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 200024037: Two planned corporate spin-offs receive tax-free treatment
A public company planned two spin-offs around an offering of stock in a subsidiary. First, that subsidiary would transfer an LLC and associated liabilities to a new corporation and distribute the…
PLR 200024036: S corporation may spin off a business before raising private capital
An S corporation planned to separate one of its two businesses so that the separated business could raise capital through a private stock placement. It would transfer that business's assets to a new…
PLR 200024034: IRS waives consolidated return waiting period for reaffiliated subsidiaries
A corporate group sought a waiver of the section 1504 rule that can bar a departed corporation and its successor from rejoining consolidated returns for a waiting period. A subsidiary left the group…
PLR 200024033: IRS accepts expatriate's submission but finds a tax avoidance purpose
A former U.S. citizen asked the IRS to rule that avoiding U.S. tax was not a principal purpose of giving up his citizenship. His net worth exceeded the threshold that would ordinarily trigger a…
PLR 200024032: IRS permits look-through treatment for variable contract investment portfolios
A life insurer asked how to test diversification of separate accounts supporting its variable contracts when those accounts invest through several layers of fund portfolios. The IRS ruled that…
PLR 200024031: Late S corporation election treated as effective from incorporation
A corporation's shareholders intended S corporation treatment from its incorporation, but the corporation missed the deadline to file its election. The IRS found reasonable cause for the late filing…
PLR 200024030: IRS grants relief for a late S corporation election
A corporation's shareholder intended S corporation treatment from a specified date, but the election was filed late. The IRS found reasonable cause for the missed deadline and granted relief under…
PLR 200024029: IRS allows a late S corporation election to take effect on the requested date
A corporation's shareholders wanted S corporation treatment from a specified date, but the corporation did not file an election on time. The IRS found reasonable cause for the late election and…
PLR 200024028: Stock split-off to separate disputing shareholders receives tax-free treatment
Two shareholders proposed separating their interests after disputes affected a holding company and its operating subsidiaries. The holding company would give one shareholder all the stock of a…
PLR 200024027: IRS grants relief for a late S corporation election
A corporation intended to elect S corporation treatment from a specified date but missed the filing deadline. The IRS found reasonable cause for the delay and granted relief under section…
PLR 200024026: Late S corporation election allowed if Form 2553 is filed within 60 days
A corporation intended to be an S corporation from the year it was incorporated, but its Form 2553 was not filed on time. The IRS found reasonable cause for the delay and concluded that the…
PLR 200024025: Foreign entity receives more time to file a classification election
A foreign eligible entity was classified by default as an association and intended to elect partnership classification effective on a specified date. It missed the deadline to file Form 8832. The…
PLR 200024024: Foreign investment fund may elect its federal tax classification
A foreign investment fund with three sub-funds asked whether it was an entity eligible to elect its federal tax classification. Its management company could buy and sell investments for the fund,…
PLR 200024023: LLC gets more time to elect corporate tax classification
A domestic limited liability company with two members intended to elect taxation as a corporation from the date it was organized, but missed the Form 8832 deadline. The IRS found that the company…
CCA 200024022: Counsel reviews attorney fee awards under the Hyde Amendment
Chief Counsel sent a Criminal Tax office an analysis of attorney fee awards in criminal cases under the Hyde Amendment and the Equal Access to Justice Act. The memorandum explains that a prevailing…
CCA 200024021: Elected domestic corporation's loss cannot offset other group members' income
A foreign incorporated company had elected domestic corporation treatment under section 953(d) and incurred a loss that its affiliated group had used against another member's income. Chief Counsel…
PLR 200024020: Inadvertent S corporation termination waived after missed trust election
A corporation's S election terminated when its stock was transferred to a trust and the trust beneficiary missed the election deadline for qualified subchapter S trust treatment. The IRS found the…
PLR 200024019: Limited appointment to descendants' trusts avoids estate inclusion and GST tax
A trust beneficiary proposed using a power of appointment in his will to move property from an older family trust into separate trusts for his children. The IRS found that the power was limited to…
CCA 200024018: Injury salary benefits are income tax exempt but may be FICA wages
Chief Counsel considered salary continuation paid under a state statute to employees absent because of work injuries. It concluded that the statute was in the nature of a workmen's compensation law,…
PLR 200024017: Descendants' trust appointment avoids estate inclusion and GST tax
A son held a power to appoint property from an older family trust among his descendants and proposed directing it by will to five separate trusts for his children. The IRS concluded that the power…
