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 200232018: Transfer of bare legal title does not trigger low-income housing credit recapture
A limited partnership that developed and operated a multifamily low-income housing project planned to transfer the project's bare legal title to its public authority general partner and then lease…
PLR 200232017: Taxpayer receives more time to file dual consolidated loss elections and certifications
A taxpayer asked for more time to file elections, agreements, and annual certifications concerning an entity's dual consolidated losses for specified tax years. The IRS treated these filings as…
PLR 200232016: Nonprofit parent conversion qualifies as a Type E reorganization
A nonprofit parent corporation planned to convert from a nonstock corporation to a stock corporation, transfer the new corporation's stock to a foundation, and place the stock under a new holding…
PLR 200232015: Disclaimer and trust reformation preserve charitable and marital deductions
After a decedent's death, the surviving spouse planned to disclaim her discretionary right to receive trust principal and have the trust reformed as a charitable remainder unitrust. The IRS ruled…
PLR 200232014: IRS grants more time to elect asset treatment for foreign stock purchases
A parent company sought more time to make a section 338(g) election for stock purchases involving three foreign corporations. It had intended to make the election but relied on a qualified tax…
CCA 200232013: Refund deadlines complicate interest netting for older tax years
IRS counsel analyzed whether a taxpayer could request the zero net interest rate for overlapping tax underpayments and overpayments under section 6621(d). The key question was whether the section…
CCA 200232012: Offshore support vessels fall in the general vessel depreciation class
A company owned offshore supply and support vessels, leased them to its operating subsidiaries, and claimed depreciation under the offshore drilling asset class. IRS counsel assumed the…
PLR 200232011: Late trust elections preserve a corporation's S status
A corporation's S election was invalid because two shareholder trusts had not made the elections needed to qualify as eligible shareholders. The trustee of one trust missed an electing small…
CCA 200232010: IRS declines to rule on a short-lived accounting method change
Company affiliates requested permission to use the nonaccrual experience method for a 2001 tax year. That method lets qualifying service providers avoid accruing amounts experience shows they will…
PLR 200232009: IRS approves tax treatment of a five-step foreign merger plan
A corporate group proposed five linked mergers to simplify its foreign holding structure. The IRS treated the sequence as four transfers of assets for stock qualifying as section 368(a)(1)(D)…
PLR 200232008: Four reorganizations and a liquidation in a foreign merger sequence
A corporate group asked how a single plan to combine several foreign subsidiaries would be treated for U.S. tax purposes. The plan called for five linked mergers that would ultimately leave one…
PLR 200232007: Foreign subsidiaries receive reorganization and liquidation rulings
A corporate group proposed to merge five foreign subsidiaries in a fixed sequence to simplify its structure. The IRS treated four mergers as reorganizations under section 368(a)(1)(D) and the merger…
PLR 200232006: IRS classifies linked foreign mergers as reorganizations and liquidation
A corporate group planned five dependent mergers among foreign companies to remove layers of its holding structure. The IRS ruled that four of the mergers would be section 368(a)(1)(D)…
PLR 200232005: Tax treatment of linked foreign corporate mergers
A corporate group planned five dependent mergers among foreign companies to remove layers of its holding structure. The IRS ruled that four of the mergers would be section 368(a)(1)(D)…
PLR 200232004: Five foreign mergers receive reorganization and liquidation treatment
A corporate group planned five dependent mergers among foreign companies to remove layers of its holding structure. The IRS ruled that four of the mergers would be section 368(a)(1)(D)…
CCA 200232003: Operating company may own leased assets for tax purposes
IRS counsel considered who owned facility assets for U.S. tax purposes under a lease and sublease arrangement. Assuming the main lease was in substance a conditional sale, the taxpayer argued that…
PLR 200232002: Bond authority receives time to correct a volume cap election
A bond issuing authority filed a Form 8328 to carry forward unused private activity bond volume cap for student loans. The form included volume cap it had already allocated to another authority and…
CCA 200232001: IRS must abate assessment made after the limitations period
A taxpayer filed amended returns electing mark-to-market accounting for certain receivables. The IRS later assessed additional tax for one year after the normal assessment deadline had expired. IRS…
PLR 200231020: State prepaid tuition program qualifies under section 529
A state prepaid tuition program asked whether it qualified for exemption from federal income tax under section 529. Participants could buy contracts covering up to four years of tuition and…
PLR 200231019: Direct retirement plan transfers do not create current income
A state college employer asked about moving employees' supplemental retirement account assets directly to defined benefit plans to buy service credit. The IRS ruled that the direct transfers would…
