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 200022031: Gift value reduced by tax paid from a QTIP trust
A surviving beneficiary planned to give up his income and principal interests in a qualified terminable interest property (QTIP) trust. The disclaimer would not qualify under section 2518, so it…
PLR 200022030: Complete expatriation submission rebuts tax avoidance presumption
A former U.S. citizen who returned to her country of birth had net worth above the threshold that triggered a presumption of tax avoidance under the then applicable expatriation rules. Her…
PLR 200022029: Utility officer may reinvest stock sale proceeds in utility funds or stocks
An investor held a noncontrolling stake in a privately owned utility and served as its officer. The shareholders sold their stock to a city after the city threatened acquisition by eminent domain.…
PLR 200022028: State redevelopment corporation qualifies as a governmental bond issuer
A corporation created by state law to finance redevelopment projects asked about its income and bond issuer status. The IRS ruled that its income was excluded under section 115, that it qualified to…
PLR 200022027: Entity gets 60 days to make a late corporate classification election
An entity intended to be taxed as a corporation from the start of its tax year but did not file its classification election on time. It asked the IRS for an extension under the regulatory election…
PLR 200022026: Corporation receives relief for a late S 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 late election and granted relief under section…
PLR 200022025: Debt assumption leaves earlier spin-off ruling in force
A corporation had received an earlier favorable ruling for a planned separation of two businesses under section 355. After financial conditions worsened, it abandoned a planned stock offering and…
PLR 200022024: Late S election treated as timely if Form 2553 is filed
A corporation with two shareholders intended to be an S corporation from its formation and operated on that understanding. It later learned that its S election had not been filed on time. The IRS…
PLR 200022023: One-shareholder corporation receives late S election relief
A one-shareholder corporation intended to be an S corporation from its incorporation and operated on that understanding. It later found that its S election had not been filed on time. The IRS ruled…
PLR 200022022: Corporation receives relief for missed S election deadline
A corporation began doing business before the effective date its shareholders wanted for S corporation treatment. They did not file the S election on time. The IRS found reasonable cause for the…
PLR 200022021: Entity gets 60 days to file corporate classification election
An entity intended to be taxed as a corporation from the start of its tax year but missed the deadline to elect that classification. It sought an extension under the regulatory election relief…
PLR 200022020: Family stock redemption can qualify as a complete termination
A family owned corporation planned to redeem all of a mother's shares for an interest in company real estate. Although her husband and children would still own shares, the IRS ruled that prior…
PLR 200022019: Public school retiree health trust income excluded under section 115
A state public school retirement system created a trust to operate a group health insurance program for retirees and their families. The trust asked whether its income was excluded from gross income…
PLR 200022018: Tribal trust contributions are not current income to minor beneficiaries
A federally recognized tribe established a trust for gaming revenue payments allocated to minor and legally incompetent members. The IRS ruled that those members did not constructively receive…
CCA 200022017: Insurer withdraws advance premium accounting method request
Chief Counsel notified a district director that an insurer withdrew its Form 3115 request to change how it accounted for premiums received before a contract began. The insurer withdrew after final…
PLR 200022016: Partnership conversion to an LLC preserves tax continuity
A general partnership operating a mobile home park planned to convert to a limited liability company without changing ownership percentages, its business, or the partners' shares of liabilities. The…
PLR 200022015: Investment fund asset transfer qualifies as a Type C reorganization
One investment fund planned to transfer substantially all of its assets and liabilities to another fund for voting shares, distribute those shares to its investors, and dissolve. The IRS ruled that…
PLR 200022014: Severance fixes additional contribution to a charitable remainder trust
A donor made an additional contribution to a charitable remainder unitrust that failed the 10 percent charitable remainder requirement for that contribution. A state court approved severing the…
PLR 200022013: Late S election gets a 60-day filing window
A corporation planned to elect S corporation status from its incorporation date but missed the Form 2553 filing deadline. The IRS found reasonable cause for the delay and granted relief under…
CCA 200022012: Shared office space does not require counsel's removal
Chief Counsel advised on an ethics question in a Tax Court case. A lawyer representing the taxpayer temporarily leased office space from another lawyer who might testify as a witness. On the facts…
TAM 200022011: Portable bait containers and attached aerators are taxable
