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 200038017: Partnership receives more time to elect basis adjustments
A partnership filed its tax return without making a section 754 election after a partner died. That election can adjust the basis of partnership property when a partnership interest transfers. The…
PLR 200038016: Late S corporation election may take effect on requested date
A corporation's shareholders wanted it to elect S corporation status from its incorporation date, but Form 2553 was not filed on time. The IRS found reasonable cause for the late election under…
PLR 200038015: Corporation receives relief for missing S election form
A corporation intended to be an S corporation from its first tax year, and its president relied on an attorney and office manager to file Form 2553. The IRS service center had no record of the…
PLR 200038014: Trust partition preserves tax treatment for pro rata transfers
A trustee proposed splitting an existing trust into three equal trusts so beneficiaries with different financial needs could have separate investment plans. The IRS ruled that the partition would…
CCA 200038013: Research credit requires discovery and technical experimentation
In litigation over a research credit claim for internal use software, a taxpayer argued that proposed regulations set easier standards than two court decisions. Chief Counsel advised that research…
PLR 200038012: Business separation qualifies as a tax-free spin-off
A publicly traded parent planned to separate two businesses by placing one group of assets and subsidiaries under a new company and distributing that company's stock to its shareholders. The IRS…
PLR 200038011: Entity gets more time to elect corporate tax treatment
An entity intended to be taxed as a corporation from a specified date but did not file its entity classification election on time. The IRS found that the requirements for discretionary late-election…
PLR 200038010: Entity gets more time to elect corporate tax treatment
An entity intended to be taxed as a corporation from a specified date but did not file its entity classification election on time. The IRS found that the requirements for discretionary late-election…
PLR 200038009: Nuclear plant sale transfers decommissioning funds tax free
An electric utility proposed selling interests in five nuclear plants, with the buyers taking over related decommissioning obligations and funds. The IRS ruled that transferring the qualified…
TAM 200038008: Insurer may use prior law formula for investment income shares
A life insurer used a formula based on former insurance tax rules to divide a separate account's investment income between the company and policyholders. That division affects the insurer's…
PLR 200038007: Nuclear plant sale transfers decommissioning funds tax free
An electric utility proposed selling interests in four nuclear plants, with the buyers taking over related decommissioning obligations and funds. The IRS ruled that transferring the qualified…
PLR 200038006: Three investment funds get more time for consent dividends
Three investment funds had not declared and distributed enough dividends to eliminate the taxable income they intended to eliminate for a prior year. An outside accounting firm advised that relief…
CCA 200038005: IRS may replace refund diverted from taxpayer's bank account
A taxpayer used a volunteer tax assistance site to file electronically, but someone later changed the bank details so her refund went to another person's account. Military investigators could not…
CCA 200038004: January matching contributions may be deductible for prior tax year
A company with a January 31 tax year claimed a deduction for retirement plan contributions connected to a plan year ending the following December. Chief Counsel advised that matching contributions…
CCA 200038003: Revenue officer may review offers after a collection hearing decision
Chief Counsel corrected an earlier memorandum about offers in compromise submitted after an IRS Appeals collection due process determination. The earlier advice had said a revenue officer should…
CCA 200038002: Writer's accessible account balances were current income
A writer let subscription payments accumulate in accounts held by a publishing services company and reported income only when making withdrawals. The company imposed no restrictions on when or how…
PLR 200038001: Assisted living facility qualifies as residential rental project
An issuer of tax-exempt bonds asked whether an assisted living facility would qualify as a residential rental project after a proposed sale. At least 20 percent of the units would be leased to…
PLR 200037053: Online donor fund gifts count as public support
A charity that publishes information about nonprofit organizations proposed an online donor advised fund. Donors could recommend grants, but their gifts would be irrevocable, and the charity would…
PLR 200037052: Benefit trust consolidation avoids employer reversion tax
An employer proposed consolidating retiree benefits, including life and medical benefits funded through two employee welfare benefit trusts. It represented that money for retirees would remain…
PLR 200037051: Foundation may transfer all assets to five related foundations
A private foundation planned to transfer all its assets to five other private foundations controlled by the same people. It would later notify the IRS of its intent to end its private foundation…
