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 200141045: S corporation division into four controlled corporations qualifies for tax treatment
An S corporation facing serious shareholder disputes proposed to transfer portions of its business assets to four wholly owned corporations. The shareholders would exchange all of their shares in…
PLR 200141042: Former citizen receives expatriation tax avoidance ruling
A dual citizen who renounced U.S. citizenship asked whether the loss of citizenship had a principal purpose of avoiding U.S. taxes. The taxpayer's net worth exceeded the statutory threshold that…
PLR 200141040: Corporate acquisition qualifies as a Type D reorganization
A public corporation proposed a tender offer followed by a merger that would leave a newly formed acquiring corporation owning it. The acquirer planned to elect S corporation status and make…
PLR 200141039: Parent receives more time to file a section 338(g) election
A U.S. parent company intended to file a section 338(g) election for its foreign subsidiary's acquisition of another foreign company's stock, but failed to file a valid election by the deadline. The…
PLR 200141038: Late S corporation election receives relief
A corporation's shareholders wanted S corporation status from the day the business began, but the corporation missed the election deadline. The IRS found reasonable cause for the late filing under §…
PLR 200141036: Monthly payments to former spouse qualify as alimony under 2001 law
A divorced taxpayer agreed to make monthly payments to a former spouse in an agreement incorporated into the divorce decree. The agreement linked the payments to the former spouse's transfer of an…
PLR 200141035: LLC receives relief for late corporate and S elections
The members of a limited liability company intended it to be taxed as a corporation and to elect S corporation status from the date it was formed. The company missed both election deadlines. The IRS…
PLR 200141033: Limited partnership receives more time to elect corporate status
A former S corporation converted into a limited partnership and intended to elect treatment as a corporation for federal tax purposes from the conversion date. The partnership missed the Form 8832…
CCA 200141032: Business ceased to be a railroad tax employer
The Railroad Retirement Board advised the IRS that a business had ceased to be an employer under two railroad benefit laws at the end of 1998. After reviewing the board's opinion and the information…
CCA 200141031: Business became a railroad tax employer
The Railroad Retirement Board advised the IRS that a business became an employer under the Railroad Retirement Act and the Railroad Unemployment Insurance Act on December 6, 2000. IRS counsel…
CCA 200141030: Business gained railroad tax employer status in 2001
The Railroad Retirement Board advised the IRS that a business became an employer under the Railroad Retirement Act and the Railroad Unemployment Insurance Act on January 1, 2001. IRS counsel…
CCA 200141029: Business became a railroad tax employer on January 2
The Railroad Retirement Board advised the IRS that a business became an employer under the Railroad Retirement Act and the Railroad Unemployment Insurance Act on January 2, 2001. IRS counsel…
PLR 200141028: Active property rental income is not passive investment income
A corporation with accumulated earnings and profits planned to elect S corporation status and asked how its property rents would be treated. It owned office and light industrial property and,…
CCA 200141026: Vacant computer facility was not retired before its sale
After an acquisition, a company closed a computer facility, vacated it, wrote down its value, and later sold it. The question was whether the company could deduct the decline in value when it closed…
PLR 200141025: Corporation receives relief for a late S election
A corporation's shareholders intended to elect S corporation treatment from the date the business began, but the election was filed late. The IRS found reasonable cause for the missed deadline under…
PLR 200141024: Dividing a trust estate preserves its generation-skipping tax treatment
A trustee asked to divide one trust estate into the three separate trusts required by the original trust instrument. A prior trustee had maintained the assets together, and a later addition to the…
PLR 200141023: Corporation receives relief for a late S election
A corporation's shareholders wanted S corporation treatment from the date the company was formed, but its election was filed late. The IRS found reasonable cause for the missed deadline under §…
PLR 200141022: Dividing a family trust avoids GST, income, and gift tax
Beneficiaries proposed to divide a family trust into six trusts, allocating assets proportionately while keeping their rights and the original termination date. The IRS concluded that the division…
CCA 200141021: Tax exempt corporate partner counts for the small partnership exception
Chief Counsel considered whether a two-partner limited partnership fell under the small partnership exception to the TEFRA audit rules. One partner was a taxable C corporation; the other was…
CCA 200141020: Israel treaty does not exempt U.S. lottery installments
An Israeli citizen received a U.S. state lottery prize in annual installments after returning to Israel. He sought a refund, claiming the payments were annuities exempt under the U.S.-Israel income…
