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 200045019: Payment to surrender rent-controlled lease is long-term capital gain
A tenant held a long-standing right to occupy rent-controlled premises and agreed to surrender that right for a payment from the landlord. The premises had been used for residential and possibly…
PLR 200045018: Former long-term resident's departure lacked tax-avoidance purpose
A long-term U.S. resident gave up permanent resident status and returned to the country of birth and citizenship. The resident's net worth exceeded a statutory threshold that could trigger a…
PLR 200045017: Former long-term resident's departure lacked tax-avoidance purpose
A long-term U.S. resident gave up permanent resident status and returned to the country of birth and citizenship. The resident's net worth exceeded a statutory threshold that could trigger a…
PLR 200045016: Late Form 1128 treated as timely filed
A taxpayer filed Form 1128 to request a change of tax year after the filing deadline, but within 90 days of it. The IRS found that an error or misunderstanding caused the delay and that the taxpayer…
PLR 200045015: Corrected partnership election treated as timely
A foreign limited liability company wanted U.S. partnership classification from a specified date. Its first Form 8832 lacked required signatures, and its corrected form was filed too late for that…
PLR 200045013: Corporation receives relief for late S election
A corporation's sole shareholder 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 200045012: Joint venture receives extra time for partnership election
Two companies formed a foreign limited liability company for a joint venture and intended it to be classified as a partnership for U.S. tax purposes. Their accountants did not file Form 8832 because…
PLR 200045011: Corporation gets late S election relief for requested date
A corporation wanted S corporation status from a specified date, but did not file its election on time. The IRS found reasonable cause for the delay and ruled that the corporation would be…
CCA 200045010: Product litigation costs allocated across worldwide sales
A manufacturer deducted legal fees and settlement costs from litigation involving a product sold in the United States and abroad. It allocated all those costs to domestic income, but supplied no…
TAM 200045009: Satellite mission insurance remains subject to premium excise tax
An insurance broker sought a refund of excise tax paid on premiums for foreign insurers' satellite launch and mission-risk policies. It argued that the Constitution's Export Clause barred the tax.…
CCA 200045008: Partnership merger creates no recognized gain for one partner
A partnership merged into one of its partners after a series of acquisitions, borrowings, and distributions. Chief Counsel advised that the other partner should recognize no gain from the merger…
PLR 200045007: Inadvertent S election termination cured on conditions
A corporation's S election terminated after it had accumulated C corporation earnings and profits and more than 25% passive investment income in each of three consecutive years. The corporation and…
CCA 200045006: Advance estimated-tax payment earns no interest during disputed period
A corporation sought interest on an overpayment created by loss carrybacks after it designated part of the amount for a later year's estimated tax. It argued that the government held money before…
PLR 200045005: Relief for an inadvertent S corporation election failure
A corporation sought relief after discovering that its charter had created two classes of stock, making its S corporation election ineffective. One class received stock dividends while the other…
PLR 200045004: Estate may use court correction of drafting errors
A decedent's codicil mistakenly changed a bequest tied to the estate tax credit and a provision assigning responsibility for estate tax. A state court corrected the drafting errors after the…
CCA 200045003: Advice on a proposed summons and foreign document request
Chief Counsel reviewed a proposed summons for a tax examination and found no barrier to enforcing it. Counsel suggested adding monthly account statements to the bank records requested. An attached…
CCA 200045002: Lease transaction lacks economic substance
A corporation claimed rent and interest deductions from a transaction that leased equipment from a foreign government entity and immediately leased it back. The headlease prepayments were financed…
CCA 200045001: Summons notice may identify the taxpayer under investigation
Chief Counsel considered a summons for financial records that named a taxpayer, the taxpayer's spouse, and a related corporation. Federal law required the IRS to send copies of the summons to people…
PLR 200044044: Tax treatment of a charitable employer's custodial plan
A tax-exempt employer asked whether its employee retirement plan and custodial agreement met the rules for section 403(b)(7) accounts. The plan used salary reduction and matching contributions,…
PLR 200044043: Two retirement plans maintained by a church-controlled hospital qualify as church plans
A church-controlled hospital asked whether its defined benefit plan and its section 403(b) plan qualified as church plans under section 414(e). The first plan covered hospital employees and a small…
PLR 200044042: Government employer may pick up contributions for prior service credit
A government employer asked how salary deductions used by employees to buy prior service credit in its defined benefit plan would be taxed. The IRS ruled that, under the proposed ordinance and…
