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 200125018: Investment fund receives relief for late dividend election
A regulated investment company planned to elect under section 855 to treat declared dividends under that provision, but its tax return and election were late after a tax firm's manager had a serious…
PLR 200125017: Foreign gaming entity gets time to elect partnership classification
Individuals formed a foreign entity engaged in Internet gaming. Under the default classification rule, it was treated as an association, but it intended to elect partnership status effective on an…
PLR 200125016: Former long-term resident rebuts expatriation tax presumption
A long-term U.S. permanent resident gave up that status and moved to the country where she had always held citizenship. Her net worth exceeded the threshold that could trigger a presumption of tax…
PLR 200125015: Former long-term resident rebuts expatriation tax presumption
A long-term U.S. permanent resident gave up that status and moved to the country where he had always held citizenship. His net worth exceeded the threshold that could trigger a presumption of tax…
CCA 200125014: Partnership return true-ups follow partnership assessment period
Corporate partners sometimes estimate partnership items on their returns before receiving Schedule K-1s. When the estimates differ from the partnership return, the IRS may make a computational…
PLR 200125013: Cooperative housing stock distribution and LLC contribution receive relief
A housing cooperative planned to issue shares tied to ground-floor commercial space that could be converted to homes, then distribute those shares to its tenant-stockholders. The stockholders…
PLR 200125012: Estate gets 30 more days to make QTIP election
An estate filed its federal estate tax return on time but omitted an election to treat property passing for the surviving spouse's benefit as qualified terminable interest property. An accounting…
PLR 200125011: Business spin-off qualifies for reorganization treatment
A public corporation separated one active business into a controlled company and planned to distribute most of that company's voting stock to its shareholders. The plan also included an initial…
PLR 200125010: Stock redemptions and ESOP sales qualify for specified section 302 treatment
A privately held corporation with voting and nonvoting common stock planned to redeem shares from its shareholders, exchange remaining nonvoting shares for voting shares, and sell specified shares…
CCA 200125009: Counsel agrees to concede captive insurance premium deductions
A domestic corporation deducted premiums paid to an insurance company owned by the same foreign parent. Chief Counsel considered whether this arrangement shifted and spread risk enough to count as…
CCA 200125008: Household cook's employer and overseas employment taxes
An individual working abroad hired a U.S. citizen as a household cook, using funds supplied by the individual's organization. Chief Counsel advised that the individual, who directed the cook's daily…
CCA 200125007: Gain on transferred stock may be allocated back to its former owner
A corporate group transferred appreciated stock into a new holding company and then to a foreign subsidiary, recognizing gain that it offset against net operating losses about to expire. Chief…
CCA 200125006: Lawsuit and recall costs do not support claimed ten-year loss carrybacks
A business sought ten-year net operating loss carrybacks for costs tied to civil rights suits, other alleged torts, and voluntary product recalls. Chief Counsel advised that the costs had not been…
CCA 200125005: Counsel supports settlement of captive insurance premium dispute
Two related holding companies and their subsidiaries deducted premiums paid to a captive insurer owned by their common parent. Examination challenged whether the arrangements were insurance for…
CCA 200125004: Payment to assume related company's bonds is not issuance premium on the stated facts
One subsidiary paid a related subsidiary to assume bonds that had been issued at face value. The recipient spread part of the payment into income over later years, calling it bond premium. Chief…
CCA 200125003: Donated business records may require a reduced charitable deduction
A corporation donated historical business records to a charity and its parent claimed a deduction based on their full market value. Chief Counsel advised that the records were property similar to…
PLR 200125002: Late S corporation election receives relief
A newly incorporated company intended to elect S corporation status but did not file the election on time. The IRS found reasonable cause for the delay and granted relief under section 1362(b)(5),…
CCA 200125001: Counsel advises against forcing drywall contractor onto accrual accounting
A residential drywall subcontractor used the cash method for tax returns, while keeping its financial books on an accrual basis. Examination proposed requiring inventory accounting and an accrual…
PLR 200124030: Surviving spouse may roll over annuities after children's disclaimers
After a woman died, her two children disclaimed their interests in a retirement annuity account. The account then passed to her estate, whose executor and sole residuary beneficiary was her…
PLR 200124029: Estate sale to family company avoids charitable trust self-dealing tax
An estate proposed selling real estate interests to a company owned by family members in exchange for a secured note. After the surviving spouse's death, charitable lead trusts would receive the…
