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 200316031: Estate receives extra time to allocate GST exemption to three trusts
A grantor made gifts to separate trusts for three children, but the preparer omitted generation-skipping transfer (GST) exemption allocations from the gift tax returns. After the grantor died, the…
PLR 200316030: Inadvertent S corporation termination is waived
An S corporation's election terminated when an ineligible shareholder briefly held some of its stock. The shares were later transferred to another shareholder, and the corporation and its…
PLR 200316029: Foreign entity gets more time to elect disregarded status
A foreign entity with one owner intended to elect treatment as a disregarded entity but did not file Form 8832 on time. Ownership changed before it sought relief. The IRS found that the entity met…
PLR 200316028: Late S corporation election treated as timely
A newly incorporated company intended to elect S corporation status for its first tax year, but its attorney failed to file Form 2553. The company pointed to other filings that showed this intent.…
PLR 200316027: Late taxable REIT subsidiary election accepted
A REIT and a company it indirectly owned intended to elect taxable REIT subsidiary treatment. An officer signed Form 8875 and instructed an assistant to mail it, but the IRS had no record of…
PLR 200316026: Parent gets more time for QSub election
An S corporation acquired all of a subsidiary's stock and intended to elect qualified subchapter S subsidiary (QSub) treatment from the acquisition date. It inadvertently missed the Form 8869 filing…
PLR 200316025: Late corporate classification and S elections accepted
A business entity intended to elect corporate tax classification and S corporation status from the day it began business, but it missed both filing deadlines. The IRS gave it 60 days to file Form…
PLR 200316024: Entity gets more time to elect corporate tax classification
A business entity intended to be taxed as a corporation from the date it was formed, but Form 8832 was not filed on time. The IRS found that the entity met the standards for discretionary filing…
PLR 200316023: Trust reformation preserves grandfathered GST exemption
A trust that became irrevocable before September 25, 1985, sought a court reformation permitting total return investing and certain principal distributions. The trustees represented that no…
PLR 200316022: Relocated synthetic fuel plant retains section 29 credit treatment
A partnership asked the IRS to reconfirm earlier rulings for a coal-based synthetic fuel plant after ownership, reagent, and location changes. The IRS reissued the rulings that the described process…
PLR 200316021: Partnership gets more time for basis adjustment election
After a transfer of a partnership interest, an accountant failed to tell the partnership about the section 754 election to adjust the basis of partnership property. The partnership represented that…
PLR 200316020: Late S corporation and QSub elections accepted
A parent corporation intended to elect S corporation status and to treat two wholly owned subsidiaries as qualified subchapter S subsidiaries (QSubs), but none of the elections were filed on time.…
PLR 200316019: Generator-funded intertie excluded from utility income
A power generator built part of an interconnection to a utility's grid and reimbursed the utility for work on the utility's side. The utility asked whether the transferred intertie was a…
PLR 200316018: More time granted for QSub election after acquisition
An S corporation acquired a wholly owned subsidiary and intended to elect qualified subchapter S subsidiary (QSub) treatment from the acquisition date. It inadvertently filed no timely election. The…
PLR 200316017: Acquired subsidiary receives late QSub election relief
An S corporation acquired a wholly owned subsidiary and intended to elect qualified subchapter S subsidiary (QSub) treatment effective on the acquisition date. The election was inadvertently filed…
PLR 200316016: Late first-year S corporation election accepted
A corporation's shareholder intended S corporation treatment from its first tax year, but no Form 2553 was filed on time. The IRS found reasonable cause for the omission. It ruled that the election…
PLR 200316015: Commercial rents excluded from passive investment income
An S corporation owned commercial buildings and handled leasing, tenant matters, maintenance, utilities, and other operating costs. It asked whether its rental receipts counted as passive investment…
PLR 200316014: Parent gets 45 days to file late section 338 election
A corporate group acquired all stock of a foreign target through a foreign purchaser, but did not file the intended section 338(g) election by its deadline. The IRS found that the group acted…
PLR 200316013: Late section 338 election granted for foreign stock purchase
A corporate group acquired a foreign target through a foreign purchaser but missed the deadline for a section 338(g) election. The IRS found that the group met the requirements for discretionary…
PLR 200316012: S status preserved after stock reached ineligible owners
Two blocks of an S corporation's stock were transferred to an IRA and a partnership, both ineligible shareholders. After discovering the transfers, the company arranged for an individual to acquire…
CCA 200316011: Publicity about tax cases must use independent public sources
