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 200102015: Two properties miss the DC Zone capital gain exclusion
A married couple asked whether gains from two commercial properties could qualify for the District of Columbia Zone exclusion under section 1400B. They had owned the first property for more than…
PLR 200102014: GST exemption was automatically allocated to gifts to a trust
A donor made several gifts to a trust for grandchildren's education but filed no gift tax returns for those transfers. The trustee asked whether the donor's unused generation-skipping transfer…
PLR 200102013: Government deferred compensation plan qualifies under section 457
A government employer amended its deferred compensation plan and asked whether the revised plan qualified under section 457. The plan required advance elections to defer pay, limited annual…
CCA 200102012: Former spouses split partnership tax items after divorce
Chief Counsel analyzed partnership income, losses, and distributions after a California couple divorced but before their partnership interest was divided. It advised that the former community…
PLR 200102011: Employee-paid life insurance can be a separate policy
A state agency offered employees basic group term life insurance funded partly by employers and optional coverage paid entirely by employees with after-tax wages. Both came from the same insurer, so…
PLR 200102010: Oil and gas buyer holds the production interest and fuel credit
A buyer acquired oil and gas properties while the seller retained a production payment and possible rights in later-discovered reserves. The IRS ruled that the retained production payment was…
CCA 200102009: Royalty settlement claim of right calculation must cover all years
An oil and gas company settled federal lease royalty underpayments and interest covering multiple years, then sought claim of right relief under section 1341. Chief Counsel advised that the royalty…
CCA 200102008: Management fees accrue when services establish the right to payment
A company managed women's health centers and received fees set as a percentage of patient payments collected by the medical businesses. Chief Counsel advised that, under the accrual method, the…
TAM 200102007: Mine waste removal costs depend on which ore they benefit
An open-pit mine used a ratio of lifetime waste to ore removed to decide whether yearly waste removal costs were development expenses under section 616. The IRS rejected that method because it did…
PLR 200102006: Extra time granted to elect drilling cost deductions
A taxpayer intended to deduct intangible drilling and development costs under section 263(c), but its staff treated the costs as equipment work in process and omitted the deduction from the original…
CCA 200102005: Mandatory swap accounting change gives no prior-year audit protection
A dealer in interest rate swaps had reported certain payments only when received. It later adopted mark-to-market accounting for swaps as section 475 required and claimed that the change protected…
CCA 200102004: Keep correct timeshare accounting despite missing consent
A timeshare dealer had capitalized selling costs rather than deducting them when incurred. It switched to current deductions on an amended return without getting advance consent for an accounting…
CCA 200102003: Stock option wages count in basic lobbying labor costs
A company used the gross-up method to calculate nondeductible lobbying costs under section 162(e). It excluded employees' stock option income from the labor cost base, treating the options as…
CCA 200102002: Chapter 11 plan payments may pause tax priority look-back period
Chief Counsel considered whether an earlier bankruptcy paused the three-year period used to decide priority for an income tax claim in a later bankruptcy. It advised that, under the Third Circuit's…
CCA 200102001: Unpaid older tax can default a later compromise agreement
Taxpayers settled specified tax years through an offer in compromise, then received a notice and demand for an unpaid deficiency from a different, earlier year. Chief Counsel advised that the…
PLR 200101039: Pension plan receives a conditional funding waiver
The IRS granted a conditional waiver of the minimum funding standard for a pension plan's 1999 plan year after its sponsoring company experienced substantial losses and reduced production capacity.…
PLR 200101038: Surviving spouse may roll over inherited annuity proceeds
A deceased annuity owner's daughter disclaimed her beneficiary interest, leaving his estate to receive the annuity proceeds. The surviving spouse, who was the estate's personal representative and…
PLR 200101037: Transferred employees may receive 401(k) deferrals after asset sale
After a retailer was acquired, part of its business was sold to an unrelated company that hired many of the affected employees. Their former employer's plan had merged into the acquirer's 401(k)…
PLR 200101036: Hospital support group may operate a community fitness center
A hospital supporting organization planned to change its governance after a hospital merger and run a community fitness and rehabilitation center. The IRS ruled that the change would preserve its…
PLR 200101035: Foundation may transfer its assets before terminating
A private foundation proposed to transfer all of its assets to another private foundation controlled by the same person, then notify the IRS that it intended to terminate. The IRS ruled that the…
