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 200136008: Tax benefit rule not recommended for gas supplier refunds passed to customers
A regulated natural gas utility received refunds from its pipeline suppliers after regulators reduced the suppliers' rates. The utility had to return the refunds, with interest, to its customers…
CCA 200136007: Companies withdraw request to change depreciation retirement accounting
Two companies asked to change how they identify the year that retired depreciable assets were placed in service. They proposed treating several types of property as mass assets and using a mortality…
CCA 200136006: Surviving merger corporation is not liable as a transferee
A corporation merged into another corporation and ceased to exist separately. The IRS asked whether the surviving corporation could be held liable as a transferee for the former corporation's taxes.…
TAM 200136005: Written proposed tax adjustment supports designated advance payment
During an audit, the IRS told a corporation in writing that it intended to propose tax adjustments. The corporation then sent checks with letters expressly designating amounts as advance tax…
CCA 200136004: Certain bankruptcy estate expenses reduce adjusted gross income
A Chapter 7 bankruptcy trustee asked how to deduct the estate's administrative expenses. Chief Counsel advised that § 67(e) applies to an individual debtor's bankruptcy estate. Expenses that would…
PLR 200136003: Subsidiary's deductions for stock options after change of parent
A company acquired a subsidiary whose employees still held options to buy stock of its former parent. The IRS ruled that the subsidiary could deduct compensation from employees' post-acquisition…
TAM 200136002: Insurance premium refunds do not produce specified liability loss
A property and casualty insurer became obligated under state law to refund premiums collected during a disputed rate rollback. It sought to treat the resulting loss as a specified liability loss…
TAM 200136001: Election eliminates stock dividend within continuing consolidated group
A newly formed parent corporation acquired stock in an existing parent and later received more of that corporation's stock as a dividend. The dividend raised its ownership above 80 percent, creating…
PLR 200135041: Extension granted to elect consolidated return filing
A parent corporation and its wholly owned subsidiary missed the deadline to elect consolidated federal income tax return filing after relying on tax professionals. The IRS found that they had acted…
PLR 200135040: Extension granted to file stock purchase election
An S corporation bought stock of another S corporation, and the buyer and sellers intended to make a § 338(h)(10) election to treat the purchase as a deemed asset sale. They failed to file a valid…
PLR 200135039: Recapitalization and business separation qualify for nonrecognition
A corporation held a minority economic stake in another company and wanted to separate their different businesses. It proposed converting its shares into a new class carrying at least 80 percent of…
PLR 200135038: Controlled company distribution qualifies under section 355
A parent company planned to distribute its wholly owned subsidiary's stock to shareholders so the subsidiary could later merge with an unrelated bank. Banking law prevented that merger while the…
CCA 200135036: Street lighting depreciation method change denied
A utility changed its depreciation treatment for street lighting equipment under an automatic consent procedure, believing the equipment belonged in no listed asset class. Chief Counsel concluded…
PLR 200135035: Late S corporation election accepted with timely Form 2553
A corporation's sole shareholder intended to elect S corporation status when the company was formed and asked an attorney to file the election, but Form 2553 was not filed on time. The IRS found…
PLR 200135034: Late S corporation election accepted after Form 1120S filing
A corporation intended to be an S corporation from its first tax year and filed an S corporation tax return, but it never filed Form 2553 to make the election. The IRS found reasonable cause for the…
PLR 200135033: Omitted S corporation election treated as timely if filed within 60 days
A newly formed corporation intended S corporation status from its first tax year, as reflected in its incorporation documents, and filed an S corporation return. It had not filed the required Form…
PLR 200135032: Waiver lets former subsidiary rejoin consolidated return
A subsidiary left a consolidated tax group after a stock issuance and public offering reduced the group's ownership below 80 percent. Later mergers brought the subsidiary's business back under a…
CCA 200135030: File Massachusetts personal property tax liens with federal district court
Chief Counsel considered whether changes to Massachusetts commercial filing law changed where the IRS should file notices of federal tax lien on personal property. It advised continuing to file…
CCA 200135029: IRS may improve small partnership penalty relief notices
A taxpayer advocacy panel asked the IRS to make it easier for small partnerships to obtain relief from the penalty for failing to file a partnership return. Chief Counsel explained that small…
CCA 200135028: Florida may file both individual and joint federal tax lien notices
Florida IRS collection staff asked whether they could keep filing a joint federal tax lien notice when spouses who own property as tenants by the entirety were both liable for trust fund recovery…