IRS staff asked whether the agency could publicize criminal tax proceedings and related court events in the Tenth Circuit. Chief Counsel advised that the agency may discuss information drawn…
PLR 200316010: New corporation receives late S election relief
A newly incorporated company intended S corporation treatment from its formation date but did not file the election on time. The IRS found reasonable cause for the delay. It ruled that the company…
PLR 200316009: Late S election recognized from incorporation
A corporation intended to be taxed as an S corporation from its incorporation date but missed the election deadline. The IRS found reasonable cause for the failure. It ruled that the company would…
PLR 200316008: Estate tax deductions follow inherited IRA income across two deaths
A surviving spouse elected a share of a decedent's estate that was partly funded with two IRAs, then died before receiving all of that share. The IRS treated the IRA amounts as income in respect of…
PLR 200316007: S corporation election allowed after filing deadline
A corporation's shareholders intended S corporation treatment from a specified date, but the election was not filed on time. The IRS found reasonable cause and ruled that the company would be…
PLR 200316006: Late partnership basis election permitted after partner's death
A partner's interest passed to an estate at death, and the partnership intended to elect a section 754 basis adjustment. Its accountant failed to file the election. The IRS granted 60 days to submit…
PLR 200316005: Wholly owned subsidiary gets late QSub election relief
An S corporation formed a wholly owned subsidiary and intended qualified subchapter S subsidiary (QSub) treatment from incorporation. The person responsible for filing Form 8869 missed the deadline.…
PLR 200316004: Invalid S election forgiven after ineligible owners removed
A corporation elected S status while several ineligible shareholders, including IRAs and a partnership, held its stock. The company later discovered the problem and transferred the shares to…
PLR 200316003: Synthetic fuel facility retains credit eligibility after relocation and transfers
A partnership, through disregarded entities, owned a coal-based synthetic fuel facility that had changed hands and moved to a new site. The IRS ruled that the described fuel and construction…
PLR 200316002: First-year S election accepted after missing Form 2553
A corporation's sole shareholder intended S corporation treatment and filed a first-year S corporation return, but the IRS had no record of its Form 2553 election. The IRS found reasonable cause for…
CCA 200316001: Advice on early-year capital cost reduction payments is redacted
Chief Counsel responded to a request about payments that reduce the capital cost of a vehicle. The memorandum says a published safe harbor lets taxpayers exclude those payments from income and…
PLR 200315040: Charitable trust amendment avoids gain and foundation termination
A trust with charitable and noncharitable interests sought to amend its terms to eliminate the noncharitable interests and apply for tax-exempt status. The IRS ruled that the amendment would not…
PLR 200315039: Merged pension plan may omit earlier service for some participants
An employer planned to merge a new cash balance pension plan with an older frozen plan. The IRS ruled that participants who were in the new plan but never participated in the older plan did not have…
PLR 200315038: Government pension plan may transfer excess assets to retiree health account
A county pension plan asked whether it could move excess pension assets to a retiree health account without losing qualified plan status. The IRS said governmental plans are eligible for section 420…
PLR 200315037: Pension plan receives minimum funding waiver for 2001
The IRS granted a defined benefit pension plan a waiver of its minimum funding standard for the plan year ended December 31, 2001. The company had experienced declining sales and reduced staffing,…
PLR 200315036: Second pension plan receives minimum funding waiver for 2001
The IRS granted a defined benefit pension plan a waiver of its minimum funding standard for the plan year ended December 31, 2001. The company reported declining sales and staffing reductions; plan…
PLR 200315035: Foreign investment company dividends avoid trust UBTI and self-dealing
Four charitable remainder trusts planned to pool cash in a foreign corporation that would invest in debt-financed U.S. partnerships. The IRS ruled that the corporation's partnership income and…
PLR 200315034: Four trusts' foreign-company investment avoids UBTI and self-dealing
Four charitable remainder trusts planned to pool cash in a foreign corporation that would invest in debt-financed U.S. partnerships. The IRS ruled that the corporation's partnership income and…
PLR 200315033: Scholarship procedures approved under section 4945(g)
An organization proposed annual contributions to a public charity that would select students for scholarships and oversee the awards. The charity would use academic achievement, counselor…
PLR 200315032: Foreign corporation investment avoids trust UBTI and self-dealing
Four charitable remainder unitrusts planned to pool cash in a foreign corporation that would invest in debt-financed partnerships. The IRS ruled that the partnership income and distributions to the…
PLR 200315031: Partnership may pay a related manager for real estate investment services
