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 200123001: University support organization's student jobs qualify for FICA exception
A nonprofit supporting a public university asked whether its student employees' services fall outside employment for FICA tax purposes. The IRS had already recognized the nonprofit as a supporting…
PLR 200122051: Transfer between employee benefit associations avoids inurement and excise tax
An employer sold a division whose employees had received health benefits through one voluntary employees' beneficiary association (VEBA). That association had no remaining participants or…
PLR 200122050: Late Roth IRA recharacterizations allowed after ineligible conversions
A married couple converted four traditional IRAs to Roth IRAs in 1998, when their joint income exceeded the limit for such conversions. They did not know about the income limit or the deadlines for…
PLR 200122049: Three scholarship programs receive advance approval
A private foundation sought advance approval of procedures for three scholarship programs it planned to take over from another organization. One program served minority students interested in…
PLR 200122048: Quarterly IRA payments qualify for early distribution tax exception
A 41 year old taxpayer rolled a former employer's 401(k) balance into an IRA and moved part of it to a second IRA for quarterly withdrawals. The taxpayer proposed to calculate a fixed payment using…
PLR 200122047: Dissolving benefit association may transfer surplus to a related VEBA
A voluntary employees' beneficiary association (VEBA) asked whether it could transfer its remaining funds to another VEBA sponsored by the same employer. Its members had moved to a buyer after the…
PLR 200122046: Late S corporation election accepted for first tax year
A corporation intended to be taxed as an S corporation from the start of its first tax year and filed Form 1120S for that year, but it did not file a timely Form 2553 election. The IRS found…
PLR 200122045: Trust fails unitrust reformation but transfers remain incomplete gifts
Two grantors sought to correct a trust they had intended to qualify as a charitable remainder unitrust (CRUT). Its payment terms failed the CRUT rules, and a later amendment changed the…
PLR 200122044: Irish reinsurer's premiums qualify for treaty excise tax exemption
An Irish reinsurance company asked whether premiums for United States risks were exempt from the federal insurance excise tax under the U.S.–Ireland tax treaty. The company represented that it…
PLR 200122043: Late S corporation election allowed from incorporation year
A corporation's shareholders intended it to elect S corporation status for its first tax year, but they did not file Form 2553 on time. A letter to prospective shareholders stated that the…
PLR 200122042: Sole shareholder receives late S election relief
A corporation's sole shareholder intended S corporation status for its first tax year, but Form 2553 was not timely filed. The corporation pointed to an IRS letter stating that its S election filed…
PLR 200122041: Spin off and related contributions qualify as a reorganization
A publicly traded parent planned to contribute operating assets and subsidiaries to newly formed companies, take one subsidiary public, and distribute that subsidiary's stock to the parent's…
PLR 200122040: Company receives relief for late S corporation election
A company 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. It asked the IRS to treat its IRC § 1362(a) election…
PLR 200122039: Late S corporation election relief granted to sole shareholder
A corporation's sole shareholder wanted S corporation status to begin on the corporation's incorporation date, but the election was filed late. The IRS found reasonable cause for the missed election…
PLR 200122038: Late section 338(h)(10) election receives extended filing deadline
A purchasing corporation and the shareholders of an S corporation asked for more time to file a joint election under IRC § 338(h)(10) after acquiring the target's stock. The IRS found that they…
PLR 200122037: Nuclear utility receives approval for revised decommissioning fund schedule
A utility asked the IRS to approve a revised schedule of annual amounts for its nuclear decommissioning fund under IRC § 468A. The utility owned an undivided interest in a nuclear plant and had…
PLR 200122036: Trust severance supports three gift tax rulings for a renunciation
A surviving spouse and a trustee asked about severing a marital trust into two identical trusts before the spouse renounced her interest in one of them. The IRS ruled that the renunciation of Trust…
PLR 200122035: Foreign LLC receives late partnership classification election relief
A foreign limited liability company asked for more time to file Form 8832 and elect partnership classification for federal tax purposes, effective on its formation date. The LLC was an eligible…
PLR 200122034: S corporation election survives ESOP stock rollover process
An S corporation whose employee stock ownership plan held all of its stock asked whether its S election would terminate when participants rolled stock distributions into individual retirement…
PLR 200122033: Late election to classify entity as a corporation receives relief
An eligible business entity asked for more time to file Form 8832 and elect to be treated as an association taxable as a corporation for federal tax purposes. The entity had intended that…