CCA 200135027: Hardship refund may bypass offset before overpayment is credited
Chief Counsel addressed hardship refunds for taxpayers whose overpayments might otherwise be used to pay outstanding federal tax debts. It advised that the IRS generally cannot reverse an…
CCA 200135025: Lower failure-to-pay rate starts when installment agreement is accepted
The IRS asked whether a mailed application for an installment agreement could be treated as accepted on the day it arrived so the taxpayer would receive a lower failure-to-pay addition to tax…
CCA 200135024: Taxpayer, not preparer, faces frivolous return penalty on jointly signed return
The IRS asked whom to penalize when both a taxpayer and a return preparer signed a purported income tax return containing a frivolous position. Chief Counsel advised that the taxpayer, as the person…
PLR 200135022: Investment fund asset transfer qualifies as type D reorganization
One regulated investment company proposed transferring substantially all its assets to another investment company for voting shares and assumption of liabilities. It would then distribute the new…
PLR 200135021: Investment fund asset transfer qualifies as type D reorganization
One regulated investment company proposed transferring substantially all its assets to another investment company for voting shares and assumption of liabilities. It would then distribute the new…
CCA 200135020: Circular capital contribution and dividend do not support foreign tax credit
A domestic corporation contributed cash to its wholly owned foreign subsidiary in exchange for additional stock, and the subsidiary returned the same amount as a purported cash dividend days later.…
PLR 200135019: Investment funds receive extensions for dividend and foreign tax elections
Fourteen regulated investment company funds filed tax returns containing intended elections, but their manager had failed to file the usual return extensions. Thirteen funds sought to elect to treat…
PLR 200135018: Bond issuer receives extension for volume cap carryforward election
A public bond issuer received an allocation of unused private activity bond volume cap for future solid waste disposal projects. State procedures required written notice of the allocation before the…
PLR 200135017: Late S election relief requires amended corporate and shareholder returns
A corporation believed it had elected S corporation status, and its two shareholders reported their shares of income or loss on individual returns. The company later learned that Form 2553 had not…
PLR 200135016: Funds may revoke election for capital gain distribution period
Two regulated investment company funds had elected to use their calendar tax years to calculate capital gain distributions for the § 4982 excise tax. They found that the election created…
PLR 200135015: Inventor retains patent holder status after transfer to partnership LLC
An inventor and his daughters proposed transferring their interests in product patents and related property to a new LLC taxed as a partnership. The inventor asked whether transferring his patent…
PLR 200135014: Allocating co-op shares to convertible commercial units preserves status
A cooperative housing corporation planned to allocate unissued shares to two ground-floor spaces then used by commercial tenants. Each related proprietary lease would give its share owner the right…
PLR 200135013: Late corporate classification election preserves subsidiary S election
A business trust with two beneficial owners intended to be classified as a corporation for federal tax purposes after a sequence of mergers, but missed the deadline to file Form 8832. It had also…
PLR 200135012: Late S corporation election accepted if Form 2553 is filed
A newly incorporated company's sole shareholder decided to elect S corporation status, but Form 2553 was not filed on time. The company requested relief under § 1362(b)(5) for the year beginning on…
CCA 200135011: Related foreign lender's note likely debt with discount deducted on payment
A domestic corporation borrowed from a foreign entity owned by a sibling of its ultimate owner and used the money to buy real estate. Chief Counsel said the note appeared, on balance, to be genuine…
PLR 200135010: Late S election allowed after reliance on tax advisers
A newly incorporated company's sole shareholder decided to elect S corporation status and relied on tax advisers to file Form 2553, but the form was not filed on time. The IRS found reasonable cause…
PLR 200135009: Commercial rents excluded from S corporation passive investment income
An S corporation with accumulated earnings and profits leased commercial properties and provided maintenance, security, and management services through staff and contractors. It asked whether rents…
PLR 200135008: First-year S election treated as timely after missed Form 2553
A corporation with two shareholders intended to be an S corporation from formation and filed an S corporation return for its first year, but it had not filed Form 2553 on time. The IRS found…
PLR 200135007: Dividing grandfathered trust preserves GST exemption without gain
A trustee proposed dividing a trust created under a will executed before the generation-skipping transfer tax's 1986 effective date into twelve separate trusts for its current beneficiaries. Assets…
PLR 200135006: Late S election effective when company began business