PLR 200044041: Retirement plan for religious care home qualifies as a church plan
A religious organization that operated a home for older people asked whether its retirement plan qualified as a church plan from its establishment in 1993. The organization was listed in a church…
PLR 200044040: Neonatal care venture preserves hospital exemption and related income treatment
Two exempt health care organizations formed a limited liability company to operate and expand a neonatal intensive care unit at one organization's hospital. They would share ownership, costs,…
PLR 200044039: Health system capitation contracts preserve exemption and related income treatment
A tax exempt parent of hospitals and other health care providers contracted with insurers to arrange care for members in return for fixed monthly payments. It assigned two contracts to a taxable…
TAM 200044038: Candidate signed fundraising letters counted as campaign intervention
A tax exempt educational organization mailed fundraising letters signed by a candidate during his election campaign and shared donor names with the campaign. The IRS found that the letters' content,…
PLR 200044037: Expatriation found not principally motivated by tax avoidance
The IRS considered a long term U.S. resident's planned relinquishment of lawful permanent resident status and move to the country of birth. The taxpayer's net worth exceeded the statutory threshold,…
PLR 200044036: Expatriation found not principally motivated by tax avoidance
The IRS considered a long term U.S. resident's planned relinquishment of lawful permanent resident status and move to the country where her husband was born. Her net worth exceeded the statutory…
PLR 200044034: Dividing a QTIP trust preserves its election and limits the gift to one new trust
A decedent's will created a trust for the surviving spouse, and the estate elected the marital deduction for qualified terminable interest property (QTIP). Before funding the trust, the trustees…
PLR 200044033: Tax treatment approved for a master and feeder investment fund structure
Several feeder investment funds proposed to contribute cash or diversified securities to master funds that would manage the assets. The IRS ruled that each feeder fund could count its share of a…
PLR 200044032: Mortgage notes were in registered form, with portfolio interest questions left open
A U.S. lender planned to fund or sell certain mortgage loans to a foreign affiliate. The loan notes could be transferred only after written notice to the U.S. lender, which would record each…
PLR 200044031: Investment fund merger qualified as a stock for assets reorganization
Two investment companies proposed to combine by having the acquiring fund take substantially all of the target fund's assets and liabilities in exchange for voting shares. The target would…
PLR 200044030: Master and feeder funds received partnership and allocation rulings
Feeder investment funds proposed to contribute their cash to related master funds that would manage the investments. The IRS ruled that the master funds would be partnerships rather than publicly…
PLR 200044029: Late S corporation election allowed after missed signature
A corporation intended to elect S corporation status for its first taxable year. Its attorney prepared Form 2553 on time, but a secretary did not send the form to the sole shareholder for signature,…
PLR 200044028: Medicaid insurance contract classified as cancellable accident and health coverage
An insurance subsidiary contracted with a state agency to cover certain Medicaid benefit programs in exchange for monthly premiums. The contract allowed termination in specified circumstances, and…
PLR 200044027: Former resident's expatriation found to lack a principal tax avoidance purpose
A former long term U.S. resident relinquished lawful permanent resident status after living primarily abroad for years. Her net worth exceeded the threshold that could raise a tax avoidance…
PLR 200044026: Corporate business separation qualified for tax free distribution
An S corporation planned to separate two business activities by transferring assets to a controlled corporation and distributing all of that corporation's shares to its sole shareholder. The…
PLR 200044025: Extension granted for rental real estate grouping election
Two individuals filed a joint return but omitted the statement needed to elect to treat their rental real estate interests as one activity for a prior year. They later sought relief to make the…
PLR 200044024: Two fund mergers qualified as stock for assets reorganizations
Two closed end municipal bond funds proposed to transfer their assets and liabilities to an acquiring fund in exchange for voting stock, then distribute that stock to their shareholders and…
PLR 200044023: Two fund mergers qualified as stock for assets reorganizations
Two closed end municipal bond funds proposed to transfer their assets and liabilities to an acquiring fund in exchange for voting stock, then distribute that stock to their shareholders and…
PLR 200044022: Two fund mergers qualified as stock for assets reorganizations
Two closed end municipal bond funds proposed to transfer their assets and liabilities to an acquiring fund in exchange for voting stock, then distribute that stock to their shareholders and…
PLR 200044020: Rehabilitation credit timing and tenant documentation approved for housing project
