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 200211050: Plan contributions for staff assigned abroad avoid excise tax within the deduction limit
A U.S. company wanted employees temporarily assigned to foreign affiliates to keep participating in its qualified retirement plans. It asked whether contributions for those employees would incur the…
PLR 200211049: Daughter may use her life expectancy for inherited IRA distributions
A woman received IRA and qualified plan funds following her divorce, rolled the distributions into her own IRA, and named her daughter as its sole beneficiary. She died in 2000, before the first…
PLR 200211048: Six extra months granted to reverse an ineligible Roth IRA conversion
A taxpayer converted a traditional IRA to a Roth IRA in 1999, but her income exceeded the conversion limit then in effect. Her investment adviser had not told her she was ineligible, and her tax…
PLR 200211047: Four inherited IRAs may be consolidated and divided without immediate tax
A man named his revocable trust as beneficiary of four IRAs, and his four children were the trust's main beneficiaries. The trustees asked to consolidate the IRAs and then divide them into separate…
CCA 200211046: Reporting money orders used to buy a car at auction
Chief Counsel considered two car auctions where a buyer replaced a cash payment with 50 money orders totaling $25,000. At a retail auction, the sale is a designated reporting transaction, so the…
IRS bulletin 200211045: Collection cases and advice on transferee liability
This final issue of the IRS Collection, Bankruptcy and Summonses Bulletin summarizes recent court decisions and reprints Chief Counsel advice about a corporate asset sale. The advice examines…
CCA 200211044: Pattern letter helps banks open special tax deposit accounts
Chief Counsel supplied a draft letter for businesses to give their banks when the IRS directs them to open a special account for collected employment taxes. Local banks had been unfamiliar with the…
CCA 200211043: When coal tax refunds become income for accrual taxpayers
Chief Counsel addressed when an accrual method coal producer must report a refund of excise tax paid on exported coal, and interest on that refund, as income. In the fact patterns presented, the…
CCA 200211042: Sale of a Missouri remediation tax credit produces ordinary gain
Chief Counsel considered a transferable Missouri tax credit awarded for cleaning up contaminated property. Merely receiving the credit does not create federal gross income; using it against state…
CCA 200211041: Justice Department may settle a dispute over redeemed property
The IRS redeemed real property after a creditor's foreclosure, and the taxpayer sued over title to the property. Chief Counsel advised that the Department of Justice could settle the case by…
CCA 200211040: When computer assessed penalties need supervisor approval
Chief Counsel examined accuracy related penalties proposed by the IRS Automated Underreporter program when reported income differs from third party records. If the program calculates and assesses a…
CCA 200211039: Railroad employer status begins June 1, 2001
The Railroad Retirement Board told the IRS that a business became an employer under the Railroad Retirement Act and Railroad Unemployment Insurance Act on June 1, 2001. After reviewing the Board's…
CCA 200211038: Railroad employer status begins July 1, 2001
The Railroad Retirement Board told the IRS that a business became an employer under the Railroad Retirement Act and Railroad Unemployment Insurance Act on July 1, 2001. After reviewing the Board's…
CCA 200211037: Late or missing Forms 1099 do not bar relief in later years
Chief Counsel considered businesses that treated workers as independent contractors but failed to file some required Forms 1099-MISC. Section 530 of the Revenue Act of 1978 can relieve a business…
PLR 200211036: Proposed home lot qualifies as a personal residence for gift tax trusts
Two property owners planned to divide their land and place their separate interests in the lot containing their home into qualified personal residence trusts for their children. The IRS ruled that…
PLR 200211035: Preferred stock and warrant exchange qualifies as a recapitalization
A company proposed exchanging one class of preferred shares for a new class with a lower dividend rate, along with warrants to buy common shares. The IRS ruled that the exchange would be a…
PLR 200211034: Splitting an exempt trust preserves its generation skipping tax status
A court ordered an existing trust divided into separate trusts for two beneficiaries and their descendants. The court also changed how successor trustees could be appointed if a vacancy arose. The…
PLR 200211033: Former resident's departure was not principally for tax avoidance
A former long term U.S. resident gave up lawful permanent resident status and became fully subject to income tax in the country of his birth. His net worth exceeded the statutory threshold that…
PLR 200211032: Family business split qualifies as a reorganization with limited gain
Family shareholders planned to split an S corporation because one wanted to expand a part of the business while the others did not. The company would put some assets into a new corporation, give its…
PLR 200211031: Purchaser gets more time to make a section 338 election
A corporate purchaser acquired all the stock of a foreign target and intended to elect under section 338(g) to treat the purchase as an asset acquisition. It missed the filing deadline and requested…
