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 200213020: Corporate liquidation with patent claims held in a liquidating trust
A company planned to stop operating, distribute its assets, and place patent claims and related property in a trust to resolve ongoing litigation. The IRS ruled that actual and deemed distributions…
PLR 200213019: Conditional treatment of two mergers as one direct acquisition
A buyer first acquired a target through a merger of a subsidiary into the target and then planned to merge the target into itself. The IRS ruled that, if the two mergers were integrated under the…
PLR 200213018: Section 1504(d) treatment continues during Canadian bank conversion period
A U.S. financial institution had elected under IRC § 1504(d) to treat its Canadian banking subsidiary as domestic while Canadian law required a local corporation. Canadian law later allowed foreign…
PLR 200213017: REIT stock dividend paid in January counts as distributed in December
A real estate investment trust planned to declare a December 2001 dividend, pay it in January 2002 mainly with stock it held in another company, and use cash instead of fractional shares. The IRS…
PLR 200213016: Tax treatment of a two step distribution of a product business
A company proposed to move one product business and subsidiary stock into a new corporation, then distribute the new corporation's stock through its parent to the parent's shareholders. The…
CCA 200213015: Environmental cleanup escrow is a taxable settlement fund
A taxpayer and escrow agent sought a ruling on a proposed account that would receive payments to settle environmental cleanup claims. Chief Counsel concluded that, once the consent decree received…
PLR 200213014: Severing inherited trusts into GST exempt and nonexempt shares
Trustees planned to divide each of two inherited trusts into separate generation skipping tax exempt and nonexempt trusts, allocating assets pro rata while keeping the beneficiaries' rights the…
PLR 200213013: Gift and estate tax treatment of a family trust
A settlor planned to fund an irrevocable trust for descendants and, with a spouse, elect to split eligible gifts and allocate generation skipping tax exemption. The IRS ruled that the transfer would…
PLR 200213011: Dividing an older trust preserves its GST exemption
Trustees proposed to divide a testamentary trust created before September 25, 1985 into three trusts for separate family branches. The assets would be allocated pro rata, and the beneficiaries'…
TAM 200213010: Corporate life insurance loans fail the interest deduction test
A public utility bought life insurance policies on many employees and borrowed against the policies to pay premiums. The IRS found that the two plans lacked economic substance and a business purpose…
TAM 200213009: A signed assessment waiver may suspend some interest
A couple asked the IRS to abate interest on additional tax after filing an amended return and a Form 870 assessment waiver. The IRS found that the amended return did not waive assessment…
TAM 200213008: Later nuclear plant equipment does not qualify for a transitional investment credit
An electric utility sought a transitional investment tax credit for replacement nuclear fuel and other equipment bought for a generating station. The station's original equipment had received…
CCA 200213007: Tax Court review of tax debt after bankruptcy discharge
Taxpayers argued during a collection due process hearing that bankruptcy had discharged their unpaid income taxes. Chief Counsel advised that the Tax Court could decide, when reviewing the…
CCA 200213006: A tax credit outside the refund window bars a spouse's refund
A spouse sought equitable relief under § 6015(f) and a refund of an overpayment from a later tax year that the IRS had applied to a joint tax debt. Chief Counsel advised that the refund limits in…
PLR 200213005: Foreign company receives more time to elect disregarded status
A domestic corporation bought a foreign company and intended that company to be treated as disregarded for federal tax purposes. Its entity classification election on Form 8832 was not filed on…
TAM 200213004: Industrial laundry may deduct short lived rental items when used
An industrial laundry deducted the cost of rental garments, linens, towels, and mops when it placed them in service. For this advice, the parties agreed that the items had useful lives of no more…
PLR 200213003: Mutual insurer's conversion qualifies as a recapitalization
A mutual insurer planned to convert to a stock insurer under a new mutual holding company, which would then acquire two other mutual insurers. The IRS ruled that the first conversion would qualify…
PLR 200213002: Mutual insurer merger meets continuity of interest requirement
A mutual insurer planned to convert into a stock insurer and join a new mutual holding company through a reverse subsidiary merger. The IRS ruled that the conversion would be a § 368(a)(1)(E)…
PLR 200213001: Mutual insurer acquisition meets continuity of interest rule
A mutual holding company planned to acquire a second mutual insurer after that insurer converted into a stock company. The IRS ruled that the conversion would be a § 368(a)(1)(E) recapitalization if…
PLR 200212036: Surviving spouse may roll estate received pension benefit into an IRA
A pension participant died before designating a beneficiary, and the plan was to pay his benefit to his estate because he had been married for less than the plan's required 12 months. His surviving…