A private foundation planned to invest in a real estate partnership managed by a company owned by people connected to the foundation. Because that company was a disqualified person, the foundation…
PLR 200315030: Pension plan receives a conditional funding waiver
A company sought relief from the minimum funding requirement for its pension plan after a downturn in its customer base. The IRS granted a conditional waiver for the plan year ending March 31, 2002,…
PLR 200315029: Scholarship grant procedures receive advance approval
An organization asked the IRS to approve procedures for scholarships funded through a public charity. The charity would choose recipients using academic performance, counselor appraisal, activities,…
PLR 200315028: Trust investment through a foreign corporation avoids UBTI and self-dealing
Four charitable remainder unitrusts planned to pool cash in a foreign corporation that would invest in debt-financed U.S. partnerships. The IRS ruled that partnership income and payments to the…
PLR 200315027: Late Roth IRA recharacterizations treated as timely
A married couple converted traditional IRAs to Roth IRAs, then learned that their 2000 income exceeded the limit for those conversions. They moved the funds back to traditional IRAs in April and May…
PLR 200315026: Duty disability pension is tax free until conversion to a regular pension
A police officer retired after an injury suffered on the job and began receiving a duty disability pension. The IRS found that the city statute granting the benefit was in the nature of a workers'…
PLR 200315025: Longer IT support does not change earlier spin-off rulings
A company had distributed the stock of a subsidiary to its shareholders and received earlier IRS rulings about the distribution's tax treatment under section 355. The former parent still provided…
PLR 200315024: Tax-exempt controlled company receives time to file election
A taxable corporation wholly owned by a tax-exempt parent intended to elect out of tax-exempt controlled entity treatment under section 168(h)(6)(F)(ii). A change in the parent's controller led to…
PLR 200315023: Trustor gets time to allocate generation-skipping tax exemption
A trustor made gifts to a family trust over several years, but her accountant allocated generation-skipping transfer tax exemption to only part of many gifts and omitted allocation notices. Other…
PLR 200315022: Estate receives time for reverse QTIP election
An estate elected qualified terminable interest property treatment for a trust benefiting the decedent's spouse, but its preparer omitted the separate reverse QTIP election from the estate tax…
CCA 200315021: Partnership notice extends the assessment period for conversion gain
A partnership deferred gain after disposing of a power facility and a related electricity contract following a condemnation threat. Chief Counsel concluded that the partnership's later letter…
PLR 200315020: Administrative dissolution does not end S corporation status
A corporation's registered agent failed to file state annual reports, and the state administratively dissolved the corporation. The company later reincorporated after discovering the lapse. The IRS…
PLR 200315019: Parent gets time to file stock purchase election
A corporate group missed the deadline for a section 338(g) election after a foreign subsidiary acquired stock of a foreign target. The IRS granted the parent 45 days from the letter date to file…
PLR 200315018: Parent gets time to file stock purchase election
A corporate group missed the deadline for a section 338(g) election after a foreign subsidiary acquired stock of a foreign target. The IRS granted the parent 45 days from the letter date to file…
PLR 200315017: Late S corporation election may take effect at incorporation
A corporation's sole shareholder intended S corporation status from the date of incorporation and believed a tax adviser had filed the election. The Form 2553 was not filed on time. The IRS found…
PLR 200315016: Estate gets time to split marital trust and make reverse QTIP election
An estate elected QTIP treatment for a marital trust but did not make the reverse QTIP election needed to use the decedent's remaining generation-skipping transfer tax exemption for that property.…
PLR 200315015: Trust settlement preserves GST exemption without taxable gifts or income
A family proposed settling a dispute over whether a father could direct property from his father's trust into further trusts and whether those trusts could benefit descendants born after his death.…
PLR 200315014: Corporation receives relief for late S election
A corporation's shareholders intended to elect S corporation treatment from its incorporation date, but the election was not filed on time. The IRS found reasonable cause for the missed deadline…
PLR 200315013: Split family trusts retain generation-skipping tax exemption
A trust created under a will was to be split into separate trusts for two granddaughters and their descendants. A court ordered an unequal division to account for earlier principal distributions to…
PLR 200315012: Advance refunding portion of pooled bonds may be separate issue
A public authority planned a pooled bond issue to lend money to local governments. Some loans would refund existing debt more than 90 days after the bonds were issued, making that portion an advance…
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.