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.
No determinations match these filters
Try fewer or different words, check the spelling, or clear the filters to browse everything.
PLR 200247039: Late GST allocation allowed after gift tax return was not on file
A grantor transferred real property to an irrevocable trust for her son and his children. Her law firm prepared a gift tax return allocating generation-skipping transfer (GST) exemption to the gift,…
PLR 200247038: Spouses allowed late GST exemption allocations for stock gift to trust
A taxpayer gave company stock to a trust for the taxpayer's children and descendants and separately sold other stock to the trust for a note. The tax preparer misplaced records, and no gift tax…
PLR 200247037: Division of older trust preserves GST exemption without estate inclusion for grantor
A grantor and other interested parties proposed to divide an irrevocable trust created before September 25, 1985, into three trusts, one for each child and that child's descendants. The IRS ruled…
PLR 200247036: Single member company gets more time to elect corporate tax status
A single member company intended to be taxed as a corporation from a specified date. Its accountant represented that Form 8832 was filed on time, but the IRS service center had no record of…
CCA 200247035: Stadium seat license proceeds are team income as installments come due
A sports team arranged for a public authority to sell personal seat licenses and apply the proceeds toward the team's stadium construction funding obligation. Chief Counsel advised that the proceeds…
CCA 200247034: Alternative minimum tax calculated separately for section 962 income
Individual shareholders of controlled foreign corporations elected under section 962 to have certain foreign corporation income taxed at corporate rates. They calculated alternative minimum tax…
CCA 200247033: Section 962 income has a separate alternative minimum tax calculation
Individual shareholders of controlled foreign corporations elected under section 962 to apply corporate tax rates to certain foreign corporation income. They had compared regular tax and tentative…
PLR 200247032: Employee may revoke a section 83(b) election within the election period
An employee received restricted stock for services and filed a section 83(b) election on the transfer date. Before the 30-day period for making that election expired, the employee asked to revoke…
PLR 200247031: Late S corporation election allowed after showing reasonable cause
A corporation's two shareholders intended it to be an S corporation from its first tax year, but Form 2553 was not filed on time. The corporation asked the IRS to treat a late election as timely…
PLR 200247030: Will-created stock arrangement may hold S corporation shares as a QSST
A person held a life interest in corporate stock under a will, while children were to receive the stock later. The corporation intended to elect S corporation status, raising a question about…
PLR 200247029: Late S corporation election accepted for first tax year
A corporation's sole shareholder intended S corporation status from the date of incorporation, but Form 2553 was not filed on time. The IRS found reasonable cause for the delay under section…
PLR 200247028: Missed S corporation election deadline excused after adviser miscommunication
Two shareholders intended their newly incorporated company to elect S corporation status from its first tax year. They relied on tax advisers to file Form 2553, but a miscommunication caused the…
PLR 200247027: S corporation status restored after passive income termination
An S corporation had accumulated earnings and profits and received more than 25 percent of its gross receipts from passive investment income in three consecutive years. That caused its S election to…
PLR 200247026: Active rental business receipts excluded from S corporation passive income
An S corporation with accumulated earnings and profits rented commercial property and equipment. Its employees negotiated leases, maintained the property, and performed services for tenants,…
CCA 200247025: Bankruptcy stay permits cancellation of a noticed IRS property sale
The IRS seized real estate for unpaid taxes and noticed a sale, but the owner filed for bankruptcy before the sale occurred. Chief Counsel advised that the bankruptcy stay barred the sale, while…
PLR 200247024: Late S election allowed after owner missed Form 2553 requirement
The sole shareholder of a newly incorporated company intended it to be an S corporation but did not know that Form 2553 had to be filed. The company missed the election deadline and asked for relief…
PLR 200247023: Business separation for family shareholders qualifies as a tax-free reorganization
A corporation operated two businesses, while an individual shareholder and two family trusts disagreed about their future direction. The corporation proposed transferring cash and part of one…
PLR 200247022: Family trusts exchange stock in tax-free corporate separation
A corporation's individual shareholder and two family trusts wanted different approaches to the corporation's businesses. The corporation planned to contribute cash and part of one business to a new…
PLR 200247021: Corporate split between individual owner and family trusts qualifies under section 355
An individual shareholder and two family trusts had conflicting goals for a corporation's businesses. The corporation proposed contributing cash and part of one business to a new subsidiary, then…
PLR 200247020: Corporate separation lets family trusts exchange shares without recognized gain
