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 200118055: Foundation may set aside funds for an international fellowship program
A private foundation planned a large international fellowship program for disadvantaged students, with a separate effort to prepare younger students for later study. It asked whether setting aside…
PLR 200118054: Hospital system may operate a surgery center with physicians
A tax exempt health system formed a limited liability company with local physicians to operate an ambulatory surgery center it had previously operated itself. The health system held 70 percent of…
CCA 200118052: Cross-border work does not automatically stop the collection clock
Chief Counsel considered whether the tax collection period stayed suspended indefinitely for Native Americans who lived on the Canadian side of a reservation and regularly worked in the United…
PLR 200118051: Taxpayer receives more time for dual consolidated loss filings
A taxpayer had used losses of an indirectly owned entity in its consolidated returns but missed the election, agreement, and annual certification filings required for dual consolidated losses. Its…
PLR 200118050: Later stock offering does not affect earlier corporate separation rulings
A company that had been spun off in an earlier distribution planned to sell additional common stock to raise capital more than 18 months later. The new shares would account for less than 20 percent…
PLR 200118049: Company receives relief for a late S corporation election
A company intended to elect S corporation status from the date it was incorporated, but its accountant did not file Form 2553 on time. The company had filed its return as an S corporation, and its…
PLR 200118048: First year S corporation election receives late filing relief
A company's sole shareholder intended S corporation status from the incorporation date and submitted board minutes as evidence. The company missed the deadline for Form 2553. The IRS found…
PLR 200118047: Company receives relief after advisers missed its S election
Two shareholders intended their company to be taxed as an S corporation from its first tax year. They relied on the company's attorney and accountant to file Form 2553, but confusion between the…
PLR 200118046: Employee stock plan preserves S corporation stock class
Two shareholders of an S corporation planned to pass ownership to key employees through nonvoting stock, conditional stock transfers, and bonus payments during a vesting period. The IRS ruled that…
PLR 200118045: Corporate separations qualify in part for tax-free treatment
A publicly traded parent planned to separate three businesses by liquidating several subsidiaries and distributing the stock of two controlled companies to its shareholders. The IRS ruled that the…
PLR 200118044: Later share sale leaves earlier separation rulings in force
A company separated in earlier stock distributions planned a public offering of new common shares to meet later capital needs. The offering would occur more than 18 months after the distributions,…
PLR 200118043: Estate gets more time to split trust by GST tax treatment
A decedent's residuary trust contained property with three different generation-skipping transfer tax treatments after QTIP and reverse QTIP elections. The trustee sought more time to divide it into…
PLR 200118042: Former long-term resident cleared of tax avoidance purpose
A former long-term U.S. resident relinquished her green card and moved to the country where she had always been a citizen. Her net worth exceeded the threshold that could trigger a presumption of…
PLR 200118041: Shared investment trust receives partnership and fund tax rulings
Two feeder funds planned to place cash or diversified portfolios into a shared investment trust classified as a partnership. The IRS ruled that the trust would not be a publicly traded partnership…
PLR 200118040: Second shared investment trust receives partnership and fund tax rulings
Two feeder funds planned to place cash or diversified portfolios into a shared investment trust classified as a partnership. The IRS ruled that the trust would not be a publicly traded partnership…
PLR 200118039: Shared investment trust receives partnership and fund tax rulings
Two feeder funds planned to place cash or diversified portfolios into a shared investment trust classified as a partnership. The IRS ruled that the trust would not be a publicly traded partnership…
PLR 200118038: Dividing an older trust preserves its GST exemption
A trustee proposed to divide an existing trust into four equal successor trusts, one for each of the original beneficiary's children. The trust had been irrevocable by September 25, 1985, and no…
PLR 200118037: Trustee receives 30 days for a reverse QTIP election
An estate made a QTIP election for a marital trust but missed the separate reverse QTIP election for generation-skipping transfer tax purposes. After the surviving spouse and the couple's daughter…
PLR 200118036: Parent gets more time to file subsidiaries' LIFO election forms
Two subsidiaries continued using the last-in, first-out inventory method after their parent made a section 338 election. A question arose over whether that election meant the subsidiaries needed new…
PLR 200118035: Single-shareholder company receives late S election relief
A company with one shareholder intended to be an S corporation from the start of a stated tax year, but discovered that its S election had not been filed on time. It requested relief under section…
