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 200140057: Certain extended service contracts qualify as insurance
A company planned to issue extended service contracts covering repair costs after mechanical breakdowns of durable goods. The IRS ruled that contracts for which the company itself was liable were…
PLR 200140056: Corporation receives relief for missed S election deadline
A corporation with two shareholders intended to be taxed as an S corporation, and the company discovered its election had been filed late. The IRS ruled under § 1362(b)(5) that the election would be…
PLR 200140055: Corporation receives relief for a late S election
A corporation's shareholder 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 200140054: 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 200140052: Late application to change tax year is treated as timely
A taxpayer filed Form 1128 after the deadline to request a change from a December 31 to a January 31 tax year. The filing was late because of an error or misunderstanding, but arrived within 90 days…
PLR 200140051: Former resident rebuts expatriation tax avoidance presumption
A former long-term U.S. resident gave up her green card and returned to the country where she had always been a citizen. Her net worth exceeded the threshold that presumed a tax avoidance purpose…
PLR 200140050: Late trust elections receive S corporation termination relief
An S corporation transferred shares to two trusts whose beneficiaries failed to make timely qualified subchapter S trust elections. That failure terminated the corporation's S election. The IRS…
CCA 200140049: Distribution after bank acquisition reduces loss group's value
A bank bought a loss group's parent company and soon received a large distribution of the parent's cash. Chief Counsel concluded that the distribution was a corporate contraction connected with the…
PLR 200140048: Late entity classification and S corporation elections accepted
An entity intended to elect corporate tax classification and S corporation status from its formation date, but it missed the filing deadlines for both elections. The IRS granted an extension to file…
PLR 200140047: Corporation receives relief for a late S election
A corporation's shareholders intended to elect S corporation treatment from a specified date, but the election was not filed on time. The IRS found reasonable cause for the missed deadline under §…
PLR 200140046: Trust's stock purchase agreements preserve S corporation status
A trust that had elected qualified subchapter S trust treatment bought more stock in an S corporation. Its purchase involved a promissory note secured by the shares and an agreement to use corporate…
PLR 200140045: Late S election allowed from incorporation date
A corporation's shareholders wanted S corporation treatment from the date of incorporation, but they did not file the election on time. The IRS found reasonable cause for the missed deadline under §…
PLR 200140044: Parent receives late S and subsidiary election relief
A corporation intended to be an S corporation and to treat its wholly owned subsidiary as a qualified subchapter S subsidiary from their incorporation date. It missed both election deadlines. The…
PLR 200140043: Trust's stock purchase agreements preserve S corporation status
A trust that had elected qualified subchapter S trust treatment bought more stock in an S corporation. Its purchase involved a promissory note secured by the shares and an agreement to use corporate…
PLR 200140042: Ranch business split-off qualifies for nonrecognition
Shareholder disputes led an S corporation operating a ranching business to propose dividing that business. It would transfer part of its assets and liabilities to a new corporation, then distribute…
CCA 200140041: Business ceased to be a railroad retirement tax employer
The Railroad Retirement Board advised the IRS that a redacted business had ceased being an employer under the Railroad Retirement Act and Railroad Unemployment Insurance Act, effective March 31,…
PLR 200140040: Trust's stock purchase agreements preserve S corporation status
A trust that had elected qualified subchapter S trust treatment bought more stock in an S corporation. Its purchase involved a promissory note secured by the shares and an agreement to use corporate…
PLR 200140039: Business spin-off qualifies for nonrecognition treatment
An S corporation moved one of its two businesses into a newly formed corporation and planned to distribute that corporation's shares to its shareholders. The stated purpose was to let the new…
PLR 200140038: Parent receives extension for a section 338 election
A U.S. parent intended to make a § 338(g) election for its foreign subsidiary's purchase of another company's stock, but a valid election was not filed by the deadline. The IRS found that the parent…
PLR 200140036: Late S election allowed from start of business
A business's shareholders intended to elect S corporation treatment from the date it began operating, but the election was not filed on time. The IRS found reasonable cause for the missed deadline…
PLR 200140035: First-year S election treated as timely after missed filing
