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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CCA 200246014: Leveraged partnership transfer analyzed as a taxable asset sale
A taxpayer transferred assets into a purported joint venture, and its affiliate received a large special distribution funded by venture borrowing. The affiliate guaranteed the debt, but Chief…
PLR 200246013: Nuclear decommissioning funds transfer without gain, but future contributions barred
A utility group planned to transfer a nuclear plant and its qualified decommissioning funds to another subsidiary as part of a regulated divestiture. The IRS treated the transfer as qualifying under…
PLR 200246012: Nuclear decommissioning funds transfer without gain, but future contributions barred
A utility planned to transfer a nuclear plant and its decommissioning funds to an affiliated company as part of a regulated divestiture. The IRS treated the move as a qualifying transfer under the…
PLR 200246011: Late S corporation election accepted for its intended effective date
A corporation's shareholders intended to elect S corporation status from a specified date, but the election was not filed on time. The IRS found reasonable cause for the late filing and granted…
PLR 200246010: Late S corporation election granted from incorporation date
A corporation's shareholders wanted S corporation status beginning on its incorporation date, but did not file the election on time. The IRS found reasonable cause for the delay and granted relief…
PLR 200246009: S corporation status preserved after trust missed its QSST election
A shareholder transferred S corporation stock to a trust that failed to file a timely qualified subchapter S trust (QSST) election. That made the trust an ineligible shareholder and ended the…
PLR 200246008: Late S corporation election granted from intended effective date
A corporation's shareholder intended S corporation treatment from a specified date, but the election was not filed on time. The IRS found reasonable cause for the delay and granted relief under…
PLR 200246007: Late S election accepted from date corporation issued shares
A corporation was formed, later issued shares, and then began operating. Its shareholders intended S corporation status from the start but did not file Form 2553 on time. The IRS found reasonable…
CCA 200246006: Utility denied depreciation method change for shop equipment
A utility asked to change how it classified certain tools, shop equipment, and laboratory equipment for depreciation. It wanted to move them from utility asset classes to personal property with no…
PLR 200246005: Late S election accepted from date corporation issued shares
A corporation was incorporated, later issued shares, and then acquired assets and began operating. Its shareholders intended S corporation treatment from inception but did not file Form 2553 on…
PLR 200246004: Late S election approved from corporation's incorporation date
A corporation's shareholder wanted S corporation treatment beginning on the incorporation date, but the election was not filed on time. The IRS found reasonable cause and granted relief under…
CCA 200246003: State's share of punitive damages excluded from plaintiff's income
A plaintiff received a wrongful death award that included punitive damages. Under a state statute, part of the net punitive damages was deemed awarded to the state. Chief Counsel advised that the…
CCA 200246002: Federal tax lien survives Chapter 13 on retirement assets outside estate
Debtors completed a Chapter 13 plan that paid the IRS's allowed secured claim, then received a bankruptcy discharge. Their retirement plan interests had never been part of the bankruptcy estate, and…
CCA 200246001: Carbon dioxide handling and recycling costs qualify for oil recovery credit
An oil producer used carbon dioxide to recover oil and incurred costs to handle, store, and inject new carbon dioxide and to repressurize recovered gas for reuse. Chief Counsel advised that these…
PLR 200245063: Insurance premium holiday does not jeopardize trade group's exemption
A trade group used a welfare benefit fund to provide insurance for employees of its member employers. The fund proposed using excess money to pay premiums during occasional premium holidays, with…
PLR 200245062: Premium holiday leaves trade group exempt and avoids welfare fund excise tax
A trade group used a welfare benefit fund to arrange insurance for employees of its members. The fund planned occasional premium holidays when it had excess money, and it would notify covered…
PLR 200245061: Sixty extra days granted to undo ineligible Roth IRA conversion
A taxpayer converted a traditional IRA to a Roth IRA, but the couple's income for that year exceeded the limit for a Roth conversion. They later learned that the attempted recharacterization had not…
PLR 200245060: Charity's custodial account plan qualifies under section 403(b)
A tax-exempt organization asked whether its employee retirement plan, funded through custodial accounts holding regulated investment company stock, met section 403(b) requirements. The IRS concluded…
PLR 200245059: Three charitable set-asides qualify as distributions
A private foundation asked to count three amounts set aside for future grants as qualifying distributions for its 2000 tax year. The projects would support medical research and patient care,…
PLR 200245058: Specified charitable remainder unitrust provisions are accepted