CCA 200101033: Reversal of erroneous abatements after the limitations period
This Chief Counsel advice addresses when the IRS may reverse an erroneous abatement after the assessment limitation period has expired. It concludes that a data entry error, a mistake of fact, or an…
CCA 200101032: Extending assessment periods for collected excise taxes
This Chief Counsel field service advice explains how to extend assessment periods for communications and air transportation excise taxes, and for the separate trust fund recovery penalty. It says…
CCA 200101031: Missing donor TIN on a donee's Form 8282
A charity sold donated property within two years and filed Form 8282 without the donor's taxpayer identification number. Chief Counsel advised that omitting required information makes the return…
CCA 200101030: Preliminary checks before a financial status audit
Chief Counsel advised that a revenue agent may drive by a taxpayer's house or search public real estate records before finding a reasonable indication of unreported income. Section 7602(e) restricts…
PLR 200101029: Automatic redemption option does not change investment trust status
A sponsor planned a fixed portfolio investment trust whose investors could elect automatic redemption after fifteen months. Those investors would avoid part of a deferred sales charge, while all…
PLR 200101028: 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, but its president apparently prepared Form 2553 without filing it. The IRS found reasonable cause for the missed…
PLR 200101027: Relief granted for an untimely S corporation election
A corporation's shareholder intended to elect S corporation status when the business began, but the election was not filed on time. The IRS found reasonable cause for the late election and ruled…
PLR 200101026: Missed S corporation election deadline excused
A corporation's shareholder intended S corporation status from the date of incorporation, but its election was not filed on time. The IRS found reasonable cause for the missed deadline and ruled…
PLR 200101025: Late S election allowed for corporation's second tax year
A corporation planned to remain inactive in its first short tax year and elect S corporation status for the next year. Its advisors failed to file Form 2553 because of a breakdown in communication…
PLR 200101024: S election preserved after an ineligible shareholder leaves
An S corporation lost its election when two shareholders transferred their stock to an ineligible shareholder. After learning the consequence, that shareholder returned the stock. The IRS found the…
PLR 200101023: Utility securitization financing does not create gross income
An electric utility planned to finance stranded costs from deregulation by issuing securities backed by a customer transition charge. A state financing order would permit the charge, and a company…
PLR 200101022: Late S and QSUB elections granted after reorganization
A holding company filed its S election before it had shareholders, operations, or assets, and its advisers failed to file elections for three wholly owned subsidiaries to be qualified subchapter S…
PLR 200101021: Estate and gift treatment of a spouses' joint trust
A married couple proposed to put jointly owned assets into a trust they could each revoke during their joint lives. The IRS ruled that funding the trust was not a completed gift. Distributions to…
PLR 200101020: Corporate spin off qualifies as a tax free reorganization
A publicly traded company separated one business into a controlled subsidiary, sold a minority stake in that subsidiary through an initial public offering, and planned to distribute its remaining…
CCA 200101019: Early refund in a Joint Committee case requires a determined overpayment
A corporation sought an early refund of more than $1 million after discovering that it had overstated income on an amended return. Chief Counsel advised that the IRS could use the modified expedited…
PLR 200101018: Late S corporation election treated as timely
A corporation with four shareholders intended to be an S corporation from incorporation, but later found that its S election had not been filed on time. The IRS ruled that the election would be…
PLR 200101017: Extension granted for seven missed REMIC elections
A trustee overseeing a ten tier mortgage investment structure timely requested filing extensions for three REMICs but missed the requests for seven others. After discovering the omission, it sought…
PLR 200101016: Partnership gets more time to make a section 754 election
A company's tax preparer did not tell it about the option to elect a basis adjustment for partnership property under section 754, and the company filed its first return without the election. The IRS…
PLR 200101015: Dividing grandfathered trust preserves GST tax exemption
A trust created under a 1938 will was scheduled to end twenty years after the decedent's daughter died. Its trustee and four great grandchildren proposed to split it into four equal trusts, one for…
PLR 200101014: Late S election for closely held corporation
A corporation owned by a husband and wife intended S corporation status from incorporation but discovered its election had not been filed on time. The IRS ruled that the election would be treated as…
PLR 200101013: Late S election for a single shareholder corporation