PLR 200024016: Estate may deduct bequest to rebuild a mosque abroad through charitable trust
A decedent's will set aside a bequest to rebuild a mosque in the decedent's home village abroad, supervised by a nephew. The estate proposed carrying out the bequest through a Louisiana charitable…
PLR 200024015: Court reformation removes appointment power over nonqualified trust share
A surviving spouse's marital trust was divided into a qualified share and a nonqualified share. As drafted, it gave the spouse a testamentary general power of appointment over both shares, although…
PLR 200024014: Proposed trust reformation qualifies estate for charitable deductions
A decedent's trust gave an unrelated individual use of a house and its upkeep during life, while leaving the remaining property for charities. The original arrangement did not qualify for the estate…
PLR 200024013: Trust committee's trustee replacement power does not itself create a general appointment power
A spouse served on a committee empowered to remove and replace trustees of family trusts, even with beneficiaries, and resigned from the committee for one trust. The trusts barred a trustee from…
PLR 200024012: Trust committee's trustee replacement power does not itself create a general appointment power
A spouse served on a committee empowered to remove and replace trustees of a family trust, even with beneficiaries, and asked about the consequences of that power and a possible resignation. The…
PLR 200024011: Trust committee's trustee replacement power does not itself create a general appointment power
A spouse had committee powers to remove and replace trustees across four family trusts, including the ability to appoint herself as trustee. The trusts barred a trustee from deciding payments to…
PLR 200024010: Trust committee's trustee replacement power does not itself create a general appointment power
A spouse served on a committee empowered to remove and replace trustees of a family trust, even with beneficiaries, and asked about the consequences of that power and a possible resignation. The…
PLR 200024009: Trust committee's trustee replacement power does not itself create a general appointment power
A spouse served on a committee empowered to remove and replace trustees of a family trust, even with beneficiaries, and asked about the consequences of that power and a possible resignation. The…
PLR 200024008: Trust committee's trustee replacement power does not itself create a general appointment power
A spouse had committee powers to remove and replace trustees across four family trusts, including the ability to appoint herself as trustee. The trusts barred a trustee from deciding payments to…
PLR 200024007: Trust committee's trustee replacement power does not itself create a general appointment power
A spouse had committee powers to remove and replace trustees across four family trusts, including the ability to appoint herself as trustee. The trusts barred a trustee from deciding payments to…
CCA 200024006: Debt forgiveness for stock in a related corporation treated as a dividend
A shareholder owned all of two corporations and transferred the stock of one to the other in exchange for forgiveness of debt owed to the acquiring corporation. Chief Counsel advised that section…
PLR 200024005: Estate receives extension for a reverse QTIP election
An estate made a QTIP election and allocated generation-skipping transfer tax exemption to one marital trust on its timely estate tax return, but failed to affirmatively mark the reverse QTIP…
CCA 200024004: Bank cannot erase earlier bad debt deductions to increase later loan basis
A foreign bank's U.S. branch claimed partial bad debt deductions for several loans on its original return, then filed an amended return removing those deductions. Removing them would raise the…
CCA 200024003: Treaty withholding turns on whether parent advances are debt or equity
A government-owned foreign corporation advanced funds to its wholly owned U.S. subsidiary, which treated payments on the advances as principal and interest. Chief Counsel said the limited evidence…
PLR 200024002: Business spin-off and asset transfer qualify for stated tax-free treatment
A corporation planned to transfer one of its businesses to a newly formed subsidiary and distribute that subsidiary's shares to its own shareholders. It proposed the spin-off to facilitate a later…
CCA 200024001: Partner's exit treated as a sale to another partner despite redemption form
A partnership agreement called for redeeming one partner's entire interest and reporting the payments as partnership distributions under section 731. Another partner supplied the money for the…
CCA 200022049: Revoking a possessions tax credit election during its first ten years
IRS counsel advised district directors on requests to revoke a possessions corporation's section 936(a) tax credit election during its first ten years. The law requires consent during that period,…
PLR 200023057: Acquired hospital workers' retirement plan qualifies as a church plan
A religiously affiliated health care system acquired eight facilities and took over their existing retirement plan. It asked whether the renamed plan qualified as a church plan from the acquisition…
PLR 200023056: Transfer of half a foundation's assets to another foundation
A private foundation planned to transfer half its investment assets to another private foundation so the two could pursue separate grantmaking strategies. The IRS ruled that the transfer would not…
PLR 200023055: Puerto Rico hospital pension plan qualifies as a church plan
A hospital in Puerto Rico asked whether its pension plan was a church plan under section 414(e). The hospital was tax exempt, operated under a church's auspices, and had a board on which most…