PLR 200037050: Educational nonprofit's new corporate structure preserves exemption
An exempt educational organization planned to make a supporting nonprofit its sole member, while the supporting organization would own a new for-profit subsidiary. The subsidiary would conduct its…
PLR 200037049: Matching grant set-asides count as qualifying distributions
A private foundation asked to set aside income for two matching grant programs instead of paying the money immediately. One program would fund a local organization's new facilities within 24 months;…
CCA 200037048: When transfer pricing valuation penalties apply across tax years
Chief Counsel answered questions about calculating section 6662 valuation misstatement penalties when a section 482 transfer pricing adjustment interacts with losses or other tax adjustments. Where…
CCA 200037047: Bankruptcy does not require IRS to process compromise offers
Chief Counsel considered whether the IRS must process offers in compromise submitted by taxpayers in an open bankruptcy case. It concluded that the IRS may return those offers as nonprocessable…
PLR 200037045: Business separations qualify for tax deferred treatment
A corporate group planned to separate three businesses after a regulator ordered two of them to be separated. One corporation would transfer two businesses to newly formed subsidiaries and…
PLR 200037044: Late S corporation election accepted for intended year
A corporation's shareholders intended it to be taxed as an S corporation from the start of a specified tax year, but its election was filed late. The IRS found reasonable cause for the delay and…
PLR 200037043: Extension granted for late stock purchase election
A corporate buyer and the sellers of an S corporation intended to make a joint section 338(h)(10) election after a stock purchase, but missed the filing deadline. The IRS found that they had relied…
PLR 200037042: Late S corporation election accepted from incorporation
A corporation's shareholders intended to elect S corporation status effective on its incorporation date, but the election was not filed on time. The IRS found reasonable cause for the late filing…
PLR 200037041: Late S election treated as timely for first tax year
A corporation with one shareholder intended to be an S corporation from incorporation and operated on that basis. After its first tax year, it discovered that its S election had not been filed on…
CCA 200037040: Campaign activity places organization under section 527
Chief Counsel advised on an organization whose primary activities involved political campaigns and whose section 501(c)(4) exemption had been denied. It concluded that the organization was organized…
CCA 200037039: Disputed stock value prevents expedited refund
Chief Counsel considered a refund claim arising from stock used to compensate an employee. The corporations and employee reported different values for the same stock, so allowing the corporate…
PLR 200037038: Former resident's departure lacked a tax avoidance purpose
A former U.S. permanent resident moved to the United States because of a spouse's temporary work assignment and later returned to their country of birth. The couple retained green cards for the…
PLR 200037037: Loss of permanent resident status was not principally tax motivated
A former long-term U.S. resident asked whether ending permanent resident status had a principal purpose of avoiding U.S. tax. The taxpayer was born in Country B, moved to the United States…
PLR 200037036: Sale of electric plants would not make bond interest taxable
A public authority planned to sell all or part of its interests in electric generating plants financed with state or local bonds. It asked whether the sale to a nongovernmental person would cause…
PLR 200037035: Corporate separation and foreign subsidiary transfer qualify for requested tax treatment
A parent corporation proposed transferring its foreign subsidiary to a wholly owned controlled corporation and then distributing the controlled corporation's stock to the parent's shareholders. The…
CCA 200037034: Certain fees and swap payments were not interest under section 265(a)(2)
Field Service Advice considered whether service fees, payments under notional principal contracts, and a standby loan commitment fee should be treated as interest for the deduction disallowance rule…
PLR 200037033: Business division resolved a shareholder deadlock through a stock distribution
A corporation planned to transfer about half of its operating assets to a new controlled corporation and then exchange one shareholder's stock in the parent for all of the controlled corporation's…
PLR 200037032: Late S corporation election granted relief
A corporation intended to elect S corporation status from its incorporation date, but its election was not filed on time. The IRS found reasonable cause for the delay and granted relief under…
PLR 200037031: Late S corporation election effective from start of business
A corporation was formed before it began doing business. Its shareholders intended S corporation status to begin when business started, but the election was filed late. The IRS found reasonable…
PLR 200037030: Partnership received more time to make a section 754 election
A partnership filed its return for the year a partner died without a section 754 election. It requested more time to elect the basis adjustment rules that can apply when a partnership interest is…
