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 200229019: Transfer pricing account relief allowed for one year, refused for two others
A U.S. parent sought to adjust the prices used by related foreign entities after one country's tax authority increased a subsidiary's income. The IRS allowed the parent, if threshold requirements…
PLR 200229018: Marital trust may split into three trusts while preserving tax treatment
A trustee proposed dividing a marital trust into three equal trusts, one for each child, while preserving the surviving spouse's income and principal rights. The IRS ruled that the severance would…
PLR 200229017: Bargained pension contributions are excluded from FICA and FUTA wages
An employer made supplemental contributions to employees' accounts in a collectively bargained pension plan. The IRS ruled that these contributions were not wages for FICA or FUTA tax purposes. It…
PLR 200229016: Most retirement plan amendments preserve old compensation contract exception
A public company asked whether amendments to its executive retirement plan would remove an exception from the section 162(m) compensation deduction cap for contracts in effect before February 17,…
PLR 200229015: Combined spin-off and split-off qualify under section 355
A parent corporation proposed distributing its subsidiary's stock through a spin-off to one class of shareholders and a split-off to another class. The businesses had grown apart and competed for…
PLR 200229014: Shoreline protection costs increase home's tax basis
A homeowner paid for a new bulkhead and reconstruction of an eroding river bluff that threatened the home. The homeowner later sold the property and asked whether the project costs could be added to…
PLR 200229013: Trust division and trustee changes preserve stated tax treatment
An irrevocable family trust was divided into three trusts for the grantor's children, and its administration moved to another state. The IRS ruled that the children's roles in appointing a trust…
PLR 200229012: Expatriate avoids tax-avoidance presumption, but purpose remains undecided
A former U.S. citizen sought a ruling that renouncing citizenship was not principally motivated by avoiding U.S. taxes. His net worth exceeded the threshold that would normally create a…
CCA 200229011: Payor may keep electronic images of Forms W-8 and W-9
A broker-dealer wanted to scan paper Forms W-8 and W-9, keep the images electronically, and destroy the originals. Chief Counsel advised that the forms are records under section 6001 and may be…
PLR 200229010: Nuclear plant sale carries separate rules for decommissioning funds and liabilities
A utility sold a nuclear plant with its decommissioning responsibilities and related funds. The IRS ruled that properly transferred qualified decommissioning funds would retain their status, with no…
PLR 200229009: Nuclear plant buyer and seller receive rulings on funds and liabilities
A utility sold a nuclear plant with its decommissioning responsibilities and related funds. The IRS ruled that properly transferred qualified decommissioning funds would retain their status, with no…
CCA 200229008: Advice on subpoenas and discovery involving a federally recognized tribe
Chief Counsel addressed how IRS attorneys should seek information from a federally recognized tribe, its tribal council, members, and outside advisers in a Tax Court matter. It advised using…
CCA 200229007: Timber casualty loss must measure the whole depletion block
A forest products company suffered an ice storm affecting part of a timber property. Chief Counsel advised that the company could not calculate its section 165 casualty loss by valuing only the…
CCA 200229006: Similar lease transactions may be combined for tax shelter registration
A promoter argued that its lease-in/lease-out transactions involving different kinds of property should be evaluated separately under the tax shelter registration threshold. Chief Counsel advised…
PLR 200229005: Distribution of net business-sale proceeds qualifies as a partial liquidation
A corporation sold a separately operated business that it had conducted for more than five years and planned to distribute the net sale proceeds to its shareholders. The IRS ruled that a…
PLR 200229004: Timely request to revoke a stock election is granted
An employee exercised stock options and elected under IRC § 83(b) to include the stock's value in income before it vested. The employee then sought to revoke the election, saying they had mistakenly…
PLR 200229003: Farm property rent is excluded from passive investment income
An S corporation with accumulated earnings and profits leased farm property and asked whether the rent counted as passive investment income. Its employees provided farming and property services,…
PLR 200229002: Bond issuer receives more time to elect unused volume cap carryforward
A state agency missed the Form 8328 deadline for carrying forward unused private activity bond volume cap under IRC § 146(f). It believed it could file when it later issued bonds, and sought relief…
PLR 200229001: Deferred compensation and creditor-accessible trust do not create current income
A tax-exempt organization set up deferred compensation for its president, backed by a trust whose assets would remain available to the organization's general creditors if it became insolvent. The…
PLR 200228035: Six months allowed to undo an ineligible Roth IRA conversion
A taxpayer converted a traditional IRA to a Roth IRA in 1998 without realizing that stock-sale gains pushed the couple's income above the conversion limit. The couple filed their 1998 return late,…
