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 200209054: Late mark-to-market election denied
A securities trader missed the deadline to elect the § 475(f) mark-to-market accounting method and then used that method on a later return. The IRS denied an extension because the election was an…
PLR 200209053: Late mark-to-market election denied
An individual who shifted from practicing law to securities trading asked for more time to make a § 475(f) mark-to-market accounting election for a later tax year. The IRS treated the election as an…
PLR 200209052: Late mark-to-market election denied
A full-time securities trader asked for more time to make a § 475(f) mark-to-market accounting election after a prior tax professional failed to explain the election and its filing requirements. The…
PLR 200209051: Consolidated group may apply gain to offset a stock loss
A publicly traded corporation planned to sell stock of a newly formed domestic corporation outside its consolidated group after a series of restructurings. The group expected a loss on the stock…
PLR 200209050: Late S corporation election allowed for reasonable cause
A corporation's shareholders intended to elect S corporation status from the corporation's formation date, but the election was filed late. The IRS found that the corporation established reasonable…
PLR 200209049: Type F reorganization preserves shareholder interests
A trust that was taxed as a C corporation planned to merge into a new nonprofit membership corporation under state law. Existing shareholders would exchange their shares for substantially…
PLR 200209048: Foreign entity gets more time to elect corporate classification
A foreign company became a limited liability company after a reorganization and intended to remain classified as a corporation for U.S. federal tax purposes. It inadvertently missed the deadline to…
PLR 200209047: Regulated group spin-off qualifies as Type D reorganization
A regulated corporate group wanted to expand one business but needed to separate other operations to satisfy regulatory requirements. Its parent planned to transfer stock of one subsidiary to a new…
PLR 200209046: Partnership gets extension for section 754 election
An ownership transfer caused a limited liability company to undergo a technical partnership termination under the law described in the ruling. The company did not realize that short-year returns and…
PLR 200209045: Trust mergers preserve GST tax exemption
A decedent's trust was divided into trusts for three step-grandchildren and an annuity trust for a caregiver. The estate had filed physician certifications that the decedent was continuously…
PLR 200209044: Synthetic fuel facilities qualify for nonconventional fuel credit
A partnership bought and relocated three facilities that produced solid synthetic fuel from coal. The IRS concluded that the described process created qualified fuel and that the partnership could…
PLR 200209043: Trust mergers preserve GST tax exemption
A decedent's trust was divided into trusts for three step-grandchildren and an annuity trust for a caregiver. The estate had filed physician certifications that the decedent was continuously…
PLR 200209042: Trust mergers preserve GST tax exemption
A decedent's trust was divided into trusts for three step-grandchildren and an annuity trust for a caregiver. The estate had filed physician certifications that the decedent was continuously…
PLR 200209041: Converted company gets time to elect corporate classification
A company converted into a state limited liability company and intended to continue its S corporation treatment for federal tax purposes. It inadvertently missed the deadline to file Form 8832 to…
PLR 200209040: Entity gets 60 days to elect corporate classification
An entity's members intended it to be treated as a corporation for federal tax purposes, but the entity inadvertently failed to file Form 8832. The IRS found that the requirements for an extension…
PLR 200209039: Trust mergers preserve GST tax exemption
A decedent's trust was divided into trusts for three step-grandchildren and an annuity trust for a caregiver. The estate had filed physician certifications that the decedent was continuously…
PLR 200209038: Family share modification preserves GST exemption
An irrevocable trust had been divided into family shares for five children and their families. Its trustees proposed to limit distributions from each share to that child's family before a specified…
PLR 200209037: Family share modification preserves GST exemption
An irrevocable trust had been divided into family shares for five children and their families. Its trustees proposed to limit distributions from each share to that child's family before a specified…
PLR 200209036: Trust mergers preserve GST tax exemption
A decedent's trust was divided into trusts for three step-grandchildren and an annuity trust for a caregiver. The estate had filed physician certifications that the decedent was continuously…
PLR 200209035: Trust mergers preserve GST tax exemption
A decedent's trust was divided into trusts for three step-grandchildren and an annuity trust for a caregiver. The estate had filed physician certifications that the decedent was continuously…
PLR 200209034: Family share modification preserves GST exemption
An irrevocable trust had been divided into family shares for five children and their families. Its trustees proposed to limit distributions from each share to that child's family before a specified…
