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 200236012: Late S election and inadvertent termination relief granted
A corporation missed the deadline for its intended S corporation election. Its shareholders later signed an agreement that may have created a second class of stock, which would have ended S status…
PLR 200236011: Late S corporation election receives reasonable-cause relief
A company's sole shareholder said the company had intended and acted as an S corporation, including filing S corporation returns. The IRS later told the shareholder that one return could not be…
PLR 200236010: Sole shareholder's company allowed a late S election
A company's sole shareholder said they intended S corporation status from incorporation and filed S corporation returns, but no election had been filed on time. The IRS found reasonable cause for…
PLR 200236009: Two-shareholder company allowed a late S election
A corporation's two shareholders said they had intended S corporation treatment since incorporation and had filed S corporation returns, but Form 2553 was not filed on time. The IRS found reasonable…
PLR 200236008: Membership recapitalization and holding company exchange receive tax rulings
A non-stock membership corporation proposed to separate members' economic rights from their license rights, then place a new stock corporation above itself while combining with a foreign target's…
CCA 200236007: Tax deficiency interest accrues when liability becomes fixed
A taxpayer sent checks toward proposed income tax deficiencies and identified them as payments for items it considered agreed. The IRS initially posted the checks as deposits, then changed them to…
PLR 200236006: Bankruptcy reorganization does not trigger parachute payment rules
A company reorganized under a bankruptcy plan that exchanged creditor claims for stock, replaced its board, and provided management stock options and severance benefits. It asked whether the plan…
PLR 200236005: Merger into disregarded LLC qualifies as reorganization
A corporation proposed to merge a target company into its wholly owned, disregarded LLC. Target shareholders would receive the acquiring corporation's stock, with cash paid for fractional shares.…
PLR 200236004: Late GST allocation effective when estate inclusion period ended
A taxpayer created a trust that paid income to her for ten years before distributing property to her children or, if a child had died, that child's descendants. One child died before the trust…
CCA 200236003: Counsel analyzes insurance proceeds and assessment periods
A company received insurance proceeds after damage to a manufacturing facility and disputed additional claims with its insurer. Chief Counsel advised that proceeds paid on claims filed in the first…
CCA 200236002: Hand delivery to District Counsel did not file tax returns
An individual said he hand delivered overdue income tax returns to both the District Counsel's office and the District Director's office. He argued that delivery started the assessment limitation…
CCA 200236001: Unclaimed dependency exemption permits student's education credit
A college student's parents could claim him as a dependent but chose not to do so because their income made the exemption and education credit of no benefit to them. Chief Counsel advised that the…
PLR 200235043: Disability insurance proceeds can build 401(k) accounts tax deferred
An insurer proposed a disability benefit purchased by a 401(k) plan that would pay into a disabled participant's plan account in place of contributions the participant otherwise might have made. The…
PLR 200235042: Short term redemption loans do not create debt-financed income
A trustee managed investment funds for qualified benefit plans and proposed a bank credit line to meet participant redemptions while securities sales settled. Borrowing would be limited, short in…
PLR 200235041: Trust and separate inherited IRA accounts retain tax deferral
An IRA owner died after his required beginning date, leaving his IRA to a revocable trust that became irrevocable at death. The trust provided for a share to one beneficiary and separate shares for…
PLR 200235040: Eldest sibling's life expectancy governs inherited IRA share
An IRA owner died after his required beginning date, leaving the IRA to a trust for several beneficiaries, including his three children. The trust became irrevocable at death, and the IRA was…
PLR 200235039: Eldest sibling's life expectancy governs daughter's inherited IRA share
An IRA owner died after his required beginning date, leaving the IRA to a trust for his children and another beneficiary. The trust became irrevocable at death, and the IRA was divided into four…
PLR 200235038: Eldest daughter may use her own life expectancy for inherited IRA share
An IRA owner died in 2000 after his required beginning date, leaving the IRA to a trust that benefited his children and another beneficiary. The trust became irrevocable at his death, and the IRA…
PLR 200235037: Employee children's scholarship procedures approved
A private foundation proposed funding scholarships for a company's employees' children through a separate tax exempt organization. That organization would select recipients using academic measures,…
PLR 200235036: Waterfront land purchase qualifies for charitable set-aside
A nonexempt charitable trust planned to reserve income to buy waterfront land for ecological preservation and donate it to a local government. The seller needed time to establish marketable title,…
PLR 200235035: Trust qualifies as a nonexempt charitable trust