PLR 200118034: Late S corporation election may take effect from incorporation
A newly incorporated company and its shareholders intended S corporation status from the company's first tax year, but the election was not filed on time. The IRS found reasonable cause for the…
PLR 200118033: Board minutes support relief for missed S election
A company's sole shareholder intended S corporation status from its incorporation date, as reflected in special board meeting minutes. The company filed its tax return on Form 1120S, but Form 2553…
PLR 200118032: Attorney's missed filing receives S election relief
A company's sole shareholder intended S corporation status for its first taxable year and relied on the company's attorney to handle the filing. The attorney failed to file Form 2553 on time. The…
PLR 200118031: Home trust qualifies despite planned return abroad
A homeowner transferred a U.S. residence to a trust while retaining the right to use it for a stated term. He and his spouse planned to surrender their green cards and return to their country of…
PLR 200118030: Late S corporation election may take effect from incorporation
A newly incorporated company and its shareholders intended S corporation status from the company's first tax year, but the election was not filed on time. The IRS found reasonable cause for the…
PLR 200118029: Late S corporation election may take effect from incorporation
A newly incorporated company and its sole shareholder intended S corporation status from the start of the company's first tax year, but the election was not filed on time. The IRS found reasonable…
PLR 200118028: Foreign entity gets more time to elect partnership classification
A foreign entity and its shareholders intended from the start to elect partnership classification for U.S. federal tax purposes, but they missed the Form 8832 filing deadline. The IRS found that the…
PLR 200118027: Company receives relief for a late S corporation election
A company intended to be an S corporation from incorporation but discovered that its election had not been filed on time. It asked the IRS to treat the election as timely for the tax year that began…
PLR 200118026: Late S corporation election allowed from requested date
A company's sole shareholder wanted S corporation treatment from a specified date, but the company did not file its election on time. The IRS found reasonable cause for the late filing under section…
PLR 200118025: S corporation status preserved after shares went to an IRA
An S corporation issued shares to an individual retirement account, which was not an eligible S corporation shareholder. The company later repurchased those shares after learning of the problem. The…
PLR 200118024: Unreturned shareholder election forms get late filing relief
A company intended to be an S corporation from its first tax year and sent Form 2553 to its shareholders for signatures. The shareholders did not return the form to the attorney who was to file it,…
PLR 200118023: Buying a disregarded LLC counts as receiving its real property
A taxpayer planned to acquire a single member LLC that owned replacement real property for a proposed like-kind exchange. The taxpayer wanted the LLC interest instead of a direct deed to avoid a…
PLR 200118022: Missed Form 2553 deadline receives first-year relief
A company's sole shareholder intended S corporation status from its first tax year and relied on an associate to see that Form 2553 was filed. The form was not filed on time. The IRS found…
PLR 200118021: Shareholders' missed S election gets first-year relief
A company's shareholders intended S corporation status from its first tax year but did not know they had to file Form 2553. The company and shareholders filed later tax returns consistent with S…
PLR 200118020: First-year S election granted late filing relief
A company's sole shareholder intended S corporation status from its first tax year, as reflected in shareholder meeting minutes. The shareholder relied on an associate to ensure Form 2553 was filed,…
PLR 200118019: First-year S election gets late filing relief
A company's sole shareholder intended S corporation status from its first tax year and relied on an associate to ensure that Form 2553 was filed. The form was not filed on time. The IRS found…
PLR 200118018: Later stock changes leave prior spin-off ruling intact
A corporation had received an earlier ruling on a spin-off followed by a merger. After those transactions, it proposed combining two classes of common stock into one and using a reverse and forward…
PLR 200118017: Late S corporation election allowed from incorporation
A company with three shareholders intended to be an S corporation from incorporation but discovered that its election had not been filed on time. It asked to have the election treated as timely for…
CCA 200118016: Labor Department notice was sufficient for prohibited transaction taxes
The IRS sought advice on whether its notice to the Department of Labor met section 4975(h) before it issued deficiency notices for prohibited transaction excise taxes. An Appeals officer's letter…
CCA 200118015: East Timor residents did not qualify for Indonesia treaty benefits
Chief Counsel was asked whether residents of East Timor qualified for benefits under the United States–Indonesia income tax treaty. It concluded that they did not because the United States had never…
PLR 200118014: Late S election relief requires timely amended returns