PLR 200037029: Partnership granted a late section 754 election
After a partner died, a partnership filed its return without making a section 754 election. It asked the IRS for more time to elect the basis adjustment rules that can apply after a partnership…
PLR 200037028: Partnership allowed 30 more days for section 754 election
A partnership omitted a section 754 election from its return for the year a partner died. It requested an extension to make the election, which allows adjustments to the basis of partnership…
CCA 200037027: Income from U.S. oil wells was not foreign oil and gas extraction income
Chief Counsel advised on whether income from oil and gas extracted at U.S. wells could count as foreign oil and gas extraction income for the section 907 foreign tax credit limitation. The taxpayer…
PLR 200037026: Partnership granted extension for section 754 election
A partnership missed the deadline to elect section 754 basis adjustments on its return for the year a partner died. The IRS found that the partnership met the section 301.9100 relief requirements…
PLR 200037025: Late S corporation election accepted from incorporation
A corporation's shareholders intended S corporation treatment from its incorporation date, but the election was not filed on time. The IRS found reasonable cause for the late filing and granted…
PLR 200037024: Company may treat late S election as timely
A company with one shareholder had operated as an S corporation since incorporation but later discovered that its election had not been filed on time. The IRS ruled under section 1362(b)(5) that the…
PLR 200037023: Ineligible shareholder caused an inadvertent S corporation termination
A shareholder transferred stock in an S corporation to a family limited partnership, which was not an eligible S corporation shareholder. The IRS concluded that the transfer terminated the…
PLR 200037022: Late S election recognized from incorporation date
A corporation intended to elect S corporation status from its incorporation date, but the election was not filed on time. The IRS found reasonable cause for the delay and granted relief under…
PLR 200037021: Corporation allowed to reelect S status before five year waiting period
A corporation had revoked its S corporation election and wanted to elect S status again before the five year waiting period in section 1362(g) expired. Since the revocation, an employee stock…
PLR 200037020: Nuclear plant purchase received fund and basis rulings, with expense ruling declined
A buyer of a nuclear power plant asked how to treat transferred decommissioning funds, assumed decommissioning obligations, and the basis of acquired assets. The IRS ruled that transfer of the…
PLR 200037019: Parent granted more time for section 338 elections on foreign acquisitions
A U.S. parent requested more time to file section 338(g) elections for a foreign target and four foreign affiliates acquired through a subsidiary. It had filed an election form for the target but…
PLR 200037018: IRS waived 40 percent of a tax exempt bond failure penalty
A public authority issued bonds for a waterworks project and elected to pay a penalty in lieu of arbitrage rebate, but failed to make required payments. It asked the IRS to waive the separate…
PLR 200037017: Merger of identical trusts preserved tax treatment
Trustees planned to merge one irrevocable trust into another trust with identical beneficiaries and terms. The IRS concluded that the merger would not add property to the surviving trust or change…
PLR 200037016: Merger of identical trusts kept tax exemptions and asset attributes
Trustees proposed merging one irrevocable trust into another with identical terms and beneficiaries. The IRS concluded that the merger would not add property or alter beneficial interests in a way…
PLR 200037015: Identical trust merger retained tax status and asset basis
Trustees proposed merging one irrevocable trust into another with the same beneficiaries and governing terms. The IRS concluded that the merger would preserve the surviving trust's exemption from…
PLR 200037014: Merger of identical family trusts preserved tax treatment
Trustees planned to merge one irrevocable trust into a second trust with identical beneficiaries and terms. The IRS ruled that the merger would not add property or change any beneficial interest in…
PLR 200037013: Merger of two identical trusts preserved tax status
Trustees planned to merge an irrevocable trust into another with identical terms and beneficiaries. The IRS concluded that the merger would not add property or change beneficial interests so as to…
PLR 200037012: Trust merger preserved exemption, basis, and holding period
Trustees planned to merge one trust into another trust with identical terms for the same beneficiary. The IRS concluded that the merger would not add property or change beneficial interests so as to…
PLR 200037011: Merger of identical trusts preserved tax attributes
Trustees proposed merging one irrevocable trust into another whose terms had become identical after a beneficiary's death. The IRS concluded that the merger would not add property or alter…
PLR 200037010: Merger of identical trusts preserved tax status and basis
Trustees planned to merge one trust into another with identical terms for the same beneficiary. The IRS concluded that the merger would not add property or alter beneficial interests in a way that…
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.