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 200116037: Late S election effective for the intended tax year
A one-shareholder corporation said it had intended to be an S corporation from a specified date, but its election had not been filed on time. It asked the IRS to treat the election as timely for the…
PLR 200116036: Conditional relief for an unfiled S election
A corporation with two shareholders said it had intended to elect S status for a specified tax year but later discovered that its election had not been filed on time. It requested relief under…
PLR 200116035: Former resident's departure lacked a principal tax avoidance purpose
A former long-term U.S. resident gave up lawful permanent resident status and asked whether a principal purpose of leaving was to avoid U.S. taxes. Her net worth exceeded a threshold that would…
PLR 200116034: Former resident's departure lacked a principal tax avoidance purpose
A former long-term U.S. resident gave up lawful permanent resident status and asked whether he had a principal purpose of avoiding U.S. taxes. His net worth exceeded a threshold that ordinarily…
PLR 200116033: Late S election after reliance on an attorney
A corporation's sole shareholder relied on an attorney to file an S corporation election, but Form 2553 was not filed on time. The corporation asked for the election to take effect for the intended…
PLR 200116032: Prior ruling's partial revocation delayed until a later tax year
A taxpayer had relied on an earlier IRS ruling about deductions included in a specified liability loss before the IRS partially revoked that ruling. It asked the IRS to make the revocation effective…
PLR 200116031: Court's interpretation preserved a trust's GST tax exemption
A trust became irrevocable decades before the generation-skipping transfer tax began, and no later additions were reported. After one beneficiary died, the trustee obtained a court order resolving…
PLR 200116030: Former resident's departure lacked a principal tax avoidance purpose
A former U.S. lawful permanent resident asked whether she had a principal purpose of avoiding U.S. taxes when she gave up that status. Her net worth exceeded the threshold discussed in the ruling.…
PLR 200116029: Planned citizenship renunciation lacked a principal tax avoidance purpose
A dual citizen by birth planned to relinquish her U.S. citizenship and asked whether a principal purpose of doing so was to avoid U.S. taxes. Her net worth exceeded the threshold discussed in the…
PLR 200116028: Municipal bond fund merger qualified as a Type C reorganization
Two closed-end municipal bond funds proposed to combine by transferring substantially all of one fund's assets and liabilities to the other in exchange for voting shares. The first fund would…
PLR 200116027: Late foreign earned income exclusion election allowed
A taxpayer failed to elect the foreign earned income exclusion for several tax years and requested more time. Affidavits showed that the taxpayer had reasonably relied on a qualified tax…
PLR 200116026: Late Form 1128 treated as timely filed
A taxpayer filed Form 1128 to request a change in its tax year after the deadline because of an error or misunderstanding. The form was filed within 90 days after it was due. The IRS found that the…
PLR 200116025: Tax treatment of distributing a newly formed business company
A corporation proposed moving one of its two businesses into a new company and distributing that company's shares to its shareholders. One employee would exchange shares of the original corporation…
PLR 200116024: Corporate split to resolve shareholder disputes
Shareholders in a family-owned corporation disagreed over the direction of its two businesses. To separate them, the corporation transferred assets to a subsidiary and exchanged all of that…
PLR 200116022: Late S election effective from start of business
A corporation's shareholders intended to elect S status effective when the business began, but the election was filed late. The IRS found reasonable cause for the delay. It ruled that the…
PLR 200116021: Late S election effective from incorporation
A corporation's shareholders wanted S corporation status from its incorporation date, but the election was not filed on time. The IRS found reasonable cause for the missed deadline. It ruled that…
PLR 200116020: Late S election effective from incorporation
A corporation's shareholders intended to elect S corporation status from its incorporation date, but the election was not filed on time. The IRS found reasonable cause for the failure. It ruled that…
PLR 200116019: Late S election allowed from incorporation date
A corporation intended to be treated as an S corporation from its incorporation date but missed the election deadline. The IRS determined that it had reasonable cause for the late filing. The…
PLR 200116018: More time to elect pollution control facility amortization
A taxpayer that succeeded two businesses sought more time to elect 60-month amortization for pollution control facilities. The businesses had not made timely section 169 elections, and the…
PLR 200116017: Neighborhood district was an integral part of its city
A city formed a neighborhood district to provide services such as street cleaning, lighting, traffic oversight, and security using special assessments on local businesses. The district asked whether…
PLR 200116016: Pro rata trust split preserved tax treatment
