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 200105019: Investment portfolio granted three partnership tax rulings
An investment portfolio classified as a partnership received securities from a fund that was one of its partners. The IRS ruled that the portfolio was not a publicly traded partnership because its…
PLR 200105018: Investment portfolio receives rulings on contributions and allocations
An investment portfolio organized as a separate business trust and classified as a partnership received cash and securities from its partners. The IRS ruled that the portfolio was not a publicly…
PLR 200105017: Investment portfolio receives rulings on contributions and allocations
An investment portfolio organized as a separate business trust and classified as a partnership received cash and securities from its partners. The IRS ruled that the portfolio was not a publicly…
PLR 200105016: Investment portfolio receives rulings on contributions and allocations
An investment portfolio organized as a separate business trust and classified as a partnership received cash and securities from its partners. The IRS ruled that the portfolio was not a publicly…
PLR 200105015: Investment portfolio receives rulings on contributions and allocations
An investment portfolio organized as a separate business trust and classified as a partnership received cash and securities from its partners. The IRS ruled that the portfolio was not a publicly…
CCA 200105014: Chief Counsel accepts deduction of subsidiary captive premiums in settlement
A parent company and its operating subsidiaries paid premiums to an insurance company wholly owned by the parent. Examination proposed disallowing all the premiums as noninsurance expenses. The…
PLR 200105013: Investment portfolio receives rulings on contributions and allocations
An investment portfolio organized as a separate business trust and classified as a partnership received cash and securities from its partners. The IRS ruled that the portfolio was not a publicly…
PLR 200105012: Investment portfolio receives rulings on contributions and allocations
An investment portfolio organized as a separate business trust and classified as a partnership received cash and securities from its partners. The IRS ruled that the portfolio was not a publicly…
PLR 200105011: Investment portfolio receives rulings on contributions and allocations
An investment portfolio organized as a separate business trust and classified as a partnership received cash and securities from its partners. The IRS ruled that the portfolio was not a publicly…
PLR 200105010: Investment portfolio receives rulings on contributions and allocations
An investment portfolio organized as a separate business trust and classified as a partnership received cash and securities from its partners. The IRS ruled that the portfolio was not a publicly…
PLR 200105009: Investment portfolio receives rulings on contributions and allocations
An investment portfolio organized as a separate business trust and classified as a partnership received cash and securities from its partners. The IRS ruled that the portfolio was not a publicly…
PLR 200105008: Extension granted for late section 338(h)(10) election
A corporate purchaser bought all the stock of an S corporation, and the parties intended to elect to treat the purchase as an asset sale under section 338(h)(10). They missed the deadline for filing…
CCA 200105007: Parking at a long term work location may be tax free within the monthly limit
An IRS reimbursement arrangement covered employees' parking costs at work locations away from their permanent posts of duty. Chief Counsel advised that reimbursement for parking at a nontemporary…
PLR 200105006: Late S corporation election accepted for intended effective date
A corporation's shareholders intended it to be an S corporation from a specified date, but the election was filed late. The IRS found reasonable cause for the missed deadline under section…
TAM 200105005: Former nonresident cannot exclude pension after becoming a U.S. resident
A former nonresident alien received a civil service pension for work performed outside the United States. He had excluded the payments from U.S. income while he was a nonresident, but later became a…
TAM 200105004: Installment note transfer did not establish exchange or constructive receipt
A parent company had sold stock for cash and an installment note, then transferred the note through subsidiaries and a partnership in a series of transactions. An Appeals officer argued that the…
CCA 200105003: Lease in and lease out arrangement lacked economic substance
A financial institution used a trust to lease equipment from a foreign municipality and immediately sublease it back. The arrangement used prepaid rent, loans, swaps, and Treasury securities to fund…
CCA 200105002: Life insurer could not join consolidated return before five year eligibility period
A domestic subsidiary moved outside and then back into a U.S. parent's affiliated group. Chief Counsel found that it had not been a member throughout the required five year base period for inclusion…
CCA 200105001: ESOP trust, not participants, receives treaty dividends and related tax credit
An employer's stock plan expected to hold shares in a U.K. company through American depositary shares after a merger. The employer asked whether plan participants, rather than the plan's trust,…
PLR 200104038: Social club denied gain exclusion for unused land sale
