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 200047001: Division of older family trust preserves GST exemption
A grantor created a trust for a son and his descendants. After the son's death, the trustees proposed dividing it into separate trusts for a grandson and granddaughter and clarifying administrative…
PLR 200046041: Foundation may transfer its assets before terminating status
A private foundation planned to transfer all its assets to three other private foundations and then give separate notice of its own voluntary termination. The IRS ruled that the transfer itself…
PLR 200046040: Library staff do not qualify for school employee 403(b) limits
A public library offered classes, school visits, and other educational programs and asked whether its employees qualified for special contribution limits under its section 403(b) plan. The IRS found…
PLR 200046039: Hospital charity keeps exemption after leasing its facility
A nonprofit hospital leased its facility to an unrelated for-profit operator after years of operating losses. It planned to support community health through scholarships, wellness programs,…
CCA 200046038: A missing exemption application does not justify an immediate deficiency notice
An IRS service center received Form 990 returns from organizations that had not applied for recognition of tax exemption. It proposed converting the returns to corporate income tax returns and…
CCA 200046037: How to allocate an injured spouse's refund when the other spouse owes two kinds of debt
An IRS service center asked how to divide a joint tax overpayment in Texas when one spouse owes both federal tax and another debt, and the other spouse seeks an injured spouse refund. Chief Counsel…
CCA 200046036: Collection deadline for offers pending across January 2000
Chief Counsel addressed offers in compromise that the IRS accepted for processing before 2000 but that remained pending after January 1, 2000. The question was how to calculate the collection…
PLR 200046035: French reinsurer qualifies for insurance excise tax treaty relief through its listed parent
A French reinsurance company asked whether premiums for insurance and reinsurance of United States risks were exempt from the federal insurance excise tax. It represented that a French publicly…
PLR 200046034: French reinsurer qualifies for insurance excise tax treaty relief through its traded owner
A French reinsurance company sought relief from the federal insurance excise tax on premiums covering United States risks. It represented that a French company owned it directly and indirectly, and…
PLR 200046033: Corporate election does not recapture housing credits
An entity that held an interest in a low-income housing partnership elected to be taxed as a C corporation. The election also caused a deemed termination and reformation of the housing partnership…
PLR 200046032: Late S corporation election accepted after attorney failed to file it
A corporation's shareholders intended to elect S corporation status from its first tax year and relied on their attorney to file Form 2553. The attorney failed to file it. The IRS found reasonable…
PLR 200046031: Company gets 60 more days to elect corporate tax treatment
A two-member limited liability company intended to elect corporate treatment for federal tax purposes, but missed the deadline to file Form 8832. It asked for more time under the regulatory election…
PLR 200046030: Investment fund merger qualifies as a stock-for-assets reorganization
Two regulated investment companies proposed a merger in which one fund would transfer its assets and liabilities to the other for matching classes of shares, then distribute those shares to its…
PLR 200046029: Late election under income allocation rules receives 30-day extension
A taxpayer missed the deadline for an election under Treas. Reg. § 1.861-8(e)(6)(ii)(D)(2). It said its qualified in-house tax professionals had failed to advise it to make the election. The IRS…
PLR 200046028: S election accepted after mailed form left no IRS record
A corporation intended to be an S corporation from its first tax year. Its president said Form 2553 had been prepared and mailed, but the IRS service center had no record of receiving it. The…
PLR 200046027: Late section 338 election granted for foreign stock purchases
A corporate parent asked for more time to make a section 338(g) election for its foreign subsidiary's purchase of another foreign corporation and deemed purchases of that corporation's affiliates. A…
PLR 200046026: Late section 338 election granted for second foreign target
A corporate parent asked for more time to make a section 338(g) election for a subsidiary's purchase of a foreign company identified as Target #2 and deemed purchases of three affiliates. One…
PLR 200046025: Utility financing order and bonds do not create immediate income
An electric utility facing deregulation planned to finance some transition costs through charges on customers' bills. A state financing order would authorize the charges, and a wholly owned entity…
PLR 200046024: Late section 338 election granted for third foreign target
A corporate parent requested more time for a section 338(g) election after a subsidiary purchased a foreign company identified as Target #3, with a deemed purchase of its wholly owned affiliate. The…
PLR 200046023: Ethanol partnership qualifies for small producer credit
A limited partnership leased and operated a corn ethanol plant and sold its output for blending with gasoline. The partnership and its partners represented that their alcohol production capacity…