PLR 200211030: Nonprofit holding company interests count as stock for section 351
Trustees planned a series of steps to move voting control of a taxable corporation into a nonprofit, nonstock holding company. The IRS ruled that the formation, conversion, and merger would be…
PLR 200211029: Purchaser gets more time to make a section 338 election
A corporate purchaser acquired all the stock of a foreign target and intended to elect under section 338(g) to treat the purchase as an asset acquisition. It missed the filing deadline and requested…
PLR 200211028: Estate gets more time to elect QTIP treatment
An estate's accountant left Schedule M off a timely filed estate tax return, so the executor did not elect qualified terminable interest property treatment for a marital trust. That election can…
PLR 200211027: Extra time to file returns after a section 338 election ruling
An earlier IRS ruling gave a purchaser and sellers more time to make section 338(g) and 338(h)(10) elections for a stock acquisition. It required all affected returns and amended returns to be filed…
PLR 200211026: State gets more time to carry forward unused bond volume cap
A state intended to carry forward part of its unused private activity bond volume cap but could find no record that it had filed Form 8328. After checking with the IRS and learning it had no record…
PLR 200211025: Foreign entity gets time to elect partnership status
A foreign civil law partnership wanted to be treated as a partnership for U.S. tax purposes from its formation date. Its members all had limited liability, so the default classification rule would…
PLR 200211024: Single member LLC gets time to elect corporate tax status
A single member LLC intended to be taxed as a corporation from the date it was formed but did not timely file Form 8832. Under the default classification rule, a domestic single member LLC is…
PLR 200211023: Corporation may make its intended S election late
A corporation said its shareholders intended S corporation status from formation and believed a timely Form 2553 had been mailed. The IRS had no record of the form and could not process the…
PLR 200211022: Open access transmission agreement is not a deliberate bond action
A public power agency planned to join an independent system operator and transfer operational control of bond financed transmission facilities while keeping ownership. The operator would offer open…
PLR 200211021: Estate receives relief for late QDOT election and transfer
An estate claimed a marital deduction for property passing to a surviving spouse who was not a U.S. citizen, but its preparer did not make a qualified domestic trust election. The spouse later…
PLR 200211020: More time for section 338 elections covering a target and affiliates
A corporate purchaser bought stock of a foreign target and intended to make section 338(g) elections for that company and two affiliated companies deemed acquired through the purchase. Its tax…
PLR 200211019: Stock distribution qualifies, but later conversion is not ruled on
A corporate group planned to distribute a subsidiary's stock to its domestic parent, then convert the subsidiary to a disregarded LLC and transfer another subsidiary's stock to it. The IRS ruled…
PLR 200211018: Taxpayer may revoke capital gain investment income election
A taxpayer's preparers mistakenly elected on a 1998 return to include all reported net capital gain in investment income. They attributed the error to a staff mistake and a problem with their tax…
PLR 200211017: Partnership interests contributed to LLC avoid investment company exception
Several partners planned to contribute their interests in an existing partnership to an LLC in return for LLC membership interests. Section 721 generally allows property contributions to a…
PLR 200211016: Receivership does not pause the section 1031 replacement deadline
Taxpayers sold property through an intermediary as part of a planned section 1031 exchange and identified replacement property within 45 days. A state receivership then froze the intermediary's…
PLR 200211015: Expatriate rebuts tax avoidance presumption, but motive remains open
A person who held U.S. and foreign citizenship from birth gave up U.S. citizenship after living and working abroad for many years. He requested a ruling that avoiding U.S. tax was not a principal…
PLR 200211014: Corporation gets relief for a late S election
A corporation intended to be treated as an S corporation from the date it was incorporated, but no Form 2553 was timely filed. The IRS concluded that it had reasonable cause for the missed election…
PLR 200211013: S election relief for the corporation's first operating year
A corporation intended S corporation treatment beginning in the year after incorporation, when it planned to start operations. It filed an S corporation return for that year but had not timely filed…
PLR 200211012: S election treated as timely from start of business
A corporation filed Forms 2553 and reported as an S corporation, but its election was not timely for the year it began business. It asked the IRS to treat the election as timely under section…
PLR 200211011: Late S election may apply from the start of operations
A corporation's shareholders had treated it as an S corporation since it began business, but the company had never filed Form 2553. Two of its three original shareholders later transferred their…
