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 200042023: Green Card surrender lacked a principal tax avoidance purpose
A former U.S. long term resident returned to her birth country and surrendered her Green Card. Her net worth exceeded the threshold that would otherwise create a presumption of tax avoidance under…
PLR 200042022: IRS finds no principal tax avoidance purpose in Green Card surrender
A former U.S. long term resident surrendered his Green Card and requested a ruling on whether avoiding U.S. taxes was a principal purpose. His net worth exceeded the threshold relevant to the…
PLR 200042021: Green Card surrender lacked a principal tax avoidance purpose
A person born in another country returned there after living in the United States and surrendered her Green Card. Her net worth exceeded the threshold addressed in the expatriation rules in effect…
PLR 200042020: IRS extends time to file a possessions corporation election
A corporation intended to elect § 936 possessions corporation treatment on Form 5712. Its staff prepared the form with its tax return but learned on the planned mailing date that a needed return…
PLR 200042019: Successor trustee change preserves trust transfer tax treatment
The trustees proposed changing an older irrevocable trust so three children could serve in succession as trustees. State law limited a beneficiary trustee's ability to distribute trust property to…
PLR 200042018: Automobile service contracts qualify as insurance for federal tax
A company sold extended automobile service contracts under which it owed purchasers protection against repair costs not covered by manufacturers' warranties. The company did not make repairs itself…
PLR 200042017: Corporation receives more time for its § 936 election
A corporation prepared Form 5712 to elect possessions corporation treatment under § 936, but its staff had not filed the extension request needed for the planned return filing date. The IRS…
PLR 200042016: Acquired company officers avoid covered employee status in stated years
After a corporate acquisition, a parent company asked whether executives of the acquired company would be covered employees under the executive pay deduction limit in § 162(m). The IRS ruled that…
PLR 200042015: Business split between shareholder groups qualifies as reorganization
Shareholder disputes disrupted a company's operations, so it proposed transferring some business assets to a new corporation and distributing that corporation's stock to one family group and a trust…
PLR 200042014: Later restructuring leaves prior stock distribution rulings in force
Taxpayers asked the IRS to supplement earlier rulings about distributions of controlled company stock and related transactions. They proposed forming a new LLC that would elect corporate tax…
PLR 200042013: Surviving company operates on a cooperative basis
A cooperative planned to merge into a newly formed corporation under a different state statute and reduce its large board to nine directors. The IRS examined whether the surviving corporation would…
PLR 200042012: Additional mergers and asset sales preserve earlier distribution rulings
Taxpayers asked whether later steps would affect earlier IRS rulings on distributions of two controlled companies' stock and related transactions. The proposed steps moved an LLC interest through…
PLR 200042011: Late corporate classification election and S termination receive relief
An S corporation merged into an LLC that was intended to be taxed as a corporation, but the LLC did not timely file Form 8832. Its operating agreement also permitted more than one class of stock,…
PLR 200042010: Corporation receives relief for an unfiled S election
A corporation intended to elect S corporation status from its incorporation date, and its meeting minutes recorded that plan. Its legal counsel did not prepare or file Form 2553. The IRS found…
PLR 200042009: Missed trust elections receive inadvertent S termination relief
Two trusts bought shares of an S corporation, but their subscription agreements mistakenly described them as revocable grantor trusts. The trusts were intended to be qualified subchapter S trusts,…
PLR 200042008: Late corporate classification election and S termination receive relief
An S corporation merged into an LLC that was intended to be taxed as a corporation, but the LLC did not timely file Form 8832. Its operating agreement also permitted more than one class of stock,…
CCA 200042007: Open access to audit files waived claimed document protections
Taxpayers' authorized representative gave IRS revenue agents five boxes of documents during an audit and left them accessible for about 18 months. Some documents were marked as privileged, and the…
PLR 200042006: Tax treatment of nuclear plant sale and decommissioning funds
A utility planned to sell a nuclear power plant and transfer its decommissioning funds to the buyer, which would assume the duty to decommission the plant. The IRS ruled that moving the qualified…
PLR 200042005: Additional restructuring leaves earlier distribution rulings in effect
A corporate group had obtained earlier rulings about distributions of stock in two controlled corporations and related transactions. It proposed to form a subsidiary limited liability company that…
CCA 200042004: Planned contribution and merger qualify as section 351 exchange
A corporation contributed assets to a newly formed corporation, and an unrelated corporation then merged into it under a single plan. Chief Counsel advised that the steps constituted a merger…
