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 200048010: S election effective when corporation began business
A corporation's sole shareholder wanted S corporation treatment from the date the corporation acquired assets and began business, but the election was not filed on time. The IRS found reasonable…
CCA 200048009: Seller indemnity payments affect acquired company's basis
A buyer acquired a company in a section 338(h)(10) transaction, and the seller later paid the company's state franchise tax liabilities and interest under an indemnity agreement. Chief Counsel…
PLR 200048008: Corporate group separates two businesses through distributions
A corporate group proposed a series of transfers and stock distributions to separate two operating businesses held through domestic and foreign subsidiaries. The IRS ruled that several distributions…
PLR 200048007: Foreign subsidiary stock moves through tax-free distributions
A corporate group planned to separate two businesses by moving a foreign subsidiary through a chain of related companies. The IRS treated the initial steps as a direct stock distribution and ruled…
CCA 200048006: Seller indemnity payments affect acquired company's basis
A buyer acquired a company in a section 338(h)(10) transaction, and the seller later paid the company's state franchise tax liabilities and interest under an indemnity agreement. Chief Counsel…
PLR 200048005: Waiver permits subsidiary to rejoin consolidated return
A subsidiary left a consolidated tax group after a stock offering and later became affiliated with a successor corporate group. Section 1504(a)(3)(A) ordinarily prevented it from joining the new…
Other 200048003: Criminal Tax Bulletin case summaries for June 2000
This IRS Criminal Tax Bulletin summarizes court decisions rather than resolving a taxpayer's request. Its June 2000 issue covers criminal tax charges, tax deficiency questions, procedure, evidence,…
CCA 200048002: Lease write-off denied and advance payments counted on sale
A company claimed an abandonment loss for a disputed lease before selling the related business. Chief Counsel advised that the lease had not been abandoned through a completed, identifiable event,…
CCA 200048001: Vehicle lease down payments are advance rent
Customers made capital cost reduction payments when leasing vehicles through dealers. Chief Counsel analyzed five arrangements in which a bank or finance company owned the vehicle or later acquired…
PLR 200046020: Fleet lessor may depreciate vehicles by miles driven
A company that leases vehicles to business fleets wanted to calculate depreciation from miles driven instead of a set number of years. It said mileage was a better measure of the vehicles' useful…
PLR 200047051: Bankrupt employer's pension amendments meet de minimis exception
An employer in Chapter 11 bankruptcy proposed five amendments to its defined benefit pension plan. The changes would add subsidiary employees, offer another annuity form, improve death benefits, and…
PLR 200047050: Retirement plan qualifies as a church plan after administrator correction
Two church affiliated care homes sponsored a defined benefit pension plan and sought church plan status under section 414(e). The IRS found that their employees were deemed church employees because…
TAM 200047049: Land sales and public golf fees are taxable, but exemption remains
An educational and cultural organization sold developed residential lots and charged for municipal services and recreation on its grounds. The IRS concluded that the lot sales were a regularly…
TAM 200047048: Trust support ends public charity status, with limited retroactive relief
A charitable organization devoted to botany and pharmacology received nearly all its support from a trust with four separately accounted funds. The IRS treated the trust as one contributor and found…
CCA 200047047: Apply federal confidentiality rules to state unemployment data
IRS counsel reviewed a proposed agreement that would give the agency online access to Florida unemployment compensation data for tax collection. Once obtained by the IRS, the data would be taxpayer…
PLR 200047046: Removing subsidiary from debt does not trigger a taxable exchange
A holding company proposed removing its wholly owned operating subsidiary as co-obligor on several debt instruments. The subsidiary's earnings and assets would still support the parent's ability to…
PLR 200047045: Business split-off qualifies as a tax-free reorganization
Two shareholders of an S corporation wanted to separate its long-running businesses after disputes about management. The company proposed transferring one business to a new corporation and giving…
PLR 200047044: Purchaser receives more time to file a section 338 election
A corporate purchaser missed the deadline to elect section 338 treatment for its acquisition of a foreign corporation. The IRS found that the purchaser had relied on competent tax professionals,…
PLR 200047043: Parent receives time to file allowed loss statement
A consolidated group's parent claimed an ordinary loss on stock of a subsidiary it said had become worthless, but failed to attach the statement required to limit loss disallowance. The IRS found…
PLR 200047042: Subsidiaries receive more time to elect LIFO inventory method
Two new subsidiaries received inventory from a related company and continued using its last in, first out (LIFO) method, but their parent did not file the required Forms 970. A new accounting firm…