PLR 200212035: Only 25 percent of pension surplus avoids reversion tax
A company ended a defined benefit pension plan and planned to transfer its surplus to a new profit sharing plan. The IRS ruled that the new plan could qualify as a replacement plan if it met the…
PLR 200212034: Charter school grant set-aside qualifies as a distribution
A private foundation planned to set aside $100x in 2001 for grants to entities sponsoring or certifying charter schools in a state. The grants would reimburse administrative expenses connected with…
200212033: IRS pulled this release for inspection delay
The official IRS PDF contains only a notice marking this release as pulled for an inspection delay. It contains no ruling text, issue date, legal analysis, or Code sections. The notice gives no…
200212032: IRS pulled this release for inspection delay
The official IRS PDF contains only a notice marking this release as pulled for an inspection delay. It contains no ruling text, issue date, legal analysis, or Code sections. The notice gives no…
CCA 200212031: Counsel accepts electronic bankruptcy notice agreement
A district counsel office asked Chief Counsel to review an agreement allowing a South Carolina bankruptcy court to send the IRS notices electronically instead of by mail. Chief Counsel said the…
CCA 200212030: Forward stock contract does not support redemption treatment
Chief Counsel examined steps in a transaction the IRS identified as a stock redemption basis shifting tax shelter. A foreign corporation purported to buy a foreign bank's shares through a forward…
CCA 200212029: Counsel advises denying examined resident FICA refund claims
Chief Counsel advised on FICA refund claims from hospitals and universities after a court decision concerning medical residents. It examined whether residents were students under the student FICA…
CCA 200212028: Interest netting depends on the same taxpayer owing and receiving tax
Chief Counsel addressed nine corporate situations involving the zero interest rate for overlapping tax overpayments and underpayments under IRC § 6621(d). It said netting requires the same taxpayer…
CCA 200212027: Video poker space proceeds count as self-employment income
A business let a video poker machine owner place machines on its premises in exchange for a share of the proceeds. Chief Counsel said the business's share was includible in net earnings from…
PLR 200212026: Regulated subsidiary may distribute its holding company tax free
A regulated subsidiary held a company that indirectly operated a separate business. State approval requirements made distributions and alignment of that business with related companies burdensome,…
PLR 200212025: Estate gets time to allocate GST exemption to an earlier gift
A taxpayer transferred cash and securities to a trust for a child and descendants, but the gift tax return placed the transfers on the direct-skip schedule and omitted an allocation of…
PLR 200212024: Taxpayer gets time to allocate GST exemption to an earlier gift
A taxpayer transferred cash and securities to a trust for a child and descendants, but the gift tax return put the transfers on the direct-skip schedule and omitted an allocation of…
PLR 200212023: Corporation gets relief for missed S election filing
A corporation intended to elect S corporation status for its first tax year, and its corporate documents and filed Form 1120S reflected that intent. Its attorney inadvertently failed to file Form…
PLR 200212022: Bond issuer gets 45 days to carry forward allocated volume cap
A state agency allocated part of its unused private activity bond volume cap to another authority for student loan bonds, but filed the carryforward election itself for the full unused amount. The…
PLR 200212021: Employee cannot revoke stock election over misunderstood tax effects
An employee exercised an incentive stock option and signed a § 83(b) election included in the employer's document package. The employee said the signature seemed necessary to exercise the option and…
PLR 200212020: Expatriate avoids tax motive presumption, but purpose is undecided
A dual citizen born in the United States renounced U.S. citizenship and requested a ruling that tax avoidance was not a principal purpose. The person's net worth exceeded the statutory threshold…
PLR 200212019: Former resident avoids expatriation tax motive presumption
A long-term U.S. resident returned his green card and requested a ruling on whether his departure had a principal purpose of avoiding U.S. taxes. His net worth exceeded the threshold that ordinarily…
PLR 200212018: Former resident avoids expatriation tax motive presumption
A long-term U.S. resident returned her green card and requested a ruling on whether her departure had a principal purpose of avoiding U.S. taxes. Her net worth exceeded the threshold that ordinarily…
PLR 200212017: Late S election receives effective-date relief
A corporation's shareholders wanted S corporation treatment from its incorporation date, but the election was not filed on time. The IRS found reasonable cause for the missed deadline under §…
PLR 200212016: Late S election may start when corporation began business
A corporation was incorporated before it began doing business. Its sole shareholder wanted S corporation treatment beginning on the business start date, but the election was not filed on time. The…
PLR 200212015: Corporation receives relief for late S election
