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 200035034: Foundation may transfer half its assets, subject to grant oversight
A private foundation proposed transferring half its assets to another private foundation controlled by the same people. The IRS ruled that the transfer would not end the first foundation's status or…
PLR 200035033: Service credit payments receive income tax relief, with limited FICA relief
A local government asked how payroll reductions used to buy back employees' pension service credit would be taxed. The IRS ruled that irrevocably elected payments picked up by the employer qualify…
PLR 200035032: Former resident's departure lacked a principal tax avoidance purpose
A former long-term U.S. resident asked whether giving up permanent resident status was mainly intended to avoid U.S. taxes. His net worth exceeded the threshold that could trigger a tax avoidance…
PLR 200035031: Parent's conversion of holding company into LLC treated as liquidation
A corporate group planned to convert a wholly owned holding company into a single member LLC and then move a subsidiary's stock from the LLC to its parent. The IRS treated the conversion as a…
PLR 200035030: Investment funds receive extension to elect prior year dividend treatment
Six investment funds asked for more time to elect under section 855 to treat certain dividends declared after year end as paid in the prior tax year. Their administrator had prepared the returns but…
PLR 200035029: Irish reinsurer's eligible premiums exempt from U.S. excise tax
An Irish reinsurance company asked whether premiums on U.S. risks qualified for relief from the federal insurance excise tax under the U.S.–Ireland tax treaty. The IRS found that its active Irish…
PLR 200035028: Missed trust elections did not end corporation's S status
An S corporation's stock passed from two electing small business trusts to five new trusts after a death. The trustees thought the old trusts' elections carried over and did not timely elect for the…
PLR 200035027: Canadian benefit trusts' U.S. investment income qualifies for treaty exemption
A Canadian investment adviser asked whether U.S. dividends and interest received by several Canadian employee benefit arrangements and a pooled trust would be exempt from U.S. income tax under the…
PLR 200035026: Corporation receives relief for late S election
A new corporation intended to be taxed as an S corporation from its incorporation date but did not file its election on time. The IRS found reasonable cause for the delay and granted relief under…
PLR 200035025: Replacement bonds qualify as current refunding after mistaken redemption
A bank mistakenly sent a default notice instead of a notice about a letter of credit's expiration, causing a trustee to redeem housing bonds that the borrower intended to keep outstanding. The…
CCA 200035024: Production cost ratio may allocate expenses for excluded components
Chief Counsel advised how to calculate combined taxable income for a section 936 corporation using the profit split method when a product includes a component made in the United States. The issue…
PLR 200035023: Corporation may file late S election for its first tax year
A corporation's shareholders intended S corporation treatment from its first tax year and relied on an attorney to file the needed forms. The S election was not filed on time, though the company's…
PLR 200035022: Family business split-off qualifies as tax free reorganization
A family owned holding company proposed giving one shareholder all the stock of a subsidiary in exchange for that shareholder's stock in the holding company. The separation would resolve management…
CCA 200035021: Utility must capitalize asbestos removal costs during plant repairs
Chief Counsel advised on an electric utility's costs of removing asbestos insulation while inspecting and repairing production plants and machinery. The utility argued that the removal costs were…
CCA 200035020: Bond remarketing raised arbitrage and reissuance concerns
Chief Counsel reviewed bonds issued by a local district after bankruptcy, later secured with U.S. Treasury securities and remarketed at a lower yield. Based on the supplied facts, counsel saw a…
CCA 200035019: Later foreign tax payment adjusts credit pools prospectively
A foreign subsidiary paid additional foreign income tax years after selling stock, following a dispute with the foreign tax authority. Its U.S. parent sought to amend an earlier return and claim a…
CCA 200035018: Supplier payments may be argued as shelf rent or exclusivity income
A grocery wholesaler received lump sum payments from suppliers under purchase agreements and treated them as discounts rather than income when received. Chief Counsel considered whether the IRS…
PLR 200035017: Invalid S corporation election treated as effective for a limited period
A company sought relief after learning that its S corporation election was invalid because IRAs held some shares and a 401(k) plan had not consented to the election. Its tax advisor had not known…
PLR 200035016: Housing rehabilitation denied separate financing treatment for credit purposes
A partnership bought an industrial building with tax exempt bond financing and planned to rehabilitate it as rental housing using other funds. It asked the IRS to treat the rehabilitation as free of…
Field Service Advice 200035015: Assessment period depends on whether a frivolous refund claim is valid
District Counsel asked when the IRS could assess a section 6702 frivolous return penalty after taxpayers filed purported amended returns seeking refunds for years with valid original returns. The…