A company's shareholder wanted S corporation treatment from the company's incorporation date, but the election was not filed on time. The IRS found reasonable cause and granted relief under section…
PLR 200118013: S corporation election allowed from incorporation despite late filing
A company and its shareholder wanted S corporation treatment from the company's incorporation date, but the election was not filed on time. The IRS found reasonable cause for the late filing under…
PLR 200118012: Racing fuel removed from refineries is outside gasoline tax
Two refiners asked whether their racing fuel was subject to the section 4081 gasoline tax when removed from refinery racks. They represented that it was used only in race vehicles and boats,…
PLR 200118011: Mutual bank conversion satisfies selected reorganization requirements
A mutual savings bank proposed converting to a stock bank under a mutual holding company. The IRS ruled on selected tax issues in the planned steps: the conversion met continuity of interest…
PLR 200118010: Condemned utility stock proceeds may be reinvested in utility equity
Investors received proceeds after a public agency condemned their noncontrolling interests in a private utility's stock. They proposed reinvesting the proceeds in publicly traded utility common…
CCA 200118009: Stock purchases enter transitional loss rule baseline
Chief Counsel advised on a consolidated group's basis in subsidiary stock when the subsidiary left the group. Under the transitional netting rule in regulation section 1.1502-20, the baseline for…
PLR 200118008: Office worker was an employee for federal employment taxes
A worker asked the IRS to determine his employment tax status for services as an office worker and grant writer for a federal government entity. Both the worker and the firm treated him as an…
PLR 200118007: Research credit election revoked prospectively, not retroactively
A taxpayer had elected the alternative incremental method for its research credit and asked to revoke that election for prior and later tax years. Section 41(c)(4)(B) required IRS consent to revoke…
PLR 200118006: Parent gets more time to elect consolidated return filing
A parent company was omitted from a consolidated return filed for its two subsidiaries and sought more time to make the group election. The IRS found that the parent acted reasonably and in good…
CCA 200118005: Counsel recommends challenges to partnership short sale shelter
Chief Counsel reviewed draft partnership adjustment forms for a transaction it described as an abusive tax shelter involving short sales and claimed basis increases. It recommended adding…
PLR 200118004: Family business split-off receives nonrecognition rulings
Two families disagreed over the direction of a corporation's two businesses. The company proposed transferring one business to a new corporation and exchanging that corporation's stock for the…
CCA 200118003: Widow could not claim bankruptcy estate losses after debtor's death
A debtor died before his bankruptcy estate ended, and his surviving spouse claimed unused net operating loss carryovers on their joint return for his year of death. Chief Counsel advised that she…
CCA 200118002: Equitable recoupment cannot undo estate tax gift credit
An estate used the correct amount of earlier gift tax payable in calculating estate tax, although some of that gift tax had never been assessed and the assessment periods had expired. Chief Counsel…
CCA 200118001: Insurance special estimated tax refunds can bear interest
Chief Counsel considered whether the IRS must pay interest when property and casualty insurers receive refunds of special estimated tax payments under section 847(2). It concluded that these…
PLR 200117046: Foundation's individual grant procedures receive advance approval
A private foundation sought advance approval for procedures covering scholarships and fellowships, prizes for past achievement, and grants supporting study or specific projects. The IRS concluded…
PLR 200117045: Flexible retirement plan withdrawals are treated as pre-annuity distributions
A plan sponsor proposed letting participants choose when and how much to withdraw from a merged retirement plan, subject to required minimum distributions. The IRS ruled that payments under this…
PLR 200117044: Flexible withdrawals by two plan participants are treated as pre-annuity distributions
A plan sponsor asked how to tax withdrawals by two participants from a merged retirement plan. Both could take more than their required minimum distributions at times they chose, and both had made…
PLR 200117043: Charities' surgery center venture preserves exemption and avoids unrelated business tax
Two exempt organizations planned to own and operate an ambulatory surgery center through a joint venture. The venture would provide care regardless of patients' ability to pay, offer free surgery to…
PLR 200117042: Foundation asset split and corporate settlement avoid specified excise taxes
An estate's planned corporate split and a private foundation's plan to transfer its assets to two successor foundations raised questions about self-dealing and foundation excise taxes. The IRS ruled…
PLR 200117041: Foundation transfers assets to two successor foundations
A private foundation planned to transfer all or substantially all of its assets to two other private foundations with overlapping trustees, then cease operations and voluntarily terminate its…
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.