PLR 200122032: Refinanced transition bonds retain prior tax treatment
A utility asked for a supplemental ruling after a state qualified rate order financing structure had been addressed in an earlier private letter ruling. The utility planned to redeem some floating…
PLR 200122031: Revised nuclear decommissioning fund schedule approved
A utility requested a revised schedule of annual amounts for its nuclear decommissioning fund after its public utility commission changed the estimated date when the plant would leave the rate base.…
PLR 200122030: Revised nuclear decommissioning fund schedule approved
A utility requested a revised schedule of annual amounts for its nuclear decommissioning fund after its public utility commission changed the estimated date when the plant would leave the rate base.…
PLR 200122029: Revised nuclear decommissioning fund schedule approved
A utility requested a revised schedule of annual amounts for its nuclear decommissioning fund after its public utility commission changed the estimated date when the plant would leave the rate base.…
PLR 200122028: Actively managed property rents are not passive investment income
A corporation planning to elect S corporation status asked whether rents from four properties would count as passive investment income under IRC § 1362(d)(3). It provided leasing, management,…
PLR 200122027: Late S corporation election treated as timely after Form 2553 filing
A one shareholder corporation intended to be an S corporation from its incorporation but failed to file its election on time. It asked the IRS to treat the election as timely for its first taxable…
PLR 200122026: U.S. shareholders receive section 367 exception for foreign share exchange
A domestic corporation and a foreign corporation planned a share exchange in which U.S. shareholders would receive stock of the foreign corporation. They requested an exception from the general…
PLR 200122025: Gift of QTIP trust interest to charity qualifies for deductions
A surviving spouse proposed to divide a marital trust into two identical trusts and give his income interest in one of them to the trust's charitable remainder beneficiary. The IRS ruled that the…
PLR 200122024: Corporate charter amendments preserve section 2703 grandfathering
A family owned S corporation asked whether several amendments to its articles of incorporation would be substantial modifications of its stock transfer restrictions under IRC § 2703. The changes…
CCA 200122023: Parent bankruptcy leaves subsidiary's partnership role intact
A subsidiary in a corporate group was a general partner and tax matters partner of a partnership. Its parent company filed for bankruptcy, raising questions about whether the subsidiary's…
CCA 200122022: Claimed loss on subsidiary preferred stock is disallowed
A member of a consolidated corporate group transferred intercompany promissory notes to a subsidiary in exchange for preferred stock and an arrangement involving its swap liabilities and credit…
PLR 200122021: Late S corporation election accepted for intended year
A corporation intended to elect S corporation status when it began operating, but it did not file the election on time. It asked the IRS for late election relief under IRC § 1362(b)(5). The IRS…
PLR 200122020: Revised nuclear decommissioning funding schedule approved
A utility requested a revised schedule of deductible payments to its nuclear plant decommissioning fund after its regulator changed the plant's expected time in the rate base. The utility had also…
CCA 200122019: Mutual fund commission accounting procedure covers earlier amended returns
A mutual fund service company amended two earlier returns to deduct distributor commissions that it had previously capitalized. The audit team asked whether the audit protection in Revenue Procedure…
CCA 200122018: Former subsidiary should remain represented by consolidated parent in audit
A corporation was split off from a consolidated group after the tax years under audit. An IRS examiner wanted to deal directly with the former subsidiary's representative. Chief Counsel advised that…
PLR 200122017: LLC receives relief for late S corporation election
An LLC elected to be taxed as a corporation and intended to elect S corporation status from the same effective date, but it missed the S election deadline. It requested relief under IRC §…
PLR 200122016: Newly incorporated company granted late S election relief
A corporation's shareholders wanted S corporation treatment from the date the company was incorporated, but the election was not filed on time. The company requested relief under IRC § 1362(b)(5).…
PLR 200122015: Existing corporation granted late S election relief
An existing corporation wanted S corporation status from the start of a tax year, but it did not file its election on time. The corporation requested relief under IRC § 1362(b)(5). The IRS found…
PLR 200122014: Late S election recognized from intended date
A corporation's shareholder intended the company to be taxed as an S corporation from a specified date, but the election was filed late. The company requested relief under IRC § 1362(b)(5). The IRS…
PLR 200122013: Certain retirement plan trustees preserve fund look-through treatment
A life insurer asked whether trustees of certain retirement and deferred compensation plans could own shares in investment portfolios used by its variable contracts without defeating look-through…