A trust asked whether its assets, permanently dedicated to charitable purposes, made it a nonexempt charitable trust under section 4947(a)(1). It had not applied for recognition of tax exemption.…
PLR 200235034: Pension plan receives minimum funding waiver
The IRS granted a pension plan a waiver of its minimum funding standard for the plan year beginning July 23, 2000. The waived amount was the contribution otherwise needed to bring the plan's funding…
PLR 200235033: Extra time granted to recharacterize a Roth IRA conversion
A taxpayer converted a traditional IRA to a Roth IRA in 2000 and intended to recharacterize part of the conversion before the filing deadline. She missed the deadline after misunderstanding the…
PLR 200235032: Retirement plan of a church-supported home qualifies as a church plan
A tax-exempt home for older people, governed by representatives of its supporting congregations, asked whether its employee pension plan was a church plan. The IRS treated the congregations as an…
CCA 200235031: Disallowed refundable child tax credit creates a deficiency
Chief Counsel advised how the IRS should show a disallowed refundable child tax credit on a notice of deficiency. A 2000 amendment to section 6211(b)(4) brought the refundable part of the section 24…
CCA 200235030: Later repayment may support a refund for reported canceled debt
Chief Counsel considered a consumer debt reported on Form 1099-C that a taxpayer included in income and later repaid. A creditor's reporting duty does not itself establish that the debt was…
CCA 200235029: FICA refunds limited to matching Eighth Circuit tenure cases
Chief Counsel advised service centers on FICA refund claims based on an Eighth Circuit decision about payments to university professors who gave up tenure rights. Although the IRS disagreed with…
CCA 200235028: Extra protest time does not extend the trust fund penalty assessment period
Chief Counsel considered a trust fund recovery penalty protest delivered 70 days after the IRS mailed its notice. The notice gave the taxpayer 60 days to submit a written protest, and a revenue…
CCA 200235027: ITIN signature and foreign-address guidance for Form W-7
Chief Counsel answered two questions about applications for individual taxpayer identification numbers. Under the Form W-7 instructions discussed in the memorandum, a spouse cannot sign as the…
CCA 200235026: Some green card holders abroad may recover Social Security withholding
Chief Counsel addressed Social Security benefits paid to green card holders who had lived outside the United States for many years. For federal income tax purposes, lawful permanent resident status…
CCA 200235025: Tax return filed after IRS assessment counts only for additional tax
Chief Counsel addressed whether a Form 1040 filed after the IRS prepared a substitute return and assessed a deficiency counts as a return for bankruptcy discharge purposes. The memorandum generally…
CCA 200235024: Prebankruptcy loss can support setoff of a carryback refund
Chief Counsel considered whether the IRS could apply a corporate debtor's net operating loss carryback refund against tax owed before its chapter 11 filing. The loss year straddled the bankruptcy…
CCA 200235023: LLC tax collection depends on tax classification and property ownership
Chief Counsel explained how the IRS should collect taxes arising from limited liability companies. An LLC taxed as a corporation owes its own taxes; for a multi-member LLC taxed as a partnership,…
CCA 200235022: Prejudgment interest on settlement follows damages allocation rules
Chief Counsel addressed how to allocate and source the prejudgment interest portion of a payment settling a breach-of-contract judgment. The taxpayer had treated postjudgment interest as interest,…
CCA 200235021: Landfill post-closure costs can enter the section 468 reserve
Chief Counsel considered a landfill operator's estimated closing costs and the recovery period for its liners. Monitoring, maintenance, and control after a permitted landfill phase is capped can be…
PLR 200235020: Extra time granted for a section 338(h)(10) stock purchase election
A purchaser and a selling group's parent intended to elect section 338(h)(10) treatment for a target stock purchase and related deemed acquisitions, but did not file a valid election on time. The…
PLR 200235019: Extra time granted for a section 338(h)(10) stock purchase election
A purchaser and a selling group's parent intended to elect section 338(h)(10) treatment for a target stock purchase and related deemed acquisitions, but did not file a valid election on time. The…
PLR 200235018: Foreclosure transfer does not reset the low-income housing credit holding period
A taxpayer sought low-income housing tax credits for buildings acquired after a foreclosure transferred all interests in an older partnership to the note holders and an affiliate. The new…
PLR 200235017: Purchaser and S corporation shareholder get more time to elect section 338(h)(10)
A corporate purchaser and an S corporation shareholder intended to make a section 338(h)(10) election for a stock purchase, but no valid election was filed on time. The IRS found that the purchaser…
PLR 200235016: Late S corporation election accepted for a new corporation
A corporation's sole shareholder intended it to be taxed as an S corporation from its formation, but the corporation never filed Form 2553. The IRS found reasonable cause for the missed election…
PLR 200235015: Inadvertent S corporation termination is forgiven after ineligible transfers