PLR 200231018: State technical school annuity plan qualifies under section 403(b)
A state retirement system proposed a common section 403(b) annuity plan for employees of public technical schools that had maintained separate plans. The IRS concluded that the proposed plan…
PLR 200231017: Municipal pension contributions qualify as employer pickups
A municipal employer proposed ordinances governing employee contributions to two pension plans during a deferred retirement arrangement. Employees entering the arrangement could make a one-time…
CCA 200231016: Graduate tuition reduction does not qualify as a working condition fringe benefit
A university reduced tuition for employees taking graduate courses and asked whether the reduction could be excluded from their income as a working condition fringe benefit. Chief Counsel advised…
CCA 200231015: Maritime security payments are taxable operating income
A shipping company received payments from the Department of Transportation under the Maritime Security Fleet Program and excluded them from income as contributions to capital. Chief Counsel advised…
CCA 200231014: FSC profit limit includes all sales in an elected product line
A taxpayer used full costing for one product and marginal costing for another in transactions with its foreign sales corporation. It chose a broader product line containing both products to…
CCA 200231013: Post office boxes on ITIN applications and PTIN eligibility
A service center asked whether it could reject an individual taxpayer identification number application listing a post office box instead of a physical mailing address. Chief Counsel advised that…
PLR 200231012: Late S corporation election accepted after filing Form 2553
A corporation intended to elect S corporation status for its first tax year but did not file Form 2553. It did file an S corporation tax return for that year. The IRS found reasonable cause for the…
PLR 200231011: Trust settlement creates capital gain but preserves gift and GST treatment
A family proposed a court-approved settlement changing a trust established before 1985. Charities would receive part of the trust immediately, and the grandson's remaining interest would change from…
PLR 200231010: Estate receives more time for reverse QTIP election
An estate made a QTIP election for two marital trusts but omitted the reverse QTIP election intended for one of them from its estate tax return. The reverse election would treat the decedent as the…
PLR 200231009: S election relief after representative failed to file Form 2553
A corporation's sole shareholder and the shareholder's spouse signed a Form 2553 to elect S corporation status, but the corporation's legal representative did not file it. The shareholder said the…
PLR 200231008: Shareholder dispute split qualifies as tax-free reorganization
Shareholder groups in an S corporation disagreed over management and reached a mediated settlement to divide its business. The corporation proposed transferring part of its assets and liabilities to…
PLR 200231007: Late entity classification election receives 60-day extension
A parent company intended its single-member foreign subsidiary to be disregarded for federal tax purposes, but discovered more than 75 days after formation that it had not filed Form 8832. The IRS…
PLR 200231006: Business split-off with equalization payments qualifies as reorganization
Shareholders of an S corporation proposed separating two businesses because of management differences. The corporation would move one business to a new company, add cash or a value equalization note…
PLR 200231005: Corporation receives relief for missed S election
A corporation's sole shareholder intended S corporation status from the corporation's formation, but no timely Form 2553 was filed for its first tax year. The IRS found reasonable cause for the…
PLR 200231004: Late S election accepted for corporation's first year
A corporation's sole owner intended S corporation status from its incorporation, and the corporation filed an S corporation return for its first year. It had not filed Form 2553 on time. The IRS…
PLR 200231003: Proposed public company spin-off receives nonrecognition rulings
A public company planned to distribute its remaining stock in a partially public subsidiary to its shareholders, separating two businesses that it said were incompatible within one corporate group.…
PLR 200231002: Foreign company gets time to elect partnership classification
A foreign company with limited liability for all its members intended to elect partnership classification for U.S. federal tax purposes but failed to file the election on time. Under the default…
PLR 200231001: Investment funds receive relief for late tax elections
Several regulated investment company funds missed their return filing after staff changes left responsibility for signing and filing the returns unclear. The funds later filed the returns and asked…
PLR 200230045: Pension plan receives conditional minimum funding waiver
The IRS granted a conditional waiver of the minimum funding standard for a defined benefit pension plan's year ended November 30, 2001. The company had declining sales and negative earnings, and the…
PLR 200230044: Payments correcting stock fund valuations are deductible restorations
An employer's retirement plans let participants move money in and out of a fund holding the employer's thinly traded stock. Frequent transfers by one participant exposed a mismatch between the stock…