PLR 200035014: Pro rata trust division did not trigger gain or lose accumulated payout rights
Two former spouses proposed splitting a charitable remainder trust into two separate unitrusts after marital dissolution proceedings. Each new trust would receive half the assets on a pro rata…
PLR 200035013: Late accounting period application treated as timely filed
A taxpayer filed Form 1128 after the deadline to request a change in its accounting period. The filing was late because of an error or misunderstanding, but arrived within 90 days of the due date.…
PLR 200035012: IRS gives notice of possible revocation of expense reimbursement ruling
The IRS told a company that it was reconsidering an earlier ruling approving its expense reimbursement plan under section 62. The agency was reviewing whether adopting the reimbursement plan…
PLR 200035011: Late S corporation election accepted for incorporation year
A newly incorporated company intended S corporation treatment from its incorporation date but missed the election deadline. The IRS found reasonable cause for the late filing and granted relief…
Field Service Advice 200035010: Unbilled manufacturing amounts were not mark to market securities
A manufacturer wanted to mark to market amounts it recorded for products it expected to supply under a customer agreement and purchase orders. The advice concluded that the unbilled amounts were not…
PLR 200035009: Annuity participation payments produced income or business deductions
A company had purchased group annuity contracts to provide fixed benefits to executives under a deferred compensation plan. It later exercised options that made the company responsible for…
PLR 200035008: Bond payment reporting changes at liquidation
An issuer of tax exempt bonds expected its pooled payment sources eventually to fall short of scheduled debt service. The IRS ruled on how the issuer could classify payments for section 6045…
TAM 200035007: Tribal education services were neither taxable payments nor subject to gaming withholding
A tribe used its education department to provide child development, tutoring, a summer youth program, and room and board at residential schools for students with special needs. An examining agent…
Field Service Advice 200035006: Grantor trust's partnership items tested at the owner's level
A taxpayer and a trust treated as his grantor trust were the only reported partners in a business. District Counsel asked whether the trust was a separate entity when testing the taxpayer's material…
TAM 200035005: Radio and television broadcast licenses qualified as like kind property
A company exchanged three radio stations for a television station and treated the exchanged Federal Communications Commission licenses as like kind property under section 1031. The technical advice…
PLR 200035004: Extension granted to file dual resident loss agreement and certifications
A taxpayer's tax counsel found that a dual resident corporation election agreement and annual certifications had been filed with another affiliate's return instead of the taxpayer's return. The…
Field Service Advice 200035003: Hospital reorganization raised debt financed property and exemption questions
An exempt hospital in Chapter 11 proposed to transfer commercial real estate and other assets to a liquidating trust for creditors. District Counsel asked whether the transfer was taxable and…
Field Service Advice 200035002: Stock purchase did not replace storm damaged operating property
A subsidiary received insurance proceeds after a storm damaged its operating property. It bought stock in a corporation holding another property and sought to defer gain under section 1033 as an…
PLR 200035001: Business spin-off and employee equity adjustments received specified tax rulings
A public company planned to place one business in a new corporation, sell a minority stake in an offering, and distribute the remaining shares to its shareholders. The IRS ruled that the…
PLR 200034039: ESOP stock sale could repay loans without creating annual additions
A company planned to terminate its employee stock ownership plan and sell unallocated company shares held in the plan's suspense account to repay outstanding plan loans. An independent trustee would…
PLR 200034038: Government employer's pension contribution pickup excluded from current wages
A government employer planned to pay mandatory employee pension contributions by reducing current salaries and paying the amounts directly to the plan. Employees could not elect to receive the…
PLR 200034037: Expanded independent media loan program qualified as program related investing
An organization proposed to expand its low or no interest loan program for independent media to Latin America, Southeast Asia, and Africa. It said the loans would support independent journalism,…
PLR 200034036: Stream conservation funds approved as a qualifying set aside
A private foundation proposed setting aside funds to fence a riverside area, limit livestock access, and undertake other stream conservation work. It explained that inclement weather prevented the…
PLR 200034035: Foundation scholarship procedures approved
A private foundation asked for advance approval of a scholarship program administered by a public charity. The charity would collect applications, select recipients, set award amounts, and pay the…
PLR 200034034: Foundation scholarship grant procedures approved
A private foundation planned scholarships for students from a specified area who would attend college or graduate school. Applicants had to meet academic standards, and financial need was a primary…
