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 200052037: Lower REIT stock ownership cap preserves transferable shares
A publicly traded real estate investment trust wanted to lower the percentage of its shares that one shareholder could own. It hoped to prevent an ownership change that could limit its net operating…
PLR 200052036: Extension to file a foreign stock purchase election
A U.S. parent corporation missed the deadline to file a section 338(g) election for its foreign subsidiary's purchase of another foreign corporation. It represented that it had relied on a tax…
PLR 200052035: Charitable trust may allow early distributions to charities
Trustees of a charitable remainder annuity trust wanted authority to distribute some assets to qualified charities during the annuity recipient's lifetime. The proposed change would allow…
PLR 200052034: Former long-term resident's departure lacked tax avoidance purpose
A former long-term U.S. resident gave up her lawful permanent resident status. Her net worth exceeded the threshold that could create a presumption of tax avoidance under the law then in effect. She…
PLR 200052033: Former long-term resident's departure lacked tax avoidance purpose
A former long-term U.S. resident relinquished his lawful permanent resident status. His net worth exceeded the threshold that could create a presumption of tax avoidance under the law then in…
PLR 200052032: Active rental income does not count as passive S corporation income
An S corporation with accumulated earnings and profits owned and managed commercial rental properties. It employed managers and maintenance staff and supplied services such as cleaning, repairs,…
PLR 200052031: REIT treatment of community services, financing, and stock plans
A REIT that owned manufactured home communities asked about several kinds of property income and two stock purchase plans. The IRS ruled that customary community services would not prevent its…
PLR 200052030: Planned loss of U.S. residency lacked tax avoidance purpose
A long-term U.S. permanent resident planned to relinquish his status and return to the country where he was born. His net worth would exceed the statutory threshold that could trigger tax avoidance…
PLR 200052029: Young dual citizen's renunciation lacked tax avoidance purpose
A person born in the United States also held citizenship in another country through his parents and lived there for income tax purposes. He renounced U.S. citizenship before turning eighteen and…
PLR 200052028: Apartment services and related businesses preserve REIT rent treatment
A REIT that owned multifamily rental properties asked whether its services and related businesses would affect the treatment of its rents. The IRS concluded that customary administration,…
PLR 200052027: Separate catastrophe put options do not disqualify interest deductions
An insurance holding company planned to issue subordinated notes to replace short-term debt and buy separate put options on its preferred stock. The options would let it raise equity after a severe…
PLR 200052026: Unauthorized extra stock contribution disregarded for unitrust
The grantors of a charitable remainder unitrust contributed more stock after its creation, although the trust instrument barred additional contributions. They discovered the mistake, tracked the…
PLR 200052025: Split-off resolves shareholder conflict over a business
Shareholders of a corporation disagreed about whether to continue one of its businesses. The corporation proposed to transfer the subsidiary operating that business to a shareholder who favored…
PLR 200052024: Family trust stock redemption treated as a sale
A corporation planned to redeem all shares held by a trust created by the controlling shareholder's parents, paying cash and an installment note. The IRS found that an earlier transfer of shares to…
PLR 200052023: ESOP stock exchange qualifies as a Type B reorganization
An employee stock ownership plan owned all shares of two corporations after a merger with another plan. One corporation proposed to acquire all shares of the other solely for its voting common…
PLR 200052022: Late S election and ineligible trusts receive relief
A corporation and its founders intended S corporation treatment from its creation but never filed the election. They later transferred some shares to trusts that were then ineligible S corporation…
PLR 200052021: Timber income can qualify for a real estate investment trust
A corporation planning to elect real estate investment trust status sought guidance on timberlands, timber sales, and gain passed through an operating partnership. The IRS ruled that the land and…
PLR 200052020: Buyer and seller get more time for a section 338(h)(10) election
A corporate buyer and the seller of an S corporation intended to elect to treat a stock purchase as an asset purchase under IRC § 338(h)(10), but missed the filing deadline. They relied on tax…
CCA 200052019: Indy racing vehicle depreciation request withdrawn
A taxpayer withdrew its request to change how it accounted for the cost of Indy racing vehicles after Chief Counsel developed a tentatively adverse position. The taxpayer had been expensing the…
PLR 200052018: Parent gets more time to elect deemed asset purchase
A corporate parent sought more time to file a § 338(g) election after its subsidiary bought stock of a foreign corporation. A tax professional was responsible for the filing, but the deadline passed…
CCA 200052017: Partnership assessment extensions require notice of taxpayer rights