PLR 200230043: University benefit plans qualify as church plans
A religiously affiliated university asked whether five employee benefit plans were church plans under section 414(e). The university was tax exempt, received church funding, and had trustees…
PLR 200230042: Governmental pension transfer preserves tax treatment
A local government planned to join a state retirement system and transfer employees' accounts from its defined contribution plan to the system's defined benefit plans. The IRS ruled that direct…
PLR 200230041: Employee children scholarship procedures approved
An organization sought advance approval for a scholarship program for employees' children. A public charity would administer the awards, evaluate academic performance, activities, and financial…
PLR 200230040: Lecture publication set-aside qualifies as a distribution
A private foundation proposed to set aside income to publish a collection of lectures it sponsored from 2001 through 2004. The IRS found that saving the funds would give the foundation time to earn…
PLR 200230039: Utility authority bonds are not refunding issues of city bonds
A city transferred its utility systems to a newly created authority, which planned to issue bonds and use the proceeds to redeem or defease the city's outstanding utility bonds. The authority asked…
PLR 200230038: Court reformation preserves trust's GST exemption
The parties to an irrevocable trust obtained a court order removing provisions tied to redeemed insurance policies and changing terms for a spouse's support. The trustee asked whether those changes…
PLR 200230037: Insurer may correct life policy testing error without restarting tax tests
A life insurer designed fixed premium policies using one guaranteed cash value to calculate guideline premiums, but another cash value was higher during some periods. That error caused some policies…
CCA 200230036: Partnership audit notice should clearly announce the proceeding
Chief Counsel reviewed a revised IRS notice sent to partners when a partnership level administrative proceeding begins. Section 6223 requires the notice to tell each eligible partner that such a…
CCA 200230035: Surviving spouse may claim deceased spouse's refund share
Chief Counsel considered a joint tax overpayment after one spouse died, where the survivor owed a separate tax debt incurred before marriage. It advised that the survivor could file an injured…
CCA 200230034: Cable subscriber records can require a court order for an IRS summons
Chief Counsel considered an IRS summons to a cable provider for a taxpayer's billing records in a criminal tax investigation. It advised that the Cable Communications Policy Act limits the IRS's…
CCA 200230033: Tax preparer's address can be a taxpayer's last known address
Chief Counsel reviewed nonresident returns signed by preparers under Forms 2848 that listed the preparers' addresses as the taxpayers' addresses. It advised that the IRS should enter those addresses…
PLR 200230032: Partnership receives more time to elect corporate tax treatment
A partnership intended to be taxed as a corporation from a specified date but inadvertently failed to file Form 8832. It asked for extra time to make the entity classification election. The IRS…
PLR 200230031: Second extension granted for foreign stock purchase elections
A domestic partnership missed an extended deadline for section 338(g) elections covering two subsidiaries acquired by its foreign purchasing corporation. Its tax professional had misread the first…
CCA 200230030: Closed year excess losses still reduce S corporation stock basis
An S corporation shareholder deducted losses beyond his stock basis in two tax years that were later closed to assessment. When the corporation earned income in a third year, he treated all of it as…
PLR 200230029: Purchase rebate points can fund charitable contributions
A customer earned points under a merchant rewards program and could choose to have the program operator send some points to charity. The IRS ruled that points earned as rebates on purchases were…
PLR 200230028: Corporation receives relief for a late S election
A newly incorporated company intended to be an S corporation from its start but missed the Form 2553 deadline because it misunderstood when to file. The IRS found reasonable cause for the late…
PLR 200230027: Extension granted to file dual consolidated loss agreements
A taxpayer's accounting firm failed to file required agreements for losses of two branches with the tax returns for the relevant years. The taxpayer sought an extension under the regulatory election…
CCA 200230026: Parent liquidation did not liquidate lower tier subsidiaries
A corporation acquired another company's stock, liquidated that company, and later sold stock of a lower tier subsidiary to an unrelated buyer. Examiners considered treating the first liquidation as…
PLR 200230025: Late tax year change application treated as timely
A taxpayer filed Form 1128 late to ask to change its tax year end from March 31 to October 31. The delay resulted from an error or misunderstanding. The IRS found that the taxpayer had acted…
PLR 200230024: Estate gets more time for reverse QTIP election
An estate made a QTIP election for a marital trust but omitted Schedule R, which would have made a reverse QTIP election for a separate exempt marital trust. The IRS found the standards for late…
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.