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 200103018: Late S corporation election allowed from intended date
A corporation's shareholders intended S corporation treatment from a redacted effective date but did not file the election on time. The IRS found reasonable cause for the late filing and granted…
PLR 200103017: Governmental deferred compensation plan qualifies under section 457
A state governmental entity asked the IRS to review its revised deferred compensation plan and related trust. The IRS ruled that the plan qualified as an eligible section 457(b) plan. Under the…
PLR 200103016: Late S corporation election allowed from intended date
A corporation intended to elect S corporation treatment from a redacted effective date but missed the filing deadline. The IRS found reasonable cause for the delay and granted relief under section…
PLR 200103015: Current expense reimbursement plan qualifies, proposed electronic version fails
An employer asked whether its current and proposed employee travel and entertainment reimbursement programs met tax substantiation rules. The IRS approved the current program as an accountable plan…
PLR 200103014: Late accounting period change request treated as timely
Taxpayers missed the deadline to file Form 1128 for a change in their tax year, citing a miscommunication. The IRS found that they acted reasonably and in good faith and that an extension would not…
PLR 200103013: Late tax year change application treated as timely
A taxpayer filed Form 1128 late when seeking to change its accounting period. The letter says an error or misunderstanding caused the delay and that the form was filed within 90 days of its due…
PLR 200103012: Partition of older trust preserves generation skipping tax exemption
A trustee proposed dividing an existing trust into two trusts on a proportional basis and changing investment and trustee provisions for one of them. The IRS concluded that the partition and changes…
PLR 200103011: Late historic status certification application treated as timely
A building owner sought a historic rehabilitation credit but missed the deadline to request historic status certification before placing the building in service. The owner said it had been unaware…
CCA 200103010: Nuclear waste disposal fees are not contract research costs
An electric utility claimed part of its fees paid to the Department of Energy for nuclear waste disposal as contract research expenses. Chief Counsel advised that the standard agreement bought waste…
PLR 200103009: Buyer receives mineral interest and related fuel credits
A buyer of oil and gas interests asked how a seller's retained production payment and two notes would affect ownership and section 29 fuel credits. The IRS treated the retained production payment as…
PLR 200103008: Buyer receives mineral interest and attributable fuel credits
A buyer of oil and gas interests asked how a seller's retained production payment and two notes would affect its economic interest and section 29 fuel credits. The IRS treated the production payment…
PLR 200103007: Division of family trusts avoids transfer, gain, and gift taxes
A family proposed dividing each of three older trusts into separate trusts for its three branches, including a partition of timberland. The IRS concluded that the division would preserve the trusts'…
CCA 200103006: Advance lease payments are rental income when leases are signed
A finance subsidiary treated some customer payments made at the start of merchandise leases as reductions in the leased property's tax basis. Chief Counsel advised that three forms of advance…
TAM 200103005: Fishing lure fabricator is not the manufacturer for excise tax
A fabricator made plastic fishing lures using molds supplied by its customers. The IRS concluded that the fabricator was not the manufacturer liable for the section 4161 excise tax on transfers of…
CCA 200103004: Target's takeover defense fees must be capitalized
A company targeted in a takeover deducted legal and investment banking fees incurred during its defense. Chief Counsel advised that the fees had to be capitalized under section 263. The company had…
PLR 200103003: Trust division preserves tax treatment of beneficiaries and assets
Trustees proposed dividing an older family trust into two trusts to allow different investment strategies while keeping beneficiaries' rights substantially the same. The IRS ruled that the division…
PLR 200103002: Division of family trust preserves tax treatment
Trustees proposed dividing an older family trust into two trusts to allow different investment strategies. One successor trust would pay income to the grantor's spouse during her life, while the…
PLR 200103001: Trust division preserves estate, gift, and income tax treatment
Trustees proposed dividing an older trust into two trusts so its beneficiaries could pursue different investment strategies. The IRS concluded that the split would preserve the beneficiaries' rights…
PLR 200102057: Artist grant procedures approved for private foundation
A private foundation asked for advance approval of its procedures for grants to artists with financial need. Applicants would be evaluated on merit and prior recognition for work scheduled for…
PLR 200102056: Black lung trust may cover group liabilities and retiree health benefits
After a merger, a coal company asked whether an existing black lung trust could pay claims for employees across its corporate group. The IRS ruled that doing so would preserve the trust's section…