Trustees proposed splitting an irrevocable trust into four separate trusts, one primarily for each of the deceased beneficiary's four children, with assets divided proportionately. The trust…
PLR 200116015: Late S election for corporation's first tax year
A corporation's sole shareholder said the corporation had intended S status for its first tax year and showed a completed, signed Form 2553. A miscommunication meant the form was not filed on time.…
CCA 200116014: Insufficient records to classify payment from small issue bond proceeds
Chief Counsel considered whether a payment from tax-exempt bond proceeds for a nursing home project counted toward the required use of proceeds for a qualified small issue bond. The taxpayers said…
PLR 200116013: More time for joint section 338(h)(10) election
A corporate buyer's parent and the seller intended to elect section 338(h)(10) treatment for the buyer's purchase of a subsidiary, but their joint election was not filed by the regulatory deadline.…
CCA 200116012: Bond changes and issuer payments caused a partial reissuance
Chief Counsel reviewed changes to an issuer's tax-exempt school financing bonds after an underwriter bought and remarketed some of them. An early redemption lottery, refunding escrow, amended bond…
PLR 200116011: Late request for revised plant funding schedule treated as timely
A taxpayer missed the deadline to request a revised schedule of ruling amounts for a plant under the section 468A regulations. It filed the request after the deadline and asked the IRS for relief…
PLR 200116010: Late request for revised plant funding schedule treated as timely
A taxpayer missed the deadline to request a revised schedule of ruling amounts for a plant under the section 468A regulations. It filed the request after the deadline and asked the IRS for relief…
PLR 200116009: City-controlled convention hotel corporation's income excluded
A city created a nonprofit corporation to finance, build, and operate a hotel next to its convention center, which had recurring deficits. The city council appointed the corporation's directors and…
TAM 200116008: Shareholder settlements did not create deductible interest
A corporation settled disputes with former shareholders after redeeming their shares and sought to deduct part of the settlement payments as interest. The settlement agreements did not allocate…
PLR 200116007: Historic property preservation supported exemption and estate deduction
A settlor intended a historic property to become a museum and garden open to the public, but died before the required use permit was obtained. The trust planned to transfer the property to a…
PLR 200116006: Spouse could disclaim one severed QTIP trust without gifting the other
A surviving spouse held a qualifying income interest in a marital trust for which the deceased grantor's estate had made a QTIP election. The trustee proposed dividing that trust proportionately…
CCA 200116005: Canceled partnership debt was taxable settlement damages
A partnership sued a public entity over a facility agreement and regulatory restrictions. The settlement canceled the partnership's debt to that entity, but also included language releasing a…
PLR 200116004: Bonds financing a city's firm water reservation remained tax exempt
A city paid a fee to secure a long-term right to buy additional firm water and planned to finance the fee with tax-exempt bonds. It had used taxable commercial paper to reimburse part of the payment…
PLR 200116003: More time for an S corporation purchase election
A corporate buyer and the sellers of an S corporation intended a joint section 338(h)(10) election for the stock purchase but missed the filing deadline. The IRS found that they had relied on tax…
TAM 200116002: Preferred stock exchange was not a taxable stock distribution
Three shareholders exchanged their shares in a business for preferred stock in a new company during a transaction that also brought in a loss corporation as a common shareholder. The IRS considered…
CCA 200116001: Lien security for a family-owned business estate deduction
Chief Counsel addressed lien security when an estate elected the section 2057 deduction for qualified family-owned business interests. It agreed that local counsel should be consulted if qualifying…
PLR 200116023: Gasoline position holder could not claim exempt-use excise tax refund
A gasoline terminal position holder proposed a credit-card arrangement for sales ultimately made to governments and nonprofit schools for their exclusive use. It would pay the fuel excise tax when…
PLR 200115044: Foundation's transition to a hospital supporting organization
A private foundation changed its governing documents and activities to support tax-exempt hospitals in its region. The IRS ruled that those changes did not disturb its section 501(c)(3) status. It…
PLR 200115043: Salary reductions picked up by a state employer for a pension plan
A state agency proposed to pick up employees' mandatory contributions to a state retirement plan through salary reductions. The arrangement required participation and gave employees no option to…
PLR 200115042: Supplemental pension plan leaves existing trust's status intact
A multiemployer pension trust asked whether a separate supplemental plan for benefits above the section 415 limit would affect its tax status. The two plans' assets could not be used to pay each…