A corporation's shareholders wanted S corporation status from the date the company began business, but no election was filed on time. The IRS found reasonable cause for the failure and ruled that…
CCA 200135005: Interest on late DISC deficiency distributions
Several domestic international sales corporations (DISCs) failed an assets test and later made deficiency distributions, with interest, to preserve their DISC status. By then, the DISCs had been…
PLR 200135004: Late QSub election granted from subsidiary's incorporation
An S corporation formed a wholly owned subsidiary and instructed its law firm to elect qualified subchapter S subsidiary (QSub) treatment from the subsidiary's incorporation date. The law firm…
CCA 200135003: Coal fuel credit request received a no-rule letter
A partnership sought a § 29 credit for what it described as synthetic fuel made from coal. It assembled a production facility using equipment that had previously cleaned or handled coal. Chief…
CCA 200135002: Sale of pledged hydroelectric projects and debt relief
A subsidiary defaulted on a loan secured by its hydroelectric projects, sold those projects to a third party, and sent the proceeds to the lender in settlement of the debt. Chief Counsel advised…
CCA 200135001: Transfers of gain and loss property to a subsidiary
A parent and one subsidiary transferred appreciated facilities to another subsidiary, while an individual transferred trust interests with a built-in loss to that same subsidiary. The receiving…
PLR 200134034: 401(k) distributions after a subsidiary stock sale
A company sold the stock of a subsidiary that owned a facility. The seller's employees who had worked at that facility were terminated, and the buyer later hired many of them. The seller continued…
PLR 200134033: Estate loan to trust-linked business is not self-dealing
An estate expected to leave its residual assets to a charitable remainder trust. The estate held a note from a subsidiary of a company whose stock it also owned, and proposed to exchange the note…
PLR 200134032: State tuition savings program qualifies under section 529
A state-created tuition savings program asked whether it qualified for federal income tax exemption under § 529. The IRS ruled that it did. The program was established and overseen by state…
PLR 200134031: Pension amendments during Chapter 11 reorganization
An employer in Chapter 11 proposed three amendments to its defined benefit pension plan, including enhanced early retirement benefits and higher cash balance and benefit accrual credits. Because the…
PLR 200134030: Foundation set-aside for studio and apartment
A private operating foundation maintained a European center where scholars and artists lived and worked. It wanted to set aside funds for an additional artist's studio and an apartment near research…
PLR 200134029: Scholarship procedures for employees' children approved
An organization asked the IRS to approve procedures for scholarships funded for employees' children and administered by a separate public charity. The charity would select recipients using academic…
PLR 200134028: Pension plan minimum funding waiver denied
A company requested a waiver of the minimum funding standard for its defined benefit pension plan for the 2000 plan year. The IRS denied the request because the company's controlled group did not…
PLR 200134027: Hospital affiliation preserves exemptions and public charity status
Two nonprofit hospital systems affiliated under a parent organization that would supervise their activities, budgets, and strategic plans. They asked whether the affiliation would affect the…
PLR 200134026: Foundation may hold up to 35 percent of company voting stock
A private foundation held voting stock in a privately owned company and asked whether its holdings could qualify for the higher 35 percent limit under § 4943. That limit requires effective control…
PLR 200134025: University fundraiser's LLCs need no separate exemption applications
A tax-exempt university supporting organization planned to place donated property in separate single member LLCs to protect its other assets from property related liabilities. The LLCs would be…
CCA 200134024: No interest on excess offer payments below full tax liability
Chief Counsel considered three examples in which a taxpayer paid more than the amount in an accepted offer in compromise while the underlying tax liability remained unsatisfied. The extra money came…
PLR 200134023: Built-in gain clock continues after S corporation becomes REIT
A corporation changed from C corporation status to S corporation status, then lost its S status when ineligible shareholders acquired its stock. It then elected to be a real estate investment trust…
PLR 200134022: Built-in gain clock continues after S corporation becomes REIT
A corporation changed from C corporation status to S corporation status, then lost its S status when ineligible shareholders acquired its stock. It then elected to be a real estate investment trust…
PLR 200134021: Power interconnection transfer excluded as capital contribution
A regulated electric utility would build interconnection facilities at a cogenerator's expense and receive ownership after construction. The facilities would connect the cogenerator's plant to the…
PLR 200134020: Late S corporation election accepted for reasonable cause
A corporation intended to be taxed as an S corporation but discovered that it had not filed its election on time. It represented that its two shareholders were resident aliens eligible to hold S…
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.