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 200217032: Late S corporation election treated as effective from the corporation's first day
The shareholders of a corporation intended for it to be treated as an S corporation from its incorporation date, but the election was filed late. The IRS determined that the corporation had…
CCA 200217031: Royalty payment deductions treated as non-partnership items in a TEFRA analysis
The Office of Chief Counsel analyzed a consolidated group's deductions for royalty payments to a partnership in connection with a royalty tax shelter. It concluded that the deductions were…
PLR 200217030: Parent receives more time to make a qualified subchapter S subsidiary election
A company acquired all of the stock of an S corporation and intended to treat the acquired corporation as a qualified subchapter S subsidiary. The company did not timely file the required QSub…
PLR 200217029: Late S corporation election treated as effective from the incorporation date
The shareholders of a corporation intended for it to be treated as an S corporation from its incorporation date, but the election was not filed on time. The IRS concluded that the corporation had…
PLR 200217028: Late S corporation election granted reasonable-cause relief
A corporation's shareholders intended for it to be treated as an S corporation beginning on a specified date, but its S election was not timely filed. The IRS found reasonable cause for the late…
PLR 200217027: Late S corporation election effective when business began
A corporation was incorporated before it began doing business, and its shareholders intended to elect S corporation treatment from the date business began. The election was not filed on time. The…
PLR 200217026: Late S corporation election recognized from the intended date
The shareholder of a corporation intended for it to elect S corporation treatment from its incorporation date, but the election was not timely filed. The IRS determined that the corporation had…
CCA 200217025: Dealer participation fees capitalized over installment contract lives
An automobile finance subsidiary bought retail installment sales contracts from dealers and paid them participation fees tied to the financing rate spread. For tax purposes, the subsidiary deducted…
CCA 200217024: Sale and leaseback of leasehold improvements lacked economic substance
A retailer purported to sell improvements to leased facilities and then lease them back, while treating the same transactions as loans in its financial records. Chief Counsel agreed with field…
PLR 200217023: Actively managed commercial rents excluded from S corporation passive income
An S corporation with accumulated earnings and profits owned and operated commercial rental properties. Its directors and employees managed leases, collected rent, advertised vacant space, arranged…
CCA 200217022: Estate deduction limited to settlement of contested wrongful death claims
After a fatal vehicle collision, family members filed wrongful death claims against a decedent's estate. The estate denied the probate claims and contested the later lawsuit before settling its…
CCA 200217021: Duplicate equipment rent deductions challenged in lease stripping transaction
A trucking group entered a series of sale and leaseback transactions involving the same tractors and trailers. The arrangement produced claimed deductions for prepaid rent under one lease and…
PLR 200217020: LLC receives time to elect corporate tax classification
A single-owner limited liability company intended to be taxed as an association from the date it was formed. Its accountants did not advise it to file Form 8832, so the election was missed; they…
CCA 200217019: Business found not to be a Railroad Retirement Tax Act employer
The Railroad Retirement Board advised the IRS that a business was not an employer under the Railroad Retirement Act and the Railroad Unemployment Insurance Act. After reviewing that opinion and the…
PLR 200217018: Shareholders' missed S election receives reasonable-cause relief
A corporation's shareholders decided to elect S corporation status from the date of incorporation and relied on a tax adviser to file Form 2553. The form was not filed on time. The IRS found…
CCA 200217017: Assessment based on amended return reviewed in collection dispute
Taxpayers filed an amended return reporting additional tax on the same day they petitioned the Tax Court about a deficiency notice. The IRS assessed the amount on the amended return while the Tax…
PLR 200217016: S corporation election treated as timely made after a late filing
A corporation asked for relief after its shareholders failed to timely file an election for S corporation status. The IRS found that the corporation had reasonable cause for the late election. It…
PLR 200217015: Late S corporation election treated as timely after advisor's failure to file
A corporation requested relief after its tax advisor failed to timely file Form 2553, the S corporation election. The corporation represented that it intended to be an S corporation from its…
PLR 200217014: Relief granted for an S corporation election that was never filed
A corporation's shareholders intended it to be taxed as an S corporation, but the corporation never filed Form 2553. The IRS found reasonable cause for the failure to make a timely election under…
PLR 200217013: Extension granted for a low-income housing project election
A taxpayer failed to properly elect a low-income housing project test under IRC § 42(g)(1). The IRS found that the taxpayer had shown good cause and met the regulatory requirements for an extension.…
