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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CCA 200147053: Timing of involuntary conversion elections and replacement property
Chief Counsel addressed when a taxpayer can elect to defer gain after property is involuntarily converted and how replacement property must be identified. An election made after the first gain-year…
PLR 200147052: Mechanical breakdown coverage qualifies as insurance
A proposed company would sell contracts covering repair or replacement costs after mechanical breakdowns of consumer products, sometimes with an optional preventive maintenance check. The IRS ruled…
PLR 200147051: Local home price limits approved for mortgage programs
A housing authority submitted sales data for new and existing single-family homes to set average area purchase prices for mortgage credit certificates and qualified mortgage bonds. The IRS concluded…
PLR 200147050: Commercial property rents excluded from S corporation passive investment income
A real estate company with accumulated earnings and profits planned to elect S corporation status. It asked whether rent from a large retail property counted as passive investment income, which can…
PLR 200147049: Late entity classification election granted a 60-day filing extension
A domestic corporation acquired a foreign company whose subsidiary was intended to be disregarded as separate from its owner for federal tax purposes. The required Form 8832 election was filed late.…
PLR 200147048: Late entity classification election granted a 60-day filing extension
A domestic corporation acquired a foreign company whose subsidiary was intended to be disregarded as separate from its owner for federal tax purposes. The required Form 8832 election was filed late.…
PLR 200147047: Late S corporation election treated as timely if filed within 60 days
A corporation with two shareholders intended to elect S corporation status, but it missed the deadline to file Form 2553. The shareholders believed a timely election had been made. The IRS ruled…
PLR 200147046: S corporation status preserved after trust income distribution failure
An S corporation had a trust shareholder whose trustees did not distribute all trust income to its beneficiary for two tax years. That failure ended the trust's qualified subchapter S trust…
PLR 200147045: S status preserved after stock issued to ineligible partnership
An S corporation issued stock to a limited liability partnership, an ineligible S corporation shareholder. The company later discovered that the issuance had terminated its S election and rescinded…
PLR 200147044: Grandchildren's trusts qualify to hold S corporation shares
Two donors created twelve separate trusts for their grandchildren and contributed nonvoting S corporation shares to each trust. Each grandchild could withdraw contributions to their own trust for a…
PLR 200147043: Reformed spousal trust allowed to hold S corporation stock
An S corporation shareholder transferred stock to a trust for the shareholder's spouse. The beneficiary could not make the planned qualified subchapter S trust election, and the trust was not…
PLR 200147042: Splitting older family trust preserves generation-skipping tax exemption
Trustees proposed dividing a family trust into two trusts so each family branch could manage its assets separately. The original trust was irrevocable before September 25, 1985, and had received no…
PLR 200147041: Buyer and seller granted time to make stock acquisition election
A purchaser and seller intended to make a joint § 338(h)(10) election for a corporate stock acquisition, but did not file a valid election by the deadline. The IRS found that they had acted…
PLR 200147040: Managed property rents excluded from passive investment income
An S corporation developed, leased, and managed residential and commercial properties. Because it had accumulated earnings and profits, it asked whether its rents counted as passive investment…
PLR 200147039: Discretionary estate tax payments do not bring insurance proceeds into estate
An irrevocable trust received proceeds from a policy insuring a married couple's joint lives after the second spouse died. Its trustee could choose to pay estate taxes or other expenses, but neither…
PLR 200147038: Early S reelection and late filing relief granted after ownership dispute
An S corporation acquired another business's assets in exchange for stock. A dispute over the seller's ownership kept the seller from promptly distributing that stock to an individual shareholder,…
CCA 200147037: Intercompany sales lacked support for foreign sales corporation commissions
A group of related U.S. manufacturers, a distributor, and an international seller used a foreign sales corporation as a commission agent for export sales. The group also paid commissions tied to…
PLR 200147036: Late S corporation election accepted for first tax year
A corporation intended S corporation treatment from its formation but did not file Form 2553 on time. It had filed S corporation tax returns for its first two years. The IRS found reasonable cause…
CCA 200147035: Counsel recommends litigating capitalization of package design costs
A consumer products manufacturer deducted graphic and package design costs, including artwork, labels, and physical package changes. Chief Counsel advised that package and graphic design costs are…
PLR 200147034: Partnership operating receipts excluded from S corporation passive income
An S corporation with accumulated earnings and profits invested, or planned to invest, in two publicly traded partnerships treated as partnerships for tax purposes. Both operated in crude oil and…