PLR 200034033: Government employer may pick up service credit contributions
A local government planned to let employees use payroll reductions to buy additional pension service credit or restore withdrawn contributions. Its ordinance would treat the amounts as employer…
PLR 200034032: Police and firefighter pension contributions may be picked up
A local government asked about employees' payroll reductions to buy service credit or restore withdrawn contributions in a statewide pension plan for police officers and firefighters. It proposed an…
PLR 200034031: In-service distribution leaves earlier retirement election in place
A participant in a profit-sharing plan had signed a beneficiary designation and a distribution election before the end of 1983. The election relied on a transition rule in section 242(b)(2) of TEFRA…
CCA 200034030: Collection notice must precede a levy during an installment agreement
Chief Counsel advised a district office about proposed waivers for taxpayers paying taxes through installment agreements. A taxpayer could not authorize an early levy while keeping the right to…
CCA 200034029: Support test for a child missing after kidnapping
Chief Counsel considered whether parents could claim a dependency exemption for a child kidnapped by an unrelated person. It advised that, in the year of the kidnapping, parents who had provided…
CCA 200034028: How to reverse or recover a false tax credit
Chief Counsel addressed refund claims using Form 2439 to assert a nonexistent slavery reparations tax credit. It concluded that the Code provides no such credit and that the claimed regulated…
CCA 200034027: Separate consumer durable prices control the reporting threshold
Chief Counsel considered a retailer's sale of several items of personal property in one purchase. Their combined price exceeded $10,000, but no individual item's price did. Counsel concluded that…
CCA 200034026: When a Tennessee law enforcement agency may receive an informant reward
Chief Counsel considered whether a Tennessee state or local law enforcement agency could receive an IRS informant reward. It advised that an agency could qualify under section 7623 because the…
CCA 200034025: Tax treatment of North Carolina flood relief for businesses
Chief Counsel analyzed three North Carolina business relief programs after Hurricane Floyd. The state's interest-free deferred loans and short-term business advances were loans, so recipients had no…
PLR 200034024: French insurer qualifies for treaty exemption from insurance excise tax
A French insurance company sought an exemption from the federal excise tax on premiums for insurance and reinsurance of U.S. risks. The IRS accepted its representations that its French business met…
PLR 200034023: Late S corporation election allowed after filing mix-up
A corporation intended to elect S corporation status from its incorporation date, but no Form 2553 was filed on time. Its sole shareholder said the omission arose from a misunderstanding between the…
PLR 200034022: Bankruptcy liquidating trust classified as a grantor trust
A company in Chapter 11 proposed a trust to liquidate remaining assets and distribute the proceeds to beneficiaries. The trust would hold only reasonable cash reserves, make distributions at least…
PLR 200034021: GST trust severance recognized and reverse QTIP election extended
An estate had elected qualified terminable interest property treatment for a marital trust but had missed the reverse QTIP election and had not allocated the decedent's generation skipping transfer…
PLR 200034020: Fuel production credits for a lignite conversion plant
A company sought rulings on section 29 credits for fuels made at a lignite coal conversion plant and on how past financing and a proposed sale affected those credits. The IRS identified synthetic…
PLR 200034019: Special provisions do not disqualify a proposed charitable remainder unitrust
A donor proposed a charitable remainder unitrust that would pay the donor the lesser of trust income or five percent of annually valued assets, then leave the remainder to charity. Several terms…
PLR 200034018: Late S corporation election accepted for the first tax year
A corporation and its shareholder intended S corporation status from the company's first year. Its attorney sent filing instructions, but staff occupied with other company work missed the Form 2553…
PLR 200034017: Apartment rents excluded from S corporation passive investment income
A corporation with accumulated C corporation earnings and profits planned to elect S corporation status. It owned four apartment buildings with 27 units and used a related management company to…
PLR 200034016: Late S corporation election allowed after filing misunderstanding
A corporation intended S corporation status in its first tax year and filed an S corporation return. Its president believed the attorney had filed Form 2553, while the attorney believed the…
PLR 200034015: Renunciation of interests in older trust avoids GST tax
A donor created an irrevocable trust for a child before September 25, 1985, and made no later additions. After that child died without descendants, three siblings became entitled to the trust…
PLR 200034014: Foreign entity granted more time to elect corporate classification
A foreign business and its owners intended to elect corporate treatment for U.S. tax purposes from the day the business began, but Form 8832 was not filed on time. The IRS found that the business…
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.