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 200129004: Military commissary bagger is not its employee
A military commissary asked the IRS to classify a grocery bagger for federal employment tax purposes. The bagger worked under a license agreement, received tips from patrons rather than pay from the…
CCA 200129003: Thrift may charge partly worthless loans against bad debt reserves
A thrift using IRC § 593 bad debt reserves added several categories of loan and foreclosure losses to its tax reserve charges for one year. An examining agent treated the new charges for partial…
TAM 200129002: Some workers' compensation payments qualify for extended loss carryback
A taxpayer asked whether deductions for self-insured workers' compensation, related legal and filing costs, and pension contributions could create specified liability losses under the version of IRC…
CCA 200129001: Claim of right tax reduction can offset alternative minimum tax payable
A utility group refunded access fees it had included in income in earlier years and claimed relief under IRC § 1341's claim of right rule. IRS examiners disputed how the resulting tax reduction…
PLR 200128061: Demutualization policy credits stay within retirement contracts
A mutual insurance holding company planned to convert to stock ownership and give some policyholders credits in their insurance contracts for their membership interests. Holders of certain tax…
PLR 200128060: Town's pension contributions qualify as employer pick ups
A town adopted a defined benefit pension plan for employees moving from an earlier plan and agreed to pay their mandatory contributions. The employees could not take those amounts in cash. The IRS…
PLR 200128059: Merged charity keeps exemption, but tournament advertising is taxable
A social welfare organization and a related charity planned to merge into an existing charity that would continue their annual golf tournament and charity ball. The IRS ruled that the merger would…
PLR 200128058: Extra time to undo an ineligible Roth IRA conversion
A taxpayer converted a traditional IRA to a Roth IRA in 1998, although the couple's income exceeded the conversion limit. Their accountant had not warned them about the limit, and they missed the…
PLR 200128057: Pension settlement fund treated as part of the retirement plan
A retirement plan used its own trust assets to fund a court approved settlement of a class action over underpaid lump sum benefits. The settlement fund would hold and distribute the additional…
PLR 200128056: Surviving spouse may roll inherited IRA proceeds through a trust
A deceased IRA owner's revocable trust named the surviving spouse as beneficiary of one share of the trust. The trustee planned to fund other shares with non IRA assets and place the IRA proceeds in…
CCA 200128055: IRS experts should not sign separate taxpayer confidentiality agreements
Several taxpayers wanted outside experts hired by the IRS to sign separate nondisclosure and nonuse agreements before reviewing their records. Chief Counsel advised against those agreements. It…
CCA 200128054: Counsel's objection does not veto an authorized tax compromise
Chief Counsel addressed whether an IRS area director could accept an offer in compromise despite an unfavorable Counsel opinion. The director may accept an offer when Counsel disagrees with the…
CCA 200128053: Ten day partnership transaction recast under anti abuse rule
A corporation transferred assets to a new entity and, ten days later, sold an interest in that entity to another company. The transaction increased the allocated tax basis of trademarks and fixed…
PLR 200128052: Partnership receives more time to make a section 754 election
An LLC taxed as a partnership failed to file a timely § 754 election after the death of a member whose interest was held through a grantor trust. The IRS found that the partnership met the…
PLR 200128051: Bank combinations qualify as Type D reorganizations
A bank holding company planned to combine two subsidiary banks into a third and sell the two bank charters. A regulator required a transaction form involving outside bank holding companies. The IRS…
PLR 200128050: Foreign entity gets more time to elect partnership classification
A foreign entity and its shareholders intended from formation to elect partnership status for federal tax purposes but did not file Form 8832 on time. The IRS found that the entity met the standards…
PLR 200128049: Late tax year change application treated as timely filed
A taxpayer filed Form 1128 late to request a change from a December 31 tax year to a September 30 tax year. The IRS found that the late filing resulted from an error or misunderstanding and that the…
PLR 200128048: Foreign entity gets more time to elect partnership classification
A foreign entity and its shareholders intended from formation to elect partnership status for federal tax purposes but did not file Form 8832 on time. The IRS found that the entity met the standards…
PLR 200128047: Foreign entity gets more time to elect partnership classification
A foreign entity and its shareholders intended from a specified date to elect partnership status for federal tax purposes but did not file Form 8832 on time. The IRS found that the entity met the…
PLR 200128046: Foreign subsidiary gets more time to elect disregarded entity status
A foreign entity and its parent intended the entity to be disregarded as separate from the parent for federal tax purposes, but Form 8832 was not filed on time. The IRS found that the entity met the…
