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.
No determinations match these filters
Try fewer or different words, check the spelling, or clear the filters to browse everything.
PLR 200025038: Magazine publisher may elect to defer subscription income
An accrual-method magazine publisher received subscription payments before delivering the magazines. It requested consent to elect § 455 treatment, which includes prepaid subscription income in the…
PLR 200025037: Variable annuity funds receive layered diversification treatment
A life insurer proposed that portfolios supporting its variable annuities invest in lower-tier funds. The IRS ruled that the annuity sub-accounts may look through the portfolios when testing…
PLR 200025036: Oilfield company spin-off qualifies for nonrecognition
A publicly traded oilfield products company proposed spinning off its capital-intensive business so that business could raise debt separately and the parent could focus on its other operations. The…
PLR 200025035: Mother's stock redemption qualifies as complete termination
A mother planned to sell some shares in a family corporation to her son and have the corporation redeem all her remaining shares for cash, leaving the son as sole shareholder. The IRS ruled that the…
PLR 200025034: Family awaiting stock buyout need not consent to S election
One family branch sought a court-ordered dissolution or buyout of its shares in a corporation. The corporation made an irrevocable election under state law to buy those shares, but the price…
PLR 200025033: Missed S election accepted from incorporation
A corporation's shareholders wanted S corporation treatment from its incorporation date, but the election was not filed on time. The IRS found reasonable cause for the missed filing and ruled that…
PLR 200025032: Spouse's settlement payment cannot use decedent's estate credit
A decedent intended to move a jointly held brokerage account into his own name so that his estate could fully fund a trust using the estate tax unified credit. The transfer had not occurred when he…
PLR 200025031: Late tax-year change application treated as timely filed
Taxpayers asked to change their accounting year and instructed their accounting firm to file Form 1128, but the firm overlooked the form. They had timely filed the related extensions and federal tax…
PLR 200025030: Subsidiary liquidation and transfers support tax-deferred spin-off
A corporate group proposed separating two business lines that had been difficult to operate together. Its plan included liquidating a subsidiary, transferring subsidiary stock through a new…
PLR 200025029: Late S corporation election accepted after attorney's filing error
A corporation intended to elect S corporation status for its first tax year, but its attorney failed to file Form 2553 on time. The corporation and its sole shareholder filed their returns as though…
PLR 200025028: Late S corporation election accepted after attorney's filing error
A corporation intended to elect S corporation status for its first tax year, but its attorney failed to file Form 2553 on time. The corporation and its sole shareholder filed their returns as though…
PLR 200025027: Late S corporation election accepted after attorney's filing error
A corporation intended to elect S corporation status for its first tax year, but its attorney failed to file Form 2553 on time. The corporation and its sole shareholder filed their returns as though…
PLR 200025026: Late S corporation election accepted after attorney's filing error
A corporation intended to elect S corporation status for its first tax year, but its attorney failed to file Form 2553 on time. The corporation and its sole shareholder filed their returns as though…
PLR 200025025: Late S corporation election accepted after attorney's filing error
A corporation intended to elect S corporation status for its first tax year, but its attorney failed to file Form 2553 on time. The corporation and its sole shareholder filed their returns as though…
PLR 200025024: Late S corporation election accepted after attorney's filing error
A corporation intended to elect S corporation status for its first tax year, but its attorney failed to file Form 2553 on time. The corporation and its sole shareholder filed their returns as though…
PLR 200025023: Settlement fund must report tax refunds and interest separately
A state settled class actions brought by government retirees over state income taxes on their retirement benefits. The IRS treated the court-supervised settlement fund as a qualified settlement fund…
PLR 200025022: New owner may make early S corporation election after revocation
A corporation revoked its S election before a new, unrelated owner acquired its stock. The corporation asked to elect S status again before the usual five-year waiting period expired. Under IRC §…
PLR 200025021: Trust investment change preserves GST tax exemption
Trustees of an irrevocable trust sought court approval to remove a restriction on investing in corporate stock. The trust had been irrevocable before September 25, 1985, and the taxpayer represented…
CCA 200025020: Currency trading classification affects mark to market and loss treatment
An individual and a jointly filing spouse treated foreign currency trades as section 1256 contracts and reported capital gains and losses. Chief Counsel advised that some futures could qualify as…
PLR 200025019: Tax holiday permits early reelection of foreign earned income exclusion