PLR 200141019: Corporate stock option deduction arises when charity receives shares
A corporation pledged an option to buy its stock to a private foundation, which could exercise the option or transfer it to another eligible charity. The IRS ruled that the corporation's charitable…
PLR 200141018: Corporate stock option deduction arises when charity receives shares
A corporation pledged an option to buy its stock to a private foundation, which could exercise the option or transfer it to another eligible charity. The IRS ruled that the corporation's charitable…
PLR 200141016: Utility receives revised nuclear decommissioning funding schedule
A utility requested a revised schedule of amounts it could pay into a nuclear decommissioning fund after a regulator changed when its plant would leave the rate base. The IRS approved the proposed…
CCA 200141015: Stock redemptions do not bar initial estate tax installment election
An estate elected to pay estate tax in installments based on stock in a closely held business. An agreement required the corporation to redeem the stock over time. Chief Counsel advised that the…
CCA 200141014: Counsel addresses wage levy after tax liabilities were paid
Chief Counsel considered a wage levy that resumed after the IRS accepted an offer in compromise and the covered tax liabilities were fully paid. The released memorandum leaves part of the analysis…
CCA 200141013: Estate cannot refund payment below its total tax liability
An estate paid estimated tax with an extension request before electing to defer part of its estate tax under § 6166. The payment exceeded the part that could not be deferred, but it was less than…
CCA 200141012: Installment agreement cannot waive termination notice
Two installment agreements required taxpayers to waive advance notice if the IRS later terminated their agreements. Chief Counsel advised that those waivers were invalid. Section 6159(b)(5)…
CCA 200141011: Bankruptcy related abatement can be reversed after an erroneous refund
The IRS abated tax assessments after a taxpayer's Chapter 7 discharge, then received a bankruptcy trustee distribution that produced an erroneous refund. Chief Counsel advised that the IRS could…
CCA 200141010: Mexican subsidiaries' assembly work cannot be attributed to U.S. seller
A U.S. company claimed foreign source income from products assembled in Mexico by two controlled subsidiaries. Chief Counsel advised that § 863(b)(2) looks to production performed by the taxpayer…
CCA 200141009: Business is not a railroad retirement tax employer
The Railroad Retirement Board told the IRS that a redacted business was not an employer under the Railroad Retirement Act or Railroad Unemployment Insurance Act. After reviewing that opinion and the…
CCA 200141008: Railroad employer status transfers between two businesses
The Railroad Retirement Board told the IRS that one redacted business became a rail carrier employer on September 30, 1999, while another ceased to be a covered employer on September 29, 1999. IRS…
CCA 200141007: Business is not a railroad common carrier
The Railroad Retirement Board told the IRS that a redacted business was not a common carrier under the Railroad Retirement Act or Railroad Unemployment Insurance Act. IRS counsel reviewed the…
CCA 200141006: Business became a railroad retirement tax employer in 1997
The Railroad Retirement Board told the IRS that a redacted business became an employer under the Railroad Retirement Act and Railroad Unemployment Insurance Act on October 24, 1997. IRS counsel…
CCA 200141005: Business became a rail carrier employer in 1999
The Railroad Retirement Board told the IRS that a redacted business became a rail carrier employer under the Railroad Retirement Act and Railroad Unemployment Insurance Act on July 5, 1999. IRS…
CCA 200141004: Business is not a railroad retirement tax employer
The Railroad Retirement Board told the IRS that a redacted business was not an employer under the Railroad Retirement Act or Railroad Unemployment Insurance Act. After reviewing that opinion and the…
TAM 200141003: Foreign earnings are measured before dollar translation
A domestic corporation received a deemed distribution from foreign subsidiaries in a § 304 stock transaction. The IRS agreed that the subsidiaries' earnings and profits and the distribution should…
CCA 200141002: Business became a rail carrier employer in 2000
The Railroad Retirement Board told the IRS that a redacted business became a rail carrier employer under the Railroad Retirement Act and Railroad Unemployment Insurance Act on February 4, 2000. IRS…
CCA 200141001: Two businesses gain railroad employer status; a third does not
The Railroad Retirement Board told the IRS that two redacted businesses became employers under the Railroad Retirement Act and Railroad Unemployment Insurance Act on October 8, 1999. It found that a…
Other 200140081: August 2001 Collection, Bankruptcy and Summonses Bulletin
This August 2001 Chief Counsel bulletin collects case summaries and previously released advice on tax collection, bankruptcy, and summonses. It opens with a bankruptcy jurisdiction case and a…
CCA 200140080: Trust may deduct its share of a partnership's charitable gift
A trust's governing instrument did not authorize its trustee to make charitable gifts, but a partnership in which the trust held an interest made a contribution. Chief Counsel advised that the trust…