A corporation with one shareholder intended S corporation status from incorporation but discovered its election had not been filed on time. The IRS ruled that the election would be treated as timely…
PLR 200101012: Student apartment services count as REIT real property rent
A student apartment owner seeking REIT treatment offered internet, telephone, cable television, security, and computer room facilities at its properties, plus shuttle buses at two sites. The IRS…
PLR 200101011: Combining two exempt trusts preserves zero GST inclusion ratio
Two trusts for the same beneficiary had identical terms but were funded by different decedents. The IRS found that each trust had a zero generation skipping transfer tax inclusion ratio: one…
PLR 200101010: Late S corporation election accepted if filed within 60 days
A corporation intended to elect S corporation status from its first tax year. Its sole shareholder relied on an attorney to file Form 2553, but the attorney missed the deadline. The IRS found…
PLR 200101009: Subsidiaries treated as consenting to an initial consolidated return
A parent corporation filed a timely initial consolidated tax return that included its wholly owned subsidiaries' income and listed them on the affiliations schedule. Its preparer inadvertently…
PLR 200101008: Extension granted for ratable allocation election
A parent corporation and its subsidiaries filed a consolidated return for a period when they should have filed separate returns. Their advisers had not told the parent to elect to allocate tax items…
CCA 200101007: Leasing losses subject to dual consolidated loss limits
Chief Counsel advised examiners about losses from a parent's cross border leasing arrangements. It concluded that the dual consolidated loss rules can apply to a domestic corporation's foreign…
PLR 200101006: Business separation qualifies as a tax free spin off
A public company proposed a series of mergers, contributions, and distributions to separate two businesses with different growth and financing needs. It would place one business under a new…
CCA 200101005: U.K. dividend taxes partly attributable to oil and gas income
A U.S. parent owned a dual resident subsidiary, which in turn owned a U.K. company earning foreign oil and gas extraction income. Chief Counsel advised that the portion of dividends traceable to…
CCA 200101004: Medicaid rebate payments do not reduce drug sales receipts
Drug manufacturers sought to treat payments made to state Medicaid agencies as reductions in the price of drugs they had sold to wholesalers. Chief Counsel advised that the payments did not reduce…
TAM 200101003: Rebuilt cable distribution plants are real property for interest capitalization
A cable television operator rebuilt distribution networks using coaxial and fiber optic cable but capitalized no interest on the projects. The IRS concluded that the rebuilt plants were inherently…
TAM 200101001: Parent may deduct subsidiary debt lost in bankruptcy
A parent company held unsecured debt owed by its pipeline subsidiary, and both entered bankruptcy. The subsidiary's confirmed plan paid the parent the same proportion of its unsecured claim as other…
PLR 200052046: Employer picked up pension contributions excluded from employee income
A state agency adopted a qualified defined benefit plan that required employee contributions. The agency agreed to assume and pay those contributions, and eligible employees could not choose cash…
PLR 200052044: IRA beneficiary may take required distributions over her remaining life expectancy
An IRA owner died after receiving her required distribution for 1999, leaving equal shares to three children. Two children planned to move their shares by trustee transfers into separate IRAs…
PLR 200052043: Separate inherited IRA share may be distributed over beneficiary's life expectancy
An IRA owner died after receiving her required distribution for 1999, leaving equal shares to three children. One child planned to transfer his share by trustee transfer into a separate IRA…
PLR 200052042: Another inherited IRA share may use a beneficiary's life expectancy
An IRA owner died after receiving her required distribution for 1999 and left equal shares to three children. One son planned to transfer his share by trustee transfer into a separate IRA maintained…
PLR 200052041: Surviving spouse may roll trust appointed IRA proceeds into her own IRA
A deceased IRA owner's trust was named as the IRA beneficiary, and his surviving spouse became the trust's sole trustee. The trust required the IRA to be allocated to a subtrust and allowed the…
PLR 200052040: Surviving spouse may roll over IRAs received by electing against a will
A surviving spouse planned to elect against her husband's will under state law and receive his two IRAs as part of her share of his estate. The estate had been named as beneficiary, which would…
PLR 200052039: Divorce division of an IRA and periodic payment exception
A couple planned to divide one spouse's IRA in a divorce. He had been taking substantially equal periodic payments from it to avoid the 10 percent additional tax on early distributions. The IRS…
PLR 200052038: Foundation asset split and subsequent termination
A private foundation planned to divide all its assets between two foundations, each controlled by one of its two trustee groups, and then dissolve. One recipient already had private foundation…
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.