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.
CCA 200225009: Cost sharing amendments apply prospectively and buy-ins cover available intangibles
A U.S. company and its foreign subsidiary had a research and development cost sharing arrangement and a separate license for existing technology. Chief Counsel advised that amendments to a qualified…
CCA 200225008: Separate power plant repairs cannot be combined for old investment credit
A utility replaced steam reheat lines in two generating units at different times and later sought an investment tax credit for the second replacement. Chief Counsel advised that the replacements…
TAM 200225007: Replacement transformers must qualify separately for old investment credit
An electric utility sought an investment tax credit under a 1986 transition rule for a program replacing many transformers. It argued that all replacements should count as one self-constructed…
TAM 200225006: Unauthorized accounting change prevents reliance on consent letter
A corporation asked to change how it accounted for customer invoice disputes and chargebacks. While its request was pending, it filed returns using a proposed method that the IRS had not approved.…
PLR 200225005: Business split-off qualifies as a tax-free corporate reorganization
A corporation proposed to put one of its two active businesses into a newly formed company and distribute that company's shares to certain shareholders in exchange for their shares in the original…
CCA 200225004: Processing unsupported reparations credits entered on the EITC line
Chief Counsel advised IRS staff how to handle returns claiming a nonexistent reparations tax credit on the line for the earned income tax credit (EITC). The returns generally should be processed as…
CCA 200225003: Post-petition tax lien notice and hearing after Chapter 13 confirmation
Chief Counsel considered an IRS tax lien notice for taxes arising after a debtor filed a Chapter 13 bankruptcy case and after the repayment plan was confirmed. It advised that filing the notice…
CCA 200225002: Texas community property determines spouses' refund offset shares
A Texas couple filed a joint return showing an overpayment, while only one spouse owed an earlier debt. Chief Counsel advised that, for the spouse's separate federal tax debt, the IRS could offset…
CCA 200225001: One Form 1099-INT reports both look-back and refund interest
Chief Counsel considered how the IRS should report interest paid to a taxpayer under the long-term contract look-back method and on a tax overpayment. It advised issuing one Form 1099-INT showing…
PLR 200224035: Foundation excludes expected trust assets during estate administration
A private foundation expected to receive assets from a probate estate and a revocable trust after their administration. Its financial statements accrued the expected gifts under SFAS 116 before it…
PLR 200224034: Public employer may pick up contributions for service credits
A public employer proposed to let employees buy additional pension service credits through irrevocable payroll deductions paid to a statewide plan. The IRS ruled that the deductions would count as…
PLR 200224033: Estate sales to related buyers qualify for self-dealing exception
An estate and revocable trust proposed to sell real estate, a historic collection, and stock to family members and related trusts. A private foundation expected to receive the residue, so the sales…
PLR 200224032: Restoration grant set-aside counts when reserved
A private foundation reserved funds for a matching grant to a public charity restoring a historic site as a museum and visitor center. The charity had to secure matching contributions and obtain the…
PLR 200224031: Historic site grant set-aside meets suitability test
A private foundation reserved funds for a matching grant to restore a historic site operated by a public charity. The project included repairs to electrical wiring and plumbing, and the foundation…
PLR 200224030: Employee children's scholarship procedures approved
An organization sought advance approval for scholarships for employees' children, funded through a public charity that would select recipients and supervise the awards. The charity would use…
PLR 200224029: Housing project met the 10-year acquisition rule
A partnership acquired an existing rural housing project with federal financing and asked the IRS to waive the 10-year holding period rule for the low-income housing credit. The Rural Housing…
PLR 200224028: Late S corporation election receives relief
A corporation's sole shareholder intended S corporation treatment from the date the business began, but the corporation did not file its election on time. The IRS found reasonable cause for the late…
PLR 200224027: Corporation receives relief for missed S election
A corporation's shareholders intended S corporation treatment from its incorporation date, but the election was filed late. The IRS found reasonable cause for the delay and granted relief under IRC…
PLR 200224026: Mutual insurer conversion receives tax-free reorganization rulings
A mutual property and casualty insurer proposed to convert to a stock insurer owned through a mutual holding company and a stock holding company. The IRS treated the steps as a deemed exchange of…
PLR 200224025: Swiss reinsurer qualifies for treaty excise tax exemption
A Swiss reinsurance company sought relief from the U.S. excise tax on premiums for U.S. risks under the U.S.-Switzerland income tax treaty. Its parent was a publicly traded Swiss holding company,…
PLR 200224024: Former resident's departure lacked a tax avoidance purpose
