanup of a contaminated facility. The IRS ruled that both trusts qualified as settlement funds because the bankruptcy…
PLR 200320023: Routine office cleaning does not change REIT rent classification
A real estate investment trust planned to have employees of its property owning entities perform routine cleaning in office buildings. The IRS ruled that these services would not keep tenant…
PLR 200320022: Preferred stock distribution is tax free to common shareholders
An employee owned corporation planned to distribute a new class of preferred shares to its common shareholders before offering common shares to new key employees. The IRS ruled that the preferred…
PLR 200320021: Former resident's expatriation lacked a principal tax avoidance purpose
A former long term U.S. resident surrendered his green card and returned to the country of his birth and citizenship, where he would be taxed on worldwide income. His net worth exceeded the…
PLR 200320020: Insurer receives conditional waiver for excess policy premiums
An insurer calculated guideline premium limits for certain life policies using guaranteed charges for optional riders rather than the charges it reasonably expected to impose. Some policies…
PLR 200320019: Generator's grid intertie is a utility capital contribution
A power generator would pay for a grid connection and transfer part of the completed intertie to a utility. The IRS ruled that the transfer was a nonshareholder contribution to the utility's capital…
PLR 200320018: RV parks do not count as lodging facilities for REIT subsidiary rule
A real estate investment trust planned for taxable REIT subsidiaries to own and manage recreational vehicle parks. Those parks would lease paved sites with utility connections, while tenants…
PLR 200320017: Late S corporation election treated as timely if filed promptly
A corporation intended to elect S corporation status but never filed Form 2553. The IRS found reasonable cause for the omission and allowed a late election to be treated as timely if the corporation…
PLR 200320016: Late GST exemption allocations allowed for family trust transfers
A couple made gifts to a trust for their descendants over several years, but their accountant did not allocate generation skipping transfer (GST) tax exemption on the gift tax returns. The…
PLR 200320015: Trust reformation supports marital deduction for larger spouse share
A decedent's earlier wills left 70 percent of the residue in a trust for the surviving spouse, but a later revocable trust reversed the percentages for the spouse and children. A probate court…
PLR 200320014: LLC gets more time to elect corporate tax treatment
A single member LLC missed the deadline to elect taxation as a corporation after its corporate group was acquired. The group said it had relied on a tax professional who did not advise it to make…
PLR 200320013: S corporation restructuring qualifies as a Type F reorganization
An S corporation proposed a holding company restructuring to separate two businesses into distinct state law entities. The IRS ruled that the transaction qualified as a Type F reorganization, with…
PLR 200320012: Late dual consolidated loss filings allowed within 30 days
A taxpayer failed to file agreements and annual certifications relating to dual consolidated losses of two entities. Its tax director had believed an exception applied, but a later review found the…
PLR 200320011: Earlier principal distributions preserve trust's GST exemption
Trustees sought to reform a trust that was irrevocable before September 25, 1985, so each grandchild's share of principal could pass to descendants when that grandchild died, if earlier than the…
PLR 200320010: Spouses may make late GST allocations for trust gifts
Two spouses each funded a trust for their children and descendants. Their accountant misstated the gift amounts on their gift tax returns and omitted allocations of generation skipping transfer…
PLR 200320009: Late GST exemption allocations allowed for family trust transfers
A couple made gifts to a trust for their descendants over several years, but their accountant did not allocate generation skipping transfer (GST) tax exemption on the gift tax returns. The…
PLR 200320008: Missing S corporation election may be filed late
A sole shareholder intended for a corporation to elect S status but inadvertently failed to file Form 2553. The IRS found reasonable cause for the omission and allowed the election to be treated as…
PLR 200320007: Service disability benefits partly excluded from employee income
A county asked whether disability benefits under four employee plans were excluded from recipients' income as workers' compensation. The IRS ruled that benefits under the first plan were fully…
PLR 200320006: Estate may allocate GST exemption after missed gift return election
A decedent's lawyer prepared a gift tax return for property transferred to a family trust but failed to allocate generation skipping transfer (GST) tax exemption. The omission was discovered while…
PLR 200320005: Foreign pension arrangement classified as a trust
A foreign arrangement collected employee and employer contributions to provide retirement and death benefits to covered workers and survivors. It was regulated in its home country and invested funds…