A married couple living in Country X had revoked their section 911 foreign earned income exclusion for earlier years and asked to reelect it for 1999 and later years. Country X declared a 1999 tax…
CCA 200025018: Personal liability and guarantees can increase at risk amounts
Chief Counsel considered whether members of two limited liability companies classified as partnerships were at risk for liabilities connected with the businesses. In the first situation, a member…
CCA 200025017: Partnership section 754 election needs a filed return
Chief Counsel analyzed whether a German partnership made a valid section 754 election after a related corporation attached pro forma Forms 1065 to a consolidated return. The advice states that a…
PLR 200025016: Investment partnership receives RIC and allocation rulings
An investment partnership served as a pooled vehicle for several funds that intended to qualify as regulated investment companies. The IRS ruled that the partnership would not be treated as a…
PLR 200025015: Investment partnership receives RIC and allocation rulings
An investment partnership served as a pooled vehicle for several funds that intended to qualify as regulated investment companies. The IRS ruled that the partnership would not be treated as a…
PLR 200025014: Investment partnership receives RIC and allocation rulings
An investment partnership served as a pooled vehicle for several funds that intended to qualify as regulated investment companies. The IRS ruled that the partnership would not be treated as a…
PLR 200025013: Investment partnership receives RIC and allocation rulings
An investment partnership served as a pooled vehicle for several funds that intended to qualify as regulated investment companies. The IRS ruled that the partnership would not be treated as a…
PLR 200025012: Investment partnership receives RIC and allocation rulings
An investment partnership served as a pooled vehicle for several funds that intended to qualify as regulated investment companies. The IRS ruled that the partnership would not be treated as a…
CCA 200025011: Partnership loss character needs partnership proceeding
A couple sought to carry earlier trading losses into a tax year pending before the Tax Court, arguing that losses reported as capital were ordinary losses. Chief Counsel advised that the court could…
PLR 200025010: Parent receives extension for foreign target subsidiary elections
A corporate parent requested more time to file section 338(g) elections for nine foreign target subsidiaries deemed acquired through a foreign purchasing company. The IRS found that the parent and…
PLR 200025009: LIFO change modifies selected prior spin off rulings
A corporation requested a supplemental ruling after changing its plan for inventory in a transaction covered by an earlier sections 355 and 368 ruling. It would terminate its LIFO election for the…
CCA 200025008: Pension contract reserves must reflect surrender charges
Chief Counsel considered reserves for a life insurer's group pension annuity contracts during their accumulation phase. The insurer and examining agent agreed to treat the reserves under section…
TAM 200025007: Modified tow vehicle is taxable as a tractor
A dealer sold modified medium duty vehicles equipped to tow heavy trailers and argued that they were trucks within the weight threshold for the section 4051 retail excise tax exemption. The IRS…
TAM 200025006: Modified tow vehicle is taxable as a tractor
A final stage manufacturer converted medium duty chassis cabs into vehicles designed to tow heavy trailers. It argued that the vehicles were trucks within the weight threshold for the section 4051…
PLR 200025005: Government salary deferral plan qualifies after amendment
A governmental employer requested rulings on its executive salary deferral plan and related trust. Provided the plan was amended as proposed, the IRS concluded that it qualified as an eligible…
TAM 200025004: Cheese curing facility qualifies as manufacturing facility
A city used bond proceeds to buy and equip a facility that cures cheese for several producers. The IRS concluded that the facility is a manufacturing facility under section 144(a)(12)(C), which…
CCA 200025003: State overpayments may be credited against state school tax debts
Chief Counsel advised that a state's tax overpayments could be credited against unpaid taxes of two state schools under section 6402(a), based on the state's ultimate responsibility for their tax…
CCA 200025002: Employer may deduct payment of employees' past payroll taxes
After an employment tax audit, an employer paid additional withholding and FICA taxes on meal allowances from earlier years, including amounts attributed to employees. The employer did not seek…
PLR 200025001: Business separation and replacement stock options receive tax rulings
A publicly held company proposed to separate two different businesses by contributing the second business to a controlled corporation and distributing that corporation's shares to its own…
CCA 200024035: Criminal Tax finds probable cause supporting proposed search warrants
District Counsel sought review of search warrant applications in an investigation of a business owner and an S corporation for possible tax offenses. The affidavit alleged that the owner diverted…
CCA 200024058: Prior interest allocation method generally cannot be changed retroactively
Chief Counsel technical assistance addressed how a taxpayer values assets when apportioning interest expense for foreign tax credit purposes. A taxpayer that chose the tax book value method on its…
PLR 200024057: State employer pension contributions excluded from current income