A corporation intended to be treated as an S corporation from a specified date, but did not file its election on time. The IRS found reasonable cause for the missed deadline under § 1362(b)(5). It…
PLR 200212014: Corporation receives consent for a retroactive QEF election for PFIC stock
A U.S. limited liability company owned stock in a foreign corporation that was a passive foreign investment company. The company’s law firm did not identify the foreign corporation as a PFIC or…
PLR 200212013: Bankruptcy restructuring plan payments are not parachute payments
A financially distressed public company entered a bankruptcy restructuring with a holding company. The company asked whether payments under a plan for key employees were subject to the deduction…
PLR 200212012: Corporation receives rulings on a multi-step separation and spin-offs
A publicly traded corporation organized in Country A planned to separate four business lines into separate corporate groups through internal transfers, external spin-offs, and later amalgamations.…
PLR 200212011: Corporation receives relief for an inadvertent S election termination
A corporation’s S election was treated as terminated because two shareholder trusts did not timely make the required qualified subchapter S trust elections. The corporation had continued filing…
PLR 200212010: Corporation receives relief for a missed QSST election
A trust held stock in an S corporation after its deemed owner died, and a required qualified subchapter S trust election was not filed on time. The IRS determined that the corporation’s S election…
PLR 200212009: Firefighter disability benefits qualify for the § 104 exclusion
A taxpayer asked how disability benefits paid to firefighters under a state statute and a related plan would be taxed. The statute limited the benefits to service-incurred injuries or occupational…
PLR 200212008: Change of control vesting was not a parachute payment
A taxpayer received substantially vested shares in a company formed under § 351. Later, a lender required forfeiture restrictions on some shares, and a sale of the company triggered vesting of half…
PLR 200212007: Change of control vesting was not a parachute payment
A taxpayer received substantially vested shares in a company formed under § 351. Later, a lender required forfeiture restrictions on some shares, and a sale of the company triggered vesting of half…
TAM 200212006: Municipal bond transfer to family partnership is an indirect gift
A taxpayer transferred publicly traded municipal bonds to a limited partnership in which the taxpayer’s children held partnership interests. The taxpayer reported the transfer as gifts to the…
PLR 200212005: Change of control vesting was not a parachute payment
A taxpayer received substantially vested shares in a company formed under § 351. Later, a lender required forfeiture restrictions on some shares, and a sale of the company triggered vesting of half…
PLR 200212004: State law discharge does not require Forms 1099-C
A financial company planned to stop collecting certain deficiency balances after a state law requirement and a related court injunction. It also planned to refund previously collected balances with…
PLR 200212003: Taxpayer receives more time to make a mixed straddle election
A limited liability company treated as a partnership used equity and options positions to hedge its options market activity, creating mixed straddles. Its accountant did not know about the hedging…
TAM 200212002: Taxi fleet owners must report connected cash lease payments
Two corporations leased taxicabs to drivers in recurring 12 hour shifts and received cash rental payments. The corporations treated each shift as a separate lease and argued that they did not…
TAM 200212001: Interest-free trade receivables follow the income from the underlying sales
A domestic corporation let customers pay for its U.S. sales of goods and services after 30 or 60 days without interest. To calculate its foreign tax credit limit, it allocated interest expense based…
CCA 200213012: IRS cannot reverse a properly completed tax refund offset
The IRS applied part of a couple's joint return overpayment to one spouse's older tax liabilities. After the IRS later abated a deficiency for one of those years, counsel was asked whether it could…
PLR 200211054: Sole heir may roll a deceased spouse's pension distribution into his IRAs
A woman died without naming a beneficiary for her pension benefits. Her husband was appointed the estate's personal representative and was its sole beneficiary. After the pension distribution was…
PLR 200211053: Welfare benefit assets may move between related VEBAs
A subsidiary left a multiemployer welfare benefit plan and transferred its share of the plan's assets to a separate account within its parent company's voluntary employees' beneficiary association…
PLR 200211052: Charity partnership's neighborhood redevelopment furthers exempt purposes
Two charities formed a partnership to rehabilitate housing and develop residential and commercial property in a blighted neighborhood. Their plan included low income rental units, other housing sold…
PLR 200211051: Hospital reorganization preserves charity status and related clinic income
A hospital planned to place a new nonprofit corporation above itself and its affiliates, including a fundraising charity. It also planned to operate certain physician clinics as hospital outpatient…
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.