A long-term U.S. resident surrendered lawful permanent resident status while remaining a citizen and tax resident of the country of birth. Net worth above the statutory threshold would ordinarily…
PLR 200224023: Utility substation funding is taxable construction aid
An electric utility asked whether a local development authority's payment for half the cost of a substation upgrade could be excluded from income as a nonshareholder capital contribution. The…
CCA 200224022: Deficiency interest starts when carried credit is used
A corporation elected to apply an overpayment from one year to the next year's estimated tax, then became part of a newly formed consolidated group. The IRS later found a deficiency for the…
PLR 200224021: Active rental operation avoids S corporation passive income rule
A corporation planning to elect S corporation status owned residential and commercial rental properties. It handled leasing, tenant screening, property maintenance, and contractors, and incurred…
CCA 200224020: Large accelerated refund needs review and stronger security
A company sought accelerated refunds for several years, including fuel tax credits, before the IRS had examined its returns or determined whether the claims were valid. Chief Counsel advised that…
PLR 200224019: Extension granted for a late stock purchase election
An S corporation bought all the stock of another S corporation, but the buyer and sellers failed to file their joint § 338(h)(10) election on time. They asked for more time to make the election,…
PLR 200224018: Attached trust terms sufficiently allocated GST exemption
An estate filed its estate tax return without entering an allocation of the decedent's generation-skipping transfer (GST) tax exemption on Schedule R. It did attach three trust agreements. One…
PLR 200224017: Member-owned marketer qualifies as operating on a cooperative basis
A corporation formed to market its members' products in the United States asked whether it would operate on a cooperative basis under IRC § 1381. Its members were foreign corporations. Its bylaws…
PLR 200224016: Dividing a marital trust preserves QTIP election before spouse renounces four shares
A decedent's estate elected qualified terminable interest property (QTIP) treatment for a marital trust, which was then divided into five separate trusts with identical terms. The surviving spouse…
PLR 200224015: Former resident avoids expatriation tax presumption, but purpose remains unresolved
A former U.S. lawful permanent resident surrendered his green card and returned to the country where he was born, whose worldwide income tax would apply to him. His net worth exceeded the threshold…
PLR 200224014: Partnership loss share change and the debt-financed property fractions rule
A corporation intending to qualify as a real estate investment trust held an interest in a real estate partnership through a subsidiary. A qualified trust owned part of the corporation. The…
PLR 200224013: Foreign subsidiary receives more time for entity classification election
A U.S. corporation wholly owned a foreign subsidiary that intended to elect treatment as a disregarded entity for federal tax purposes. The subsidiary inadvertently missed the filing deadline for…
PLR 200224012: Reasonable cause permits a late S corporation election
A corporation intended to be taxed as an S corporation from its first tax year, but it did not file Form 2553 on time. Its president and its application for an employer identification number…
CCA 200224011: Lease stripping and inflated stock basis do not support claimed loss
A taxpayer claimed a capital loss after its subsidiary acquired and redeemed preferred stock whose asserted basis came from a series of lease stripping transactions. Chief Counsel concluded that the…
PLR 200224010: Foreign subsidiary receives more time for entity classification election
A U.S. corporation wholly owned a foreign subsidiary that intended to elect treatment as a disregarded entity for federal tax purposes. The subsidiary inadvertently missed the filing deadline for…
PLR 200224009: Foreign subsidiary separation and merger receive nonrecognition treatment
A domestic corporate group proposed to separate two foreign corporations that conducted different businesses, then merge another foreign corporation into the separated company. The stated business…
CCA 200224008: Worker status determines whether pay goes on Form W-2 or Form 1099-MISC
A field office asked how to report payments to professionals who received both wages and other compensation from the same payer. Chief Counsel advised that the correct form depends on the worker's…
CCA 200224007: Restructured foreign partnership exit is treated as a sale of interests
Two groups agreed that one group's controlled foreign corporation would sell its interests in two tiered partnerships to the other group's controlled foreign corporation. They then replaced the…
TAM 200224006: Charitable trust may be reformed using combined interest values
An estate sought to reform a will trust that made payments to the decedent's sisters and their spouses before its remainder passed to charity. The trust as written did not qualify as a charitable…
CCA 200224005: IRS publications should clarify divorce decree requirements for dependency exemption
A field attorney questioned a flowchart in the 2001 editions of IRS Publications 501 and 504. It suggested that a post-1984 divorce decree or agreement alone could let a noncustodial parent meet the…
TAM 200224004: Broadcast license relates to its assigned spectrum frequency