PLR 200115041: Advance approval for an employee-children scholarship program
An organization proposed to fund scholarships for employees' children through a separate public charity that would select recipients and supervise the awards. Selection would use academic and other…
PLR 200115040: Tax treatment of a state pension plan's partial lump sum
A state pension plan let retiring employees take a partial lump sum with a reduced annuity. The plan had allowed withdrawal of employee contributions on May 5, 1986, and some retirees still had…
PLR 200115039: Automatic annuity withdrawals as substantially equal payments
A life insurer offered automatic withdrawals from deferred variable annuity contracts issued as IRAs or section 403(b) contracts. Holders could choose payments calculated by life expectancy,…
PLR 200115038: Transfer of a private foundation's assets to another foundation
A charitable trust planned to transfer all its assets to a charitable corporation controlled by the same people. Both were private foundations. The IRS ruled that the transfer qualified under…
PLR 200115037: Extra time to file a stock purchase election
A buyer and seller intended to make a joint section 338(h)(10) election after the buyer acquired all the stock of a subsidiary, but missed the filing deadline. They had reported their tax returns as…
PLR 200115036: Executive compensation deduction limit for a foreign parent's US group
A US company owned by a foreign corporation asked whether section 162(m)'s executive compensation deduction limit applied to its US businesses. The foreign parent issued stock traded overseas and…
CCA 200115035: Documents needed to verify an assessed tax liability
A field office asked Chief Counsel to review advice about a taxpayer who demanded original assessment records and notices before collection. Counsel agreed generally with the proposed advice and…
CCA 200115034: Moving expense deductions for immigrants arriving in the United States
Chief Counsel reviewed deductions claimed by immigrants for travel costs incurred while they were nonresident aliens moving to the United States. It agreed that costs incurred before residency could…
CCA 200115033: School bus driver expense reimbursements and accountable plans
Chief Counsel reviewed proposed advice about whether Louisiana school bus driver reimbursements for bus operating costs were wages reported on Form W-2. It found no legal error in the proposed…
CCA 200115032: Credit card fees for paying personal income tax
A service center asked whether an individual could deduct a credit card company's fee for paying personal income tax by card. Chief Counsel advised that section 212(3) allows certain costs of…
CCA 200115031: Representative signatures on an offer in compromise
Chief Counsel reviewed whether an enrolled agent with a valid power of attorney could sign an offer in compromise and its collection information statement for a taxpayer. It agreed the agent could…
PLR 200115030: Stock for assets combination of two investment funds
Two closed-end investment funds proposed to combine by having one fund transfer its assets and liabilities to the other for voting stock, then distribute that stock to its shareholders and dissolve.…
PLR 200115029: Late S corporation election treated as timely
A corporation with one shareholder intended to be an S corporation but discovered that it had missed the election filing deadline. Under section 1362(b)(5), the IRS ruled that its election would be…
PLR 200115028: Diversification look-through for funds held by variable contracts
A fund offered through variable insurance contracts planned to invest in two other funds and possibly in other regulated investment companies. The IRS ruled that, on the stated ownership and public…
PLR 200115027: Continuity of interest in a savings bank restructuring
A mutual holding company and related savings bank planned a conversion and series of mergers that would leave a new holding company above the bank. The IRS ruled on three narrow points about…
PLR 200115026: Extra time to elect asset sale treatment for a stock purchase
A purchaser bought all the stock of an S corporation, and the purchaser and seller intended to make a joint section 338(h)(10) election but missed its filing deadline. They had filed returns…
PLR 200115025: Extra time for a dual consolidated loss certification
A taxpayer incurred a dual consolidated loss in a foreign business and filed the related agreement with its US return. A tax department restructuring caused it to omit the required annual…
PLR 200115024: Presumption of tax avoidance after surrendering a green card
A former long-term US resident surrendered his green card and asked the IRS to rule that avoiding US tax was not a principal purpose. His net worth exceeded the threshold that would otherwise…
PLR 200115023: Accounting adjustment excluded from REIT income tests
A corporation preparing to elect real estate investment trust status changed how it depreciated certain warehouse assets. That change produced a positive section 481 adjustment to be included in…
PLR 200115022: Inadvertently invalid S corporation election
A corporation's S election was invalid because one shareholder and the trustees of two shareholder trusts had not properly consented, and the trusts had not made electing small business trust…
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.