PLR 200128045: Late S corporation election receives conditional relief
A corporation intended to be an S corporation when it first had shareholders, but it did not file Form 2553 on time. It filed S corporation tax returns for that year and later years. The IRS found…
PLR 200128044: Commercial property rents are active business income
A commercial property owner sought a ruling before electing S corporation status. It managed its rental properties, provided maintenance and emergency repairs, and incurred operating expenses. The…
PLR 200128043: More time to file consolidated stock loss statement
A consolidated group claimed a loss on the sale of subsidiary stock but omitted the required statement of allowed loss from its return. The IRS found that the parent reasonably relied on a qualified…
PLR 200128042: Foreign entity gets more time to elect partnership classification
A foreign entity and its shareholders intended from formation to elect partnership status for federal tax purposes but did not file Form 8832 on time. The IRS found that the entity met the standards…
PLR 200128041: Former resident's departure lacked a principal tax avoidance purpose
A former U.S. lawful permanent resident asked whether relinquishing that status had a principal purpose of avoiding U.S. tax. His net worth exceeded the threshold that could trigger a tax avoidance…
CCA 200128040: Tax effects of converting a foreign subsidiary to a partnership
Chief Counsel analyzed a U.S. company's conversion of a foreign subsidiary into a foreign partnership. For the subsidiary's first year as a controlled foreign corporation, the U.S. owner could…
PLR 200128039: Later merger does not alter prior spin off rulings
After a corporate group distributed stock of two subsidiaries, one of them planned to merge with an unrelated public company. The IRS ruled that the merger, related securities transactions, and…
PLR 200128038: Later merger does not alter prior spin off rulings
After a corporate group distributed stock of two subsidiaries, one of them planned to merge with an unrelated public company. The IRS ruled that the merger, related securities transactions, and…
CCA 200128037: Tax character of payments after a resident sells restricted shares
A former U.S. lawful permanent resident received payments after selling restricted shares in a foreign corporation and leaving the United States. Chief Counsel advised verifying when he abandoned…
PLR 200128036: S corporation election effective from incorporation
A corporation intended to elect S corporation status from its incorporation date but missed the filing deadline. The IRS found reasonable cause for the late election under § 1362(b)(5). It ruled…
PLR 200128035: Pro rata trust division preserves tax treatment of beneficiaries
Trustees proposed dividing a trust into three family trusts, giving each an equal share of every asset while preserving the beneficiaries' substantive rights and the original termination date. The…
PLR 200128034: Foreign entity may file late partnership classification election
A foreign entity had two owners, both with limited liability, and therefore would be classified as an association unless it elected otherwise. It intended to elect partnership status but…
PLR 200128033: Late partnership classification election effective at first closing
A foreign entity's owners intended to elect partnership classification from the entity's first closing, but Form 8832 was not timely filed. The IRS found that the entity satisfied the requirements…
PLR 200128032: Ineligible shareholder does not end S corporation treatment
An S corporation issued shares to a director who was ineligible to hold S corporation stock, causing its election to terminate. When the company discovered the problem, it redeemed the shares and…
CCA 200128031: Retroactive divorce order does not shift earlier partnership income
A state court awarded a former spouse the couple's entire partnership interest and initially made that award effective from an earlier date. Chief Counsel advised that the retroactive order did not…
PLR 200128030: More time to elect Qsub status for two subsidiaries
An S corporation owned two subsidiaries and intended to elect qualified subchapter S subsidiary status for each from its incorporation date. It missed the filing deadlines. The IRS found that the…
PLR 200128029: Foreign entity may file late partnership classification election
A foreign entity had two owners, both with limited liability, and therefore would be classified as an association unless it elected otherwise. It intended to elect partnership status but…
PLR 200128028: Late S corporation election granted effective on requested date
A corporation's shareholders intended to elect S corporation treatment effective on a specified date, but the corporation did not file the election on time. The IRS found reasonable cause for the…
PLR 200128027: Former resident rebuts presumption of tax avoidance
A former long-term U.S. resident surrendered her green card, and her net worth exceeded the threshold that triggered a presumption of tax avoidance. She had been a lifelong citizen of her birth…
PLR 200128026: Limited partnership may file late corporate classification election
A domestic limited partnership intended to be taxed as a corporation from its organization date but missed the deadline to file Form 8832. The IRS found that it met the standards for discretionary…