A fishing equipment manufacturer assembled buckets with aerators and argued that the products were untaxed live wells or multipurpose containers. The IRS concluded that the containers were portable…
CCA 200022010: Chapter 11 plan suspends the IRS collection period until default
Chief Counsel advised on the time limit for collecting a trust fund recovery penalty from an individual whose confirmed Chapter 11 plan required full payment. It concluded that section 6503(h)(2)…
CCA 200022009: Bank mergers require full bad debt reserve recapture
Chief Counsel advised on mergers of thrift subsidiaries into a large bank that used a different bad debt accounting method. It concluded that the targets' entire bad debt reserves had to be…
PLR 200022008: Family business split-off qualifies as a Type D reorganization
Two families that owned a corporation disagreed about managing its two businesses. The corporation planned to move one business and other value-balancing assets to a new corporation, then give all…
TAM 200022007: Zero-basis fishing vessel cannot be depreciated for self-employment tax
A commercial fisherman bought a vessel using qualified withdrawals from a capital construction fund. Section 7518(f) reduced his basis in the vessel to zero, but he claimed depreciation when…
CCA 200022006: Intragroup stock distribution may not erase excess loss gain
Chief Counsel analyzed a consolidated group's excess loss account in subsidiary stock. The group distributed the stock within the group before transferring it to an outside buyer, and argued that…
CCA 200022005: Counsel advises against trust-funded tax settlement
Chief Counsel reviewed a proposal to pay an individual's tax debt using assets from a charitable remainder unitrust. It advised that distributions beyond the unitrust amount would trigger…
CCA 200022004: Federal back pay settlement is wages subject to tax and withholding
Chief Counsel analyzed a lump sum settlement of a federal employee's grievance over job classification and pay. It concluded that the entire payment was gross income and wages subject to federal…
PLR 200022003: Annuity exchange and separate life insurance rider receive tax rulings
A taxpayer planned to exchange an existing deferred annuity for a new annuity with optional riders, including a separate term life insurance rider. The IRS ruled that the term rider's death benefit…
TAM 200022002: General-use dump truck bodies do not qualify for farm exemption
A manufacturer sold dump truck bodies and argued that they were designed for hauling and unloading silage on farms. The IRS examined whether the farm equipment exception in section 4053(2) applied…
TAM 200022001: Farm production costs reduce income for the personal holding company test
A farming corporation disputed an examiner's finding that its dividend and interest income made it a personal holding company. The corporation argued that its gross farming receipts should count in…
PLR 200021063: Retirement and medical plans qualify as church plans
A religious nonprofit asked whether its retirement savings plan and medical benefit plan qualified as church plans under section 414(e). The nonprofit was an integrated auxiliary of an association…
PLR 200021062: Retirement plan qualifies as a church plan from its start date
A religious nonprofit asked whether its defined contribution retirement plan had been a church plan since it began on January 1, 1997. The nonprofit was listed in a church's official directory, and…
PLR 200021061: Public pension service credit payments qualify as employer pickups
A political subdivision proposed to let employees buy additional service credits in its governmental retirement plan through binding payroll reductions. The employees could not take the amounts as…
PLR 200021060: Mandatory public pension contributions treated as employer payments
A government employer adopted a resolution to pay its employees' mandatory contributions to a defined benefit retirement plan. Employees could not receive the amounts as cash instead. The IRS ruled…
PLR 200021059: Municipality may pick up mandatory pension contributions
A municipality asked about its employees' mandatory pension contributions, equal to 9 percent of salary. It adopted a resolution to pay those amounts to the plan while reducing employees' cash…
PLR 200021058: Municipality's pension pickup avoids current federal tax withholding
A municipality asked about paying its employees' mandatory pension contributions, equal to nine percent of their salaries, under a resolution that reduced their cash pay. The employees could not…
PLR 200021057: Private foundation may transfer all assets to another foundation
A charitable trust proposed to transfer all its assets to a nonprofit corporation controlled by the same people. Both were private foundations. The IRS ruled that the transfer was a reorganization…
TAM 200021056: Gift shop and tea room income is taxable, while charity status continues
A charity helped needy women sell their handiwork through a consignment shop. It also operated a gift shop selling goods bought from commercial vendors and a tea room open to the public. The IRS…
PLR 200021055: Thirty-day extension granted for dual consolidated loss filing
A taxpayer reported a loss from a wholly owned entity treated as a hybrid entity separate unit, but its return preparer omitted the agreement and certifications required by the dual consolidated…
PLR 200021054: Late S corporation election accepted after no filing record was found
