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 200311013: Family receives time to allocate generation-skipping tax exemption
Two spouses transferred corporate shares to separate trusts for their daughters and descendants. They relied on an accountant to prepare their gift tax returns, but the returns did not effectively…
PLR 200311012: First-year S election may be filed within 60 days
A corporation's president said the corporation intended S corporation treatment for its first tax year, but no Form 2553 was filed. The IRS found reasonable cause for the missed election under…
PLR 200311011: Late first-year S election gets a 60-day filing window
A corporation's sole shareholder intended S corporation treatment for its first tax year, but no timely Form 2553 was filed. The IRS found reasonable cause for the missed election under section…
PLR 200311010: S corporation receives time to elect subsidiary QSub status
An S corporation acquired all the stock of another corporation and intended to elect qualified Subchapter S subsidiary treatment for it. It inadvertently missed the Form 8869 deadline. The IRS found…
PLR 200311009: Donor receives time to allocate GST exemption to children's trusts
A donor made cash transfers to separate irrevocable trusts for a son and a daughter in two years. An accountant reported the gifts on timely Forms 709 but omitted allocations of the donor's…
PLR 200311008: Missed trust election receives inadvertent S termination relief
An S corporation shareholder died, and stock passed through the estate to a trust for the surviving spouse. The spouse did not make a timely qualified Subchapter S trust election, causing the…
PLR 200311007: Corporation may make late S election for its first tax year
A corporation's sole shareholder intended S corporation treatment from its incorporation date, but Form 2553 was not filed on time. The IRS found reasonable cause for the missed deadline under…
PLR 200311006: Corporation receives late S election relief for a later tax year
A corporation formed in an earlier year later decided to change to S corporation status, as reflected in its minutes, but it did not file Form 2553 on time for the requested year. The IRS granted…
PLR 200311005: IRA stock ownership receives inadvertent invalid S election relief
Four individual retirement accounts held shares when a corporation attempted to elect S status, making the election ineffective because the accounts were ineligible shareholders. After discovering…
PLR 200311004: Two-shareholder corporation receives late S election relief
Two shareholders wanted their corporation to be treated as an S corporation from a specified tax year, but Form 2553 was not filed on time. The IRS found reasonable cause for the missed election…
TAM 200311003: Integrated producer's offshore platforms belong in seven-year asset class
An integrated oil and gas producer wanted to depreciate its offshore drilling platforms under Asset Class 13.0 rather than Class 13.2. The IRS advised that producer-owned platforms belong in Class…
PLR 200311002: Regulated company's two-class stock recapitalization qualifies as reorganization
A federally chartered company needed a new capital structure to meet regulatory requirements. It proposed exchanging its existing shares for Class B voting stock, then letting some shareholders…
PLR 200311001: Foreign reinsurer may reelect domestic corporation treatment
A foreign reinsurer had once elected under section 953(d) to be treated as a domestic corporation, then obtained consent to end that election while it pursued non-U.S. business. After those…
PLR 200310026: Revised partnership conversion preserves prior rulings with taxable liquidation
A parent corporation revised an earlier plan to conduct its business through a partnership. Under the revised plan, subsidiaries would become partnerships or disregarded entities, the parent would…
PLR 200310025: Hospital pension plan qualifies as a church plan
A nonprofit hospital associated with a church maintained a pension plan, and a related health care corporation merged its plan into that plan. The IRS ruled that the combined plan qualified as a…
PLR 200310024: Partial unitrust interest sale preserves charitable trust status
The creator and income beneficiary of a charitable remainder unitrust proposed selling part of his unitrust interest to a charity while naming that charity as remainder beneficiary of the same…
PLR 200310023: Taxpayers receive time to recharacterize ineligible Roth conversions
Two spouses converted traditional IRAs to Roth IRAs, but their joint income exceeded the section 408A(c)(3)(B) limit. They relied on tax professionals who did not identify the restriction, then…
PLR 200310022: Warehouse rental income treated as active trade or business income
The IRS considered an S corporation that operated warehouse properties and received rental income from an operating agreement and separate leases. The corporation employed staff and handled…
PLR 200310021: Trust correction preserves GST tax exemption and avoids gift tax
The IRS considered a trust whose agreement contained a scrivener's error that affected how property would be divided among descendants. A court order added the omitted word “deceased,” and the…
PLR 200310020: Expatriation filing avoids the tax avoidance presumption
A dual citizen living in another country planned to give up U.S. citizenship, and her net worth exceeded the statutory threshold that can trigger an expatriation tax avoidance presumption. The IRS…