PLR 200102055: Foundation may pay disqualified investment manager reasonable fees
A private foundation proposed hiring a corporation that was a disqualified person to manage its investment portfolio. The IRS ruled that the arrangement and payments for investment management,…
PLR 200102054: Foundation scholarship procedures approved
A private foundation sought advance approval of a scholarship program administered by a publicly supported charity. The charity would receive applications, select recipients using academic and…
PLR 200102053: Charitable health care joint venture preserves exemption
Two exempt health care organizations proposed forming a jointly managed limited liability company to combine and expand rehabilitation services. Both organizations would appoint managers, and the…
PLR 200102052: Charitable health care joint venture preserves exemption
Two exempt health care organizations proposed forming a jointly managed limited liability company to combine and expand rehabilitation services. Both organizations would appoint managers, and the…
TAM 200102051: Trade association's advertising receipts were not unrelated business income
A tax exempt association of free newspaper publishers received a share of revenue from advertisements placed in its members' papers through a commercial broker. The IRS advised that the receipts…
PLR 200102050: Late S corporation election treated as timely
A corporation intended to be taxed as an S corporation from its incorporation but discovered that it had not filed its election on time. The IRS granted relief under section 1362(b)(5), treating the…
CCA 200102049: Cash reporting depends on the underlying transactions
An IRS field office asked when a business must report cash payments against recurring invoices and accounts receivable. The Chief Counsel advised that payments must be aggregated under section 6050I…
CCA 200102048: Notices may show accrued failure to pay addition with an explanation
IRS service centers asked how to state additions to tax on deficiency notices for returns prepared by the Service under section 6020(b). Their software could not calculate the failure to file…
CCA 200102047: Frivolous filing packages support penalties against their filers
A service center received refund claim packages filed for taxpayers by people who claimed to represent them. The packages treated income as exempt and used Form 56 to claim authority to act, but the…
IRS 200102046: Collection, bankruptcy, and summonses bulletin
This October 2000 Chief Counsel bulletin collects case summaries and advice memoranda about IRS collection, bankruptcy, and summonses. It reports court decisions on summons enforcement and the…
PLR 200102045: Corporate business separation qualifies as a reorganization
A publicly traded company proposed separating two businesses from a third to address regulatory and management constraints. It would transfer the businesses' assets and related liabilities to a new…
PLR 200102044: Utility financing proceeds do not create immediate gross income
An electric utility planned to finance costs from industry restructuring through a special charge on customers' bills and securities issued by a wholly owned entity. The IRS ruled that the…
CCA 200102043: Divorce allocation is a partner level issue
Chief Counsel considered how partnership income and losses should be handled after a partner's divorce in a community property state. It advised that allocating those items between the partner and…
PLR 200102042: Employee stock purchase plan qualifies under section 423
A company asked whether its employee stock purchase plan qualifies under section 423 despite a company option to repurchase shares if an employee proposes to sell them during the statutory holding…
PLR 200102041: Acquired group may change asset valuation method
A corporation acquired another group that used fair market value to value assets when apportioning interest expense. The buyer's existing group used tax book value and wanted the acquired group to…
PLR 200102040: Trust reformation preserves grandchild GST exclusion
A trust for a grandchild required distributions of principal when the beneficiary reached ages 25, 30, and 35. A court ordered the trust reformed to remove those mandatory distributions, subject to…
PLR 200102039: Trust reformation preserves grandchild GST exclusion
A trust for a grandchild required distributions of principal when the beneficiary reached ages 25, 30, and 35. A court ordered the trust reformed to remove those mandatory distributions, subject to…
PLR 200102038: Subsidiary merger qualifies as a Type D reorganization
A parent company proposed contributing one subsidiary's stock to another subsidiary, then merging the first subsidiary into a limited liability company owned by the second. The IRS ruled that the…
PLR 200102037: Rent paid to a disregarded LLC creates no taxable income
An owner proposed transferring a property to a new limited liability company, then placing part of the company interest in a trust treated as wholly owned by the same person for income tax purposes.…
PLR 200102036: Business spin off qualifies as a Type D reorganization
A U.S. subsidiary of a foreign parent proposed transferring one business to a new corporation and distributing that corporation's stock to the parent as part of a planned joint venture. Based on the…