A corporation intended to elect S corporation status, and its sole shareholder signed Form 2553 and relied on the corporation's attorney to file it. The IRS had no record of the form. The IRS found…
PLR 200021053: Relief for a missed S corporation election
A corporation intended to elect S corporation status from its first tax year and relied on its former accountant to file Form 2553. The IRS service center had no record of the form, although the…
PLR 200021052: Late S corporation election allowed for first tax year
A corporation's sole shareholder intended to elect S corporation status for its first tax year and relied on an attorney to prepare and file Form 2553. The form was not filed on time, but the…
PLR 200021051: Relief for an S corporation election filed late by an attorney
Two shareholders intended their corporation to elect S corporation status for its first tax year. They signed Form 2553 and sent it to the corporation's attorney, who filed it late. The corporation…
PLR 200021050: Executive pay deduction limit did not apply without a required compensation table
A U.S. corporation and its domestic subsidiaries belonged to an affiliated group headed by a foreign private issuer. The group asked whether section 162(m)'s limit on deductions for certain…
PLR 200021049: Three investment fund mergers qualify as reorganizations
Three regulated investment companies proposed transferring their assets and liabilities to another investment company in exchange for its voting stock, then liquidating and distributing that stock…
PLR 200021048: Two investment fund mergers qualify as reorganizations
Two regulated investment companies proposed transferring their assets and liabilities to another investment company in exchange for its voting stock, then liquidating and distributing the stock to…
PLR 200021047: Thirty-day extension to elect asset treatment for foreign stock purchase
A foreign purchasing corporation acquired all the stock of another foreign corporation, but a section 338(g) election was not filed by its deadline. A U.S. shareholder of the purchaser sought more…
PLR 200021046: U.S. shareholders' exchange for foreign parent stock receives section 367 exception
U.S. shareholders exchanged stock in a domestic corporation for shares of a foreign parent as the companies combined. The exchange was subject to section 367(a)'s general rule taxing transfers of…
PLR 200021045: Reasonable cause found for omitted notices of foreign exchanges
A domestic parent company failed to file the notices required for two foreign transactions under the section 367(b) regulations. Its tax returns had been reviewed by international tax professionals,…
PLR 200021044: Division spin-off qualifies for tax-free treatment
A corporation operated two service divisions whose major customers competed with each other and objected to their shared ownership. It proposed transferring one division to a new corporation and…
PLR 200021043: IRS resolves issues in mutual bank conversion and holding company plan
A mutual savings bank proposed converting to a stock bank beneath a mutual holding company and a stock holding company, followed by an offering of up to 49 percent of the stock holding company's…
PLR 200021042: Late S corporation election effective from incorporation
A corporation's sole shareholder wanted S corporation status effective from the date of incorporation, but the election was not filed on time. The IRS found reasonable cause for the missed election…
PLR 200021041: Cash distribution does not prevent asset acquisition from qualifying as a reorganization
After an asset acquisition had closed, the taxpayers told the IRS that cash would be distributed to the acquiring company's owners, who had previously owned the target. The IRS replaced most rulings…
PLR 200021040: Three investment funds may combine in a tax reorganization
Three regulated investment companies proposed transferring their assets and liabilities to another investment company in exchange for its voting stock, then dissolving and distributing that stock to…
PLR 200021039: Late S corporation election allowed for first tax year
A corporation's president said it intended to be an S corporation from its first tax year and had relied on an accountant to file the election. The IRS had no record of a Form 2553 for that year. It…
PLR 200021038: Late S corporation election granted from incorporation date
A corporation's shareholders wanted S corporation treatment from the date of incorporation, but the election was not filed on time. The IRS found reasonable cause for the delay under IRC §…
PLR 200021037: Late S election may take effect on incorporation date
A corporation's shareholders intended to elect S corporation treatment from its incorporation date, but did not file the election on time. The IRS found reasonable cause for the missed filing and…
CCA 200021036: State adoption assistance payments excluded from parents' income
IRS Chief Counsel advised on a state's adoption assistance program for children the state identified as having special needs. The program paid adoptive parents for adoption costs, ongoing support,…
PLR 200021035: Sole-shareholder corporation receives late S election relief
The sole shareholder of a corporation wanted S corporation treatment effective from its incorporation date, but the election was late. The IRS found reasonable cause for the missed filing under IRC…
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.