CCA 200140079: Counsel recommends clearer gift tax extension form instructions
IRS processing staff reported that payments sent with Form 4868 were sometimes posted to income tax when taxpayers intended to pay gift tax while requesting both filing extensions. Counsel explained…
CCA 200140078: IRS may reconstruct casino tips using reasonable local data
Chief Counsel considered how the IRS could estimate tips for casino floor employees when their records were inadequate. It advised that the IRS could use current tip rates from casino food and…
PLR 200140077: Late S corporation election may count from first tax year
A corporation's sole shareholder intended S corporation status from its first taxable year, and a corporate resolution recorded that intent, but Form 2553 was filed late. The IRS found reasonable…
PLR 200140076: Late S corporation election may count from first tax year
A corporation's two shareholders intended S corporation status from its first taxable year, as correspondence with its accountant showed, but Form 2553 was filed late. The IRS found reasonable cause…
PLR 200140075: Corporation receives relief for a late S election
A corporation's shareholders wanted S corporation treatment from the date the company was formed, but its election was filed late. The IRS found reasonable cause for the missed deadline under §…
PLR 200140074: Taxpayer receives time to file dual consolidated loss documents
A corporate taxpayer used losses of foreign hybrid entities in its U.S. consolidated return but missed required elections, agreements, and annual certifications for dual consolidated losses. It said…
PLR 200140071: Late S corporation election may count from first tax year
A corporation's two shareholders intended S corporation status from its first taxable year, and a corporate resolution recorded that intent, but Form 2553 was filed late. The IRS found reasonable…
PLR 200140070: Late trust election does not end corporation's S status
An S corporation shareholder died, and the estate transferred his shares to a trust intended to be a qualified subchapter S trust (QSST). The beneficiary missed the QSST election deadline, which…
PLR 200140069: Corporation receives relief for missed S election deadline
A corporation with two shareholders intended to be taxed as an S corporation, and the shareholders believed an election had been filed on time. Form 2553 had not been filed timely. The IRS ruled…
PLR 200140068: Two merger steps may be treated as a direct asset acquisition
A parent company acquired a target through a subsidiary merger and proposed to merge the target upstream into the parent after resolving contract issues. The IRS ruled that, if the two steps formed…
PLR 200140067: Former resident rebuts expatriation tax avoidance presumption
A former long-term U.S. resident returned to the country of his birth and gave up lawful permanent resident status. His net worth exceeded the then-applicable threshold that created a presumption of…
PLR 200140066: Foreign entity gets more time to elect disregarded status
A foreign eligible entity missed the deadline to elect treatment as an entity disregarded from its owner for U.S. federal tax purposes. It requested discretionary relief under the § 301.9100…
PLR 200140065: IRS narrows earlier partnership allocation ruling to identified contributions
An earlier letter allowed a partnership fund to use a method for reverse § 704(c) allocations and to combine certain built-in gains and losses for aggregate allocations. That letter did not identify…
PLR 200140064: Corporation receives relief for a late S election
A corporation's shareholders intended to elect S corporation treatment from the date the business began, but the election was filed late. The IRS found reasonable cause for the missed deadline under…
PLR 200140063: IRS revokes earlier fund allocation ruling
An earlier letter allowed a partnership fund to use a method for reverse § 704(c) allocations and combine certain gains and losses for aggregate allocations. The IRS revoked that letter because it…
PLR 200140062: IRS revokes earlier fund allocation ruling
An earlier letter allowed a partnership fund to use a method for reverse § 704(c) allocations and combine certain gains and losses for aggregate allocations. The IRS revoked that letter because it…
PLR 200140061: IRS narrows earlier partnership allocation ruling to identified contributions
An earlier letter allowed a partnership fund to use a method for reverse § 704(c) allocations and to combine certain built-in gains and losses for aggregate allocations. That letter did not identify…
PLR 200140060: IRS revokes earlier fund allocation ruling
An earlier letter allowed a partnership fund to use a method for reverse § 704(c) allocations and combine certain gains and losses for aggregate allocations. The IRS revoked that letter because it…
PLR 200140059: Foreign entity gets more time to elect disregarded status
A foreign eligible entity missed the deadline to elect treatment as an entity disregarded from its owner for U.S. federal tax purposes. It requested discretionary relief under the § 301.9100…
PLR 200140058: Foreign entity gets more time to elect partnership status
A foreign eligible entity missed the deadline to elect treatment as a partnership for U.S. federal tax purposes. It requested discretionary relief under the § 301.9100 regulations. The IRS found 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.