CCA 200147033: Parent company guarantee fees sourced like interest but taxed as other income
A U.S. company paid its foreign parent to guarantee debt and treated the fees as foreign source service income without withholding U.S. tax. Chief Counsel advised that the payments compensated the…
TAM 200147032: Television station accrues barter income as programs arrive
A television station traded advertising time for rights to broadcast syndicated episodes and films. The IRS advised that the station, using accrual accounting, must report the value of each episode…
PLR 200147031: Late S election relief requires shareholder returns to be corrected
Two shareholders hired an attorney to file an S corporation election, but the IRS never received Form 2553. The company filed an S corporation return, while the shareholders omitted their shares of…
PLR 200147030: Revised nuclear decommissioning fund schedule approved after plant transfer
A utility acquired an interest in a nuclear plant and its decommissioning fund from an affiliate during a state utility restructuring. It requested a revised schedule setting the fund contributions…
PLR 200147029: Revised nuclear decommissioning fund schedule approved after plant transfer
A utility acquired an interest in a nuclear plant and its decommissioning fund from an affiliate during a state utility restructuring. It requested a revised schedule setting the fund contributions…
PLR 200147028: Trust reformation and partition preserve generation-skipping exemption
Two family trusts were exempt from generation-skipping transfer tax. A court corrected a drafting error affecting a deceased grandchild's descendants, approved splitting each trust into two with the…
PLR 200147027: Revised nuclear decommissioning fund schedule approved after plant transfer
A utility acquired an interest in a nuclear plant and its decommissioning fund from an affiliate during a state utility restructuring. It requested a revised schedule setting the fund contributions…
PLR 200147026: Single-owner entity granted late corporate classification election
A single-owner entity and its owner intended corporate tax classification from the entity's formation, but they missed the deadline to file Form 8832. Without an election, the entity's default…
PLR 200147025: Revised nuclear decommissioning fund schedule approved after plant transfer
A utility acquired an interest in a nuclear plant and its decommissioning fund from an affiliate during a state utility restructuring. It requested a revised schedule setting the fund contributions…
PLR 200147024: Revised nuclear decommissioning fund schedule approved after plant transfer
A utility acquired an interest in a nuclear plant and its decommissioning fund from an affiliate during a state utility restructuring. It requested a revised schedule setting the fund contributions…
PLR 200147023: Late debt discharge election granted after delayed partnership schedule
An S corporation owned a partnership interest and received a Schedule K-1 showing its share of debt discharge income only after filing its tax return. It had filed consistently with excluding the…
PLR 200147022: Utility transition bond issuance does not create immediate income
An electric utility planned to finance stranded generation costs during deregulation through customer transition charges and bonds issued by a wholly owned special purpose entity. The utility asked…
TAM 200147021: Gift splitting also divides tax treated as a gift on direct skips
A married couple elected to treat gifts to grandchildren as made half by each spouse. A direct skip can create generation-skipping transfer tax, and § 2515 treats that tax as an additional gift for…
PLR 200147020: Single-owner entity granted late corporate classification election
A single-owner entity and its owner intended corporate tax classification from the entity's formation, but they missed the deadline to file Form 8832. Without an election, the entity's default…
PLR 200147019: Single-owner entity granted late corporate classification election
A single-owner entity and its owner intended corporate tax classification from the entity's formation, but they missed the deadline to file Form 8832. Without an election, the entity's default…
PLR 200147018: Single-owner entity granted late corporate classification election
A single-owner entity and its owner intended corporate tax classification from the entity's formation, but they missed the deadline to file Form 8832. Without an election, the entity's default…
CCA 200147017: Counsel confirms railroad retirement tax employer status
The Railroad Retirement Board told the IRS that a business became an employer under the railroad retirement and unemployment insurance laws effective November 27, 2000. After reviewing the Board's…
CCA 200147016: Counsel confirms railroad retirement tax employer status
The Railroad Retirement Board told the IRS that a business became an employer under the railroad retirement and unemployment insurance laws effective February 13, 2001. After reviewing the Board's…
PLR 200147015: Phased retirement project bonds will not be issued too early
A charitable organization planned a continuing care retirement community in five phases, financed through tax-exempt bonds issued as a draw-down loan. The bank would advance funds only when…
PLR 200147014: State may correct invalid bond volume cap carryforward election
A state timely elected to carry forward unused private activity bond authority but assigned part of it to enterprise zone bonds it lacked authority to issue. It later asked to amend Form 8328 and…
