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 200146052: Sulfur conversion equipment belongs with natural gas plant assets
Two natural gas producers sought a ruling that equipment converting toxic hydrogen sulfide into sulfur belonged in a chemical manufacturing asset class for depreciation. They withdrew the request…
PLR 200146051: S corporation status continues after possible inadvertent termination
An S corporation converted to a state limited partnership and later converted back to a corporation. The first conversion might have created a second class of stock and ended its S election. The IRS…
PLR 200146050: Taxpayer gets 30 days to file dual resident corporation agreement
A taxpayer missed the deadline to file an agreement required by the dual resident corporation regulations for an entity. After reviewing the taxpayer's explanation and supporting affidavit, the IRS…
PLR 200146049: Late S corporation election allowed after missed Form 2553
A corporation intended to be taxed as an S corporation and identified itself that way on its employer identification number application. It did not file Form 2553 by the deadline for the intended…
PLR 200146048: Foreign buyer and seller get time to file stock purchase election
A foreign corporation bought all stock of an S corporation from its individual owner, and buyer and seller intended to make a joint section 338(h)(10) election. No valid election was filed by the…
CCA 200146047: IRS denies shorter depreciation period for utility street lights
An electric utility asked to change its depreciation method for street lighting equipment from a 20-year recovery period to seven years. It argued that the lights did not fit an existing asset class…
CCA 200146046: Timing, depletion, and export receipts for long-term mineral sales
Chief Counsel analyzed long-term contracts under which a mineral producer deferred delivery while contract prices and additional amounts accrued. It advised that the hedge accounting rules, even if…
PLR 200146045: Dividing grandfathered trust preserves generation-skipping tax exemption
A trustee proposed to divide a trust established before September 25, 1985, into separate trusts for the settlor's seven grandchildren and change when those trusts would end. The original trust was…
PLR 200146044: Corporation may file missing S election for its first tax year
A newly incorporated company intended to elect S corporation status for its first tax year, but it never filed Form 2553. Its owner pointed to the company's employer identification number…
PLR 200146043: State may redirect unused facility bond proceeds to emergency grants
A state issued tax-exempt bonds to finance two county facilities, but unforeseen events led both counties to abandon their projects. The state proposed to use the remaining bond proceeds for…
PLR 200146042: Trust reserve reallocation preserves generation-skipping tax exemption
A trustee sought to stop adding part of a trust's income to a reserve fund and distribute future income among the existing beneficiaries. A court had approved moving the accumulated reserve into…
PLR 200146041: Missing S corporation election accepted for first tax year
A newly incorporated company and its sole owner filed their first-year tax returns as though the company had elected S corporation status, but the company had not filed Form 2553. The owner said the…
PLR 200146040: First-year S election treated as timely if company files Form 2553
A corporation's sole shareholder said he intended S corporation treatment from its first tax year, and the company filed Form 1120S for that year. The IRS had no record of the required Form 2553…
PLR 200146039: S corporation gets time to elect subsidiary treatment for six companies
An S corporation missed qualified subchapter S subsidiary elections for six subsidiaries. One had previously been treated as such by a company the parent acquired; the other five were newly…
PLR 200146038: Late first-year S election accepted if Form 2553 is filed
A corporation's chief financial officer said the company intended to be an S corporation from its first tax year, but it had not filed a timely completed Form 2553. The IRS concluded that the…
PLR 200146037: Late S election effective from intended tax year
A corporation's shareholders intended it to be an S corporation from a specified tax year, but the election was not filed on time. The company had filed S corporation returns, and the shareholders…
PLR 200146036: S election may be filed late for corporation's first year
A corporation with two shareholders intended to be taxed as an S corporation from its first year, but the IRS service center had no record of a timely completed Form 2553. Its president asked for…
PLR 200146035: Former resident rebuts tax avoidance presumption, but purpose remains open
A former U.S. long-term resident surrendered his green card and asked the IRS to rule that avoiding U.S. tax was not a principal purpose. His net worth exceeded the threshold that would otherwise…
PLR 200146034: Late S election accepted after tax adviser missed filing
A corporation was meant to be an S corporation from the year it was formed. Its owner relied on tax advisers to file Form 2553, but the form was not filed on time. The IRS found reasonable cause for…
CCA 200146033: IRS denies immediate deductions for coal transport and handling costs
A utility parent sought to change how five subsidiaries account for the cost of transporting and handling coal used to generate electricity. The subsidiaries had capitalized those costs until the…
