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 200123062: Collection, bankruptcy and summonses bulletin no. 487
The IRS Office of Chief Counsel released a Collection, Bankruptcy and Summonses Bulletin containing a lead case summary and several previously released advice memoranda. The lead summary says that a…
CCA 200123061: Filing extensions do not extend payment of consent dividend tax
Chief Counsel clarified advice about a personal holding company that declared consent dividends and paid an amount attributable to foreign shareholders. The company filed its forms under an…
CCA 200123060: CDP hearings must offer a face-to-face conference option
Chief Counsel reviewed a proposed IRS letter for Collection Due Process cases in which a taxpayer raised only frivolous or constitutional arguments. The advice concludes that the proposed process…
CCA 200123059: An offer in compromise need not be amended when the acceptance basis changes
Chief Counsel considered whether a taxpayer must amend Form 656 when the taxpayer submits an offer in compromise based on doubt as to collectability, but the Service accepts it based on effective…
PLR 200123058: State dissolution did not end an S corporation's status
A corporation with an S corporation election was administratively dissolved under state law after failing to file an annual report. It continued filing as an S corporation while unaware of the…
PLR 200123057: Related physician group did not restrict hospital's contract rights
A hospital organization used bond proceeds to finance medical facilities and contracted with a related corporation to supply physicians. It asked whether the related provider's role or relationship…
PLR 200123056: Former resident rebutted tax avoidance presumption without a final purpose ruling
A former U.S. long-term resident surrendered his green card and requested a ruling that avoiding U.S. tax was not a principal purpose. His net worth exceeded the threshold that created a presumption…
PLR 200123055: Trust reformations did not create gifts or estate inclusion
A settlor and spouse created two irrevocable trusts that held life insurance policies, then discovered provisions that might include trust property in their estates. They sought court ordered…
PLR 200123054: Extra time granted to file a joint section 338 election
A corporate purchaser and individual sellers intended to make a joint IRC § 338(h)(10) election for the purchase of an S corporation's stock, but a valid election was not filed on time. The IRS…
PLR 200123053: Preferred stock redemption treated as an exchange
A corporation planned to redeem preferred shares held by a group of shareholders. Based on the taxpayer's representations, the IRS ruled that the redemption was not essentially equivalent to a…
PLR 200123052: Inadvertent S corporation termination relieved after foreign subsidiary acquisition
An S corporation acquired at least 80 percent of a foreign corporation and later transferred the interest to a shareholder. Under the rules then in effect, becoming a member of an affiliated group…
PLR 200123051: Late S corporation election treated as timely
A corporation with one shareholder intended to be an S corporation but discovered that it had not filed its S election on time. The IRS ruled under IRC § 1362(b)(5) that the election would be…
PLR 200123050: Reasonable cause allowed a late S corporation election
A corporation's shareholders intended to elect S corporation status, but the election was not filed on time. The IRS found reasonable cause for the late filing and ruled under IRC § 1362(b)(5) that…
PLR 200123049: Partnership received more time to revoke its section 754 election
A limited partnership wanted to revoke an existing IRC § 754 election under a special rule effective December 15, 1999, but its representative failed to tell it about that option before the filing…
PLR 200123048: More time to waive a consolidated loss carryback
The parent of a consolidated group intended to waive the carryback period for a consolidated net operating loss, but the required election statement was not filed with its timely return. The IRS…
CCA 200123047: Accounting method change for automobile lease payments denied
The IRS denied an automobile finance company's request to change how it accounted for capitalized cost reduction payments made by vehicle lessees. Under the proposed method, the company would…
PLR 200123046: Tax treatment of a nuclear plant sale and decommissioning funds
A buyer planned to acquire a nuclear power plant, assume its decommissioning liabilities, and transfer the seller's qualified and nonqualified decommissioning funds into buyer-controlled funds. The…
PLR 200123045: Testamentary trust power was not a general power of appointment
A nonresident, noncitizen created a trust for a daughter and her family, with a testamentary power allowing the daughter to appoint one trust share among descendants. The IRS concluded that the…
PLR 200123044: Late S corporation election granted for reasonable cause
The IRS considered a corporation's request to make its S corporation election effective on an earlier date. The corporation was formed on a redacted date, and its shareholders wanted the election to…
PLR 200123043: Extension granted to file a first consolidated return
A parent corporation and eight subsidiaries missed the deadline to elect to file a consolidated federal income tax return for a past year. They had filed neither the proposed group's return nor…