PLR 200128025: Active rental income excluded from S corporation passive investment income
An S corporation with accumulated earnings and profits owned and managed six rental properties. Its employees and contractors provided maintenance, repairs, improvements, security, and other…
PLR 200128024: Late S corporation election allowed from incorporation
A corporation intended to be taxed as an S corporation from its incorporation date but missed the election deadline. The IRS found reasonable cause for the late filing and granted relief under IRC §…
PLR 200128023: Late S corporation election granted for requested effective date
A corporation intended to elect S corporation treatment effective on a specified date but failed to file the election on time. The IRS found reasonable cause for the delay and granted relief under…
PLR 200128022: Former resident rebuts expatriation tax avoidance presumption
A former long-term U.S. resident returned to her birth country and surrendered her green card. Her net worth exceeded the threshold that would otherwise trigger a presumption of tax avoidance. The…
PLR 200128021: Trust allotment and directly derived cash excluded from estate
A Native American decedent inherited allotted land held in federal trust from her son, along with income traceable to that land. Some rent proceeds had moved from a Bureau of Indian Affairs account…
PLR 200128020: Nuclear decommissioning funding schedule approved for one commission only
A utility that owned part of a nuclear plant sought two schedules of amounts it could contribute to a nuclear decommissioning fund under IRC § 468A. The IRS denied the schedule for one regulator…
PLR 200128019: Late S corporation election approved from requested date
A corporation's shareholders intended for it to be an S corporation from a specified date, but the election was filed late. The IRS found reasonable cause for the delay and granted relief under IRC…
PLR 200128018: School nurses' wages may qualify for Social Security tax exclusion
A private nursing agency paid nurses assigned to a public school board. Assuming the board was their common law employer, the IRS found that the agency controlled wage payments and was responsible…
PLR 200128017: One shareholder company granted late S election relief
A company with one shareholder intended to be an S corporation from the beginning of a specified tax year, but discovered that it had not filed the election on time. The IRS found reasonable cause…
PLR 200128016: Revised nuclear decommissioning fund schedule approved
A utility that owned an interest in a nuclear plant requested a revised schedule of contributions to its decommissioning fund under IRC § 468A. Two public utility commissions had approved…
PLR 200128015: Subsidiary merger treated as tax free liquidation
A parent corporation proposed to merge a wholly owned subsidiary into itself. Based on the stated ownership and transaction facts, the IRS ruled that the merger would be treated as a complete…
CCA 200128014: Record does not support applying consolidated return avoidance rules to stock loss
A consolidated corporate group claimed a loss when its parent sold preferred stock in a subsidiary joint venture. The subsidiary's operating losses had reduced the parent's basis in common stock,…
CCA 200128013: Customer reimbursement makes research funded for credit purposes
A research center serving its shareholder customers sought a research credit for project costs. Its directives provided for recovering project costs from customers, including when a project failed…
PLR 200128012: Buyer and seller receive time to file late asset sale election
A corporate buyer acquired all the stock of a target from a consolidated group. The buyer and seller intended to make a joint IRC § 338(h)(10) election, which would treat the stock purchase as a…
CCA 200128011: Export corporation arrangement creates taxable gifts to children
An S corporation made export sales through a foreign sales corporation owned equally by four IRAs, one for its majority shareholder and one for each of his three children. Chief Counsel did not…
PLR 200128010: Revised nuclear decommissioning schedule approved for one regulator
A utility that partly owned a nuclear plant requested a revised decommissioning fund schedule for the jurisdiction of one public utility commission after its previous schedule expired. The IRS…
PLR 200128009: Revised decommissioning fund schedule includes common facilities
A utility owned an interest in a nuclear plant and related common facilities. It sought a revised decommissioning fund schedule for one public utility commission after an earlier schedule expired.…
PLR 200128008: Late stock purchase election filing allowed
A buyer and seller intended to make a joint IRC § 338(h)(10) election after a corporate stock acquisition but failed to file a valid election by the deadline. The IRS found that they acted…
CCA 200128007: Circular equipment leases treated as economic sham
A U.S. corporation entered a lease in, lease out arrangement involving equipment used by a foreign entity. The financing and rent payments were structured to offset each other, while the corporation…
PLR 200128006: Charity's deferred compensation trust delays employee taxation until vesting
A tax exempt charity proposed a nonqualified deferred compensation plan for its president, funded through a trust whose assets remained available to the charity's general creditors. The IRS ruled…
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.