PLR 200146032: Late S election allowed for corporation's actual first tax year
A newly formed company intended S corporation status but did not file Form 2553 on time or file a corporate return for its first tax year. The IRS found reasonable cause for the missed election and…
PLR 200146031: Late S election accepted after attorney missed deadline
A corporation intended to elect S status from the year it was formed, and its sole shareholder relied on an attorney to file the election. The filing deadline was missed. The IRS found reasonable…
PLR 200146030: Missing shareholder signatures do not defeat S corporation status
A corporation attempted to elect S status and filed returns on that basis, but the IRS said its Form 2553 lacked shareholder signatures. The company represented that the missing signatures were…
PLR 200146029: Entity gets more time to elect partnership tax classification
An entity with two owners intended to be classified as a partnership for federal tax purposes, but Form 8832 was not filed on time. The IRS analyzed the entity classification election rules and…
CCA 200146028: Shared installation costs must be allocated across customer and owned assets
A business installed similar products for customers under contracts while also installing extra units it kept for itself at the same locations. Its accounting method assigned nearly all shared labor…
PLR 200146027: Parent gets time to correct subsidiary S election
An S corporation intended to treat another corporation as a qualified subchapter S subsidiary from the subsidiary's incorporation date. Its election had an incorrect effective date and was filed…
CCA 200146025: IRS challenges claimed loss from splitting money fund dividend rights
A corporate group split rights to money market fund shares into receipts for future dividends and receipts for the shares themselves. A subsidiary sold the dividend receipts to its parent, sold the…
TAM 200146024: Rebuilt semitrailer bodies are new taxable articles
A semitrailer manufacturer dismantled customers' used trailer bodies and made new bodies, partly from aluminum recovered from the old ones. The IRS concluded that the old bodies lost their identity…
PLR 200146023: Entity gets time to elect corporate tax classification from formation
A newly formed entity and its owners intended corporate tax classification from the day the entity began operating, but Form 8832 was not filed on time. The IRS found that the entity satisfied the…
PLR 200146022: Green card surrender rebuts tax avoidance presumption but leaves purpose open
A former U.S. long-term resident surrendered his green card and asked the IRS to rule that avoiding U.S. tax was not a principal purpose. His net worth exceeded the threshold that created a…
PLR 200146021: Taxpayer gets time to file loss agreement and certifications
A taxpayer deducted part of an entity's operating loss on a U.S. consolidated return but inadvertently omitted an agreement and certifications required by the dual consolidated loss regulations. It…
PLR 200146020: Pro rata business spin-off qualifies for tax-free reorganization treatment
A public company proposed to put one operating business into a newly formed subsidiary and distribute all the subsidiary's stock pro rata to its shareholders. It said the separation would let each…
PLR 200146019: Pro rata spin-off of operating business qualifies for nonrecognition
A public corporation proposed to transfer a business, related subsidiaries, assets, and liabilities to a wholly owned company, then distribute that company's stock pro rata to its shareholders. The…
PLR 200146018: Taxpayers may revoke investment income election for capital gains
A married couple elected to count investment capital gains as investment income when calculating their investment interest deduction. Their tax advisers later believed they should have filed as…
PLR 200146017: Late S election may take effect from incorporation
A corporation's shareholders wanted S corporation treatment from the date it was formed, but the election was not filed on time. The IRS found reasonable cause for the missed filing under section…
PLR 200146016: Late tax year change application treated as timely filed
A taxpayer filed Form 1128 late to request a change in its tax year and asked the IRS to treat the application as timely. The IRS found that the taxpayer had acted reasonably and in good faith and…
PLR 200146015: Estate gets late election relief for home placed in domestic trust
A decedent left an estate to a surviving spouse who was not a U.S. citizen at the time of death. The spouse filed the estate tax return without electing qualified domestic trust treatment, then…
PLR 200146014: Revised nuclear decommissioning fund payment schedule approved
An electric utility asked the IRS to revise the annual amounts it could pay into a nuclear decommissioning fund under section 468A. The utility owned an interest in a nuclear plant but expected to…
CCA 200146013: Parent's dividend reporting does not decide subsidiary's interest deduction
A U.S. subsidiary deducted interest on a note while its foreign parent reported the payment as a dividend on its foreign tax return. Chief Counsel advised that the different reporting was relevant…
PLR 200146012: Disability benefits follow the employee's annual premium election
An employer proposed allowing employees to elect each year whether to bear the full cost of long-term disability coverage on an after-tax basis. The IRS ruled that benefits for an employee who made…