A corporation's shareholders transferred stock to two family limited partnerships that were ineligible S corporation shareholders. The transfers terminated the corporation's S corporation election,…
PLR 200235014: Expatriate rebuts tax avoidance presumption, but purpose remains unresolved
A former U.S. lawful permanent resident returned to his country of birth after relinquishing permanent residence. His net worth exceeded the section 877 threshold that would presume a principal…
PLR 200235013: Estate receives time to allocate GST exemption to trust gifts
A decedent made gifts to a trust intended to buy life insurance, but her generation-skipping transfer tax exemption was not effectively allocated to gifts made over four years. A tax professional…
PLR 200235012: Late accounting period change application treated as timely
A corporation filed Form 1128 late while requesting a change from a March 31 tax year end to an October 31 tax year end. The letter attributes the missed deadline to an error or misunderstanding.…
CCA 200235011: Chief Counsel identifies signers for tax assessment extension forms after mergers
Chief Counsel advised an IRS field attorney about who should sign Form 872 assessment period extensions after a corporate group reorganized, merged entities, and began filing separate returns.…
CCA 200235010: Post-repeal shipping group election cannot support excess deduction
A U.S. taxpayer elected after 1986 to treat several controlled foreign shipping corporations as a related group and used a group excess deduction in later years. Chief Counsel concluded that the…
PLR 200235009: Beneficiary's trust ownership makes trust an eligible S corporation shareholder
An irrevocable trust held stock of a corporation that elected S corporation status. Its sole beneficiary had a right to withdraw contributions and, after that right lapsed, retained rights over…
PLR 200235008: Beneficiary's trust ownership makes trust an eligible S corporation shareholder
An irrevocable trust held stock of a corporation that elected S corporation status. Its sole beneficiary had a right to withdraw contributions and, after that right lapsed, retained rights over…
PLR 200235007: Beneficiary's trust ownership makes trust an eligible S corporation shareholder
An irrevocable trust held stock of a corporation that elected S corporation status. Its sole beneficiary had a right to withdraw contributions and, after that right lapsed, retained rights over…
PLR 200235006: Electronic expense records support an accountable reimbursement plan
An employer proposed to reimburse employees for business travel and entertainment through a charge card and electronic expense system. Employees would submit detailed expense reports within 30 days,…
CCA 200235005: Lease stripping exchange fails section 351 business purpose test
Chief Counsel reviewed a lease stripping transaction in which parties transferred lease interests and related assets to a corporation for stock, claiming nonrecognition under section 351. The…
CCA 200235004: Foreign subsidiary advances resemble equity rather than debt
Chief Counsel analyzed a U.S. corporation's advances to a wholly owned foreign subsidiary, later represented by converted notes, and the subsidiary's sale to a related parent. The memo found the…
PLR 200235003: Former permanent resident's departure lacked a principal tax avoidance purpose
A former U.S. lawful permanent resident relinquished her green card and returned to her country of birth, where she was a citizen and subject to tax on worldwide income. Her net worth exceeded the…
CCA 200235002: Estimated Form 1040 sent to an examiner was neither valid nor filed
A couple sent an examining IRS revenue agent a signed Form 1040 marked “Estimated Return” after the IRS had no record of receiving their return. Chief Counsel concluded that the form was not a valid…
PLR 200235001: Foreign subsidiary gets time to elect disregarded entity status
A parent intended its newly formed, wholly owned foreign subsidiary to be disregarded for U.S. tax purposes, but discovered during return preparation that no Form 8832 had been filed. The omission…
PLR 200234074: Trust beneficiaries may use separate IRA distribution periods
An IRA owner died after converting a traditional IRA to a Roth IRA, a conversion later found to exceed the income limit. His trust was named as Roth IRA beneficiary, and his surviving spouse…
PLR 200234073: Extra time granted to recharacterize two Roth IRAs
A taxpayer validly converted two traditional IRAs to Roth IRAs for 2000, then decided to recharacterize them as traditional IRAs. Circumstances including the September 11, 2001 events in New York…
PLR 200234072: Foundation may transfer all assets to another controlled foundation
Two private foundations controlled by the same people planned to combine their assets to reduce administration costs. The IRS ruled that transferring all assets from one foundation to the other…
PLR 200234071: Education grants and asset transfers preserve exempt status
A public charity funded continuing legal education conducted by another charity, which planned to dissolve while a bar association took over the programs. The IRS ruled that the funder's restricted…
PLR 200234070: ESOP receives extra time to reinvest merger proceeds in employer stock
A company acquisition converted stock held by an employee stock ownership plan into cash. The plan intended to buy the acquiring company's stock, but its investment manager needed more than the…
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.