A settlor asked whether several terms of a charitable remainder unitrust would disqualify it under section 664. The IRS said the settlor could serve as trustee if unmarketable assets received…
PLR 200245057: Hospital joint operations preserve exemption and avoid unrelated business tax
A children's hospital and university health organizations proposed a joint operating agreement for pediatric and women's health services. A supporting organization would manage the shared…
PLR 200245056: Municipal pension pick-up contributions are treated as employer payments
A municipality proposed to pay mandatory employee contributions to its qualified pension plan through a resolution. The resolution would identify the payments as employer contributions, and…
PLR 200245055: Surviving spouse may roll over IRA distributions paid through a trust
A surviving spouse was the beneficiary of two individual retirement accounts owned by the deceased spouse, but a revocable joint trust had later been named as the accounts' beneficiary. The…
PLR 200245054: Private foundation may transfer assets to another foundation without losing its status
One private foundation proposed transferring stock worth one million dollars to another private foundation established by members of the same family. The transfer would not exceed 25 percent of the…
TAM 200245053: Gift tax ignores a partnership interest adjustment clause tied to later valuation
A taxpayer transferred partnership interests through two trusts and used a sale agreement that would adjust the percentage interest sold if the Service later changed the gift tax value of a related…
CCA 200245052: Disaster relief grants generally receive needs based income tax treatment
Chief Counsel provided general principles for responding to questions about disaster relief grants received by individuals, families, and businesses. Needs based grants to individuals and families…
CCA 200245051: Failure to substantiate an earned income credit claim alone does not trigger the two year ban
Chief Counsel analyzed when the two year earned income credit disallowance period under section 32(k) may apply. The memorandum concludes that a taxpayer's failure to respond, or inadequate…
CCA 200245050: Federal law controls classification after a state dissolves a corporation
A business entity incorporated under state law was administratively dissolved for failing to file an annual report, continued operating as a corporation, and was later reinstated retroactively.…
PLR 200245049: Extension granted to file a late section 338 election
A parent company requested more time to file a section 338(g) election related to its acquisition of a foreign corporation and that corporation's subsidiaries. The election was not timely filed…
CCA 200245048: Bond treatment of a utility's gas field working interest needs further factual development
Chief Counsel analyzed whether municipal utility bonds were private activity bonds or arbitrage bonds after the utility acquired a working interest in a gas field and related gas contracts. The…
PLR 200245047: Late S corporation election allowed for reasonable cause
A corporation intended to elect S corporation status and filed Form 2553 with an effective date, but the form was not timely filed. The IRS concluded that the corporation had reasonable cause for…
PLR 200245046: Late accounting period change application treated as timely
A taxpayer sought to change its tax year from a September 30 year end to a December 31 year end beginning October 1, 2001. The Form 1128 application was filed after the March 15, 2002 deadline, but…
PLR 200245045: Revised nuclear decommissioning fund schedule approved
A taxpayer that owned an interest in a nuclear power plant requested a revised schedule of ruling amounts for its nuclear decommissioning fund. The schedule reflected updated utility commission…
PLR 200245044: Revised nuclear decommissioning fund schedule approved for a multi jurisdiction utility
A taxpayer that owned an interest in a nuclear power plant requested a revised schedule of ruling amounts for its nuclear decommissioning fund. The schedule accounted for several public utility…
PLR 200245043: Electric utility spin offs qualify as section 355 and 368 reorganizations
A publicly traded utility holding company proposed a series of asset contributions, corporate spin offs, and stock drop downs involving two operating utility subsidiaries and a third subsidiary. The…
PLR 200245042: Employer educational assistance plan qualifies under section 127
An employer established a plan to reimburse eligible full time and part time employees for certain educational costs. The plan included notice requirements, course completion and grade conditions, a…
PLR 200245041: Reasonable cause supports late S corporation election relief
A corporation intended to elect S corporation status effective on its incorporation date, but the election was not timely filed. The IRS concluded that the corporation established reasonable cause…
PLR 200245040: Late S corporation election relief granted for reasonable cause
A corporation intended to be treated as an S corporation from its incorporation date, but its election was filed late. The IRS found reasonable cause for the failure and granted relief under section…
PLR 200245039: S corporation election effective from incorporation despite late filing
A corporation 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 late filing and granted relief under…
CCA 200245038: IRS denies proposed depreciation method for gas utility assets