A corporation intended to be an S corporation in its first taxable year, as reflected in its organizational minutes, and filed an S corporation return. It had never filed the required Form 2553…
PLR 200140034: Late S election allowed from start of business
A business's shareholders intended to elect S corporation treatment from the date it began operating, but the election was not filed on time. The IRS found reasonable cause for the missed deadline…
PLR 200140033: Two-step subsidiary split-off receives nonrecognition treatment
A corporate group proposed separating two subsidiaries serving different markets so the remaining group could raise capital and the separated business could operate independently. An intermediate…
PLR 200140032: State renewable energy fund may receive deductible gifts
A state-created corporation administered a renewable energy fund financed partly by charges on electricity users. Consumers could also choose to donate to the fund through their utility bills. The…
PLR 200140031: Late settlement fund relation-back election accepted
An escrow account was established to fund environmental cleanup, and its administrator intended to make a qualified settlement fund relation-back election. Miscommunications led its tax preparer…
PLR 200140030: Buyer and sellers receive extension for section 338 election
A corporate buyer acquired an S corporation, and the buyer and sellers agreed to make a joint § 338(h)(10) election. They filed tax returns as though the election had been made, but the election…
PLR 200140029: Buyer and sellers receive extension for section 338 election
A corporate buyer acquired an S corporation, and the buyer and sellers agreed to make a joint § 338(h)(10) election. They filed tax returns as though the election had been made, but the election…
PLR 200140028: LLC receives late corporate classification election relief
An LLC intended from formation to be taxed as a corporation, but its advisers did not tell it to file Form 8832. The LLC later filed the form and asked for relief so the election would take effect…
PLR 200140027: Donor may give part of a unitrust interest to charity
A donor proposed dividing a charitable remainder unitrust into two trusts, then giving the smaller trust's income and remainder interests to a charity. The IRS concluded that the donor's transfer of…
PLR 200140026: Mall naming payment is not tenant service income or rent
A real estate investment trust expected a payment from a cable company for naming rights at a shopping mall. The cable company might separately lease space at the mall. The IRS found the naming…
CCA 200140025: Business became a railroad retirement tax employer
The Railroad Retirement Board advised the IRS that a redacted business became an employer under the Railroad Retirement Act and Railroad Unemployment Insurance Act, effective June 16, 2000. Chief…
CCA 200140024: Business ceased to be a railroad retirement tax employer
The Railroad Retirement Board advised the IRS that a redacted business had ceased being an employer under the Railroad Retirement Act and Railroad Unemployment Insurance Act, effective December 31,…
CCA 200140023: Business became a railroad retirement tax employer
The Railroad Retirement Board advised the IRS that a redacted business became an employer under the Railroad Retirement Act and Railroad Unemployment Insurance Act, effective June 1, 1999. Chief…
CCA 200140022: Business is not a railroad retirement tax employer
The Railroad Retirement Board advised the IRS that a redacted business was not an employer under the Railroad Retirement Act or Railroad Unemployment Insurance Act. Chief Counsel reviewed the…
PLR 200140017: Screening tests qualify as medical care, with limits
An employee asked whether various disease screening tests counted as medical care and whether reimbursement through her employer's medical flexible spending account could be excluded from income.…
CCA 200140016: Business is not a railroad retirement tax employer
The Railroad Retirement Board advised the IRS that a redacted business was not an employer under the Railroad Retirement Act or Railroad Unemployment Insurance Act. Chief Counsel reviewed the…
CCA 200140014: Business became a railroad retirement tax employer
The Railroad Retirement Board advised the IRS that a redacted business became an employer under the Railroad Retirement Act and Railroad Unemployment Insurance Act, effective April 17, 2000. Chief…
CCA 200140013: Business ceased to be a railroad retirement tax employer
The Railroad Retirement Board advised the IRS that a redacted business had ceased being an employer under the Railroad Retirement Act and Railroad Unemployment Insurance Act, effective December 31,…
CCA 200140012: Business became a railroad retirement tax employer
The Railroad Retirement Board advised the IRS that a redacted business became an employer under the Railroad Retirement Act and Railroad Unemployment Insurance Act, effective September 1, 2000.…
PLR 200140011: Two mergers treated as a direct asset acquisition if integrated
A buyer acquired a target through a subsidiary merger, then proposed merging the target into itself after contract assignments became possible. The IRS ruled that, if the two mergers were steps in…
CCA 200140010: Business and employee services fall outside railroad tax coverage