PLR 200124028: Later payments and beneficiary changes preserve older distribution election
A retirement plan participant made written distribution elections before 1984 under a transition rule in the Tax Equity and Fiscal Responsibility Act. He later took in-service distributions and…
PLR 200124027: Transfer between family foundations preserves donor's status
One family private foundation proposed transferring about one-third of its net assets to another family private foundation to support a different branch's charitable work. The IRS ruled that the…
PLR 200124026: Transfer between family foundations preserves donor's status
One family private foundation proposed transferring about one-third of its net assets to another family private foundation to support a different branch's charitable work. The IRS ruled that the…
PLR 200124025: Religious school's pension plan qualifies as a church plan
A religious school asked whether its defined benefit pension plan was a church plan under section 414(e). The IRS concluded that the school's ties to its church, including its religious instruction,…
PLR 200124024: Foundation cannot avoid self-dealing rules by filing a termination notice
A private foundation planned to sell its publishing assets to a company controlled by its founder, then distribute any remaining assets to unrelated charities. It asked the IRS to treat its private…
PLR 200124023: Foundation may transfer all assets to another foundation without termination tax
A small private foundation proposed to transfer all its assets to a larger private foundation controlled by the same people, then dissolve. The IRS ruled that the transfer qualified under section…
PLR 200124022: Charity's downtown parking project remains exempt and avoids unrelated business tax
A public charity formed a wholly owned LLC to acquire, renovate, and operate parking facilities in a struggling downtown district. A governmental agency would issue bonds to finance the project, and…
PLR 200124021: Hospital merger preserves tax exemption and public charity status
A hospital, its parent charity, and a related fundraising and investment charity planned to merge into the hospital. The hospital would survive, take the other entities' assets and liabilities, and…
CCA 200124020: Pending tax settlement offer does not release an earlier Social Security levy
The IRS had levied a taxpayer's Social Security retirement benefits years before the taxpayer submitted an offer in compromise. Chief Counsel advised that section 6331(k), which bars making a levy…
CCA 200124019: Counsel addresses settlement tax credits, refunds, and disclosure to heirs
Chief Counsel answered several questions about tax payments credited to people receiving a settlement. Credits shared among claimants should follow each person's actual ownership interest, which…
CCA 200124018: IRS property specialist may conduct a court ordered tax lien foreclosure sale
Chief Counsel considered whether an IRS Property Appraisal and Liquidation Specialist could conduct a court ordered sale after foreclosure of a federal tax lien. It found no law requiring the United…
CCA 200124017: Schools may recover FICA paid on state retirement contributions
A state paid part of public school employees' required retirement plan contributions directly to the plan, while school districts had paid FICA tax on those amounts. Chief Counsel said a prior…
PLR 200124016: Shareholder may use deemed dividend election to end former PFIC treatment
A U.S. shareholder held stock in a foreign corporation through a grantor trust. The corporation had been a passive foreign investment company (PFIC), and it was also a controlled foreign corporation…
PLR 200124015: REMIC receives more time to make its first year election
An entity formed to operate as a real estate mortgage investment conduit (REMIC) needed to elect that treatment on its first year return. Its accountants mistakenly filed a corporate extension form…
CCA 200124014: Counsel determines deficiency interest start dates and refund offsets
A taxpayer challenged the IRS's partial denial of interest abatement after earlier refunds were later found excessive. Chief Counsel identified different starting dates for deficiency interest in…
PLR 200124013: Corporation receives relief for a late S election
A corporation intended to be taxed as an S corporation from the start of a stated tax year but discovered that its election had not been filed on time. The IRS granted relief under section…
PLR 200124012: Dividing grandfathered trust among three family lines preserves GST exemption
Trustees of a trust exempt from generation skipping transfer (GST) tax sought court approved changes after selling the company stock the trust had been designed to hold. The changes would divide the…
PLR 200124011: Late return may elect 1996 home sale gain exclusion
A woman placed her longtime home in a trust that later sold it in 1996, but she filed no income tax return for that year. The IRS treated her as the home's owner for tax purposes because the trust's…
PLR 200124010: Early distribution to named charities does not itself disqualify unitrust
The income beneficiary of a trust described as a charitable remainder unitrust wanted to distribute its principal during his lifetime to three of four named charitable remainder beneficiaries. The…
PLR 200124009: Postmerger asset arrangement satisfies business continuity requirement