PLR 200123042: Nuclear decommissioning funds may transfer within a restructuring
A utility planned to transfer nuclear plants and their decommissioning funds to an affiliated company as part of a restructuring. The IRS ruled that the qualified funds would not be disqualified by…
PLR 200123041: Revised nuclear decommissioning funding schedule approved
A utility asked the IRS to approve a revised schedule of amounts it could contribute to a nuclear decommissioning fund for one regulator's jurisdiction. The IRS found that the utility had a…
PLR 200123040: Revised schedule approved for nuclear decommissioning fund
A utility requested a revised schedule of deductible contributions to its nuclear decommissioning fund for one regulator's jurisdiction. The IRS found that the utility held a qualifying interest in…
PLR 200123038: Former long-term resident's departure lacked a tax avoidance purpose
A former long-term U.S. resident gave up lawful permanent resident status and moved to the country where he had always been a citizen. His net worth exceeded the threshold that raised a tax…
PLR 200123037: Former resident's expatriation lacked a tax avoidance purpose
A former long-term U.S. resident relinquished her lawful permanent resident status and moved to the country where she had always been a citizen. Her net worth exceeded the threshold that raised a…
PLR 200123036: Actively managed property rents excluded from S corporation passive income
A corporation planning to elect S corporation status asked whether rent from its property would count as passive investment income. It made major management decisions and, through a related manager,…
PLR 200123035: Dealership inventory contribution to an LLC avoids immediate gain
An S corporation planned to put several automobile dealerships and their last-in, first-out (LIFO) inventories into a new LLC taxed as a partnership, then let the dealerships' manager buy an…
PLR 200123034: Trust gifts qualify for annual exclusion and avoid estate inclusion
A grantor created an irrevocable trust for children who could withdraw a share of each contribution after receiving notice. The IRS ruled that contributions would qualify as present interest gifts…
PLR 200123033: Cooperative joint venture income retains patronage character
Three farm supply cooperatives formed a joint venture LLC to combine manufacturing and wholesale distribution for their members and participating patrons. They asked whether their shares of…
PLR 200123032: Thirty-day extension granted for a section 338(h)(10) election
A purchaser and seller intended to make a joint IRC § 338(h)(10) election after a stock acquisition, but did not file a valid election by the deadline. The IRS found that the purchaser acted…
PLR 200123031: Late S corporation election treated as timely if filed within 60 days
A corporation's sole shareholder intended it to be an S corporation for a redacted tax year and filed an S corporation income tax return, but missed the Form 2553 election deadline. The IRS found…
PLR 200123030: Revised business plans do not disturb earlier spin-off rulings
A corporation requested a supplement to two earlier rulings about transferring a business to a controlled corporation and distributing its stock. It had decided to keep one business, while proposing…
PLR 200123029: Late tax year change application treated as timely
A taxpayer filed Form 1128 to request a change in its tax year, but filed it after the deadline because of an error or misunderstanding. The form arrived within 90 days of its due date. The IRS…
PLR 200123028: Late accounting period application accepted as timely
A taxpayer asked the IRS to treat its late Form 1128 application for a change in accounting period as timely. An error or misunderstanding caused the missed deadline, and the form was filed within…
PLR 200123027: Late Form 1128 accepted for processing
A taxpayer filed Form 1128 to request a change in its tax year after the filing deadline. The form was late because of an error or misunderstanding, but was filed within 90 days of the due date. The…
PLR 200123026: Revised schedule of nuclear decommissioning fund ruling amounts
A utility company asked the IRS to approve a revised schedule of ruling amounts for a nuclear decommissioning fund. The company represented that it owned an interest in a nuclear power plant, that a…
PLR 200123025: Extension granted to make a private activity bond volume cap carryforward election
A public corporation that issues municipal revenue bonds asked for more time to file Form 8328 and carry forward unused private activity bond volume cap. Its bond counsel had not timely advised it…
CCA 200123024: YRT reinsurance credits in life insurance reserve computations
Chief Counsel Advice considered whether a life insurance company had to reduce its life insurance reserves for yearly renewable term reinsurance when the reserves were based on net surrender values.…
PLR 200123023: Late S corporation election treated as timely
A corporation asked the IRS to treat its late S corporation election as timely. The corporation represented that it intended to be an S corporation beginning with its first taxable year, but did not…
PLR 200123022: Late S corporation election treated as timely
A corporation asked the IRS to treat its late S corporation election as timely for its first taxable year. Its sole shareholder intended the corporation to elect S corporation status, and a…
