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 200119061: Land purchase program produced mixed unrelated business income results
A tax exempt organization acquired land in advance of development so related organizations could later use the sites. It also sold surplus land, financed some sales, and loaned money to developers.…
PLR 200119060: New IRA payment series qualifies for early distribution tax exception
A taxpayer under age 59½ planned to transfer part of one IRA into a new IRA and take annual payments using the annuitization method in Notice 89-25. The IRS ruled that the proposed payments would be…
PLR 200119059: Six months granted to undo ineligible Roth IRA conversions
A married couple converted traditional IRAs to Roth IRAs for 1998, but their income exceeded the limit for those conversions. They learned of the limit after the published deadlines to…
PLR 200119058: Government employer may pick up retirement plan redeposits
A political subdivision planned to pay certain management employees' required retirement plan redeposits through payroll deductions. The redeposits would restore service credit after employees had…
PLR 200119057: Foundation merger avoids termination and expenditure taxes
Two private foundations with the same funder and directors planned to merge, transferring all of one foundation's assets to the other. The IRS ruled that the transfer itself would not terminate the…
PLR 200119056: Foundation merger avoids termination and expenditure taxes
Two private foundations with the same funder and directors planned to merge, transferring all of one foundation's assets to the other. The IRS ruled that the transfer itself would not terminate the…
IRS Bulletin 200119055: Collection, bankruptcy, and summons advice
This Chief Counsel bulletin collects case summaries and previously released advice on tax collection, bankruptcy, and summons issues. One memorandum says the IRS need not obtain a co-obligor…
CCA 200119054: When errors affect collection statute waivers
Chief Counsel reviewed collection statute waivers signed with installment agreements after IRS staff found errors on several Form 900 waivers. It advised that a revenue officer's signature could…
CCA 200119053: When an estate's special use valuation lien must be released
An estate elected special use valuation for qualifying real property, creating a lien to secure any later recapture tax. Chief Counsel advised that the lien does not automatically end ten years…
CCA 200119052: Compromising one spouse's joint tax liability
Chief Counsel reconsidered what happens to a joint tax debt when the IRS accepts an offer in compromise from only one spouse. It advised that federal tax law and regulations govern the compromise,…
PLR 200119051: Irish reinsurer qualifies for treaty excise tax exemption
An Irish reinsurer asked whether premiums on U.S. risks were exempt from the federal insurance excise tax under the U.S.-Ireland tax treaty. The IRS concluded that the company qualified for treaty…
PLR 200119050: Former resident's departure lacked a principal tax avoidance purpose
A former long-term U.S. resident gave up his green card and moved to a country where he was a citizen. His net worth exceeded the threshold that could trigger a presumption of tax avoidance under…
PLR 200119049: Stock transfer does not prevent merger reorganization status
A foreign parent owned two U.S. subsidiaries. After one subsidiary acquired a target in a merger using parent stock and cash, the parent planned to transfer its stock in the acquiring subsidiary to…
PLR 200119048: Supplemental ruling preserves prior spin-off conclusions after an IPO delay
A corporation asked the IRS to supplement an earlier private letter ruling about a planned spin-off and a public offering of the distributing corporation's stock. The public offering had not…
PLR 200119047: Trust partition preserves GST status and avoids gain and gift tax
A beneficiary and the trustees of a testamentary family trust asked about dividing the trust into five equal successor trusts under a court approved settlement. The settlement resolved disputes…
PLR 200119046: Expatriation ruling rebuts the tax avoidance presumption
A former lawful permanent resident with net worth above the statutory threshold asked whether the loss of that status had a principal purpose of avoiding U.S. taxes. The IRS found that the taxpayer…
PLR 200119045: Swap payments included in yield on bond proceeds invested in money market shares
A nonprofit housing finance corporation planned to issue qualified mortgage bonds and invest some proceeds temporarily in a money market fund. It also planned to enter into a swap that exchanged a…
PLR 200119044: Green Card surrender did not have a principal tax avoidance purpose
A long term lawful permanent resident who had retired and returned to the country of birth asked the IRS about surrendering a U.S. Green Card. The taxpayer's net worth exceeded the statutory…
PLR 200119043: Green Card surrender did not have a principal tax avoidance purpose
A long term lawful permanent resident who had returned with her husband to the country of birth asked the IRS about surrendering her U.S. Green Card. Her net worth exceeded the statutory threshold,…
PLR 200119042: Expatriation ruling rebuts the tax avoidance presumption
A former lawful permanent resident with net worth above the statutory threshold asked whether the loss of that status had a principal purpose of avoiding U.S. taxes. The taxpayer was eligible to…