PLR 200217012: Commercial property rents excluded from passive investment income
A commercial real estate company planned to elect S corporation status and asked whether its rental income would count as passive investment income. The company described repairs, maintenance,…
PLR 200217011: Inadvertent S corporation termination from missed trust elections
An S corporation transferred stock to four trusts whose beneficiaries failed to timely make qualified subchapter S trust (QSST) elections. The IRS found that the resulting termination of S…
PLR 200217010: Inadvertently invalid S election from missed trust elections
Four trusts held stock when a corporation elected S corporation status, but their beneficiaries did not timely make qualified subchapter S trust (QSST) elections. The IRS concluded that this made…
TAM 200217009: Income from an existing patient base is not recognized built-in gain
After an ownership change, a company's net operating loss carryforwards were subject to the IRC § 382 limit. Its successor argued that income earned later from patients already served on the change…
PLR 200217008: Managed commercial property rents are active rental income
An S corporation with accumulated earnings and profits asked whether rent from its commercial properties counted as passive investment income. Its employees provided property maintenance and safety…
CCA 200217007: Computer equipment costs tied to service contracts may require capitalization
A computer services business provided replacement equipment to certain auto dealers at no charge if they signed multiyear service contracts. The business treated the equipment cost as a current…
PLR 200217006: Proposed business separation qualifies as a tax-free reorganization
A public company proposed separating one of its two businesses into a newly formed corporation and distributing that corporation's stock to holders of its business-linked stock. The IRS ruled that…
CCA 200217005: Limits on applying subsidiary refunds to consolidated group taxes
Chief Counsel considered whether the IRS could apply refunds owed to nonbankrupt subsidiaries against a consolidated group's anticipated tax deficiencies while the parent was in bankruptcy. It…
PLR 200217004: Late S corporation election receives filing relief
A corporation intended to be taxed as an S corporation from its incorporation date but discovered that its election had not been timely filed. It asked the IRS to treat the election as timely for…
CCA 200217003: S corporation losses belong to shareholder's bankruptcy estate
An individual in bankruptcy claimed S corporation losses from the year he filed his petition and carried them into later years. Chief Counsel advised that the bankruptcy estate, which received the S…
CCA 200217002: Foreign trading unit determines source of swap income and assets
A U.S. derivatives dealer booked swaps negotiated and managed by employees of a foreign affiliate. Chief Counsel concluded that the foreign dealing activity and separately maintained management…
CCA 200217001: Supply contract settlement does not qualify for involuntary conversion relief
A company received a settlement after suing over a breached supply contract and alleged interference by another company. It argued that part of the settlement replaced property involuntarily…
PLR 200216037: Government support services preserve exemption and avoid unrelated business income
An exempt supporting organization provided accounting and administrative services to governmental members. It proposed doing similar work for a new activity conducted by members and by organizations…
PLR 200216036: Hospital restructuring preserves exemption and avoids unrelated business income
An exempt hospital reorganized its health care system under a new charitable parent, with a separate entity to operate clinics and employ physicians. The IRS ruled that the restructuring would not…
PLR 200216035: State museum employees' pension contributions qualify for employer pickup treatment
A state-created museum corporation proposed to pay its employees' mandatory contributions to two retirement plans by reducing their salary or future salary increases. The IRS found that the…
PLR 200216034: Transfer between municipal retirement accounts would harm plan qualification
A state retirement system asked whether it could move assets from an overfunded municipal account to two accounts with unfunded liabilities. The IRS found that each account was a separate plan…
PLR 200216033: Private foundation may transfer half its assets to related foundation
One private foundation proposed to transfer about half its assets to another foundation controlled by the same people. The IRS ruled that the transfer qualified under IRC § 507(b)(2) and would not…
PLR 200216032: Entire asset transfer between private foundations avoids termination tax
A charitable trust proposed to transfer all its assets to a nonprofit foundation controlled by the same people. The IRS ruled that the transfer qualified under IRC § 507(b)(2) and would not itself…
PLR 200216031: Investment funds may revoke capital gain distribution elections
Several regulated investment companies sought permission to revoke elections that used their calendar tax year to measure capital gain net income for the IRC § 4982 distribution excise tax. They…
CCA 200216030: Producer-owned offshore drilling platforms fall in asset class 13.2
Chief Counsel advised how an oil and gas producer should classify its own offshore drilling platform for depreciation. It concluded that the platform belongs in asset class 13.2, for exploration and…