PLR 200310019: Late S corporation election accepted with timely Form 2553 filing
A corporation with one shareholder intended to be an S corporation from the start of its business but did not file its S election on time. The IRS found reasonable cause for the late filing under…
PLR 200310018: Late S corporation election granted from incorporation date
A corporation's shareholders intended to elect S corporation treatment from the date of incorporation, but the election was not filed on time. The IRS found reasonable cause for the missed deadline…
PLR 200310017: Late S election treated as effective from incorporation
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 that the corporation had reasonable cause…
PLR 200310016: Estate receives 60 days to allocate GST tax exemption
An estate's accountant filed Form 706 without Schedule R, so the decedent's available generation skipping transfer tax exemption was not allocated to a trust for his daughter. The estate asked for…
PLR 200310015: Late S election treated as effective from incorporation
A corporation's shareholders intended S corporation status from incorporation, but the election was not filed by the deadline. The IRS found reasonable cause for the missed filing and granted relief…
PLR 200310014: REIT may measure tiered partnership interests using capital accounts
A real estate investment trust owned an interest in a partnership that held an interest in a second partnership. The IRS ruled that the REIT could calculate its share of the second partnership's…
PLR 200310013: Late GST exemption allocations allowed for two children's trusts
A taxpayer and spouse created separate irrevocable trusts for their son and daughter. The taxpayer made contributions to both trusts in two years, but her accountant reported the gifts without…
PLR 200310012: Generator's intertie transfer excluded as capital contribution
An electric generator funded improvements to a utility's transmission system so its facility could send power to buyers. The IRS ruled that the deemed transfer of the interconnection property met…
PLR 200310011: Generator's system improvements excluded as capital contribution
An electric generator reimbursed a utility for transmission system improvements that connected two generating units to the grid. The IRS ruled that the deemed transfer of those improvements met the…
PLR 200310010: LLC receives more time to elect corporate tax treatment
A single owner limited liability company intended to be taxed as a corporation but inadvertently failed to file Form 8832. The IRS found that the company met the requirements for an extension under…
PLR 200310009: Family business split-off qualifies as tax-free reorganization
Members of a family disagreed about the direction of their common businesses and planned to separate their interests. After a proposed merger and redemption, the distributing corporation would…
PLR 200310008: Expatriation ruling removes tax avoidance presumption
A dual citizen who expatriated while living permanently in the other country asked whether the expatriation had a principal purpose of avoiding U.S. taxes. The taxpayer's net worth exceeded the…
PLR 200310007: Employer funded grants qualify as scholarships under stated procedures
A multinational employer planned to fund a public charity's scholarship program for children of employees attending qualifying schools outside the United States. The IRS concluded that grants…
PLR 200310006: Corporation receives relief for late S corporation election
A corporation intended to elect S corporation status and filed an S corporation return, but the IRS service center had no record of a timely Form 2553 election. The corporation requested relief…
PLR 200310005: Corporate separation and acquisition receive specified tax treatment
A publicly traded corporation planned to separate retained businesses from non-core businesses, distribute the new subsidiary's stock to its shareholders, and have the subsidiary merge into an…
PLR 200310004: Late Form 1128 treated as timely for tax year change
A consolidated group wanted to change its tax year from May 31 to December 31 and relied on its CPA to prepare and file Form 1128. The form was never prepared or filed by the due date, although the…
TAM 200310003: Formal customer acceptance did not control income timing
A telecommunications company changed its income recognition method for small systems with limited customization. It began recognizing income when customers formally accepted the systems, rather than…
PLR 200310002: Former resident's expatriation lacked a principal tax avoidance purpose
A former long-term U.S. resident relinquished a green card and returned to the country where he was born and would be taxed on worldwide income. His net worth exceeded the threshold that would…
TAM 200310001: Patent damages did not qualify for section 1341 relief
A manufacturer paid damages and prejudgment interest in a patent infringement lawsuit and sought the tax benefits of section 1341. The IRS concluded that the payment was an ordinary and necessary…
PLR 200309031: Hospital clinic physician revenue is related to its exempt health care purpose
A community hospital operated by an exempt organization proposed to establish a provider-based clinic. Some physicians would become hospital employees, while others would remain employees of a…
PLR 200309030: IRS grants time to reverse two ineligible Roth IRA conversions