PLR 200119041: Late S corporation election granted relief for reasonable cause
A corporation intended to be treated as an S corporation from its incorporation date, but did not file its election on time. The IRS found reasonable cause for the late filing and granted relief…
PLR 200119040: Possible S corporation election termination treated as inadvertent
An S corporation converted into a state law limited partnership that elected to be taxed as a corporation. It later converted back after learning that the partnership form might have created a…
PLR 200119039: Vehicle protection plans treated as insurance contracts
A company administered vehicle protection plans covering mechanical breakdowns and related repair expenses. The IRS concluded that the qualifying plans were insurance contracts for federal income…
PLR 200119038: Extension granted to file section 338 elections after foreign stock acquisition
A consolidated group's foreign subsidiary acquired the stock of another foreign company, whose subsidiary was also part of the proposed section 338 election structure. The group missed the filing…
PLR 200119036: Annuity investment profiles count as separate asset accounts
Two insurers offered variable annuities whose owners could enroll in an affiliate's asset allocation program. Investment professionals, rather than contract owners, selected the funds and allocation…
PLR 200119035: Part-time sanitation inspector classified as an independent contractor
A public board hired a licensed worker as needed to inspect septic systems and other facilities and prepare reports. She worked without supervision, supplied her own tools, kept a home office, and…
PLR 200119033: Missed trust election causes inadvertent S corporation termination
An S corporation's shares passed to a trust after a shareholder died, but the trust beneficiary did not make the required qualified subchapter S trust election. The IRS held that the trust was then…
PLR 200119031: Mental disability exception shields trust from GST tax
The trustees of a testamentary trust asked whether generation skipping transfers from the trust were exempt from chapter 13 tax because the decedent had been unable to change the disposition of her…
PLR 200119030: Split QTIP and non-QTIP trusts recognized for transfer tax purposes
After a decedent's death, the trustee divided one trust into a credit shelter trust, a QTIP trust, and a reverse QTIP trust. The estate tax return reported the shares and made QTIP and reverse QTIP…
PLR 200119029: Mental disability exception shields trust from GST tax
The trustees of a testamentary trust asked whether generation skipping transfers from the trust were exempt from chapter 13 tax because the decedent had been unable to change the disposition of her…
PLR 200119028: Oil partnership receipts counted as nonpassive S corporation income
An S corporation owned interests in two publicly traded partnerships involved in crude oil and petroleum operations. The corporation asked how its share of partnership receipts should count under…
PLR 200119027: Trust amendments preserve generation skipping tax exemption
A decedent amended a revocable trust after October 21, 1986, and died before January 1, 1987. The trustees asked whether the amendments cost the trust its exemption from generation skipping transfer…
PLR 200119026: Late S corporation election allowed for first tax year
A corporation intended to elect S corporation status for its first tax year, and its board minutes and tax returns reflected that intent. It did not file Form 2553 on time. The IRS found reasonable…
CCA 200119025: Informal refund claims across consolidated group tax years
Chief Counsel addressed refund claims involving an acquired corporation, its new parent, and research credits carried back from a later year. It advised that the parent's claim could not count as a…
PLR 200119024: Vehicle classified as a tractor subject to the retail excise tax
A taxpayer planned to buy completed vehicles from a manufacturer and resell them at retail. The vehicles could tow heavy trailers and had towing equipment, while their cargo carrying capacity was…
PLR 200119023: Trust modification preserves generation skipping tax exemption
A testamentary residuary trust was created for a spouse, children, their spouses, and descendants before September 25, 1985. The trustees proposed moving the trust assets into a new trust with the…
PLR 200119022: Late S corporation election treated as timely
A corporation intended to be an S corporation from the start of its tax year but did not timely file its S corporation election. The IRS found that the corporation had reasonable cause for the late…
PLR 200119021: Extension granted for disregarded entity election
An eligible entity with one owner intended to elect disregarded entity status from its formation date but accidentally missed the filing deadline. The IRS found that the entity satisfied the…
PLR 200119020: Late S corporation election treated as timely
A corporation intended to be an S corporation from the beginning of its tax year but did not timely file its S corporation election. The IRS determined that the corporation had reasonable cause for…
PLR 200119019: Bankruptcy trust classified as a liquidating trust
A trust was created under a Chapter 11 bankruptcy reorganization plan to pursue litigation claims and liquidate and distribute the debtor's assets. The trust agreement required prompt, orderly…