A gas utility filed Form 3115 seeking to change how it depreciated certain distribution facility assets. The IRS advised the industry director that consent for the method change had been denied.…
PLR 200245037: Extension granted for dual resident corporation filings
A taxpayer requested more time to file an agreement and annual certification required for losses of two entities under the dual consolidated loss regulations. The taxpayer reasonably relied on an…
PLR 200245036: Extension granted to attach dual consolidated loss documents
Two entities sold substantially all their assets and recognized losses. Their parent taxpayer requested more time to attach documents required under the dual consolidated loss regulations to two…
PLR 200245035: Late Form 1128 treated as timely after filing mistake
A taxpayer requested to change its accounting year end from July 31 to December 31. Its accountant failed to attach Form 1128 when forwarding the return for signature, causing a late filing, but the…
PLR 200245034: Retroactive qualified electing fund election allowed after adviser error
Taxpayers owned stock in a foreign corporation that had been a passive foreign investment company since 1987, but their tax adviser failed to identify its status or advise them about a qualified…
PLR 200245033: Renunciation of citizenship lacked a principal tax avoidance purpose
A person who had been a citizen of both the United States and another country from birth renounced U.S. citizenship. His net worth exceeded the threshold that could trigger a presumption of tax…
PLR 200245032: Late S corporation election may take effect from incorporation
A corporation intended to be taxed as an S corporation but did not timely file Form 2553. The IRS found reasonable cause for the late election under section 1362(b)(5). If the corporation files a…
PLR 200245031: Late S corporation election receives reasonable cause relief
A corporation 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 failure and allowed relief under…
PLR 200245030: S corporation election accepted for first tax year despite late filing
A corporation's shareholders intended S corporation treatment when the corporation first issued shares, but Form 2553 was not filed on time. The IRS found reasonable cause for the failure and…
PLR 200245029: Corporate spin off separates businesses without gain recognition
A publicly traded parent proposed to distribute all of the stock of a controlled corporation to its shareholders, separating two businesses that had encountered operating difficulties within one…
PLR 200245028: Late S election accepted for the corporation's first taxable year
A corporation's shareholders intended S corporation treatment from its incorporation date, but no timely Form 2553 was filed for its first taxable year. The IRS found reasonable cause for the missed…
PLR 200245027: Parent receives extension to elect qualified S subsidiary treatment
An S corporation acquired all the stock of a subsidiary and intended to elect qualified subchapter S subsidiary treatment, but its tax advisers inadvertently missed the filing deadline. The parent…
PLR 200245026: Late qualified S subsidiary election receives 60 day extension
An S corporation acquired all the stock of a subsidiary and intended to elect qualified subchapter S subsidiary treatment, but its tax advisers inadvertently missed the filing deadline. For…
PLR 200245025: Extension permits late qualified S subsidiary election
An S corporation acquired all of a subsidiary's stock and intended to elect qualified subchapter S subsidiary treatment. Its advisers inadvertently failed to file the election on time, even though…
PLR 200245024: Late qualified S subsidiary election granted 60 day filing period
An S corporation acquired all of a subsidiary's stock and intended to elect qualified subchapter S subsidiary status, but its advisers missed the filing deadline. The parent had reported the…
PLR 200245023: Parent receives extension for qualified S subsidiary election
An S corporation bought all the stock of a subsidiary and intended to make a qualified subchapter S subsidiary election. Its tax advisers inadvertently missed the deadline, while the parent reported…
PLR 200245022: Qualified S subsidiary election receives filing extension
An S corporation acquired all of a subsidiary's stock and intended to elect qualified subchapter S subsidiary treatment. Its tax advisers inadvertently failed to file the election on time, while the…
PLR 200245021: Former S corporation may make a late new S election
A corporation had previously elected S status, then revoked it and filed as a C corporation. Its shareholders later intended to re-elect S status, but the accountant did not file Form 2553 on time.…
PLR 200245020: Late trust elections receive inadvertent S corporation termination relief
Two trusts acquired shares in an S corporation, but their beneficiaries did not file timely qualified subchapter S trust (QSST) elections. The IRS concluded that the lapse of the corporation's S…
PLR 200245019: Late QSST elections receive inadvertent S corporation termination relief
A corporation's stock was transferred to two trusts, but the trusts' income beneficiaries did not timely file qualified subchapter S trust (QSST) elections. The corporation's S corporation election…
PLR 200245018: Estate and spouse receive more time to allocate GST exemptions
A decedent created two trusts for her children and funded them with securities. She and her spouse elected to split the gifts for gift tax purposes, but the bank preparing their timely filed returns…
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.