A married couple converted two traditional IRAs to Roth IRAs in 1998, but their joint income exceeded the limit for those conversions. They did not discover the problem until January 2000 and had…
PLR 200309029: IRS grants time to recharacterize an ineligible Roth IRA conversion
A taxpayer converted a traditional IRA to a Roth IRA after a financial advisor recommended the conversion. The taxpayer and spouse's adjusted gross income exceeded the applicable limit, but the…
PLR 200309028: Separate IRA distributions do not modify an existing payment stream
A taxpayer rolled a former employer's retirement plan balance into one IRA, moved part of that balance into a second IRA, and began substantially equal periodic payments from the second IRA. The…
PLR 200309026: Taxpayer receives time to allocate GST exemption to a trust
A taxpayer and spouse made transfers to an irrevocable trust for their descendants and elected to split their gifts. Their accounting firm allocated the spouse's generation-skipping transfer tax…
PLR 200309025: Former resident's green card surrender lacked a principal tax avoidance purpose
A former long-term U.S. resident surrendered his green card and returned to the country where he was born and held citizenship. His net worth exceeded the threshold that would ordinarily create a…
PLR 200309024: Synthetic fuel credits survive a facility move and partnership termination
A partnership acquired three coal-based synthetic fuel facilities and received an earlier ruling on their eligibility for section 29 production credits. It planned to move one facility to another…
PLR 200309023: IRS removes expatriation presumption but leaves tax purpose undecided
A former long-term U.S. resident retired, returned to his birth country, and surrendered his green card. His net worth exceeded the threshold that ordinarily created a presumption of a principal tax…
PLR 200309022: Late trust election does not end corporation's S status
A shareholder transferred stock in an S corporation to a trust, but the trust's beneficiary failed to make a timely qualified subchapter S trust election. That failure terminated the corporation's S…
PLR 200309021: Partnership operating receipts retain their character for S corporation tests
An S corporation owned interests in three publicly traded partnerships whose business involved oil and other natural resources. It asked how its shares of the partnerships' gross receipts would…
PLR 200309020: Foreign subsidiaries' amalgamation qualifies as two D reorganizations
A foreign parent planned to combine two foreign subsidiaries under its country's amalgamation law into a single successor corporation. The IRS treated the transaction as two separate section…
PLR 200309019: Missed trust election receives inadvertent S termination relief
After a shareholder died, S corporation stock moved from one trust to a second trust. The second trust's beneficiary missed the qualified subchapter S trust election deadline, terminating the…
PLR 200309018: IRA share transfers receive inadvertent S termination relief
An S corporation transferred shares to two individual retirement accounts, which were ineligible S corporation shareholders. It later repurchased both sets of shares. The IRS found that the first…
PLR 200309017: Company may file its late S corporation election within 60 days
A business that had operated as a partnership incorporated, and its shareholders intended it to be an S corporation from a specified date. It did not file Form 2553 by the usual deadline. The IRS…
PLR 200309016: Company may treat a late S election as timely
A company incorporated in a state, and its shareholders intended S corporation status from a specified date. The company did not file Form 2553 by the usual deadline. The IRS found reasonable cause…
PLR 200309015: Late S election may take effect from incorporation
A corporation's shareholders intended it to be an S corporation from inception, but the company did not file Form 2553 on time. The company had filed an S corporation income tax return for a later…
PLR 200309014: Late accounting-period application treated as timely filed
A taxpayer filed Form 1128 after the deadline to request a change from a calendar tax year to an October 31 year end. The letter says the delay resulted from increased staff demands during a major…
PLR 200309013: Unfiled S election receives a 60-day filing window
A corporation's sole shareholder intended S corporation status beginning in a specified tax year. The company filed S corporation income tax returns for that year and later years, but never filed…
PLR 200309012: Taxpayer gets 60 days to request revised plant ruling amounts
A taxpayer missed the deadline to request a revised schedule of ruling amounts for a plant under the section 468A regulations. The letter says the taxpayer had already made contributions on time and…
PLR 200309011: Unfiled S election may take effect on requested date
A corporation's sole shareholder wanted S corporation status from a specified date, but the election was not filed on time. The IRS found reasonable cause for the missed filing and ruled that the…
PLR 200309010: Donor may allocate GST exemption late to four family trusts
A donor and spouse established four trusts for their children and descendants. The donor's first gift tax return allocated generation-skipping transfer tax exemption to the trusts, but accountants…
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.