CCA 200216029: Foreign insurance excise tax record rule remains in force under new number
Chief Counsel addressed whether the recordkeeping rule for foreign insurance policies still applied after its old regulation number disappeared. The rule was redesignated from Treas. Reg. §…
CCA 200216028: Give LLC owner a new collection due process notice
Chief Counsel considered an employment tax assessment made in the name of a disregarded single-member LLC. The IRS had given the LLC collection due process notices and later added its owner to the…
TAM 200216027: Impact fee advice modified and retroactive relief found inapplicable
This one-page technical advice memorandum modifies an earlier TAM on impact fees to make it consistent with Revenue Ruling 2002-9. It also lifts a suspension on considering the impact fee issue in…
PLR 200216025: Foreign public pension board's securities income qualifies for tax exemption
A board created by a foreign state's legislature administered a pension fund for public and private workers who performed governmental or social services. The IRS found that the board was a…
PLR 200216024: Thirty-day extension to file dual consolidated loss elections
A taxpayer missed elections for a subsidiary's dual consolidated losses in two tax years and an annual certification for the earlier losses. It requested an extension before the IRS discovered the…
PLR 200216023: Extension for late dual consolidated loss agreements and certifications
A taxpayer failed to file agreements and annual certifications for dual consolidated losses of three entities across several tax years. It sought relief before the IRS discovered the missed filings.…
CCA 200216022: Foreign subsidiaries' bank covenants treated as indirect debt guarantees
A U.S. parent replaced its controlled foreign corporations' express guarantees of bank debt with agreements to supply dividends and maintain assets and net worth. Chief Counsel concluded that the…
PLR 200216021: Former long-term resident's departure lacked a principal tax avoidance purpose
A former U.S. long-term resident gave up lawful permanent resident status and sought a ruling under the expatriation rules then in effect. His net worth exceeded a threshold that could create a…
PLR 200216020: Former resident's departure lacked a principal tax avoidance purpose
A former U.S. long-term resident gave up lawful permanent resident status and sought a ruling under the expatriation rules then in effect. Her net worth exceeded a threshold that could create a…
PLR 200216019: Former resident's return to birth country lacked a tax avoidance purpose
A former U.S. long-term resident relinquished lawful permanent resident status and became fully subject to income tax in her country of birth. Her net worth exceeded the threshold for a tax…
CCA 200216018: Change to depreciate supervisory goodwill denied
A thrift that acquired failing institutions asked to change its accounting method so it could depreciate supervisory goodwill recorded for regulatory purposes. Chief Counsel advised that the…
CCA 200216017: Overpayment interest allowed, but taxpayer cannot direct its later credit
Chief Counsel addressed two interest questions arising from carryback adjustments to a company's income tax accounts. It concluded that the company was entitled to overpayment interest for specified…
CCA 200216016: Change to depreciate supervisory goodwill denied
A thrift that acquired failing institutions asked to change its accounting method so it could depreciate supervisory goodwill recorded for regulatory purposes. Chief Counsel advised that the…
PLR 200216015: Synthetic fuel production qualifies for the section 29 credit
A partnership that operated a coal processing facility requested rulings on the credit for producing synthetic fuel. The IRS ruled that its process produced qualified fuel under IRC § 29 and that…
PLR 200216014: Late annual certifications for foreign branch losses allowed
A corporation missed the deadline for annual certifications concerning its foreign branch losses. It asked for more time to file them with its consolidated tax return. The IRS found that the…
PLR 200216013: Securities settlement payments are deductible business expenses
A corporation settled a shareholder class action over allegedly misleading financial reports and paid with cash and its own shares. The IRS ruled that the payments arose from routine business…
PLR 200216011: Partnership may claim credit for synthetic fuel production
A partnership operating a coal processing facility requested rulings on the credit for synthetic fuel production. The IRS found that its process produced qualified fuel under IRC § 29 and that the…
PLR 200216010: Irish insurer's premiums qualify for treaty excise tax exemption
An Irish insurance and reinsurance company asked whether premiums on policies covering U.S. risks were exempt from the foreign insurance excise tax under IRC § 4371. The IRS concluded that the…
PLR 200216009: Extension granted for a section 338(h)(10) election
A corporation and the sellers of an S corporation missed the deadline for a joint election to treat a stock purchase as an asset acquisition under IRC § 338(h)(10). The buyer's parent said it had…
PLR 200216008: S corporation status restored after trust shareholder error
An S corporation's owner transferred shares to two trusts that did not meet the rules for qualified subchapter S trust shareholders. The trusts lacked elections and did not distribute income in 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.