PLR 200046022: Late S election allowed from date corporation began business
A corporation was formed before it had shareholders, assets, or business activity. Its president said it intended to be an S corporation once it began doing business, and two tax forms reflected…
PLR 200046021: Bonds refinancing pension payment do not earn tax-exempt interest
A school district used taxable borrowing to make an advance payment to a state retirement system, then proposed tax-exempt bonds to refinance that borrowing. It asked whether interest on the new…
CCA 200046019: Related-party foreign-currency loan lacks economic substance
A United States company borrowed foreign currency at a high interest rate from a related company and used much of the proceeds to repay lower-rate dollar debt owed to another related company. Chief…
PLR 200046018: Late election allowed for S corporation stock acquisition
A corporate purchaser acquired all the stock of an S corporation from individual sellers. Their agreement called for a joint section 338(h)(10) election, but a valid election was not filed on time.…
PLR 200046017: Revised nuclear decommissioning fund schedule approved
An electric utility with a direct ownership interest in a nuclear plant requested a revised schedule of annual payments to its nuclear decommissioning fund. Two public utility commissions regulated…
PLR 200046016: Utility's revised nuclear decommissioning schedule approved
An electric utility with a direct ownership interest in a nuclear plant requested a revised schedule of annual payments to its nuclear decommissioning fund. Two public utility commissions regulated…
PLR 200046015: Late section 338 election allowed for foreign target purchase
A foreign subsidiary of a United States corporate group acquired all the stock of another foreign corporation. The group intended to make a section 338(g) election for the purchase, but did not file…
PLR 200046014: State property tax rebates need no federal information returns
A state proposed payments based on residents' property taxes and a state income tax credit, and asked whether it had to issue federal information returns. The IRS characterized the payments as…
PLR 200046013: Electing partnership counts as subsidiary for stock purchase plan
A company asked how two lower-tier entities fit within its employee stock purchase plan. One limited liability company was disregarded for federal tax purposes, while a partnership elected to be…
PLR 200046012: Rabbi trust may fund retiree health benefits without immediate income
An employer proposed adding eligible retirees and their families to a health benefits plan funded through a grantor trust. The trust assets remained available to the employer's general creditors if…
CCA 200046011: Assessment waiver valid despite missing formal rights notice
An IRS revenue officer asked responsible persons to extend the assessment period for a trust fund recovery penalty. The officer did not give the statutory rights notice when seeking the waiver, but…
PLR 200046010: Corporate group receives time to file first consolidated return
A newly formed corporate parent acquired another consolidated group and wanted to file one consolidated federal income tax return for its first group year. It missed the filing deadline. The IRS…
PLR 200046009: Stock purchase plan retains eligibility despite change in employer
The company asked whether two terms in its employee stock purchase plan would violate section 423. The plan excluded employees who worked less than 17.5 hours a week at an eligibility date before…
CCA 200046008: Gains on foreign subsidiaries' asset sales are subpart F income
Two controlled foreign corporations sold business assets after their subsidiaries elected to be disregarded for U.S. tax purposes. Counsel concluded that the gains were foreign personal holding…
PLR 200046007: Change of control payments and parachute payment calculations
An executive received accelerated stock option vesting after two changes in corporate control and later received severance. The IRS ruled that only a calculated portion of each accelerated option…
PLR 200046006: Change of control payments and parachute payment calculations
An executive received accelerated stock option vesting after two changes in corporate control and later received severance. The IRS ruled that only a calculated portion of each accelerated option…
PLR 200046005: Change of control payments and parachute payment calculations
An executive received accelerated stock option vesting after two changes in corporate control and later received severance equal to 440 percent of annual compensation. The IRS ruled that only a…
PLR 200046004: Trust division preserves generation-skipping tax exemption
A family trust was irrevocable before September 25, 1985 and had received no later additions, so it was exempt from the generation-skipping transfer tax. The trustee divided it into separately…
PLR 200046003: Partition into grandchildren's trusts preserves GST exemption
A testamentary trust was irrevocable by September 25, 1985 and had received no later additions, so it was exempt from the generation-skipping transfer tax. The trustee proposed partitioning one…
PLR 200046002: Partition into grandchildren's trusts preserves GST exemption
A family trust was irrevocable by September 25, 1985 and had received no later additions, so it was exempt from the generation-skipping transfer tax. The trustee proposed partitioning one separate…