CCA 200047041: Canadian petroleum tax generally does not earn a foreign tax credit
A U.S. shareholder claimed deemed paid foreign tax credits connected to its Canadian petroleum subsidiary. Chief Counsel advised that the Canadian Petroleum and Gas Revenue Tax was not creditable…
PLR 200047040: Fund receives more time for consent dividend election
An accounting error understated a fund's income, and the fund discovered it after the deadline for a consent dividend election. The IRS found good cause to extend the election deadline under the…
PLR 200047039: Late S corporation election treated as timely
A corporation with two shareholders intended to elect S corporation status from its incorporation but found that its election had not been filed on time. Under section 1362(b)(5), the IRS treated…
PLR 200047038: Late S corporation election allowed for initial tax year
A company with two shareholders had intended to be an S corporation since incorporation but discovered that it had filed its S election late. The IRS ruled under section 1362(b)(5) that the election…
PLR 200047037: One shareholder company's late S election allowed
A corporation with one shareholder said it had intended to elect S corporation status since incorporation, but its election had not been filed on time. The IRS ruled that the section 1362(a)…
PLR 200047036: Active commercial rentals avoid S corporation passive income rule
An S corporation with accumulated earnings and profits owned and managed commercial properties. It used employees, a manager, and contractors to provide maintenance, repairs, parking services,…
PLR 200047035: Missing S election accepted after consistent tax filings
A corporation and its shareholders had filed tax returns as though the company were an S corporation, but the IRS had no record of receiving its Form 2553 election. The shareholders said they had…
PLR 200047034: Corporation may elect S status before five year wait ends
A corporation's S election terminated when an ineligible shareholder acquired 30 percent of its stock. Later, shareholders who had not owned stock at termination held the other 70 percent, and the…
CCA 200047033: Overpayment interest stops at the liability's due date
The IRS credited a corporation's earlier year overpayments against a later year's tax deficiency and considered how long interest ran on those credits. Chief Counsel advised that section 6611(b)(1)…
PLR 200047032: Late S election allowed for first year before ownership change
A corporation intended to be an S corporation in its first tax year but failed to file Form 2553 because its president mistakenly believed an outside party had been asked to file it. The company and…
PLR 200047031: Late S election allowed after mistaken state registration
A corporation's sole shareholder believed that registering with the state was enough to obtain S corporation status, so the company did not file Form 2553. It had filed tax returns consistent with S…
PLR 200047030: Beneficiary receives time to elect QSST treatment
Stock in an S corporation was transferred to a marital trust created under a will. The trust's income beneficiary intended qualified subchapter S trust (QSST) treatment but did not file the election…
PLR 200047029: Corporation may file late S election after showing reasonable cause
A corporation intended to elect S corporation status for a tax year, but its Form 2553 was filed late. The IRS found reasonable cause for the delay and allowed the election to take effect at the…
PLR 200047028: IRS preserves S election after IRA share ownership
A corporation's S election was initially ineffective because two individual retirement accounts held its shares. Another IRA acquired shares later, causing a separate termination. After the shares…
PLR 200047027: Young beneficiary may disclaim trust remainder without gift tax
A great-grandchild held a contingent right to receive part of a trust's assets when the trust ends. The trust was created in 1955, and she proposed to disclaim only that future interest within nine…
PLR 200047026: Wrong trust election does not end corporation’s S status
A trustee signed both an electing small business trust election and a qualified subchapter S trust (QSST) election, but only the QSST form was filed. The trustee intended the first treatment and…
PLR 200047025: Taxpayer receives 30 days to file dual resident corporation agreements
A taxpayer relied on outside accounting firms to prepare its consolidated returns but missed required agreements and certifications for two dual resident corporations across several tax years. The…
PLR 200047024: S corporation may distribute subsidiary stock to shareholders
An S corporation owned a qualified subchapter S subsidiary with a growing business. It proposed distributing all subsidiary stock to its two shareholders so a key employee could later buy an…
PLR 200047023: Feeder fund may look through partnership and aggregate specified securities gains
A regulated investment company planned to contribute its portfolio to a master fund treated as a partnership. For the feeder fund's income and asset tests, the IRS ruled that it could count its…
CCA 200047022: Deemed pension distribution may still be a bona fide mortgage loan
Chief Counsel considered a mortgage from a taxpayer's pension and profit sharing trust. Part of the loan had been treated as a taxable distribution because it exceeded the plan loan limit, and the…