A corporate group exchanged radio stations for a television station and treated the exchange of their FCC licenses as a like-kind exchange under IRC § 1031. The narrow question in this technical…
CCA 200224003: Foreign affiliate's receivables factoring does not support a U.S. business theory
U.S. group companies entered contracts to transfer receivables to a foreign affiliate, while continuing to perform the credit and collection work themselves. Chief Counsel recommended that the IRS…
PLR 200224002: Volunteer fire and rescue service awards receive special plan treatment
A state established a length of service award program for bona fide volunteer firefighters and rescue squad workers. The plan limited awards accruing for a year of service to $3,000 and restricted…
PLR 200224001: Pro rata trust division avoids gain, gift, and loss of GST exemption
Beneficiaries proposed dividing a trust into three equal fractional trusts, with later divisions into subtrusts after each current beneficiary died. Each asset would be allocated proportionately,…
PLR 200223071: Six more months granted to reverse ineligible Roth conversions
A married couple converted traditional IRAs to Roth IRAs in 1998, even though their joint adjusted gross income exceeded the then applicable $100,000 conversion limit. Their accountant had not…
PLR 200223070: Government pension contributions picked up by employer avoid current income and withholding
A political subdivision adopted a resolution to pay its employees' mandatory contributions to a government retirement plan through salary reductions or offsets against future raises. Employees could…
PLR 200223069: Couple receives time to recharacterize Roth conversions left incomplete
A married couple converted traditional IRAs to Roth IRAs in 1998 despite income above the then applicable conversion limit. An accountant attempted to reverse the conversions in 1999, but the couple…
PLR 200223068: Terminating VEBA may transfer surplus assets to charity
A tax-exempt voluntary employees' beneficiary association (VEBA) ended its welfare benefit programs after paying outstanding claims. Its trustees proposed transferring remaining assets, including…
PLR 200223067: Restricted Internet domain supports business league's exempt purpose
A § 501(c)(6) business league proposed sponsoring a restricted Internet domain for the organizations it represented. Its wholly owned limited liability company would set registration policies and…
PLR 200223066: ESOP stock treatment after a subsidiary spin-off
A company planned to spin off a subsidiary while its retirement plan held company stock, including shares bought with a loan in a leveraged employee stock ownership plan. The IRS ruled that the…
PLR 200223065: IRA trust distributions had to begin after the account owner's death
A taxpayer who died before the required beginning date named a trust as the beneficiary of an individual retirement arrangement. The trust was valid and irrevocable, and the surviving spouse was its…
PLR 200223064: Six month extension granted to recharacterize an ineligible Roth IRA conversion
A taxpayer converted a traditional IRA to a Roth IRA in 1998 while believing that he qualified to make the conversion. Income from unreported group term life insurance later put the taxpayer over…
PLR 200223063: Extension granted to recharacterize a Roth IRA conversion after late income
A taxpayer converted a traditional IRA to a Roth IRA in 1998, believing that he met the income limit. Paintings received from a client were later treated as payment for accounting services, and the…
PLR 200223062: Parent company granted more time to make a section 338 election
A parent company bought a foreign corporation through its subsidiaries' purchase of all interests in a partnership. The parent intended to elect under section 338(g) to treat the stock purchase as…
PLR 200223061: Parent company granted more time to make a section 338 election
A parent company bought a foreign corporation through its subsidiaries' purchase of all interests in a partnership. The parent intended to elect under section 338(g) to treat the stock purchase as…
PLR 200223060: Parent company granted more time to make a section 338 election
A parent company bought a foreign corporation through its subsidiaries' purchase of all interests in a partnership. The parent intended to elect under section 338(g) to treat the stock purchase as…
PLR 200223059: Parent company granted more time to make a section 338 election
A parent company bought a foreign corporation through its subsidiaries' purchase of all interests in a partnership. The parent intended to elect under section 338(g) to treat the stock purchase as…
PLR 200223058: Parent company granted more time to make a section 338 election
A parent company bought a foreign corporation through its subsidiaries' purchase of all interests in a partnership. The parent intended to elect under section 338(g) to treat the stock purchase as…
PLR 200223057: Parent company granted more time to make a section 338 election
A parent company bought a foreign corporation through its subsidiaries' purchase of all interests in a partnership. The parent intended to elect under section 338(g) to treat the stock purchase as…
PLR 200223056: Parent company granted more time to make a section 338 election
A parent company bought a foreign corporation through its subsidiaries' purchase of all interests in a partnership. The parent intended to elect under section 338(g) to treat the stock purchase as…
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.