PLR 200146011: Disability benefits follow the employee's annual premium election
An employer proposed allowing employees to elect each year whether to bear the full cost of long-term disability coverage on an after-tax basis. The IRS ruled that benefits for an employee who made…
PLR 200146010: Disability benefits depend on premium election, with cafeteria plan question unanswered
An employer proposed an annual election allowing employees to bear the full cost of long-term disability coverage on an after-tax basis. The IRS ruled that benefits from after-tax employee-funded…
PLR 200146009: Utility denied immediate deduction for coal transportation costs
An electric utility asked to change its accounting method so it could deduct the cost of transporting coal to its power plants in the year the cost was incurred. The IRS denied consent. It concluded…
CCA 200146008: Settlement labels may yield to the substance of the claims
Chief Counsel considered whether a lawsuit settlement's wording fixed the tax character and allocation of payments made by the defendant taxpayer. It advised that the IRS need not accept an…
CCA 200146007: Business is not 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 or Railroad Unemployment Insurance Act, and that its employees' services were not…
PLR 200146006: Town's deputy tax collector is an employee for payroll tax purposes
A town asked whether its deputy tax collector was an employee for federal payroll tax purposes. The deputy worked for several towns, maintained his own office, and was paid fees that the town…
CCA 200146005: IRS agrees a business is not a railroad retirement tax employer
The Railroad Retirement Board advised the IRS that a business was not an employer under the Railroad Retirement Act or the Railroad Unemployment Insurance Act. After reviewing that opinion and the…
CCA 200146004: Business became a railroad retirement tax employer on June 1, 2000
The Railroad Retirement Board told the IRS that a business became a rail carrier employer under the Railroad Retirement Act and the Railroad Unemployment Insurance Act on June 1, 2000. After…
CCA 200146003: Business became a railroad retirement tax employer in 1998
The Railroad Retirement Board told the IRS that a business became a rail carrier employer under the Railroad Retirement Act and the Railroad Unemployment Insurance Act on December 11, 1998. The IRS…
CCA 200146002: Business became a railroad retirement tax employer in 1997
The Railroad Retirement Board told the IRS that a business became a rail carrier employer under the Railroad Retirement Act and the Railroad Unemployment Insurance Act on November 1, 1997. The IRS…
TAM 200146001: Refundable French research credit did not reduce foreign taxes paid
A U.S. corporation claimed foreign tax credits for French corporate income taxes paid by its controlled foreign corporations. Those corporations also received French research credits, which first…
CCA 200145041: Certify treaty residence of common trust fund participants
An IRS service center asked whether it should certify a common trust fund itself, or its participants, as U.S. residents for income tax treaty purposes. The IRS advised certification at the…
CCA 200145040: Teaching hospitals generally are not schools for the student FICA exception
The IRS considered FICA refund claims involving medical residents and asked whether a teaching hospital counts as a school, college, or university for the student FICA exception. The exception…
PLR 200145039: Two mergers treated as a direct acquisition of target assets
An acquiring corporation formed a subsidiary that merged into a target corporation in exchange for the acquirer's stock. It then proposed to merge the target into itself. The IRS ruled that the two…
PLR 200145038: Late S corporation election allowed for reasonable cause
A corporation intended to become an S corporation but did not file Form 2553 on time. Its board resolution showed that intent, and it filed an S corporation tax return for the year at issue. The IRS…
PLR 200145037: Corporation receives relief for a late S election
A corporation's shareholders wanted S corporation treatment from the date of incorporation, but the corporation did not file the election on time. The IRS found reasonable cause for the failure…
PLR 200145036: Corporation receives relief for a late S election
A corporation's shareholders wanted S corporation treatment from the date of incorporation, but the corporation did not file the election on time. The IRS found reasonable cause for the failure…
PLR 200145035: Corporation receives relief for a late S election
A corporation's shareholders wanted S corporation treatment from the day it began doing business, but the corporation did not file the election on time. The IRS found reasonable cause for the…
PLR 200145034: Late trust elections treated as an inadvertent S corporation termination
An S corporation's shares were transferred to two trusts intended to be qualified subchapter S trusts, but their beneficiaries did not file the required elections on time. The IRS found that the…
PLR 200145033: Late trust elections treated as an inadvertent S corporation termination
An S corporation's shares were transferred to two trusts intended to be qualified subchapter S trusts, but their beneficiaries did not file the required elections on time. The IRS found that 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.