PLR 200209033: Family share modification preserves GST exemption
An irrevocable trust had been divided into family shares for five children and their families. Its trustees proposed to limit distributions from each share to that child's family before a specified…
PLR 200209032: Trust mergers preserve GST tax exemption
A decedent's trust was divided into trusts for three step-grandchildren and an annuity trust for a caregiver. The estate had filed physician certifications that the decedent was continuously…
PLR 200209031: Late S corporation election allowed for reasonable cause
A corporation's shareholders intended S corporation treatment from its first taxable year and filed S corporation returns, but no timely Form 2553 was filed. The IRS found reasonable cause for the…
PLR 200209030: Former resident rebuts tax avoidance presumption
A former long-term U.S. resident gave up permanent resident status after living and working abroad for years. The person asked the IRS to rule that avoiding U.S. tax was not a principal purpose of…
PLR 200209029: Supplemental ruling preserves tax treatment for a corporate restructuring
A corporate group asked the IRS to supplement an earlier private letter ruling about converting a mutual company into a stock company and realigning its affiliated businesses. The request described…
CCA 200209028: Statistical sampling cannot substantiate meal and entertainment refund claims
Chief Counsel considered whether a taxpayer could use a statistical sample of meal and entertainment expenses to calculate refund claims for several years. The advice concluded that section 274(d)…
PLR 200209027: Former citizen rebuts the expatriation tax avoidance presumption
A former U.S. citizen asked the IRS to rule that giving up citizenship did not have tax avoidance as one of its principal purposes. The taxpayer was born in the country where she later became a tax…
PLR 200209026: Estate tax payments from retirement accounts treated as beneficiary distributions
An estate received amounts from a tax deferred annuity and an individual retirement account to pay estate taxes allocated to nonresident alien beneficiaries. The IRS ruled that the amounts were…
CCA 200209025: Consolidated group member's section 481 adjustment excludes another member's positions
Chief Counsel addressed a consolidated group in which one subsidiary changed from realization accounting to mark to market accounting under section 475, while another subsidiary continued its…
PLR 200209024: Credit union service subsidiary qualifies as a cooperative
A cooperative serving member credit unions formed a wholly owned subsidiary to provide delinquent credit card collection services. The subsidiary operated for the parent cooperative's benefit under…
PLR 200209023: S corporation receives conditional relief for a late election
A corporation intended to be taxed as an S corporation from its first tax year and filed an S corporation return, but no timely completed Form 2553 was filed. The IRS found reasonable cause for the…
PLR 200209022: Family trust share keeps its generation skipping tax exemption
Trustees proposed a court modification of a trust created before the generation skipping transfer tax generally took effect. The change would limit distributions from each family share to the child…
PLR 200209021: Parent receives conditional extension for a section 338 election
A corporate parent sought more time to make a section 338 election for its foreign purchasing subsidiary's acquisition of another foreign company's stock. The parent said it had relied on a…
PLR 200209020: Insurance policy gift becomes deductible after cancellation period
A taxpayer planned to give a charity all substantial rights and benefits of a single premium life insurance policy while retaining bare legal title. The IRS concluded that keeping legal title alone…
PLR 200209019: Inadvertent S corporation election defect receives relief
A software company elected S corporation status while owning 80 percent of a foreign subsidiary, making the election ineffective under the law then applicable. The IRS concluded that the defect was…
PLR 200209018: Split off of a manufacturing business qualifies as a D reorganization
Two brothers each owned half of a manufacturing company but disagreed about its direction. The company proposed moving part of its existing business to a new subsidiary and giving all of that…
CCA 200209017: Workers' compensation transfer needs insurance risk analysis
A self-insured employer paid an insurer to assume liabilities for workers' compensation claims from earlier years. Chief Counsel said more facts and actuarial work were needed to decide whether the…
PLR 200209016: Late request to change tax year treated as timely
A married couple asked to change their tax year from an October 31 year-end to a calendar year but filed Form 1128 after its deadline. The IRS found that they intended to file on time and that the…
PLR 200209015: Tribal trust income attributed to the tribe, not its members
A federally recognized tribe proposed a trust to support its government and members over the long term. Distributions would be delayed and left to the trustees' discretion, and individual members…
PLR 200209014: Coal-based synthetic fuel qualifies for section 29 credit