An IRS agent obtained signed consents extending the assessment period for two partnerships without telling them they could refuse or limit the extensions. Chief Counsel advised that IRC §…
PLR 200052016: Corporate separation and stock distributions receive tax treatment rulings
A corporate group transferred businesses and subsidiary stock to a controlled company, sold a minority stake in its public offering, and planned to distribute the remaining stock through two parent…
PLR 200052015: Tax treatment of mutual insurer's conversion to stock company
A mutual insurance company planned to liquidate a stock holding subsidiary, convert to a stock company, and merge with a publicly traded holding company. The IRS ruled that the subsidiary's…
PLR 200052014: OTC Bulletin Board shares are not readily tradable for ESOP rules
A corporation planned an employee stock ownership plan that would hold its voting Class B shares and anticipated possible sales under IRC § 1042. Its two common share classes were quoted or eligible…
PLR 200052013: Housing authority may use updated home price limits
A housing authority submitted 1999 home sales data to calculate average purchase price limits for several areas. The IRS found the data more accurate and comprehensive than the data used for…
PLR 200052012: Ineligible shareholder transfer does not end S treatment
A shareholder transferred S corporation stock to a person who was not eligible to hold it, despite a shareholder agreement barring such transfers. The corporation later discovered the problem and…
PLR 200052011: Truck accessory installer has only secondary excise tax liability
A company that sells and installs accessories on trucks and trailers had been paying the federal excise tax on installations and asked whether it could stop. The IRS ruled that the tax under IRC §…
PLR 200052010: Power purchase agreement termination treated as involuntary conversion
An independent power producer faced termination of its long-term agreement to sell electricity to a regulated utility under a broader restructuring agreement. The IRS ruled that the power purchase…
PLR 200052009: Trustee replacement preserves trust's generation-skipping exemption
The trustees of a family trust created before September 25, 1985 sought a court-approved change because one cotrustee could no longer serve. They proposed appointing a special trustee to control…
CCA 200052008: Limits on ten-year carryback of consolidated specified liability losses
A consolidated corporate group asked how much of its net operating loss could be carried back ten years as a specified liability loss. Chief Counsel advised that for a year when the parent had…
PLR 200052007: New trustee preserves older trust's generation-skipping exemption
The trustees of a family trust that was irrevocable before September 25, 1985 proposed appointing a special trustee after an existing cotrustee became unable to serve. The new trustee would control…
PLR 200052006: Sister's disclaimers allow estate charitable deduction
A decedent's sister was named beneficiary of three IRAs and six annuities and held rights to income and principal from a trust. She proposed disclaiming all of those interests so the assets would…
PLR 200052005: Foreign company gets more time for disregarded entity election
A foreign limited company with one owner intended to elect treatment as an entity disregarded from that owner for U.S. tax purposes. A miscommunication with accountants meant the election was never…
CCA 200052004: Tax Court petition bars later joint return election
A taxpayer first filed as head of household, then received a notice of deficiency and timely petitioned the Tax Court. During settlement discussions he acknowledged that filing status was wrong and…
CCA 200052003: Successors and agents can extend consolidated tax assessment periods
After mergers and name changes among members of two consolidated corporate groups, IRS counsel asked who could sign consents extending the time to assess the groups' tax. Chief Counsel found a…
CCA 200052002: Export inventory sales occurred outside the United States
A U.S. manufacturer sold inventory to related and unrelated customers abroad and asked where the sales took place for income sourcing. Chief Counsel advised that the sales occurred in the…
CCA 200052001: Missing 1985 contract defeats investment credit transition claim
A taxpayer claimed an investment tax credit for a system installed after the credit's repeal, relying on a transition rule for property covered by a binding written contract by December 31, 1985.…
PLR 200051053: IRA beneficiary may use remaining joint life expectancy for distributions
An IRA owner named three beneficiaries before required distributions began and elected not to recalculate his life expectancy. He later married one beneficiary and died after his required beginning…
PLR 200051052: IRA payment formula meets early distribution tax exception
An IRA owner under age 59½ combined two accounts and began annual withdrawals using an annuity factor. The owner proposed recalculating each later payment from the prior year-end IRA balance, the…
PLR 200051051: Division sale permits lump sum 401(k) distributions to transferred workers
A company sold its camera retail division to an unrelated corporation while retaining a separate audio and visual equipment business. The sold division had its own staff, accounting, management, and…
PLR 200051050: Hospital system pension plan qualifies as a church plan