A state government employer proposed to pay mandatory employee contributions to two pension plans under a resolution that denied employees a choice to receive the amounts in cash. The IRS ruled that…
PLR 200024056: Contractor change permits distributions after separation from service
A company employed subcontract workers at a facility whose primary contractor was changing. The workers would leave that company's employment and be hired by the new primary contractor to continue…
PLR 200024055: State college savings trust qualifies under section 529
A state sponsored college savings trust asked whether it qualified as a state tuition program exempt from federal income tax under section 529. The IRS ruled that it did. The state created the…
PLR 200024054: Disability trust assets may fund other VEBA benefits
An employer asked whether assets from a terminated disability trust could be moved from a separate account into the rest of its voluntary employees' beneficiary association, or VEBA, for other…
PLR 200024053: Controlled foundation may transfer all assets to another foundation
Two private foundations under common control proposed to consolidate by transferring all assets and liabilities from one to the other. The IRS ruled that the transfer would not itself terminate the…
PLR 200024052: Family trusts may sell business interests before funding a charitable lead trust
A family planned to fund a charitable lead trust after both spouses died, partly with interests in a family investment company. The trustees proposed selling those interests to related parties for…
CCA 200024051: Missing foreign transaction reports extend assessment time only for related tax items
An IRS specialist asked how section 6501(c)(8) affects the time to assess tax when a taxpayer files required foreign transaction information late or incompletely. Chief Counsel advised that the…
PLR 200024050: Corporation receives relief for a late S election
A corporation intended to be taxed as an S corporation from the year it identified in its request, but the IRS had no record of receiving its Form 2553 election. Its owner had relied on an…
PLR 200024049: City business district qualifies as a political subdivision
A city created a business district to promote its downtown area and was required to impose the property tax levy the district recommended. The IRS concluded that the district had a taxing power that…
CCA 200024048: Dental x-ray machines do not qualify for disabled access credit
A dentist claimed the section 44 disabled access credit for two x-ray machines used in a family dental practice; one was advertised as usable for patients in wheelchairs. Chief Counsel advised that…
PLR 200024047: Section 382 treatment of stock distributions and staged warrants
A publicly held company with net operating losses sought rulings on how an investor's share purchase, a partnership's possible share distribution, and a proposed series of warrants would affect the…
PLR 200024046: Corporation receives relief after mistaking Form SS-4 for an S election
A corporation intended to elect S status for a tax year after its incorporation. Its president believed that filing Form SS-4 for an employer identification number automatically gave the corporation…
PLR 200024045: Parent's extension covers subsidiary's separate possessions credit election
A company operating in Puerto Rico changed corporate parents and sought to renew a possessions corporation election for a short tax year. Its new parent had included it on a Form 7004 request to…
PLR 200024044: Active services keep mineral property rent outside S corporation passive income
A corporation planning to elect S status leased property and related facilities to a tenant that extracted construction materials. The corporation provided technical assistance, permit work,…
PLR 200024043: Successor corporation may elect S status before five-year waiting period ends
An S corporation's election ended when shareholders transferred stock to partnerships, which were ineligible shareholders. The corporation later merged into a new corporation owned mainly by the…
PLR 200024042: Housing agency may correct understated low-income housing credit allocations
A state housing credit agency used construction costs alone when preparing Form 8609 allocations for a low-income housing project, leaving out other costs it intended to include and understating the…
PLR 200024041: Late S election treated as effective from incorporation
A corporation with two shareholders intended to be an S corporation from incorporation and operated on that basis. After its first tax year ended, it discovered that its S election had not been…
PLR 200024040: Troubled housing project receives waiver of ten-year acquisition rule
A partnership acquired an existing low-income housing project that had received federal rural housing assistance. The project had been placed in service less than ten years before the acquisition,…
PLR 200024039: Late S election treated as effective from incorporation
A corporation with two shareholders intended to be an S corporation from incorporation and operated on that basis. After its first tax year ended, it discovered that its S election had not been…
PLR 200024038: Complete expatriation submission rebuts tax avoidance presumption
A dual citizen planning to give up U.S. citizenship asked the IRS to rule that avoiding U.S. tax was not a principal purpose. His expected net worth exceeded a threshold that would otherwise create…
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.