CCA 200047021: Former captive loss payments remain deductible under paid-loss method
Chief Counsel considered workers' compensation payments made by a former captive insurer after its operating company left the affiliated group. The earlier premiums were not treated as insurance…
PLR 200047020: Business separation for employee ownership receives tax rulings
An S corporation planned to move one business and other assets into its subsidiary, then exchange the subsidiary's stock for shares surrendered by participating shareholders. Its employee stock…
PLR 200047019: Late tax-year change application treated as timely filed
Taxpayers filed Form 1128 late after an error or misunderstanding, but within 90 days of its deadline. They asked the IRS to treat their application to change accounting periods as timely under the…
PLR 200047018: Trust partition preserves grandfathered GST tax treatment
A testamentary trust was irrevocable by September 25, 1985, and had received no later additions. A court divided one family branch's trust into separate trusts for a grandson and granddaughter and…
PLR 200047017: Corporation receives relief for unfiled S election
A corporation with one shareholder said it intended to be an S corporation from incorporation but discovered its election had not been filed on time. The IRS agreed to treat the election as timely…
PLR 200047016: IRS finds tax avoidance purpose in proposed loss of citizenship
A naturalized U.S. citizen who had reclaimed citizenship in his birth country planned to renounce U.S. citizenship. His net worth exceeded a threshold that could create a presumption of tax…
CCA 200047015: Parent cannot deduct payment of subsidiaries’ legal judgment
A parent company reimbursed a subsidiary for paying a legal judgment against two subsidiaries and sought to deduct the amount as its own business expense. Chief Counsel advised that the parent had…
CCA 200047014: Yield guaranty sale proceeds included in year of sale
A mortgage investor sold REMIC interests together with a promise to compensate investors for reduced yield if borrowers prepaid. It allocated part of the sale price to that yield promise and spread…
PLR 200047013: Estate receives more time for reverse QTIP election
An estate elected the marital deduction for a trust but its return preparer failed to check the box for a reverse QTIP election. The IRS found reasonable, good faith reliance and granted 30 days to…
CCA 200047012: Dealer status for securitized home equity loans requires entity-level facts
A corporate group originated home equity loans and transferred some to REMICs, prompting a question whether it had to mark the loans to market. Chief Counsel advised that each company must be tested…
PLR 200047011: Four trusts may merge without gain or loss or loss of GST exemption
A beneficiary sought to consolidate four older trusts into one for administration. A court order required the trusts to spring back into separate existence if she died without descendants,…
PLR 200047010: Late accounting period form treated as timely
Taxpayers submitted Form 1128 to change their accounting period after its due date because of an error or misunderstanding. The form was filed within 90 days of the deadline. The IRS found the…
PLR 200047009: Division of testamentary trust retains GST grandfathering
A testamentary trust for two family branches had been irrevocable before September 25, 1985, with no later additions. A court-approved plan divided its assets into four trusts and clarified trustee…
PLR 200047008: Related trust division ruling preserves GST exemption
This separate ruling concerns a testamentary trust for two family branches that was irrevocable before September 25, 1985, and had received no later additions. The court-approved division created…
PLR 200047007: Grandchildren’s branch trusts keep GST grandfathering
A grandfathered testamentary trust served descendants of two sons. Trustees sought to partition one family branch's trust into separate subtrusts and clarify trustee and distribution rules. The IRS…
PLR 200047006: Partition of descendant trust preserves GST exemption
A testamentary trust for descendants had been irrevocable by September 25, 1985, and had received no later additions. Its proposed partition would create separate subtrusts from one branch, while a…
PLR 200047005: Grandchildren’s subtrust partition retains GST relief
A grandfathered trust for a decedent's descendants was divided into family trusts, and one trust was to be partitioned further for a grandson and granddaughter. The proposed changes also clarified…
PLR 200047004: Four resulting family trusts preserve GST exemption
A testamentary trust for two family lines was divided into four trusts under a court order and related stipulation. The changes also clarified trustee selection and trust administration. Because the…
PLR 200047003: Testamentary trust subtrusts keep GST exemption
Trustees proposed splitting one branch of a grandfathered testamentary trust into separately administered subtrusts for descendants. They also sought to clarify administrative terms. The IRS found…
PLR 200047002: Grandson and granddaughter subtrusts retain GST protection
A testamentary trust had been administered through separate family trusts. A court order divided one of those trusts between a grandson and granddaughter and allowed separate successor trustees; a…
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.