PLR 200320004: Parent receives extension for subsidiary S election
An S corporation intended to elect qualified subchapter S subsidiary treatment for its wholly owned subsidiary but missed the filing deadline. The IRS found the requirements for discretionary filing…
PLR 200320003: LLC may amend corporate election to start at formation
An LLC wanted corporate tax classification from the day it was formed, but its representative used an incorrect formation date and the IRS accepted the election with a later effective date. The IRS…
PLR 200320002: Corporation's late S election is effective from incorporation
A newly incorporated company intended to elect S corporation status from its incorporation date but did not file the election on time. The IRS found reasonable cause for the delay and ruled that the…
PLR 200320001: Ineligible trust shareholders cause inadvertent S termination
Shares of an S corporation passed first to a marital trust and later to two successor trusts. The beneficiary failed to make the election needed for the marital trust to remain an eligible…
PLR 200319011: Nonprofit's custodial retirement plan meets specified 403(b) rules
A tax exempt employer asked whether its employee retirement plan satisfied the requirements for a § 403(b) custodial account. The IRS concluded that the plan met the specified § 403(b) rules,…
PLR 200319010: Pension amendment during bankruptcy fails reasonableness exception
A company in bankruptcy wanted to amend its pension plan so the plan could make special cash payments to certain surviving spouses under a union agreement. The company could instead make those…
PLR 200319009: Restricted grant to charity avoids foundation excise taxes
A private foundation planned to grant funds to a public charity that also leased property from a company controlled by two foundation contributors. The foundation restricted the grant so it could…
PLR 200319008: Late Roth IRA recharacterization allowed after account confusion
A taxpayer converted two traditional IRAs to Roth IRAs while expecting the couple's income to fall below the conversion limit. After learning their income exceeded the limit, he recharacterized one…
IRS record 200319007: Pulled for wrong inspection date
The official IRS PDF contains only the release number and a notice that the record was pulled because of a wrong inspection date. It provides no determination, taxpayer facts, issue date, legal…
CCA 200319006: Seek court approval before seizing home titled to sham trust
Chief Counsel considered collection from a home titled to a trust the IRS viewed as a sham, with assessments against both the trust and the individual living there. It advised seeking judicial…
PLR 200319005: Combining family trusts preserves tax treatment and asset basis
A trustee proposed combining three family trusts with identical beneficiaries and distribution terms into one trust for easier administration. The IRS ruled that the combination would not cause…
PLR 200319004: Combining family trusts preserves tax treatment and asset basis
A trustee proposed combining three family trusts with identical beneficiaries and distribution terms into one trust for easier administration. The IRS ruled that the combination would not cause…
PLR 200319003: Housing project may make late income test election
A taxpayer inadvertently omitted the income test election for a low income housing project under § 42(g)(1). The IRS granted an extension to make the intended election by filing amended Forms 8609…
PLR 200319002: Ending one marital trust leaves a separate trust unaffected
A surviving spouse planned to sell a residence held in one marital trust, then ask an Arizona court to terminate that trust and distribute its assets to the remainder beneficiaries. The IRS ruled…
TAM 200319001: Later GRAT amendments do not change gift values retroactively
Two grantors created four grantor retained annuity trusts (GRATs) with annuities for themselves and contingent annuities for their spouses. After an IRS audit challenged the spousal interests, the…
PLR 200318076: Retirement trust's real estate loans avoid unrelated business income
A tax exempt retirement group trust invested through limited liability companies in four commercial real estate lots financed with loans. The original seller was related to an employer contributing…
PLR 200318075: Awards for past achievement need no advance grant approval
A private foundation proposed monetary awards recognizing past achievements in medicine and science. Independent nominators would suggest candidates, a selection committee would recommend…
PLR 200318074: City pension contributions qualify as employer pick-ups
A city adopted a defined contribution plan requiring a group of employees to contribute three percent of pay. Its plan and adoption agreement said the city would pick up those contributions, and…
PLR 200318073: Employee children's scholarship procedures approved
A private foundation proposed renewable scholarships for dependent children of an employer's full-time workers. An outside administrator would choose recipients, keep records, and monitor how…