PLR 200046001: Corporate separation qualifies for nonrecognition treatment
A public company planned to separate two businesses and raise capital through stock offerings. It proposed merging a wholly owned subsidiary into the parent, recapitalizing another subsidiary's…
PLR 200045037: Foundation may transfer half its assets without terminating status
Two trustees of a private foundation wanted to support different charities. Their foundation proposed transferring half its assets to another private foundation, while both would continue charitable…
PLR 200045036: Foundation may transfer half its assets without terminating status
Two trustees of a private foundation wanted to support different charities. Their foundation proposed transferring half its assets to another private foundation, while both would continue charitable…
PLR 200045035: IRA beneficiaries may use oldest beneficiary's life expectancy
An IRA owner named two equal beneficiaries before her required beginning date and took lifetime required distributions using her own annually recalculated life expectancy. After her death, the…
PLR 200045034: Designated IRA beneficiary may use her remaining life expectancy
An IRA owner named two equal beneficiaries before her required beginning date and took lifetime required distributions using her own annually recalculated life expectancy. The IRS ruled that the…
PLR 200045033: Supporting organization may count timely distributions and excess carryovers
A supporting organization funded with stock made grants to a private school it supported. It asked how much of its income it needed to distribute to remain a section 509(a)(3) supporting…
TAM 200045032: Hospital retirement plans qualify as church plans
A religiously affiliated hospital sponsored a qualified retirement plan and a tax-deferred annuity plan for its employees and affiliated health care providers. The IRS concluded that both were…
PLR 200045031: Transfer of pension surplus to replacement plan avoids reversion tax
An employer planned to terminate a defined benefit pension plan after paying all benefits. It would transfer 25% of the excess assets to its defined contribution plan and take back the remaining…
PLR 200045038: Division of charitable remainder unitrust preserves qualification
Two spouses established a charitable remainder unitrust and later separated. A court ordered the trust divided into separate trusts for their respective benefits, with each trust retaining a ten…
CCA 200045030: Bank conformity election can cover charged-off consumer loans
Chief Counsel advised a district counsel office on banks' bad-debt deductions under a conformity election. Consumer installment and credit card loans can receive a conclusive presumption of…
PLR 200045029: Waiver for life insurance policies with excess premiums
An insurer discovered that some flexible premium life insurance policies had accepted premiums above statutory limits. Customer service staff had overridden system alerts or failed to act on error…
PLR 200045028: Dividing a trust preserves its GST status and causes no gift or gain
A trustee obtained a court order to divide a family trust into separate trusts for the settlor's grandchildren. The IRS ruled that the division would preserve the original trust's…
PLR 200045027: Extra time granted for foreign sales corporation election
A corporation missed the deadline to file Form 8279 for foreign sales corporation status. Its parent and tax advisers each believed the advisers' office in another country would file the election,…
PLR 200045026: Spouse may disclaim two-thirds of trust interest
A decedent's will created a trust that paid income to the surviving spouse, with the remainder passing to their son and daughter. The spouse proposed to disclaim an undivided two-thirds share of her…
PLR 200045025: Subsidiary liquidation and business spin-off receive tax-free treatment
A public company planned to separate two operating businesses so each management team could focus on its own growth. It would first liquidate a wholly owned subsidiary that held trade names, then…
PLR 200045024: Foreign entity receives extra time for partnership election
A foreign entity with two owners missed the deadline to elect partnership classification for U.S. tax purposes. The IRS found that the entity met the standards for discretionary filing relief and…
PLR 200045023: S corporation gets extra time for two QSub elections
An S corporation moved subsidiary stock into a holding company and intended to elect qualified Subchapter S subsidiary treatment for both entities. It missed the election filings. The IRS found that…
PLR 200045022: Foreign LLC receives extra time to elect partnership status
Two subsidiaries formed a foreign limited liability company and intended to classify it as a partnership for U.S. tax purposes from its formation date. The required Form 8832 was not filed by the…
PLR 200045021: Corporation receives relief for late S election
A corporation's shareholders wanted S corporation status from its incorporation date, but the election was not filed on time. The IRS found reasonable cause for the delay and ruled that the…
PLR 200045020: Sole shareholder's corporation gets late S election relief
The sole shareholder of a corporation wanted S corporation status effective on a specified date after incorporation, but the election was not filed on time. The IRS found reasonable cause for the…
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.