PLR 200228034: Private foundation's scholarship procedures receive advance approval
A private foundation proposed scholarships for rural public-school students to attend college preparatory boarding schools, with possible later college scholarships. It described objective selection…
PLR 200228033: Foundation asset split qualifies as a reorganization without termination tax
A private foundation transferred roughly half its assets to each of two other private foundations after its founders divorced. The IRS treated the transfers as a reorganization under IRC §…
PLR 200228032: Foundation asset split qualifies as a reorganization without termination tax
A private foundation transferred roughly half its assets to each of two other private foundations after its founders divorced. The IRS treated the transfers as a reorganization under IRC §…
PLR 200228031: Foundation asset split qualifies as a reorganization without termination tax
A private foundation transferred roughly half its assets to each of two other private foundations after its founders divorced. The IRS treated the transfers as a reorganization under IRC §…
PLR 200228030: Foundation asset transfers require expenditure responsibility
A private foundation proposed transferring about half its assets to two other private foundations while continuing its own operations. The IRS ruled that the transfers qualify under IRC § 507(b)(2)…
PLR 200228029: Reasonable service fees paid by charitable trust avoid self-dealing tax
A charitable remainder unitrust and a company that it partly owned proposed paying a corporation controlled by the trust's income beneficiary and his wife for investment management and…
PLR 200228028: Charitable trust may pay reasonable fees to trustees' company
The co-trustees of a charitable remainder unitrust owned a corporation that provided the trust with investment and administrative services without charge. The trust proposed paying the company…
PLR 200228027: Charitable trust may pay reasonable fees to trustees' company
The co-trustees of a charitable remainder unitrust owned a corporation that provided the trust with investment and administrative services without charge. The trust proposed paying the company…
PLR 200228026: Reasonable service fees paid by charitable trust avoid self-dealing tax
A charitable remainder unitrust and a company that it partly owned proposed paying a corporation controlled by the trust's income beneficiary and her husband for investment management and…
PLR 200228025: IRA transfer to trust remains nontaxable and oldest beneficiary sets payout period
A deceased IRA owner's accounts were payable to a trust for two minor grandchildren, with older contingent beneficiaries. The IRS ruled that a direct transfer of the accounts to new IRAs in the…
PLR 200228024: Six more months allowed to undo ineligible Roth IRA conversions
A taxpayer converted traditional IRAs to Roth IRAs in 1998, believing her joint income was below the then applicable $100,000 limit. After correcting an income calculation in 2001, she learned that…
PLR 200228023: Inherited IRA rollovers remain taxable, with limited excess contribution relief
A son received a distribution from his deceased mother's IRA and deposited portions into two IRAs set up under his own Social Security number. He asked the IRS to treat those transactions as direct…
CCA 200228022: Clarify small tax case limits in deficiency notices
IRS staff asked whether deficiency notices should explain the Tax Court's small tax case dollar limit more clearly. Chief Counsel advised that the existing wording could lead taxpayers to think a…
CCA 200228021: Use deficiency notice to deny EIC claims during two year ban
IRS staff asked how to handle an earned income credit claim made during a two year ban imposed after reckless or intentional disregard of EIC rules. Chief Counsel advised that math error procedures…
PLR 200228020: Late S corporation election accepted for intended effective date
A corporation's shareholder intended to elect S corporation status from a specified date, but the election was filed late. The IRS found reasonable cause for the delay and granted relief under IRC §…
PLR 200228019: Life insurance transfer between grantor trusts is disregarded
One trust planned to buy three life insurance policies from another trust. Both trusts represented that the same person was treated as their owner for federal income tax purposes. On that basis, the…
PLR 200228018: Corporation receives relief for late S election
A corporation intended to be taxed as an S corporation from its incorporation date but failed to file Form 2553 on time. The IRS found reasonable cause for the delay and ruled under IRC § 1362(b)(5)…
PLR 200228017: Late S corporation election accepted for incorporation date
A corporation's shareholder intended to elect S corporation status from its incorporation date, but the election was filed late. The IRS found reasonable cause for the delay and granted relief under…
PLR 200228016: Earlier charitable deduction ruling revoked prospectively
The IRS revoked an earlier letter ruling that allowed a taxpayer to deduct a charitable payment as an ordinary and necessary business expense under IRC § 162. It said the earlier ruling no longer…
PLR 200228015: Parent receives extension to file section 338 elections
A corporate parent missed the deadline to elect asset purchase treatment under IRC § 338(g) for acquisitions involving several foreign corporations. The IRS found that the parent had reasonably…