PLR 200318072: Matching grant set aside counts when reserved for restoration
A private foundation reserved funds for a matching grant to a public charity restoring a historic site. The grant depended on matching contributions, approved renovation plans, and other conditions…
PLR 200318071: Historic site matching grant qualifies as a set aside
A private foundation reserved funds for a matching grant to a public charity's first phase of restoring a historic site for museum use. Payment depended on outside matching contributions, approved…
PLR 200318070: Historic house restoration matching grant set aside approved
A private foundation reserved a matching grant for a public charity restoring a historic house, with plans for a museum, office, and apartment. Payment depended on matching contributions, consulting…
PLR 200318069: Foundation's indirect partnership investment avoids excise taxes
A private foundation proposed to invest most or all of its assets through a limited partnership to reach a diversified securities partnership. Its founder and family had interests in the…
PLR 200318068: Late dual consolidated loss agreement permitted
A taxpayer missed the deadline to file an agreement needed to use a company's dual consolidated losses for a tax year. It sought relief before the IRS discovered the omission. The IRS found that the…
PLR 200318067: Late stock purchase election allowed with amended returns
A corporate purchaser and six sellers intended to elect under § 338(h)(10) to treat a stock acquisition as an asset sale, but missed the filing deadline. The IRS granted an extension after finding…
PLR 200318066: Wind partnership may claim and allocate production credits
A partnership planned to own a wind electricity project through a company that would become disregarded for federal tax purposes. The IRS ruled that the partnership would be treated as producing the…
PLR 200318065: Late S corporation election accepted for reasonable cause
A corporation's sole shareholder intended it to be an S corporation from the start of a taxable year, but the corporation did not file its election on time. The IRS found reasonable cause for the…
PLR 200318064: Trust correction creates no gift or taxable disposition
A grantor created a trust for the grantor's children, but its terms did not reflect the intended equal treatment of children born later. The parties obtained court approval of an agreement to…
PLR 200318063: Estate gets more time to allocate GST exemption
A decedent made gifts to a trust, but the accountant used short form gift tax returns and failed to allocate the decedent's generation skipping transfer (GST) exemption. The estate requested more…
PLR 200318062: Late tax year change application treated as timely
A taxpayer filed Form 1128 late to request a change from a May 31 tax year end to a June 30 tax year end. The IRS found that an error or misunderstanding caused the delay and that the taxpayer acted…
PLR 200318061: Extra time granted for foreign entity classification election
A parent company planned to change its wholly owned foreign subsidiary's federal tax classification during a reorganization. It failed to file Form 8832 within the normal period for the requested…
PLR 200318060: Synthetic fuel facilities retain production credit after relocation
A partnership that made synthetic fuel from coal sought confirmation of earlier § 29 credit rulings after changes in ownership, a merger, changes to its chemical reagents, and relocation of its…
PLR 200318059: Partnership gets more time to elect a basis adjustment
A partner died, transferring a partnership interest, but the partnership's tax adviser did not tell it about the § 754 election available for a property basis adjustment. The partnership requested…
PLR 200318058: County development corporation's income is excluded
A county formed a nonprofit corporation to develop industrial sites and attract businesses and jobs. County officials controlled its board, and its amended governing documents dedicated its assets…
PLR 200318057: Late GST exemption allocations allowed for three trusts
A taxpayer created separate trusts for three children and transferred money to each one. The taxpayer's accounting firm filed a timely gift tax return but failed to allocate generation skipping…
PLR 200318056: Late GST exemption allocations allowed for three trusts
A taxpayer created separate trusts for three children and transferred money to each one. The taxpayer's accounting firm filed a timely gift tax return but failed to allocate generation skipping…
PLR 200318055: Green card relinquishment lacked a tax avoidance purpose
A former U.S. permanent resident returned with her spouse to their country of origin after his retirement and relinquished her green card. She sought a ruling that avoiding U.S. tax was not a…
PLR 200318054: Retiree's green card relinquishment lacked tax avoidance purpose
A former U.S. permanent resident and his spouse returned to their country of origin after his retirement. He gave up his green card and sought a ruling that avoiding U.S. tax was not a principal…
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.