CCA 200042003: Interest dates when tax credits and later deficiencies overlap
A corporation applied claimed tax overpayments to the next year's estimated taxes, but later examinations found deficiencies for the original years. Chief Counsel advised that interest on a…
CCA 200042001: Aircraft losses cannot be combined with a separate corporation's profits
An S corporation owned aircraft used mainly by its owner and family and had reported years of losses. The owner sought to combine its airplane activity with the profitable activity of a related C…
PLR 200041042: Inherited IRA distributions use oldest beneficiary's remaining life expectancy
An IRA owner died in 1999 after naming three children as equal beneficiaries before his required distribution start date. He had calculated his lifetime minimum distributions using his own annually…
PLR 200041041: Inherited IRA distributions use oldest beneficiary's remaining life expectancy
An IRA owner died in 1999 after naming three children as equal beneficiaries before his required distribution start date. He had calculated his lifetime minimum distributions using his own annually…
PLR 200041040: Inherited IRA distributions use oldest beneficiary's remaining life expectancy
An IRA owner died in 1999 after naming three children as equal beneficiaries before his required distribution start date. He had calculated his lifetime minimum distributions using his own annually…
PLR 200041039: Grandchild's trust can receive IRA distributions over the grandchild's life expectancy
An IRA owner died before her required distribution start date. Her will created separate trusts for two minor grandchildren, and the IRA was divided into separate accounts for the trusts. The IRS…
PLR 200041038: Forest conservation venture keeps charity status, with limits on timber sales
A conservation charity planned to manage forestland through a limited liability company formed with private landowners. The IRS ruled that managing the venture would not impair the charity's tax…
PLR 200041037: Foundation may transfer all assets to a supporting charity and then terminate
A private foundation planned to transfer all its assets to a tax exempt supporting organization and then notify the IRS that it was ending its private foundation status. The IRS ruled that the…
PLR 200041036: Foundation scholarship procedures receive advance approval
A private foundation asked the IRS to approve a scholarship program administered by a publicly supported scholarship charity. The outside charity would collect applications, choose recipients and…
PLR 200041035: Health benefit trust may serve successor employer's workers
A tax exempt employee health benefit trust had lost its active beneficiaries after the sponsoring employers' businesses were acquired. It proposed to name a successor employer in its trust document…
PLR 200041034: Reorganization of charitable association under a business league
A tax exempt professional association planned to form a section 501(c)(6) business league to handle membership, legislative advocacy, and other professional activities. The league would become the…
PLR 200041033: Foundation grant procedures for individuals and regrants approved
A private foundation proposed scholarships, fellowships, prizes, grants for written work and sabbaticals, and grants to other organizations that would regrant funds to individuals. It set selection…
PLR 200041032: Fixed IRA withdrawals qualify as substantially equal payments
An IRA owner, age 56, planned to begin annual withdrawals from three traditional IRAs. The owner would calculate a fixed payment by amortizing their combined January 2000 balances over their life…
PLR 200041031: Relocated religious care home may lease or sell to an operator
A charitable nursing and assisted living organization planned to relocate after sustained operating deficits. It would finance a new facility, lease it to a for profit developer required to serve…
PLR 200041030: Sales of planned medical equipment are related to charity's purpose
A charity supporting people with developmental disabilities planned to open a store and repair facility for home medical equipment. Its clients' annual service plans could call for specific…
CCA 200041029: Pension interests secure IRS claims in bankruptcy
Chief Counsel reconsidered whether a debtor's interest in an ERISA qualified pension plan can secure an IRS tax claim in bankruptcy. It concluded that the interest is property of the bankruptcy…
Other 200041028: Chief Counsel collection and bankruptcy bulletin
This August 2000 Chief Counsel bulletin brings together collection and bankruptcy case notes and several advice memoranda. It reminds IRS counsel to send certain principal residence lien foreclosure…
PLR 200041027: Billboard exchange qualifies after real property election
An outdoor advertising company sold signs and arranged a deferred exchange for replacement property. The IRS ruled that the qualifying signs could be treated as real property through a section…
PLR 200041026: Second extension granted for FSC election filing
A taxpayer had received an extension to file Form 8279 to elect foreign sales corporation treatment, but its tax director missed the new 30-day deadline. The taxpayer requested more time before the…
PLR 200041025: Late S corporation election accepted for incorporation date
A corporation's shareholders intended it to be an S corporation from its incorporation date, but the election was filed late. The IRS found reasonable cause for the delay and granted relief under…