PLR 200228014: Trust may revoke ESBT election and restore S corporation status
A trust acquired stock in an S corporation before its beneficiary made a timely qualified Subchapter S trust (QSST) election. The IRS concluded that the corporation's S election terminated when the…
PLR 200228013: Trust may revoke ESBT election and restore S corporation status
A trust acquired stock in an S corporation before its beneficiary made a timely qualified Subchapter S trust (QSST) election. The IRS concluded that the corporation's S election terminated when the…
CCA 200228012: Transferred maintenance reserves must follow established accounting method
An equipment lessor bought leased equipment and received a purchase price credit for the seller's accumulated maintenance reserves. The lessor normally included maintenance reserve payments in…
PLR 200228011: Estate receives time to sever QTIP trust and make reverse QTIP election
An estate timely elected the marital deduction for a surviving spouse's trust share but failed to make a reverse qualified terminable interest property (QTIP) election or allocate the decedent's…
PLR 200228010: Trust may revoke ESBT election and restore S corporation status
A trust acquired stock in an S corporation before its beneficiary made a timely qualified Subchapter S trust (QSST) election. The IRS concluded that the corporation's S election terminated when the…
PLR 200228009: Trust may revoke ESBT election and restore S corporation status
A trust acquired stock in an S corporation before its beneficiary made a timely qualified Subchapter S trust (QSST) election. The IRS concluded that the corporation's S election terminated when the…
PLR 200228008: S corporation split-off qualifies as tax-free reorganization
Shareholders of an S corporation disagreed over the operation of one business site. The corporation proposed to transfer that operation to its qualified Subchapter S subsidiary, then distribute the…
PLR 200228007: Trust modification preserves GST exemption and tax basis
A court approved moving the assets of an older testamentary trust to a new trust with revised trustee powers and clarified distributions to the income beneficiary's children. The IRS ruled that the…
PLR 200228006: Corporation receives relief for missing S election
A corporation's shareholders intended S corporation treatment from its first tax year and gave a signed election form to their tax adviser. The adviser said he filed it, but there was no evidence…
CCA 200228005: Land damage settlement reduces basis and related costs are capitalized
A landowner settled claims against the seller concerning contamination of purchased land and related water rights. Chief Counsel advised that settlement proceeds for injury to the land were a…
PLR 200228004: LLC receives extension to elect corporate classification
The members of a limited liability company intended to classify it as a corporation for federal tax purposes but did not file Form 8832. The IRS found that the requirements for discretionary…
CCA 200228003: Tax treatment of bankruptcy liquidating trust and creditor transfers
Chief Counsel reviewed a Chapter 11 plan that would put the debtors' remaining assets into a trust for creditors and other beneficiaries. It explained that a qualifying liquidating trust must…
CCA 200228002: Vessel time charter is a service contract, blocking FSC lease benefit
A domestic corporation leased a vessel to a related foreign company under a bareboat charter. That company then provided the vessel and crew to an unrelated customer under a time charter. The…
PLR 200228001: Elected credit card rebates donated to charity may be deductible
A card program let customers choose whether to keep merchant rebates from purchases or send them to charity. The IRS ruled that a cardholder who affirmatively elected to donate the rebates could…
PLR 200227044: Foundation may join estate settlement without self-dealing tax
A private foundation was named as the remainder beneficiary of real property under a donor's later estate plan. An earlier binding agreement, however, required that interest to pass to one of the…
PLR 200227042: Taxpayer gets time to undo ineligible Roth IRA conversions
A taxpayer converted four traditional IRAs to Roth IRAs in 1998, when her adjusted gross income exceeded the $100,000 conversion limit. Her financial adviser had not explained the limit, and her tax…
PLR 200227041: IRS narrows pension asset transfer ruling without retroactive effect
The IRS revisited an earlier ruling about moving excess assets from a terminating defined benefit plan to a qualified replacement plan. It clarified that only an amount equal to exactly 25 percent…
PLR 200227040: IRS narrows pension asset transfer ruling without retroactive effect
The IRS revisited an earlier ruling about moving excess assets from a terminating defined benefit plan to a qualified replacement plan. It clarified that only an amount equal to exactly 25 percent…
PLR 200227039: Foundation scholarship procedures receive advance approval
An organization proposed to fund scholarships for graduating seniors from specified school districts through a public charity that would administer and supervise the awards. The charity would select…
PLR 200227038: Late section 338(h)(10) election receives an extension
A corporate purchaser acquired all the stock of an S corporation, and the purchaser and sellers intended to elect to treat the transaction as an asset sale under section 338(h)(10). They missed 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.