PLR 200023054: Transfer of half a foundation's assets to another foundation
A private foundation planned to transfer half its investment assets to another private foundation so the two could pursue separate grantmaking strategies. The IRS ruled that the transfer would not…
Written determination 200023053: Conditional waiver of a pension plan's 1999 funding requirement
The IRS granted a conditional waiver of the minimum funding standard for a defined benefit pension plan's 1999 plan year under IRC § 412(d). The sponsoring company had reported losses in 1996 and…
PLR 200023052: Retiree health plan may distribute surplus without losing exemption
An employer proposed to distribute surplus funds from a retiree-funded health plan for the 1993 through 1996 coverage period to retirees or their surviving spouses. The IRS ruled that the…
PLR 200023051: Foundation investment through bank-advised funds was not self-dealing
A bank serving as trustee for private foundations planned to move assets from its common trust funds into mutual funds that it advised. The IRS ruled that the investment and reasonable fees paid to…
PLR 200023050: Challenge grant escrow counted as a qualifying distribution
A private foundation planned to place a challenge grant in a bank escrow account. The funds would go to a chosen public charity if it met a fundraising goal within two years, or to another eligible…
CCA 200023049: Cars and household goods count as personal belongings under RRA § 1203
Chief Counsel advised an IRS district office on the phrase "personal belongings" in the employee misconduct provision of the IRS Restructuring and Reform Act of 1998. The memorandum concluded that…
CCA 200023048: Surplus levy proceeds require notice before use for another tax period
Chief Counsel considered a levy that produced more than was needed for the tax period listed on it because the taxpayer made an intervening payment. The taxpayer also owed tax for a different period…
PLR 200023047: IRS revoked an earlier ruling on trucks fitted with cranes
The IRS notified a taxpayer that it was reconsidering an excise tax exception for trucks fitted with cranes. An earlier letter ruling, LTR 9839020, had said the taxpayer's vehicles with box boom…
PLR 200023046: IRS revoked an earlier ruling on purchased trucks fitted with cranes
The IRS notified a taxpayer that it was reconsidering an excise tax exception for trucks fitted with cranes. An earlier letter ruling, LTR 199917048, had said that trucks the taxpayer purchased,…
PLR 200023045: IRS revoked an earlier crane truck ruling involving third party installers
The IRS notified a taxpayer that it was reconsidering an excise tax exception for trucks fitted with crane booms. An earlier letter ruling, LTR 199923022, had said IRC § 4051 did not impose excise…
PLR 200023044: IRS revoked an earlier ruling on trucks fitted with aerial equipment
The IRS notified a taxpayer that it was reconsidering an excise tax exception for trucks fitted with cranes. An earlier letter ruling, LTR 9752015, had said that vehicles the taxpayer fitted with…
PLR 200023043: IRS revoked an earlier ruling on trucks fitted with cranes and aerial units
The IRS notified a taxpayer that it was reconsidering an excise tax exception for trucks fitted with cranes. An earlier letter ruling, LTR 9844036, had said that vehicles the taxpayer fitted with…
PLR 200023042: Late S corporation election relief required amended returns
A corporation intended to be treated as an S corporation but did not file Form 2553 because its shareholders did not know it was required. The IRS found reasonable cause for the late election under…
PLR 200023041: Late S corporation election allowed after form was misplaced
A corporation intended to elect S corporation status for its first tax year, but a shareholder's secretary mistakenly put the partly signed Form 2553 in a filing cabinet. The corporation filed S…
PLR 200023040: Two stock distributions separate related businesses
A domestic corporate group proposed to separate two operating businesses so their management teams could focus on their respective operations. One subsidiary would distribute the stock of a…
PLR 200023039: Extra time to file dual consolidated loss agreements
A domestic company owned foreign entities that generated losses it sought to deduct under the dual consolidated loss rules. Its accounting firm prepared the consolidated tax return but failed to…
PLR 200023038: Late S election allowed after attorney miscommunication
A corporation intended to elect S corporation treatment from its incorporation date. Its sole shareholder adopted corporate resolutions to that effect and relied on attorneys to prepare and file…
PLR 200023037: Late S election allowed after attorney omitted Form 2553
A corporation's shareholders agreed to operate it as an S corporation and relied on an attorney to file the necessary forms. The attorney did not prepare or file Form 2553, although the corporation…
PLR 200023036: Partnership unit matching service qualifies for trading safe harbor
A company proposed a computerized service to match buyers and sellers of limited partnership interests. Its procedures would delay a binding agreement for at least 15 days after listing and closing…
PLR 200023035: Prior split-off ruling remains effective after transaction changes
A corporation requested changes to an earlier ruling about a split-off intended to resolve shareholder disputes. The transaction had been partly completed, and the corporation updated its…
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.