The Railroad Retirement Board advised the IRS that a redacted business was not an employer under the Railroad Retirement Act or Railroad Unemployment Insurance Act and that its employees' services…
CCA 200140009: Business ceased to be a railroad retirement tax employer
The Railroad Retirement Board advised the IRS that a redacted business had ceased being an employer under the Railroad Retirement Act and Railroad Unemployment Insurance Act, effective February 14,…
CCA 200140008: Business became a railroad retirement tax employer
The Railroad Retirement Board advised the IRS that a redacted business became an employer under the Railroad Retirement Act and Railroad Unemployment Insurance Act, effective August 14, 2000. Chief…
CCA 200140007: Business became a railroad retirement tax employer
The Railroad Retirement Board advised the IRS that a redacted business became an employer under the Railroad Retirement Act and Railroad Unemployment Insurance Act, effective January 1, 1995. Chief…
CCA 200140006: Business is not a railroad retirement tax employer
The Railroad Retirement Board advised the IRS that a redacted business was not an employer under the Railroad Retirement Act or Railroad Unemployment Insurance Act. Chief Counsel reviewed the…
CCA 200140005: Two businesses became railroad retirement tax employers
The Railroad Retirement Board advised the IRS that two redacted businesses became employers under the Railroad Retirement Act and Railroad Unemployment Insurance Act on different dates. Chief…
CCA 200140004: Business is not a railroad retirement tax employer
The Railroad Retirement Board advised the IRS that a redacted business was not an employer under the Railroad Retirement Act or Railroad Unemployment Insurance Act. Chief Counsel reviewed the…
CCA 200140003: Business ceased to be a railroad retirement tax employer
The Railroad Retirement Board advised the IRS that a redacted business had ceased being an employer under the Railroad Retirement Act and Railroad Unemployment Insurance Act, effective February 8,…
CCA 200140002: Business became a railroad retirement tax employer
The Railroad Retirement Board advised the IRS that a redacted business became an employer under the Railroad Retirement Act and Railroad Unemployment Insurance Act, effective May 12, 1998. Chief…
CCA 200140001: Business became a railroad retirement tax employer
The Railroad Retirement Board advised the IRS that a redacted business became an employer under the Railroad Retirement Act and Railroad Unemployment Insurance Act, effective January 1, 2000. Chief…
CCA 200139031: Unsigned refund claim for decedent produced erroneous refunds
After a taxpayer died without a will, a woman filed an unsigned return and Form 1310 and received two refunds. An appointed estate administrator later claimed the refunds. Chief Counsel advised that…
CCA 200139030: IRS may offset bidder deposit against actual sale damages
The IRS sold real estate it had redeemed after a nonjudicial sale, but the winning bidder did not pay the balance. The sale notice required a deposit and had no liquidated damages clause. Chief…
Other 200139029: July 2001 collection and bankruptcy bulletin
This Chief Counsel bulletin collects a July 2001 case roundup and several previously released advice memoranda about collection and bankruptcy. Its lead case summary discusses a Fifth Circuit…
PLR 200139028: Complex business separation receives specified nonrecognition rulings
A multinational group proposed many internal transfers, mergers, and entity classification elections to separate one business before a public stock offering. The IRS ruled that a U.S. contribution…
PLR 200139027: Late S election allowed after attorney miscommunication
A corporation intended to elect S corporation status from its incorporation date, but a miscommunication between its president and attorney left Form 2553 unfiled. The IRS found reasonable cause for…
PLR 200139026: Later merger leaves earlier distribution rulings intact
A company had distributed the stock of a subsidiary to its shareholders and received two earlier ruling letters about the transaction. Those letters contemplated that the subsidiary would issue…
CCA 200139025: Utility withdraws depreciation method change requests
An electric utility withdrew requests to change how it depreciated power line easements, street lighting, and other assets. Chief Counsel told the IRS industry director that it had been tentatively…
PLR 200139024: S corporation status restored after corporate shareholder exits
An S corporation lost its eligibility when another corporation bought some of its stock. After discovering the problem, the corporate shareholder distributed that stock to its individual…
CCA 200139023: Street lighting depreciation method change denied
An electric utility sought to reclassify its street lighting equipment for depreciation, treating it as property with no class life rather than as electric transmission and distribution plant. The…
CCA 200139022: Patent settlement sourced mainly to United States
A U.S. company received a lump sum settlement after patent infringement litigation. Chief Counsel accepted treating the payment as royalty income and concluded that the portion resolving claims over…
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.