PLR 200119018: Extension granted for partnership basis adjustment election
A partnership failed to make a section 754 election with its return after the grantor of a grantor trust partner died. The partnership said that it relied on a professional tax return preparer who…
PLR 200119017: Governmental deferred compensation plan approved
A state or local governmental entity established a deferred compensation plan for eligible employees and independent contractors. The plan allowed participants to defer compensation, included limits…
PLR 200119016: Cooperative may retain its tax treatment after converting to an LLC
A cooperative planned to merge into a newly formed limited liability company so it could operate under different state rules for repurchasing member shares. The LLC would elect to be taxed as a…
PLR 200119015: Late S corporation election accepted for reasonable cause
A corporation intended to be taxed as an S corporation from its incorporation date, but it did not file its election on time. The IRS found reasonable cause for the late filing and granted relief…
PLR 200119014: Prior home ownership ruling revoked without retroactive effect
The IRS revoked an earlier letter ruling that treated a taxpayer as owning a residence during the time a partnership held it for purposes of section 121. The IRS said the earlier ruling no longer…
CCA 200119013: Estate should value two stock interests as one controlling block
A decedent owned 50 percent of a closely held corporation outright and held a general power to direct where another 44 percent, held in a marital trust, would go at death. The estate argued that the…
PLR 200119012: Business separation qualifies as a tax-free reorganization
Four shareholders owned a company with two businesses, and a dispute between one shareholder and the others was disrupting operations. The company proposed moving one business to a new corporation…
PLR 200119011: Extension granted for section 338 elections on foreign acquisitions
A U.S. parent company missed the deadline to file section 338 elections for its foreign subsidiary's purchase of a foreign corporation and a deemed purchase of that corporation's subsidiary. The IRS…
PLR 200119010: Shared executive cost repayments excluded from REIT gross income
A real estate investment trust planned to employ executives who would also work for its operating partnership and several subsidiaries. The trust would pay their compensation, then receive…
CCA 200119009: Retiree benefits for former production workers must be capitalized
A utility company paid health care and life insurance benefits for retirees who had previously worked in production. It had not treated those payments as indirect costs of its construction activity.…
PLR 200119008: Partnership election revocation takes effect within the tax year
A publicly traded partnership planned to sell assets, leave its securities exchange, and revoke an election that had kept it from being taxed as a corporation in exchange for a 3.5 percent gross…
TAM 200119007: Thrift cannot deduct loss or amortization of supervisory goodwill
A thrift claimed that supervisory goodwill arising from three acquisitions was federal financial assistance and had a tax basis. After a change in banking law phased out its use in regulatory…
CCA 200119006: Federal tax lien outranks an unperfected interest in a note
A creditor claimed an interest in a promissory note owed to a taxpayer and sought money collected by an IRS levy. The creditor had neither recorded its interest nor taken possession of the note.…
TAM 200119005: Donated news film library yields no charitable deduction
A broadcasting company donated footage of local news stories to a charity and claimed charitable deductions based on the film library's fair market value. Its employees had produced the footage, and…
PLR 200119004: Extension granted for dual consolidated loss filings
A taxpayer deducted losses of an entity in its U.S. consolidated returns for three years but failed to attach the election, agreement, and annual certifications required by the dual consolidated…
CCA 200119003: Residence generally governs effect of compromise on joint debtor
Chief Counsel considered which state's law determines whether an IRS compromise with one person also affects another person's joint tax liability. A joint tax return makes spouses jointly and…
CCA 200119002: Unpaid carryback refund claim creates no penalty underpayment
A taxpayer amended an earlier year's return to carry back a later claimed capital loss and request a refund. The IRS did not allow the refund or issue a credit. Chief Counsel advised that the…
CCA 200119001: Tentative refund application is not the return for penalty calculation
An examiner calculated a corporate accuracy-related penalty as though the company's Form 1139 application for a tentative carryback refund were its original tax return. Chief Counsel advised that…
PLR 200118057: Scheduled annuity withdrawals qualify as substantially equal payments
An insurer offered a program for automatic withdrawals from deferred variable annuity contracts issued as IRAs or section 403(b) contracts. Holders could choose annual or more frequent payments…
PLR 200118056: Government plan contributions treated as employer payments
A local government employer proposed to pick up mandatory contributions that employees elected to make to a supplemental retirement plan. The employees' payroll authorizations would be irrevocable,…
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.