Three target corporations planned to merge successively into an acquisition subsidiary, followed by transfers of their operating assets through related companies to meet a government agency's…
CCA 200124008: Same year dividend repayment remains a capital contribution
A U.S. corporation received a distribution from a British utility in which it owned shares, then returned most of that payment eleven days later. The parties signed a rescission agreement months…
PLR 200124007: Group receives more time to waive loss carryback
The parent of a consolidated corporate group intended to give up the carryback period for a consolidated net operating loss, but its timely return lacked a valid election statement. The IRS accepted…
PLR 200124006: Limited appointment powers preserve estate and GST treatment of old trusts
A beneficiary held testamentary powers to direct assets from three family trust shares into new continuation trusts for his descendants. The original trusts had become irrevocable before September…
CCA 200124005: Taxpayer may present new liability evidence in levy appeal
A taxpayer disputed tax shown on his own returns, saying payments reported as wages were actually repayments of loans to his business. He raised the liability issue in a collection due process…
PLR 200124004: Late accounting year change application treated as timely
A taxpayer filed Form 1128 to request a change in its accounting year after the form's deadline, but within 90 days of that deadline. The IRS found that the late filing arose from an error or…
CCA 200124003: Severance payments remain subject to FICA when paid
An employer paid severance to employees it terminated or who declined transfers, withheld FICA when it paid them, then obtained refunds after arguing the tax should have been timed differently.…
TAM 200124002: Baseball bond proceeds had substantial private business use
A public issuer lent bond proceeds to a nonprofit that bought a minor league baseball franchise and helped build its stadium. The IRS advised that the affiliated major league club's contractual…
PLR 200124001: Cash from insurer conversion requires reporting and may require withholding
A mutual life insurer planned to convert to a stock company and give eligible policyholders stock or cash in exchange for their membership interests. The IRS ruled that stock received in a…
PLR 200123074: Foundation's amended annuity plan qualifies under section 403(b)
A private foundation asked the IRS to review the amended form of its employee annuity plan. The IRS ruled that employer contributions to the plan would be treated as contributions for § 403(b)…
PLR 200123073: Chemistry research prize is not a taxable expenditure
A private foundation proposed an annual prize for a young chemist's past research. Colleges or universities would nominate candidates, and the foundation would select a recipient using merit based…
PLR 200123072: Bank's CRA credit from foundation grants is incidental
A bank controlled two private foundations that planned community assistance grants. Regulators could count some grants toward the bank's Community Reinvestment Act rating. The IRS ruled that this…
PLR 200123071: Foundation merger into public charity avoids termination tax
A private foundation planned to merge all its assets into a related public charity that would survive the merger. The IRS ruled that the charity would retain its § 501(c)(3) exemption and that the…
PLR 200123070: Retirement rollover first required a distribution in 2000
An employee who was not a five percent owner rolled money from an employer plan into an IRA in 1999, then moved those funds to another IRA in 2000. The IRS ruled that the employee had not reached…
PLR 200123069: Foundation merger into public charity avoids termination tax
A private foundation planned to merge all its assets into a related public charity that would survive the merger. The IRS ruled that the charity would retain its § 501(c)(3) exemption and that the…
PLR 200123068: Pension benefit increase preserves funding extension
Trustees of a multiemployer defined benefit plan proposed to give one group of participants the higher future benefit accruals already available to other participants. The plan had an extension of…
PLR 200123067: One pension funding waiver granted with conditions
A government contractor sought minimum funding waivers for its money purchase pension plan after cash flow trouble. The IRS declined to consider the 1995 plan year request because it missed the…
PLR 200123066: State pension service credit payments can be picked up by the employer
A state governmental pension plan asked about employee payments to restore previously forfeited service credit or buy additional service credit. The state proposed to pay those amounts through…
PLR 200123065: State college savings program qualifies under section 529
A state sponsored college savings program sought a ruling that it qualified for federal income tax exemption under § 529. The program accepted cash contributions, kept separate accounts for each…
PLR 200123064: Excise tax waivers granted for a distressed pension plan
A company with a distressed defined benefit pension plan withdrew its request for a minimum funding waiver for the plan year ending in 2000. It instead asked for waivers of the 100 percent excise…
CCA 200123063: Advice on retaining or recovering repayments of erroneous refunds
A Service office asked Chief Counsel for advice about two situations involving erroneous refunds that were repaid more than two years after the refunds were issued. In the first situation, 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.