PLR 200041024: Wireless rooftop sites qualify as REIT real estate assets
A company intending to elect REIT status acquired rooftop sites and leased or licensed them to wireless service providers. The sites included rooftop space, access rights, storage space, and…
PLR 200041023: Tribal corporation merger receives no tax-free conversion relief
A state chartered corporation owned by an Indian tribe operated a business off the reservation. The tribe merged it into a federally chartered tribal corporation and initially sought tax-free…
PLR 200041022: Only settlement damages tied to physical injuries qualify for exclusion
A woman and her husband asked whether they could exclude an entire unallocated settlement arising from alleged assaults and workplace misconduct. The IRS ruled that damages attributable to events…
PLR 200041020: Merger and planned offering do not trigger parachute payment rules
A company planned to acquire another corporation through a merger and later sell a minority stake in a business through a public offering. Some employees would receive benefits because the merger…
PLR 200041019: Late S corporation election receives conditional relief
A corporation intended to elect S corporation status for its first tax year, but its attorney failed to file Form 2553 on time. The IRS found reasonable cause for the late election under section…
PLR 200041018: Annuity death benefit includes income in respect of a decedent
An annuity contract owner asked how a death benefit paid to named beneficiaries would be treated for income tax purposes. The IRS ruled that the payment would be income in respect of a decedent…
PLR 200041017: Late S corporation election receives reasonable cause relief
A corporation's shareholders 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 delay under section…
PLR 200041016: Revised stock offerings preserve prior section 355 ruling
A taxpayer had received a ruling that two stock distributions qualified for tax-free treatment under section 355. After completing the distributions, it sought to revise planned stock offerings…
PLR 200041015: Corporation may reelect S status before five years expire
A corporation revoked its S corporation election and later sought to elect S status again before the usual five-year waiting period ended. After the termination, a new shareholder who held no stock…
PLR 200041014: Mistaken stock issuance receives inadvertent S termination relief
A corporation's stock records mistakenly showed an ineligible entity as the owner of shares intended for a trust and an individual. The mistake may have ended the corporation's S election, although…
PLR 200041013: Reasonable cause permits late S corporation election
A corporation's shareholders intended to elect S corporation treatment from a specified date, but the election was not filed on time. The IRS found reasonable cause for the delay under section…
PLR 200041012: Possible S election termination from partnership conversion is waived
An S corporation converted into a state law limited partnership and elected to remain classified as a corporation for federal tax purposes. It later converted back after learning that the…
PLR 200041011: Late S election granted, with conflicting dates in letter
A corporation's new owner intended S corporation treatment, but the election was not filed on time. The IRS found reasonable cause for the delay under section 1362(b)(5) and granted relief if the…
CCA 200041010: Erroneous earned income credit refund can create a deficiency
A taxpayer received a refund that included an earned income credit, then disputed the validity of the return filed by her husband when the IRS sought to recover the credit. Chief Counsel advised…
CCA 200041009: Stock acquisition is a redemption, with distribution tax unresolved
Two brothers sold their C corporation shares to an S corporation they also controlled. Chief Counsel advised that section 304 treated the payment as a redemption of the acquiring S corporation's…
TAM 200041008: Limited use of lodging is not an entertainment facility expense
An IRS office asked for reconsideration of technical advice on expenses a business incurred for short term use of a property. The property was owned by a related entity, and the business's owners…
CCA 200041007: Later workers' compensation exemption does not cover earlier years
A state authorized workers' compensation fund claimed that its income was excluded under section 115(1). Chief Counsel had previously advised that the fund's income did not accrue to the state and…
CCA 200041006: Foreign currency contracts require careful section 1256 classification
A couple disputed the tax treatment of losses from foreign currency futures, forwards, and options. Chief Counsel advised that exchange traded regulated futures and listed options satisfy section…
TAM 200041005: Taxpayer cannot retroactively switch interest apportionment methods
A taxpayer elected the tax book value method to apportion interest expense on three original returns. Years later, it sought refunds using the fair market value method, which would increase its…
CCA 200041004: Intangible gain fully recaptures overall foreign loss accounts
Two domestic corporate groups transferred interests in a partnership with foreign operating assets. Their share of gain on operating intangibles was recognized as U.S. source income under section…
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.