CCA 200147013: Costs of handling claims tied to stock sale are not current deductions
After selling a subsidiary's stock, a corporate group retained responsibility for certain claims arising before the sale. Another group company paid staff, legal, and office costs to administer…
TAM 200147012: Alaska Native corporation may deduct value of land conveyed to city
An Alaska Native village corporation received land without tax under the Alaska Native Claims Settlement Act, then conveyed some land to its city as that Act required. It asked whether it could…
PLR 200147011: Redeeming housing bonds after service date does not undo financing status
A developer used tax-exempt bonds to rehabilitate low-income housing and planned to repay the bonds with permanent financing after the project was placed in service. The developer represented that…
PLR 200147010: Redeeming housing bonds after service date does not undo financing status
A developer used tax-exempt bonds to rehabilitate low-income housing and planned to repay the bonds with permanent financing after the project was placed in service. The developer represented that…
PLR 200147009: Redeeming housing bonds after service date does not undo financing status
A developer used tax-exempt bonds to rehabilitate low-income housing and planned to repay the bonds with permanent financing after the project was placed in service. The developer represented that…
PLR 200147008: Redeeming housing bonds after service date does not undo financing status
A developer used tax-exempt bonds to rehabilitate low-income housing and planned to repay the bonds with permanent financing after the project was placed in service. The developer represented that…
TAM 200147007: Insurance regulatory statement does not control U.S. connected income
A foreign life insurer operated through a U.S. branch and held investment assets in the United States that were omitted from its insurance regulatory annual statement. It argued that income from…
CCA 200147006: Retired superintendents remain district employees despite contractor entities
Two retired school superintendents returned to their districts through contracts with entities they formed, with the contracts labeling those entities independent contractors. Chief Counsel advised…
CCA 200147005: Filing extension does not delay tax on foreign consent dividends
A personal holding company filed shareholder consents for dividends with its extended corporate return and paid the required tax related to foreign shareholders at that time. It challenged interest…
PLR 200147004: Late annual certifications under foreign corporation rules allowed
A taxpayer failed to attach required annual certifications under former § 367 regulations to returns for two tax years. Its tax director submitted an affidavit describing the filing failure. The IRS…
CCA 200147003: Counsel confirms railroad retirement tax employer status
The Railroad Retirement Board told the IRS that a business became an employer under the railroad retirement and unemployment insurance laws effective August 23, 2000. After reviewing the Board's…
CCA 200147002: Counsel confirms railroad retirement tax employer status
The Railroad Retirement Board told the IRS that a business became an employer under the railroad retirement and unemployment insurance laws effective August 1, 2000. After reviewing the Board's…
CCA 200147001: Counsel confirms railroad retirement tax employer status
The Railroad Retirement Board told the IRS that a business became a rail carrier employer under the railroad retirement and unemployment insurance laws effective October 14, 1997. After reviewing…
IRS bulletin 200145042: Collection and bankruptcy advice from September 2001
This September 2001 Collection, Bankruptcy and Summonses Bulletin combines case notes with five Chief Counsel advice memoranda. One memorandum allows an individual bankruptcy estate to deduct…
CCA 200146058: IRS may collect full plan tax balance after substantial Chapter 11 default
Chief Counsel considered how much tax the IRS could collect administratively after a corporate debtor defaulted on payments under a confirmed Chapter 11 plan. The memo advised that when the debtor…
CCA 200146057: IRS recommends limits on Nebraska tax information sharing agreement
Chief Counsel reviewed a proposed agreement for joint tax investigations and information sharing between the IRS and Nebraska's charitable gaming tax authorities. It recommended using language from…
CCA 200146056: Accounting method changes require IRS consent even when correcting an error
Chief Counsel analyzed four situations in which taxpayers changed an accounting method without first obtaining IRS consent. It advised that section 446(e) requires consent even when the taxpayer is…
PLR 200146055: Treaty exempts pay to qualifying employees of foreign government instrumentality
A foreign government instrumentality asked whether its employees' pay was exempt from U.S. income tax under Article 21 of a tax treaty. The IRS concluded that the organization performed governmental…
PLR 200146054: Successor gets more time to elect REIT built-in gain treatment
A corporation that had changed from C corporation to REIT status failed to make an election concerning the built-in gain on assets it formerly held as a C corporation. Its successor sought more time…
PLR 200146053: Buyer and seller get more time for stock purchase tax election
A buyer and seller intended to make a joint section 338(h)(10) election after the buyer acquired all stock of a target corporation, but no valid election was filed by the deadline. They asked for an…
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.