A partnership acquired a facility that chemically converts coal into a solid synthetic fuel. The IRS ruled that the fuel would qualify under section 29 and that the partnership could claim the…
PLR 200209013: Late S corporation election granted filing relief
A corporation's shareholders intended S corporation status from its first tax year, and the corporation filed an S corporation return, but a complete election form was not filed on time. The IRS…
PLR 200209012: Late S corporation election may be treated as timely
A corporation's original shareholders intended it to be an S corporation from the date of incorporation, but Form 2553 was not filed on time. The board chair supplied an affidavit describing that…
PLR 200209011: Bare title transfer does not trigger housing credit recapture
A partnership owning a low-income rental project proposed transferring bare legal title to a public authority and leasing the project back, seeking state property tax exemption. It represented that…
PLR 200209010: Nuclear plant transfers and decommissioning funds receive tax rulings
Utilities exchanged interests in nuclear plants and other generating assets, while transferring related decommissioning funds and liabilities. The IRS used its regulatory discretion to preserve the…
PLR 200209009: Foreign entity receives more time to elect partnership status
A foreign entity whose members all had limited liability intended to be taxed as a partnership but did not file its entity classification election on time. Without an election, the applicable…
PLR 200209008: Court-approved trust settlement preserves tax status
A court-approved settlement resolved a dispute over a testamentary trust by paying the remaining income beneficiary for his interest and dividing the trust into two trusts. The IRS concluded that…
PLR 200209007: Court-approved trust settlement preserves tax status
A court-approved settlement resolved a dispute over a testamentary trust by paying the remaining income beneficiary for his interest and dividing the trust into two trusts. The IRS concluded that…
CCA 200209006: Zero-filled protest forms are not valid tax returns
Two taxpayers submitted Forms 1040 that showed zeros for nearly every item, claimed refundable withholding or estimated tax, and attached tax protest material. Chief Counsel applied the substantial…
PLR 200209005: State loan program change leaves bond classification intact
A state agency issued bonds to fund loans through one of its programs. After a change to the program under state law, it asked whether the bonds would still be described in a particular provision.…
TAM 200209004: Wrong-quarter Medicare refund filings count as informal claims
Two related taxpayers timely filed claims for refunds of Medicare taxes but listed the third and fourth quarters, while the taxes had actually been paid in the second quarter. The IRS concluded that…
CCA 200209003: Refunding bond escrow payments raise arbitrage yield questions
A bond issuer funded escrows with Treasury securities to pay off earlier tax-exempt bonds and included payments to a provider when computing the escrows' investment yield. Chief Counsel doubted that…
PLR 200209002: Late election to waive a consolidated loss carryback receives relief
A corporation intended to waive the carryback period for its consolidated group's net operating loss, but a valid election was not filed with its return. The IRS found that the corporation had…
CCA 200209001: IRS advises that a computer lease strip lacks economic substance
Chief Counsel reviewed a series of computer equipment leases that separated rental income from deductions and shifted the deductions to the taxpayer. It concluded that the arrangement lacked…
PLR 200207026: Partial unitrust interest transfer qualifies for charitable deductions
A successor beneficiary of a charitable remainder unitrust planned to transfer an undivided portion of her unitrust interest directly to a charity. The IRS ruled that the transfer would qualify for…
PLR 200208039: Early termination of a charitable remainder trust avoids self-dealing tax
A charitable remainder trust proposed to end early and pay its remaining income beneficiary and a church the present value of their respective interests. The beneficiary was a disqualified person,…
PLR 200208038: Couple gets extra time to undo ineligible Roth IRA conversions
A married couple converted five traditional IRA accounts into Roth IRAs before learning that their income exceeded the limit for those conversions. They asked their representative to reverse the…
PLR 200208037: Pension surplus transfer qualifies for lower reversion tax
A company terminated a defined benefit pension plan after paying participants their benefits. It proposed to transfer 25% of the maximum available surplus to its 401(k) plan before the remaining…
PLR 200208036: Late reversal of an ineligible Roth IRA conversion approved
A taxpayer converted a traditional IRA to a Roth IRA in 1999, when her income exceeded the limit for that conversion. She learned of the problem while preparing her 2000 tax return and requested…
PLR 200208035: Six months allowed to reverse an invalid Roth IRA conversion
A taxpayer converted a traditional IRA to a Roth IRA in 1998, but the couple's combined income exceeded the conversion limit. They mistakenly thought the account could remain a Roth IRA until a…
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.