PLR 200211010: Late S election may take effect on incorporation date
A corporation's shareholders intended to elect S status from its incorporation date but did not file the election on time. The IRS found reasonable cause for the missed deadline and ruled that the…
PLR 200211009: Corporation receives relief for a late S election
A corporation intended to be taxed 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 section 1362(b)(5).…
PLR 200211008: Unitrust style payments preserve trust's generation skipping exemption
A trustee proposed court reformation of an older trust so a child beneficiary would receive the greater of annual income or five percent of the trust's average value over the prior three years. The…
CCA 200211006: Later research credit claims for new contracts are untimely
A corporation timely claimed research tax credit refunds based on work under certain fixed price contracts. After the refund claim deadline, a consultant submitted much larger claims covering…
TAM 200211005: Health insurance payments change fishing crew employment status
A commercial fisherman was paid a share of each boat's catch on vessels with small crews. Section 3121(b)(20) excludes qualifying catch share services from employment for FICA tax purposes, but the…
CCA 200211004: Noncustodial parent cannot claim son's exemption without release
Divorced parents both claimed a dependency exemption for their son. The father pointed to family court orders, including an earlier order signed by both parents when he had custody and a later…
PLR 200211003: Proposed users of university recreation center do not create private business use
A public university financed part of a recreation center with bonds and wanted to admit additional users, including family members, retirees, hospital employees, program participants, local…
PLR 200211002: Missing S election may be treated as timely from inception
A corporation with one shareholder intended S status from its formation date and filed an S corporation return for its first year. The IRS had not received its Form 2553. The IRS found reasonable…
PLR 200211001: Active property rentals are not passive investment income for S status
An S corporation rented commercial property and provided maintenance, utilities, security related work, equipment help, and other services through staff and vendors. It asked whether its rents…
CCA 200210063: Receiver may owe unpaid taxes after paying another creditor first
A court appointed receiver sold insolvent companies' assets and paid most proceeds to a bank before satisfying the IRS's employment tax claims. Chief Counsel advised that the receiver could be…
PLR 200210062: Extension to file dual consolidated loss agreement and certifications
A taxpayer asked for more time to file a dual consolidated loss agreement and annual certifications for a subsidiary's losses. It had missed the filings because it initially concluded that the…
PLR 200210061: Family trust division preserves tax treatment
A trustee proposed dividing a family trust into four successor trusts, each primarily benefiting one grandchild's family. The IRS ruled that the division would create no taxable gain or loss and…
PLR 200210060: Late S corporation election treated as timely if filed within 60 days
A corporation's shareholders intended to elect S corporation status for its first tax year, and the corporation filed an S corporation return, but it did not file a timely completed election form.…
PLR 200210059: Extension granted for section 338 election after foreign stock purchase
A consolidated group's parent missed the deadline to elect asset purchase treatment under IRC § 338(g) for a foreign corporation's acquisition of another foreign corporation's stock. The IRS found…
PLR 200210058: Extension granted for section 338 election on foreign stock purchase
The parent of a consolidated group missed the deadline for a § 338(g) election after a foreign subsidiary bought all the stock of another foreign corporation. The IRS found that the parent…
PLR 200210057: Extension granted for section 338 election for foreign stock purchase
The parent of a consolidated group missed the deadline for a § 338(g) election after a foreign subsidiary bought all the stock of a foreign target corporation. The IRS found that the parent…
PLR 200210056: Division into three family trusts preserves tax treatment
A trustee proposed dividing a family trust into three successor trusts, one for each grandchild's family. The IRS ruled that the division would create no taxable gain or loss and that the successor…
PLR 200210055: Extension to file statement for section 59(e) election
A taxpayer sought more time to file the required statement for a § 59(e) election on behalf of an entity. It discovered the missed filing nine days after the deadline and provided affidavits…
PLR 200210054: Splitting an older family trust preserves GST tax exemption
A family proposed dividing an irrevocable trust into two trusts, one for each daughter, under a court order. The original trust was created before September 25, 1985, and the taxpayers represented…
CCA 200210053: Accounting method change denied for supervisory goodwill
A financial institution asked to change its accounting method to depreciate regulatory intangible assets called supervisory goodwill, created when it acquired failing thrifts. Chief Counsel advised…
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.