An individual shareholder and two family trusts had conflicting goals for a corporation's businesses. The corporation proposed contributing cash and part of one business to a new subsidiary, then…
PLR 200247019: Type D reorganization separates family trusts from individual shareholder
An individual shareholder and two family trusts had conflicting goals for a corporation's businesses. The corporation proposed contributing cash and part of one business to a new subsidiary, then…
CCA 200247018: IRS must honor a designated estimated tax payment
The IRS applied a taxpayer's payment to a prior year's estimated tax penalty and refunded the balance, while the taxpayer said the payment was for the current year's estimated tax. An Appeals…
PLR 200247017: Purchaser and seller get more time for section 338(h)(10) election
A corporation bought all the stock of an S corporation from its sole shareholder. The purchaser and seller intended to file a joint section 338(h)(10) election but missed the deadline. The IRS found…
PLR 200247016: Foreign single owner entity may file late disregarded entity election
A foreign entity had been owned by one domestic limited liability company since formation. The entity and its owner intended it to be disregarded as a separate entity for federal tax purposes from…
PLR 200247015: Late Form 8832 allowed for foreign entity with one owner
A foreign entity had been owned by one domestic limited liability company since formation. The entity and its owner intended it to be disregarded as a separate entity for federal tax purposes from…
PLR 200247014: State transfer ends employees' Medicare tax grandfather exception
A state asked the IRS to reconsider an earlier ruling about employees transferred from abolished political subdivisions into state employment. The employees had worked for the subdivisions before…
PLR 200247013: Proposed trust avoids grantor ownership while initial gifts remain incomplete
A person proposed funding an irrevocable trust whose distributions would be controlled by a committee of two beneficiaries. The person could consent to distributions directed by one committee member…
CCA 200247012: Tribal golf course bond financing raises commercial purpose question
A tribal government used bond proceeds to build a golf course and asked whether its construction and operation were an essential governmental function under section 7871(e). Chief Counsel said that…
PLR 200247011: Late S corporation election treated as timely
A corporation intended to be taxed as an S corporation from the start of a taxable year, but discovered that it had not filed its election on time. It asked the IRS to treat the late election as…
PLR 200247010: More time to elect disregarded entity status
A company and its owner intended the company to be disregarded as a separate entity for federal tax purposes, but the company did not file Form 8832 on time. The company asked for more time to make…
PLR 200247009: Late GST exemption allocations allowed for two trusts
Two grantors transferred company stock to trusts for their daughter and son and filed timely gift tax returns, but their accountant omitted the generation-skipping transfer (GST) exemption…
PLR 200247008: Late GST exemption allocations allowed for two trusts
Two grantors transferred company stock to trusts for their daughter and son and filed timely gift tax returns, but their accountant omitted the generation-skipping transfer (GST) exemption…
PLR 200247007: Estate may use late alternate valuation election
An estate's executor hired an experienced law firm to prepare its estate tax return. The firm did not advise the executor about the alternate valuation election under section 2032, so the timely…
PLR 200247006: Insurance policy sales between grantor trusts ignored for income tax
A married couple proposed selling life insurance policies between trusts treated as owned by the same person or persons for federal income tax purposes. Policies on one spouse's life would move…
PLR 200247005: Late entity election and conditional S corporation relief
An S corporation converted into a state law limited partnership and later converted back into a corporation. It intended the partnership to be taxed as a corporation but inadvertently failed to file…
TAM 200247004: Bank may deduct payments to stabilize mutual funds
A bank that advised two mutual funds transferred money to them after rising interest rates drove down the value of their structured securities. The bank received no fund shares in exchange and said…
PLR 200247003: Planned acquisition leaves most prior spin-off rulings intact
A public company had received an earlier ruling about a planned spin-off of a subsidiary and then learned that another public company planned to acquire it after the spin-off. It asked whether the…
TAM 200247002: Deferred intercompany gains enter final C corporation return
A corporate group had deferred profits from inventory sales between its members. Its parent then elected S corporation status and, on the same effective date, elected to treat its subsidiaries as…
TAM 200247001: No estate tax discount for inherited IRA income taxes
An estate valued a deceased person's IRAs below the value of their marketable securities and cash holdings. Its appraisal reflected future income taxes on distributions, possible administrative…
PLR 200246037: Charity's 403(b) plan qualifies subject to amendments
A tax exempt employer asked whether its custodial retirement plan met the Code requirements for a section 403(b) program. The plan used salary reduction contributions, restricted early…