A tax exempt social club bought a 391 acre tract to retain land used for its golf course after it failed to renew a lease. The seller would not divide the tract, so the purchase also included about…
PLR 200104037: Private foundation asset transfer preserves carryover without termination tax
One private foundation proposed transferring all its assets to another foundation controlled by the same people. The IRS ruled that the transfer would qualify under section 507(b)(2) and would not…
PLR 200104036: Private foundation asset transfer preserves carryover without termination tax
One private foundation proposed transferring all its assets to another foundation controlled by the same people. The IRS ruled that the transfer would qualify under section 507(b)(2) and would not…
PLR 200104035: Tax treatment and limits for a nonprofit employer's 403(b) annuity plan
A tax exempt employer asked whether its annuity plan met the requirements for a section 403(b) program. The IRS ruled that the plan's form met the applicable requirements for excluding qualifying…
PLR 200104034: Foundation's recreation building set-aside qualifies as a distribution
A private foundation planned to set aside income for a municipal public recreation building. It asked the IRS to approve the set-aside as a qualifying distribution under the suitability test in…
PLR 200104033: Inherited IRA distributions may use the beneficiary's remaining life expectancy
After inheriting her husband's IRA, a woman transferred it to an IRA in her own name and named another person as beneficiary. She took required minimum distributions using her recalculated single…
PLR 200104032: Foundation may transfer all assets to two controlled foundations
A private foundation proposed to divide all its assets equally between two other private foundations controlled by overlapping directors, then dissolve. The IRS ruled that the transfer itself would…
PLR 200104031: Antenna tower rental receipts are unrelated business income
An exempt organization leased space on its antenna tower and in a broadcast building to a paging service provider. The IRS had previously ruled that the tower rent was excluded from unrelated…
CCA 200104030: Court-appointed receiver must file settlement fund tax returns
A court appointed a receiver to manage seized assets for eventual liquidation and restitution to investors. Chief Counsel treated the receivership as a qualified settlement fund beginning on the…
IRS Bulletin 200104029: Collection and bankruptcy case reports and Chief Counsel advice
This December 2000 Chief Counsel bulletin compiles case reports and several advice memoranda on tax collection and bankruptcy. It reports a First Circuit decision allowing automatic tolling of the…
PLR 200104028: S corporation business split qualifies for tax free treatment
An S corporation operated two businesses and wanted to give key employees an ownership stake in one without giving them an interest in the other. It proposed to move the second business into a new…
PLR 200104027: Extension granted for consolidated return election
A parent corporation and four subsidiaries intended to elect consolidated federal income tax filing, but missed the election deadline. They had filed their returns as though the election were valid…
PLR 200104026: State deferred compensation plan qualifies under section 457
A state sought a ruling on an amended deferred compensation plan for its employees. The plan held deferred amounts in trust for participants and provided rules for deferrals, transfers, withdrawals,…
PLR 200104025: Changed use of spin-off financing leaves earlier rulings in force
An earlier ruling addressed a spin-off intended to let the controlled company borrow for acquisitions. After the spin-off, industry changes led the company to use much of the added borrowing for…
PLR 200104024: Distributions of two foreign subsidiaries qualify for nonrecognition
A domestic company proposed to distribute stock in two foreign subsidiaries to its parent so the affiliated group could reduce state and foreign taxes. The IRS ruled that neither the distributing…
PLR 200104023: Trust division preserves estate and generation-skipping tax treatment
A court approved dividing a family trust into three separate trusts, each with its beneficiary serving as trustee, if the IRS issued a favorable ruling. The changes also replaced the trustee…
PLR 200104021: Late S corporation election treated as timely if filed within 60 days
A corporation intended to elect S corporation status for its first taxable year. Its board recorded that intent, but its attorney did not prepare or file Form 2553. The IRS found reasonable cause…
CCA 200104019: Interest from foreign oil affiliates generally is not extraction income
Domestic subsidiaries received interest on loans to affiliated foreign corporations engaged in oil and gas extraction. Chief Counsel advised that the interest generally fell into the general…
PLR 200104018: Late S corporation election relief where IRS had no filing record
A corporation intended to elect S corporation status for its first taxable year. Its secretary represented that Form 2553 had been prepared and filed, but the IRS service center had no record of it.…
PLR 200104017: Revised nuclear decommissioning fund schedule approved
A utility asked the IRS to revise the annual payment schedule for its nuclear decommissioning fund after a regulator changed the plant's decommissioning costs included in rates. The request covered…
PLR 200104016: Extension to request a revised nuclear fund schedule
A taxpayer filed a request for a revised nuclear decommissioning fund payment schedule after the required deadline. It sought more time under the regulations governing late elections. Based on the…
