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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TAM 200144003: Distributor's inventory cost allocation method was impermissible
A distributor had substantial inventory in transit at year end and used a modified cost allocation method that excluded those goods when allocating storage and handling costs. The IRS concluded that…
CCA 200144002: Settling with some partners did not release others from employment tax debt
The IRS had settled partnership employment tax liabilities with some general partners and asked whether it could still collect the unpaid balance from other partners. Chief Counsel advised that the…
PLR 200144001: Mutual insurance holding company conversion qualified as a recapitalization
A mutual insurance holding company planned to convert to a stock company, merge into a subsidiary of a new holding company, and complete related restructuring steps. The IRS ruled that the…
CCA 200143002: Business is not a railroad retirement tax employer
The Railroad Retirement Board advised the IRS that a business was not a covered employer under the Railroad Retirement Act or the Railroad Unemployment Insurance Act. After reviewing that opinion…
CCA 200143032: Hague Convention procedure for serving an IRS summons in the United Kingdom
Chief Counsel considered how the IRS could serve an administrative summons on a U.S. citizen or resident living in the United Kingdom. It advised that the Hague Service Convention covered the…
CCA 200143031: Airline lease tied to parking profits met private business use test
An airport authority planned to finance a parking facility with tax exempt bonds. Its lease with a private airline would reduce the airline's terminal rent if authority revenues, including parking…
CCA 200143030: Pre lawsuit antitrust settlements escaped the section 162(g) limit
A manufacturer pleaded guilty to federal antitrust charges and settled related claims with customers. Some customers settled before filing civil lawsuits under the Clayton Act. Chief Counsel advised…
PLR 200143029: Subsidiary stock transfers and distributions received tax free treatment
A corporate group planned to move several subsidiaries under new ownership within the group and have a distributing corporation transfer stock of three controlled corporations to its shareholder.…
PLR 200143028: Dividing a charitable remainder trust for divorcing spouses avoided excise taxes
A charitable remainder unitrust paid income to two spouses who were divorcing. They proposed dividing its assets equally into separate unitrusts, one for each spouse, while preserving the charitable…
PLR 200143027: Corporation received relief for a late S election
A corporation intended to be taxed as an S corporation from the beginning of a specified tax year, but its election was not filed on time. The IRS found reasonable cause for the delay and ruled that…
PLR 200143026: Late S election accepted for corporation's first tax year
A corporation intended to be taxed as an S corporation from its first tax year and filed an S corporation return, but it did not file Form 2553 on time. The IRS found reasonable cause for the missed…
PLR 200143025: School district qualified as a political subdivision for charitable gifts
A metropolitan school district asked whether it was a political subdivision for federal tax purposes. The IRS found that state law had delegated a substantial sovereign power to the district by…
PLR 200143024: Late S election accepted for corporation's first tax year
A corporation intended to be taxed as an S corporation from its first tax year and documented that intent in a stock sale contract, but it did not file Form 2553 on time. The IRS found reasonable…
PLR 200143023: Adviser fee waiver did not affect investment funds' dividend deduction
Some investment funds planned to invest spare cash in related central funds. Their adviser proposed waiving fees charged to the investing funds to offset distribution or service fees incurred on…
PLR 200143022: Former resident rebutted a tax avoidance presumption after expatriation
A former U.S. long term resident surrendered her green card and planned to live permanently in her birth country with her husband. She asked the IRS to rule that avoiding U.S. tax was not a…
PLR 200143021: Late S election accepted for corporation's first tax year
A corporation intended to be taxed as an S corporation from its first tax year and filed an S corporation return, but it did not file Form 2553 on time. The IRS found reasonable cause for the missed…
PLR 200143020: Former resident rebutted a tax avoidance presumption after expatriation
A former U.S. long term resident surrendered his green card and planned to live permanently in his birth country with his wife. He asked the IRS to rule that avoiding U.S. tax was not a principal…
PLR 200143019: Trust reformation and division preserved generation skipping tax exemption
Two family trusts that were exempt from generation skipping transfer tax sought court approved changes to correct a drafting error about descendants of a deceased grandchild and to divide each trust…
PLR 200143018: Corporation received relief for a late S election
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 delay and granted relief under…
PLR 200143017: Mission organization qualified as a religious order for employment tax provisions
A nonprofit Christian mission organization asked whether it counted as a religious order under three employment and self employment tax provisions. Its members made commitments to religious…