PLR 200246036: Church facility additions count toward foundation distributions
A private foundation planned to build classrooms and a gymnasium as additions to facilities it leased to a church for nominal rent. The church would use the additions exclusively for its exempt…
PLR 200246035: Foundation asset grant preserves both foundations' status
One private foundation planned to grant stock to another foundation established by the same family as their charitable goals and investment strategies diverged. The IRS ruled that the transfer would…
PLR 200246034: Waiver of pension funding deficiency tax denied
A company asked the IRS to waive additional taxes proposed under section 4971(b) for funding deficiencies in its defined benefit pension plans from 1996 through 1999. The IRS said it would not grant…
PLR 200246033: Liquidity shortfall excise taxes waived for pension plan
A company requested waivers of the 10 percent excise tax arising from its pension plan's liquidity shortfalls in three quarters of 2001. Its actuaries had not promptly calculated or reported the…
PLR 200246032: Charity's apartment building sale does not create unrelated business income
A tax-exempt supporting organization planned to sell its remaining interest in a condominium apartment complex to one buyer. It had received the property as a gift, held it as an investment, and…
PLR 200246031: Foundation trust keeps mandatory accumulation rule after pooling investments
A private foundation trust’s will required it to accumulate 75 percent of its net income. A state court had rejected the trustee’s attempt to change that requirement after section 4942 was enacted.…
PLR 200246029: Lump sum payment to former spouse qualifies as deductible alimony
A divorced taxpayer planned to pay a cash lump sum to a former spouse under a court order that incorporated their separation agreement. The payment would satisfy a support obligation, and the…
PLR 200246028: Late application to change tax year treated as timely filed
A corporation filed Form 1128 late to request a change from a June 30 tax year to a 52 to 53 week year ending near January 31. The filing was within 90 days of its due date, and the company…
PLR 200246027: Late notarization does not defeat ESOP sale election
A shareholder sold company stock to its employee stock ownership plan and bought securities intended to be qualified replacement property. To elect deferral of gain under section 1042, the…
PLR 200246026: Ineligible trust shareholder does not defeat S corporation treatment
A corporation elected S corporation status while one of its shareholders was an ineligible trust, making the election ineffective. After discovering the problem, the trust transferred its shares to…
PLR 200246025: Expatriate rebuts tax avoidance presumption without final purpose ruling
A person who had lost U.S. citizenship sought a ruling that avoiding U.S. taxes was not a principal purpose of expatriation. The person’s net worth exceeded the threshold that triggered a…
PLR 200246024: Family business merger avoids additional estate tax if it qualifies
An estate had claimed a section 2057 deduction for stock in two family owned corporations held in a marital trust. The decedent’s children planned to merge one corporation into the other and…
PLR 200246023: Research credit alternative method election revoked
A taxpayer and its controlled group had used the alternative incremental method to calculate the research credit for several years. The taxpayer asked to revoke that election before the due date of…
PLR 200246022: Foreign insurer’s segregated accounts meet variable contract rule
A foreign insurer elected under section 953(d) to be treated as a domestic corporation for U.S. tax purposes. A private act in its home country segregated assets backing its annuity and life…
PLR 200246020: Late S corporation election treated as timely
A company with eight shareholders intended to be an S corporation from its first taxable year but found that its election had not been filed on time. The IRS concluded that the company had…
PLR 200246019: Late entity classification election receives filing extension
A foreign company owned by two U.S. corporations intended to elect treatment as a corporation for federal tax purposes from its formation date. Its advisers failed to file Form 8832 on time, and the…
PLR 200246018: Inadvertent S corporation termination relieved after missed trust election
After a shareholder died, shares in a family owned S corporation were treated as held by a successor trust. The trust could remain an eligible shareholder for two years after the death, but no…
PLR 200246017: Missed QSST election treated as inadvertent S corporation termination
An S corporation’s stock was transferred to a trust whose beneficiary did not file the qualified subchapter S trust election on time. The missed election caused the corporation’s S status to…
CCA 200246016: Dealer may defer advance payments until goods are delivered and installed
A dealer received nonrefundable payments when customers ordered goods that it later received, stored, delivered, and installed. The dealer used the accrual method and reported the payments when…
CCA 200246015: Tax treatment of airport avigation rights settlement payments
Chief Counsel provided general guidance for landholders receiving settlement payments over avigation rights near an airport. Direct payments of class counsel fees would not be income to a claimant…
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.