PLR 200122012: Estate receives more time to elect family business deduction
An estate did not elect the qualified family-owned business interest deduction on its timely filed estate tax return because its initial valuation of closely held stock did not meet the deduction's…
CCA 200122011: Gift formula cannot shift later valuation increase to charity
Donors transferred limited partnership interests to their sons, trusts, and two charities under a formula that purported to send any higher tax valuation to one charity. The charities' interests…
PLR 200122010: Foreign entity gets time to elect disregarded status
A foreign entity with one owner intended to elect treatment as an entity disregarded from its owner for U.S. federal tax purposes, effective from its formation date. It inadvertently missed the…
PLR 200122009: Municipal deferred compensation plan remains eligible after amendments
A municipality proposed amendments to its eligible deferred compensation plan, including rules for emergency withdrawals and a custodial account holding deferred pay. The IRS concluded that, if the…
CCA 200122008: California franchise tax deductions deferred to following years
An accrual method corporation deducted California franchise taxes on its federal returns for the years whose income was used to calculate those taxes. Chief Counsel advised that the two disputed…
CCA 200122007: Holding company purchase supports section 338 election
A partnership formed a foreign corporation to buy another foreign corporation and its subsidiary, then elected under IRC § 338 to treat the stock acquisitions as asset purchases. Chief Counsel…
TAM 200122006: Air charter segment tax applies per passenger
An air charter operator charged one price for each aircraft and had collected the domestic segment excise tax once per flight segment, regardless of passenger count. The IRS determined that IRC §…
CCA 200122005: Old cost sharing payments cannot be amortized in later years
A Puerto Rico possessions corporation paid its U.S. affiliate under cost sharing arrangements and amortized the payments as research expenses. Chief Counsel advised that the payments were for rights…
TAM 200122004: Plant greenhouses are farm property, not a bond manufacturing facility
A company used bond proceeds to build specialized greenhouses and a cold storage building for growing and preparing garden plants. It asked whether the facilities qualified as a manufacturing…
PLR 200122003: Late S election allowed with shareholder return adjustments
A corporation's shareholder intended S corporation treatment from the company's incorporation date, but the election was filed late. The IRS found reasonable cause for the missed deadline and…
CCA 200122002: Long-lived truck tires must be depreciated separately
A freight carrier deducted the cost of tires and tubes for new vehicles and replacements when purchased. Chief Counsel advised that the tax treatment depends on their average useful life, which was…
PLR 200122001: REIT elective cash or stock dividend qualifies for deduction
A real estate investment trust planned a special dividend that shareholders could take in cash, stock, or a combination, subject to a cap on the total cash paid. The IRS ruled that stock recipients…
PLR 200121082: Foundation may divide its assets between two successor foundations
A family foundation planned to transfer all its assets in equal shares to two foundations governed by different branches of the family, then voluntarily end its own private foundation status. The…
PLR 200121081: Family foundation split qualifies as reorganization
A private foundation controlled by two branches of a family planned to divide all its assets equally between two successor foundations, then voluntarily terminate its own status. The IRS ruled that…
PLR 200121080: Foundation split and later termination avoid transfer taxes
A family controlled private foundation proposed transferring all its assets equally to two foundations directed by separate family branches. The IRS concluded that the transfers would qualify as a…
PLR 200121079: Corporate restructuring does not permit requested 401(k) distributions
A company sought permission to distribute 401(k) balances to employees hired by another business after a related group restructuring. The IRS ruled that a transfer of business assets to a limited…
PLR 200121078: Grants to foreign orphanage count as charitable distributions
A U.S. private foundation made and planned further unrestricted grants to a foreign orphanage that cared for disadvantaged children and provided community training and medical aid. The IRS ruled…
PLR 200121077: Library archive grant qualifies as a foundation set-aside
A private foundation proposed to set aside funds for a grant to a state university library. The library would catalog, study, and preserve the papers of a historically significant person whose child…
PLR 200121076: Conditional pension funding waiver granted
The IRS granted a conditional waiver of the minimum funding standard for a defined benefit pension plan's year ending July 31, 2000. The employer had contributed 59% of the required amount but said…
PLR 200121075: Conditional pension funding waiver granted
The IRS granted a conditional waiver of the minimum funding standard for a defined benefit pension plan's year ending July 31, 2000. The employer had contributed 59% of the required amount but said…
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.