A nonprofit hospital system sponsored by a religious order asked whether its employee pension plan was a church plan. The IRS found that the hospital and two former subsidiaries were associated with…
PLR 200051049: Hospital fitness center activities avoid unrelated business tax
A tax-exempt hospital bought a debt-financed fitness center with a cardiac rehabilitation program, public memberships, a roller skating rink, and space leased to healthcare providers. The IRS ruled…
PLR 200051048: County pension contributions picked up by board are deferred
A county board elected to pay mandatory employee contributions to a state retirement plan in place of its employees. Under the board's resolution, employees could not take the contributions as cash.…
PLR 200051047: County pickup of plan contributions defers employee tax
A county created a defined contribution retirement plan that requires participating employees to contribute six percent of compensation. The plan directs the county to pay the mandatory…
PLR 200051046: Social club's painting sale can qualify for replacement property relief
A tax-exempt social club sold a painting that had hung for decades in its dining room. The IRS found that the painting was used directly in the club's exempt activities, so gain from the sale…
PLR 200051045: Profit sharing plan qualifies as replacement for terminated pension plan
A company planned to terminate an overfunded defined benefit pension plan and transfer part of its surplus to a profit sharing plan. The IRS ruled that the profit sharing plan qualified as a…
CCA 200051044: Allow state death tax credit for California tax paid before court ruling
An estate paid California estate tax on a qualified terminable interest property trust and claimed a federal credit for the payment. A later California court decision held that such trust property…
CCA 200051043: Separate spousal compromise offers should not default together
District Counsel asked whether spouses with joint and separate tax debts should be required to link their separate offers in compromise so a default on either offer would default both. Chief Counsel…
CCA 200051042: IRS cannot backdate recovery of erroneous refund or undo valid offset
An IRS service center asked about recovering a nonrebate erroneous refund from a later year's tax overpayment after the recovery deadline had passed. Chief Counsel advised that the overpayment's…
CCA 200051041: Authorized use of unmarked law enforcement vehicle can be excluded from income
Chief Counsel considered the tax treatment of unmarked vehicles provided by a law enforcement agency to its officers. If an agency vehicle meets all requirements for a qualified nonpersonal use…
CCA 200051040: Later nonfraudulent return starts assessment deadline after fraudulent nonfiling
A taxpayer fraudulently failed to file returns, then filed late returns that were not fraudulent. Chief Counsel advised that filing the late returns started the three-year assessment period under…
CCA 200051039: Bankruptcy tolling claim requires case review before tax collection
Chief Counsel reviewed local guidance on how a Sixth Circuit bankruptcy decision affects tax priority periods. It agreed that the IRS may assert a priority claim based on tolling when it finds case…
CCA 200051038: Approved installment agreement lowers failure to pay penalty rate
Chief Counsel explained when an installment agreement triggers the reduced failure to pay penalty under IRC § 6651(h). The agreement takes effect when an authorized IRS employee approves it, and a…
PLR 200051037: Late S corporation election treated as timely if form is filed
A corporation intended to be an S corporation but discovered that it had not filed its election on time. The IRS granted relief under IRC § 1362(b)(5) and agreed to treat the election as timely for…
PLR 200051036: Late S corporation election treated as timely for single shareholder company
A company with one shareholder intended to elect S corporation status from incorporation but found that its election was late. The IRS agreed under IRC § 1362(b)(5) to treat the election as timely…
PLR 200051035: Threatened condemnation makes power contract termination an involuntary conversion
An independent power producer ended its electricity purchase agreement after a utility threatened to condemn the generating facility if negotiations failed. The IRS ruled that the contract and…
PLR 200051034: Missed trust elections caused inadvertent S corporation termination
An S corporation lost eligible shareholder status when one trust failed to distribute its shares after its grantor's death and beneficiaries of three other trusts missed required elections. The IRS…
PLR 200051033: Power contract termination after condemnation threat qualifies as involuntary conversion
An independent power producer terminated its power purchase agreement after the purchasing utility threatened to condemn its generating facility if contract restructuring failed. The IRS ruled that…
PLR 200051032: Purchaser receives more time to make a section 338 election
A corporation bought a foreign target's stock but did not make a timely election under IRC § 338(g) after relying on its tax advisers. The IRS found that the purchaser acted reasonably and in good…
PLR 200051031: Former parent receives waiver to reconsolidate with subsidiaries
A corporate parent and its subsidiaries joined another consolidated group after a stock acquisition, then left that group following later transactions. The parent asked to file a consolidated return…
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.