PLR 200102035: Extension granted for dual consolidated loss filings
A tax consultant inadvertently omitted two affiliates' dual consolidated losses from a taxpayer's elections. The taxpayer asked for more time to file the required agreements and certifications…
PLR 200102034: Membership fees cannot be deferred as service income
A membership retailer asked to spread prepaid annual membership fees over each membership year for income tax purposes. It argued that the fee paid for continuing access to discounted goods and…
PLR 200102033: Late S corporation election treated as timely
A corporation with one shareholder intended to be taxed as an S corporation but discovered that its election had not been filed on time. The IRS granted relief under section 1362(b)(5), treating the…
PLR 200102032: Late S corporation election treated as timely
A corporation with one shareholder intended to be taxed as an S corporation but discovered that its election had not been filed on time. The IRS granted relief under section 1362(b)(5), treating the…
PLR 200102031: Two mergers treated as a direct asset acquisition
A corporation acquired a target through a subsidiary merger and then proposed to merge the target into itself. It asked how the two mergers would be treated for federal income tax purposes. The IRS…
PLR 200102030: Expatriate rebuts tax avoidance presumption, but motive remains open
A person who held U.S. citizenship and another country's citizenship from birth sought a ruling before giving up U.S. citizenship. He had long lived in the other country and described family,…
PLR 200102029: Expatriate rebuts tax avoidance presumption, but motive remains open
A person with both U.S. and another country's citizenship from birth sought a ruling on giving up U.S. citizenship. The person had spent most of adult life in the other country, where the spouse,…
PLR 200102028: Orchard partnership may add farming operations without a new business line
A publicly traded partnership owned orchards and hired affiliated companies to farm them. It proposed to buy those farming operations and also provide farming services for outside orchard owners.…
PLR 200102027: Late S corporation election granted conditional relief
A corporation intended to elect S corporation status when it was formed, but missed the Form 2553 filing deadline. The IRS found reasonable cause and granted relief under section 1362(b)(5). If the…
PLR 200102026: Late S corporation election granted conditional relief
A corporation formed on one redacted date intended to elect S corporation status from another redacted date, but missed the Form 2553 filing deadline. The IRS found reasonable cause and granted…
PLR 200102025: Corporate group gets more time to elect consolidated filing
A corporate group missed the deadline to elect to file a consolidated federal income tax return after a merger changed its common parent. The IRS found that the companies acted reasonably and in…
PLR 200102024: S corporation's share of contracting receipts is active income
An S corporation with accumulated earnings and profits planned to take an interest in a limited liability company conducting a commercial contracting business. It asked whether its share of the…
PLR 200102023: Late S corporation election granted conditional relief
A corporation intended to elect S corporation status in its first taxable year, but its president and attorney each thought the other would file Form 2553. The IRS found reasonable cause for the…
PLR 200102022: Late S corporation election treated as timely
A corporation with one shareholder intended to be taxed as an S corporation but discovered that its election had not been filed on time. The IRS granted relief under section 1362(b)(5), treating the…
CCA 200102021: Pension levy cannot fund an offer before funds are withdrawable
A taxpayer proposed to fund an offer in compromise through an IRS levy on his pension plan, even though he could not yet withdraw the money himself. Chief Counsel advised that a levy cannot obtain…
PLR 200102020: Late S corporation election treated as timely
A corporation with several shareholders intended to be taxed as an S corporation but discovered that its election had not been filed on time. The IRS granted relief under section 1362(b)(5),…
PLR 200102019: Late S corporation election treated as timely
A corporation with one shareholder intended to be taxed as an S corporation but discovered that its election had not been filed on time. The IRS granted relief under section 1362(b)(5), treating the…
CCA 200102018: Oil and gas losses depend on liability and participation
Two taxpayers claimed losses from oil and gas working interests held through a partnership and an S corporation. Chief Counsel advised that the partnership losses were nonpassive because each…
PLR 200102017: Trust's stock redemption qualifies as a complete termination
A family trust planned to transfer all its shares in a corporation back to the corporation for cash or debt after its creator's death. The IRS ruled that the trust and the creator's spouse could…
CCA 200102016: Money laundering notices carry taxpayer disclosure restrictions
IRS Criminal Investigation proposed sending businesses letters about suspected laundered payments after indictments in non-tax money laundering cases. Chief Counsel advised that information about…
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.