PLR 200143016: Late S election relief required amended returns and tax payments
A corporation filed an S election for a prior tax year, but the IRS service center rejected it as late, and the corporation filed a regular corporate tax return. The IRS found reasonable cause for…
PLR 200143015: Corporation received relief for a late S election
A corporation intended to be taxed as an S corporation from the beginning of its first tax year, but its election was not filed on time. The IRS found reasonable cause for the delay and ruled that…
PLR 200143014: Estate received more time to elect special use valuation for ranch
An estate omitted a ranch from its estate tax return because its executor and attorney believed the executor owned it personally. A state court later found that the executor held the ranch for the…
PLR 200143013: Estate received more time to elect QTIP treatment for real estate
A decedent's will gave the surviving spouse a lifetime interest in real estate. The estate filed its federal estate tax return on time, but its accountant omitted several parcels and made no…
PLR 200143012: Commercial property rents would not be passive investment income
A corporation with accumulated earnings and profits planned to elect S corporation status and treat a subsidiary as a qualified S subsidiary. Through that subsidiary, it held interests in six…
PLR 200143011: Estate may deduct its share of a post-death conservation easement
An estate included a 68.8% interest in land held through a trust, while two other owners each held a separate 15.6% interest. After the decedent died, the trustees granted a conservation easement…
PLR 200143010: S corporation receives more time to elect subsidiary treatment
An S corporation acquired all the stock of a subsidiary and intended to elect qualified subchapter S subsidiary treatment from the acquisition date. It inadvertently missed the filing deadline for…
PLR 200143009: Foreign stock buyer gets more time for a section 338 election
A parent company sought relief after its foreign subsidiary bought a foreign corporation and failed to file a valid section 338 election on time. A separate retroactive entity classification…
PLR 200143008: IRS waives life insurance policy testing failures caused by reasonable errors
Two life insurers discovered that policy data and manual processing errors had caused some contracts to fail federal life insurance tests under section 7702. Their procedures would have detected…
PLR 200143007: Employee is taxed when deferred compensation becomes available
An employer planned to set aside assets in a trust to help pay deferred compensation to a key employee. The employee would have no greater claim on the assets than the employer's unsecured…
CCA 200143006: Antitrust settlement deduction depends on whether a civil suit was filed
A company pleaded guilty to criminal antitrust violations and paid two customers to settle related claims. One customer had already filed a civil antitrust suit; the other settled before filing one.…
CCA 200143005: Grand jury records in a civil tax case require a secrecy review
After two taxpayers pleaded guilty to tax evasion, IRS criminal investigators gave civil examiners records used to prepare deficiency notices. Chief Counsel advised that the notices could be…
CCA 200143004: Family corporation stock gifts call for further gift tax valuation work
A donor put cash and marketable bonds into a newly formed family corporation, then gave shares to relatives while claiming discounts for lack of control and marketability. Chief Counsel advised…
CCA 200143003: Mitigation rules do not reopen a closed reserve deduction year
An insurer overstated life insurance reserves and its deduction in a tax year that later closed to assessment. After a merger, the related taxpayer reduced its opening reserves for a later year…
TAM 200143001: Stock premium paid to bankruptcy creditors may be deductible
A corporation emerging from bankruptcy issued new stock to satisfy claims by bondholders and trade creditors. The stock could be worth more than the allowed claims, creating a premium whose…
CCA 200142025: Revised compromise offer does not undo an earlier collection waiver
An older offer in compromise included a taxpayer's waiver extending the IRS collection period. After the law and Form 656 changed, the taxpayer submitted a revised form without waiver language…
CCA 200142024: K-1 income can support a nonfiler deficiency without unproved deductions
The IRS asked whether its automated substitute return for a nonfiler could include income and gains reported on a partnership Schedule K-1 while omitting reported losses, deductions, and credits.…
CCA 200142023: Tax information sharing in joint grand jury investigations has limits
IRS Counsel reviewed four scenarios involving IRS and FBI agents in grand jury investigations with possible tax and non-tax charges. It distinguished information collected under Justice Department…
CCA 200142022: Failed Roth conversions require deficiency procedures for added taxes
Some taxpayers converted traditional IRAs to Roth IRAs despite exceeding the income limit for conversion. IRS Counsel was asked whether resulting early distribution tax and excess contribution tax…
CCA 200142021: No filed Form 1099 means penalty assessment period has not run
An IRS employee asked whether penalties for a company's failure to file Forms 1099-MISC and give copies to payees were too late to assess. Chief Counsel explained that penalties under sections 6721…