PLR 200123021: Late S corporation election allowed after adviser miscommunication
A corporation asked the IRS to recognize an S corporation election effective from its incorporation year. Its original shareholders had relied on an attorney and an accountant to file Form 2553, but…
PLR 200123020: Supplemental ruling on contribution of foreign subsidiary stock
A taxpayer sought a supplement to an earlier ruling involving a corporate distribution and cross-border stock acquisition. After the earlier transactions, the acquiring company proposed to…
PLR 200123019: Late S corporation election allowed from incorporation year
A corporation intended to elect S corporation status from its incorporation date but did not file the election on time. It requested relief under IRC § 1362(b)(5), which permits the IRS to treat a…
TAM 200123018: Overnight cruises owe the passenger vessel excise tax
A cruise operator disputed the passenger vessel excise tax under IRC § 4471, arguing that travel between any two ports took less than 12 hours. The IRS explained that a voyage includes the outward…
PLR 200123017: Late S corporation election effective from requested date
A corporation's shareholders intended it to be an S corporation as of a specified date, but the election was not filed on time. The corporation requested relief under IRC § 1362(b)(5). The IRS found…
PLR 200123016: Relief for a corporation's late S election
A corporation with six shareholders intended to be an S corporation in its first taxable year, but did not timely file Form 2553. A shareholder resolution recorded the plan to elect treatment under…
PLR 200123015: Late S election relief for a four shareholder corporation
A corporation with four shareholders intended to elect S corporation status for its first taxable year, but did not timely file Form 2553. An officers' resolution recorded its intention to be taxed…
PLR 200123014: Trust construction preserves GST tax exemption
A trustee asked whether a court order resolving an ambiguity about when an irrevocable trust would terminate would affect its exemption from generation-skipping transfer tax. The trust was…
PLR 200123013: Court construction of a trust preserves GST exemption
A trustee asked whether a Minnesota court's interpretation of an ambiguous trust termination provision would affect the trust's exemption from generation-skipping transfer tax. The trust was…
PLR 200123012: Judicial trust construction preserves GST tax exemption
A trustee sought a ruling on whether a court order resolving an ambiguity in an irrevocable trust's termination date would affect its generation-skipping transfer tax exemption. The trust was…
PLR 200123011: Business split-off qualifies as a Type D reorganization
An S corporation with two operating businesses proposed to separate them after disputes between its major shareholders disrupted management. It would transfer one business to a controlled…
TAM 200123010: Partnership representative could sign assessment extension
Technical Advice considered whether a representative could sign Form 872-P to extend the period for assessing tax attributable to partnership items. The partnership's sole general partner had signed…
CCA 200123009: Assessment deadline and refunds of estate tax payments
Chief Counsel Advice addressed an estate tax case in which an IRS clerk entered an abatement instead of the requested deficiency assessment. The IRS concluded that it could not assess the deficiency…
CCA 200123008: Gain on sovereign debt for foreign equity swaps
Chief Counsel Advice examined a U.S. company's swaps of discounted foreign sovereign debt for local currency that was invested in a foreign corporation. The advice characterized the company as…
PLR 200123007: Late Form 1128 treated as timely filed
A taxpayer sought relief for a late Form 1128 requesting a change in its tax year. The form was late because of an error or misunderstanding, and the taxpayer requested relief within 90 days of its…
PLR 200123006: Extension granted for a Section 338(h)(10) election
A corporate purchaser and the individual sellers of an S corporation's stock intended to make a joint IRC § 338(h)(10) election but did not file a valid election by the deadline. They had relied on…
PLR 200123005: Late Form 1128 treated as timely for an accounting period change
A group of taxpayers asked the IRS to allow a late Form 1128 requesting a change in their federal income tax accounting period. The taxpayers said the form was late because of an error or…
PLR 200123004: Duty disability benefits excluded until conversion to service retirement
A retirement plan asked whether duty disability benefits paid under a statute for injuries or diseases caused by work are taxable to its members. The IRS found that the statute functions like a…
CCA 200123003: New lien notice after mistaken release triggers a CDP hearing
Chief Counsel reconsidered whether taxpayers were entitled to a collection due process (CDP) hearing after federal tax lien notices mistakenly self-released during a foreclosure suit. Counsel…
TAM 200123002: Air travel payments to partnership do not qualify for affiliated group exemption
A corporation paid an LLC it largely owned to operate an aircraft for its travel. The IRS concluded that the LLC supplied taxable air transportation rather than merely leasing an aircraft. The LLC…
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.