PLR 200104015: Extension to request a revised nuclear fund schedule
A taxpayer filed a request for a revised nuclear decommissioning fund payment schedule after the required deadline. It sought more time under the regulations governing late elections. Based on the…
PLR 200104014: Trust qualifies for an electing small business trust election
A trust that held stock in a corporation planning to elect S corporation status asked whether it could qualify as an electing small business trust. The IRS concluded that its beneficiaries met the…
PLR 200104013: Trust qualifies for an electing small business trust election
A trust that held stock in a corporation planning to elect S corporation status asked whether it could qualify as an electing small business trust. The IRS concluded that its beneficiaries met the…
PLR 200104012: Tax-free spin-off of a business exposed to other operations' risks
A corporation planned to place one business in a new corporation and distribute the new corporation's stock to its three shareholders in proportion to their existing holdings. It sought to protect…
CCA 200104011: Accrual of unpaid specialist costs by a medical services provider
A professional corporation that provided medical services sought to deduct estimated costs for care already given by outside specialists, even though some specialists had not submitted payment…
PLR 200104010: Managed property rents excluded from passive investment income
A corporation that planned to elect S corporation status owned and managed commercial properties and had accumulated earnings and profits. It asked whether its rental receipts would count as passive…
PLR 200104009: Relief for a late S corporation election
A corporation and its two shareholders intended S corporation treatment from the company's formation but missed the election deadline. They had reported its income and losses as if the election had…
TAM 200104008: Estate and marital deductions for jointly owned mortgaged home
A decedent and surviving spouse owned their home as tenants by the entirety and were jointly liable for its mortgage. The estate included half the home's value in the gross estate and deducted half…
PLR 200104007: Consent to revoke alternative research credit election
A taxpayer had elected to calculate its research credit under the alternative incremental method and asked to revoke that election. Section 41(c)(4)(B) required the IRS's consent because the…
CCA 200104006: Return preparer's fraud does not extend assessment period alone
A return preparer knowingly claimed diesel fuel tax credits for a truck driver who was not entitled to them. The IRS field office asked whether the preparer's fraud would keep the assessment period…
PLR 200104005: Home sale exclusion limited to beneficiary's trust ownership share
After a spouse's death, an irrevocable trust held the couple's former home, which the surviving spouse had long used as his principal residence. He asked whether gain on the trust's planned sale of…
CCA 200104004: Assessment deadline for an S corporation short year
A corporation's S election ended when another corporation bought its stock, creating separate S and C short tax years. It filed its S short year return on April 21 of the following year, after the…
PLR 200104003: Tax-free separation of a business through exchange and spin-off
A public corporation planned to separate a growing business into a controlled corporation so that the business could raise capital more effectively. After internal restructuring and a public…
CCA 200104002: No collection damages remedy for errors in determining tax
A regional compliance project was criticized for treating similarly situated taxpayers inconsistently when determining additional tax liabilities. Chief Counsel was asked whether affected taxpayers…
PLR 200104001: Tax-free steps to separate two businesses within a corporate group
A public company sought to separate two businesses operated across its subsidiaries so each could operate independently and reduce costs. Its plan involved several transfers of one business into new…
PLR 200103085: Foundation asset transfers and later termination treatment
A private foundation planned to dissolve, give a substantial part of its art collection to a public charity museum, sell the remaining art, and distribute the proceeds to two other private…
PLR 200103084: Separate political committee preserves related groups' exemptions
A tax-exempt business league planned to create a political action committee that would support candidates favorable to its members' profession. A related section 501(c)(3) charity shared its board,…
PLR 200103083: Hospital's transfer of old building preserves tax exemption
A tax-exempt hospital planned to move into a new building in an economically distressed area. Its old building needed costly repairs, and the hospital's board expected it could not sell the property…
PLR 200103082: Transfer of foundation assets to controlled successor
A charitable trust that was a private foundation planned to transfer all its assets to a charitable corporation that was also a private foundation and was controlled by the same people. The IRS…
PLR 200103081: Advance approval of employee child scholarship procedures
A foundation asked for advance approval of scholarships for children of employees and agents of an employer. An independent public charity would run the competition, choose recipients through…
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.