IRS 200142020: Criminal Tax Bulletin summarizes six appellate decisions
This Criminal Tax Bulletin is an informational collection of case summaries, not a ruling on one taxpayer's request. It reports a decision rejecting a Fifth Amendment defense to failing to file tax…
PLR 200142019: Shopper may deduct donated vendor rebate when charity receives it
An online shopper could choose to receive a vendor rebate in cash or direct the shopping company to send it to a charity. The IRS ruled that choosing the charitable transfer made a voluntary…
PLR 200142018: Wind partnership may claim production credits without reducing them for state certificates
A partnership planned to build wind turbines and sell their electricity to an unrelated utility. The IRS ruled that each turbine would be placed in service when ready and available to generate…
PLR 200142017: Late S corporation election may take effect from incorporation
A corporation's shareholders intended S corporation status from the company's start, but Form 2553 was not filed on time. The company and its shareholders had reported income consistently with S…
PLR 200142016: Investment fund gets more time for dividend election
A fund intended to make a section 855 election for dividends declared and paid after its tax year ended. Its tax preparer's tracking system inadvertently lost the fund's filing information, so no…
PLR 200142015: Foreign entity gets time to elect partnership classification
A foreign entity and its owners intended to elect partnership classification for U.S. federal tax purposes, but Form 8832 was not filed on time. The IRS concluded from the submitted facts and…
PLR 200142014: Insurer cannot revoke small company tax election to preserve losses
A nonlife insurer had elected under section 831(b) to be taxed only on investment income while its premiums remained within the small company limit. After a merger, it asked to revoke that election…
PLR 200142013: Buyer and sellers get more time for a section 338(h)(10) election
A buyer purchased all shares of an S corporation from two sellers, and the parties intended to make a joint section 338(h)(10) election. They missed the filing deadline after relying on a tax…
PLR 200142012: Planned subsidiary distribution generally avoids immediate gain
A public company planned to distribute its interest in a subsidiary to shareholders, principally in exchange for their shares of the parent company. The IRS ruled that neither the shareholders nor…
PLR 200142011: Modified charitable trust loses set-aside deduction
A trust created before October 9, 1969, held principal for charitable purposes while paying income to individual beneficiaries. A court-approved modification would let the trustee make certain…
PLR 200142010: Foreign entity receives 60 days for late partnership election
A foreign entity whose owners all had limited liability intended to elect partnership treatment for U.S. federal tax purposes. It did not file the entity classification election on time. Based on…
PLR 200142009: Foreign corporation gets time to elect partnership tax treatment
A foreign corporation intended to be treated as a partnership for U.S. federal tax purposes from the date it was formed. It inadvertently failed to file Form 8832 to make that election. The IRS…
CCA 200142008: Accounting method request cannot make a late depreciation election
A taxpayer asked to change the depreciation method for residential rental property from the general system to the alternative system using Form 3115. Chief Counsel advised the IRS office to decline…
CCA 200142007: Sports franchise media rights have no depreciable life
A taxpayer allocated part of the price of a professional sports franchise to national and local broadcast rights. Chief Counsel advised that the rights likely had a value separate from goodwill,…
CCA 200142006: Tax lien filing controls redemption after foreclosure
Chief Counsel addressed whether the IRS could redeem a home sold at a nonjudicial foreclosure. It concluded that the statute and regulation work together: the IRS has a redemption right under §…
CCA 200142005: Advice on rate lock payments, bond premiums, and loan stock
Chief Counsel analyzed several tax questions involving debt securities, a forward Treasury rate lock, a remarketing payment, and loan stock. It advised that the taxpayer had not shown that the rate…
PLR 200142004: Partnership retirement payments may qualify for self-employment tax exclusion
A professional limited liability company taxed as a partnership asked about payments to retired partners. Its written program paid a retired partner based on the average of the partner's three…
Criminal Tax Bulletin Index 200142003: Three years of criminal tax case topics
This IRS Criminal Tax Bulletin Index is a reference list for case summaries published in the bulletin during 1998, 1999, and 2000. It is organized by statutory provisions, constitutional issues, and…
Criminal Tax Bulletin 200142002: Case summaries from February and April 2001
This issue of the IRS Criminal Tax Bulletin summarizes recent Supreme Court and lower court decisions relevant to criminal tax enforcement. Topics include search and seizure, the right to counsel,…
TAM 200142001: Planning stage IDR can place an accounting method under consideration
The IRS considered whether an information document request issued while an examination was being planned counted as written notice that an accounting method was under consideration. The taxpayer…
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.