A partnership acquired and rehabilitated an occupied residential project intended for low income housing tax credits. The IRS allowed the month when the rehabilitation was completed and met the…
PLR 200044019: Business segment spin off qualified as a D reorganization
A public company proposed to transfer a slower growing business segment to a new subsidiary and distribute that subsidiary's shares to its shareholders. Based on the stated facts and…
PLR 200044018: Supplemental ruling accepts changes to a corporate separation
The taxpayer asked the IRS to supplement earlier rulings on a corporate separation after revising several transaction steps. The revisions changed subsidiary mergers, disregarded entity mergers, a…
PLR 200044017: Subsidiary spin off generally avoided gain for company and shareholders
A public holding company proposed to distribute its voting shares of a subsidiary to most shareholders, while a small group of specified shareholders would receive more shares of the parent company…
PLR 200044016: Waiver granted for excess premiums on older life policies
A life insurer took over administration of flexible premium policies issued before 1985. During a system conversion, contractors inadvertently disabled a compliance code, allowing excess premiums to…
PLR 200044015: Actively managed property rents excluded from S corporation passive income
A corporation that intended to elect S corporation status owned and managed commercial rental property, directly and through partnerships. It described employees, shareholders, and contractors…
PLR 200044014: Firefighter disability retirement benefits excluded from income
A city firefighter retired after a work related injury and received disability benefits under a city statute. The statute paid benefits for disability caused by the performance of job duties, with…
PLR 200044013: Renewed moderate rehabilitation assistance barred housing credits for affected buildings
A partnership planned to acquire and rehabilitate an apartment project whose owner received Section 8 moderate rehabilitation assistance. The original assistance contract had expired, but annual…
PLR 200044012: Retained trust income affects gifts, estate inclusion, and beneficiary basis
A person transferred assets to an irrevocable trust while retaining all net income for life and limited rights to principal for transfer taxes. The IRS treated the person as owner of the trust's…
CCA 200044011: Installment agreement payments cannot be redirected after default on demand
A corporation defaulted on an installment agreement for overdue employment taxes and asked the IRS to rescind the agreement and apply its payments to other tax periods. Chief Counsel advised that…
PLR 200044010: Partnership receives time to make low-income housing set-aside election
A partnership failed to make a proper set-aside election for a low-income housing project under section 42(g)(1). The IRS found good cause and granted extra time to make the election. The…
PLR 200044009: Partnership receives 60 days to make a section 754 election
A partnership prepared a short-year return and a section 754 election statement after an ownership change, but failed to file the return on time. The IRS found that the partnership met the standards…
CCA 200044008: Permanently affixed industrial equipment is real property under former section 189
An IRS district office asked whether industrial machinery and equipment attached to a manufacturing site counted as real property under former section 189. That provision required capitalization of…
PLR 200044007: Executive bonuses may qualify after a change in fiscal year
A public company changed its fiscal year after its compensation committee set executive bonus targets. It adjusted the timing and amounts of bonuses under its performance plan and asked how section…
CCA 200044006: Deficiency notice returned for insufficient postage must be remailed
An examiner mailed separate deficiency notices to spouses who had filed a joint return. One notice came back undelivered because it lacked sufficient postage. Chief Counsel advised that the returned…
TAM 200044005: Which construction costs enter a housing project's eligible basis
A partnership developing low-income housing included land preparation, construction loan, and contingency amounts in the project's eligible basis for the section 42 credit. The IRS advised that land…
TAM 200044004: Developer fee note may enter low-income housing eligible basis
A partnership issued a note for unpaid developer services on a low-income housing project and included the note amount in its eligible basis for the section 42 credit. The IRS concluded that the…
TAM 200044003: Corporate acquisition loss limit also applies to alternative minimum tax
A corporation acquired another company and used the acquired company's net operating loss carryovers on a consolidated return. It applied the section 381(c)(1)(B) limit to its regular tax loss…
CCA 200044002: Commercial bank charters preclude thrift bad-debt reserves
A bank holding company acquired two savings institutions that converted to state-chartered commercial banks. They continued much of their prior lending business and sought to maintain bad-debt…
CCA 200044001: Employee FICA refund statements need clear certifications and signatures
An employer sought refunds of overpaid FICA taxes and proposed using employee refund checks to collect the statements needed for its claims. Chief Counsel advised that no prescribed form was…
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.