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 200017018: Port and gas authority qualifies as political subdivision
Several local governments created an authority to develop port facilities and a natural gas project. They appointed its board, would receive its assets on dissolution, and shared in net revenues for…
PLR 200017017: Foreign entity receives more time to file classification election
A foreign entity and its parent failed to file Form 8832 on time after intending to choose a federal tax classification effective from the entity's formation. The IRS granted 60 days from the ruling…
PLR 200017016: Merger of two investment companies qualifies as a tax free reorganization
Two regulated investment companies planned to combine. One would transfer its assets and liabilities to the other for voting stock, distribute that stock to its shareholders, and dissolve. The IRS…
PLR 200017015: Buyer and sellers receive more time for a section 338 election
A corporate buyer acquired all the stock of an S corporation, but the buyer's parent and the sellers missed the deadline for a joint § 338(h)(10) election. The IRS found that they had acted…
PLR 200017014: S corporation status preserved after trust shareholder errors
A corporation's S election was initially ineffective because a testamentary trust was an ineligible shareholder. Later transfers to two other trusts terminated the election when their beneficiaries…
PLR 200017013: Gift tax returns substantially allocate GST exemptions to a trust
Two spouses made gifts to a family trust and reported allocations of their generation-skipping transfer (GST) tax exemptions on timely gift tax returns for two years. They used the wrong portions of…
PLR 200017012: Late accounting period change application treated as timely
Taxpayers filed Form 1128 to request a change in their taxable year, but filed it within 90 days after the deadline. The IRS found that they acted reasonably and in good faith and that relief would…
CCA 200017011: Natural gas futures that were not tax hedges receive capital treatment
A corporation entered long natural gas futures contracts, partly to manage an affiliate's price risk, and its parent reported the resulting gains and losses as ordinary. Chief Counsel advised that…
PLR 200017010: Securities partnership may combine contributed and revaluation gains for allocations
A securities partnership created for a mutual fund master and feeder structure expected to receive many securities with built-in gains and losses. It asked to combine those amounts with gains and…
PLR 200017009: Securities partnership may aggregate gains for section 704(c) allocations
A master securities partnership expected one feeder fund to contribute securities with built-in gain and loss and another to contribute cash. Tracking each security separately after daily portfolio…
PLR 200017008: Securities partnership may aggregate gains for section 704(c) allocations
A master securities partnership expected one feeder fund to contribute securities with built-in gain and loss and another to contribute cash. Tracking each security separately after daily portfolio…
PLR 200017007: Securities partnership may aggregate gains for section 704(c) allocations
A master securities partnership expected one feeder fund to contribute securities with built-in gain and loss and another to contribute cash. Tracking each security separately after daily portfolio…
CCA 200017006: Tax lien survives rescission of a property sale
A taxpayer acquired real property, and the IRS recorded a federal tax lien while he held title. After he defaulted on the purchase contract, a state court rescinded the sale and the property…
PLR 200017005: Consolidating three older trusts preserves GST tax exemption
Trustees proposed to combine three trusts that were irrevocable before September 25, 1985, into one consolidated trust. They represented that no property had been added to the older trusts since…
PLR 200017004: Consolidating three older trusts preserves GST tax exemption
Trustees proposed to combine three trusts for a grandchild into one consolidated trust. One of the three had received property from an earlier trust after the grandchild's parent died. The trustees…
CCA 200017003: Interest netting can span a change in consolidated group parent
A consolidated corporate group had a tax overpayment before its parent became a subsidiary of a new holding company. The reorganized group later had a tax underpayment. Chief Counsel advised that §…
PLR 200017002: Insurance business privatization receives transfer and reserve rulings
A government proposed to move an insurance business into a new private company and have the company issue ownership interests directly to policyholders. The IRS treated the formation as a deemed…
PLR 200016028: Foundation scholarship procedures receive advance approval
A private foundation asked the IRS to approve procedures for four types of student scholarships and described a separate program recognizing teachers and students for past achievements in classroom…
PLR 200016027: Foundation may transfer all assets to public charity and terminate
A private operating foundation planned to transfer all its assets to a public charity operating as a community trust, then dissolve. The charity would hold the assets in a donor fund for charitable…
PLR 200016026: Foundation golf facility set-aside qualifies as a distribution
A private foundation requested approval to set aside slightly over a redacted amount for the first phase of a golf practice facility at a public high school serving predominantly minority students…
PLR 200016024: Executive stock option qualifies as performance-based compensation
A company granted its chairman a stock option in connection with a business combination and sought a ruling under the former section 162(m) deduction limit. The option’s exercise price was set at…
PLR 200016023: Hospital lease for rehabilitation care is related to its exempt purpose
An exempt specialty hospital planned to lease unused space to a rehabilitation hospital operated by a separate charitable corporation. The rehabilitation unit would admit patients under the tenant…
PLR 200016022: Employee stock purchase plan qualifies under section 423
A company asked whether its employee stock purchase plan qualified under section 423 and how several tax and reporting rules would apply. The IRS ruled that the plan qualified and that options would…
PLR 200016021: Coal fines process qualifies for section 29 fuel credit
A partnership asked whether fuel made from coal fines at three facilities could qualify for the former section 29 credit. Based on the partnership's testing and representations, the IRS concluded…
PLR 200016020: Utility cannot pass remaining tax benefits to customers after asset sale
A regulated electric utility sold generating assets under a state restructuring law. It asked whether giving customers the remaining benefits from deferred income taxes and investment tax credits…
CCA 200016019: North Carolina flood repair grants are generally excluded from income
Chief Counsel advised on North Carolina grants intended to help homeowners repair flood-damaged homes after Hurricane Floyd by reducing their debt burden. The payments were described as general…
CCA 200016018: Joint filing does not make a spouse liable for the other's tip FICA tax
Chief Counsel considered whether spouses who filed a joint income tax return were jointly liable for one spouse's employee FICA tax on unreported tips. It advised that each spouse is individually…
CCA 200016017: Collection period during a confirmed Chapter 11 payment plan
Chief Counsel addressed how long the IRS may collect taxes payable under a confirmed Chapter 11 bankruptcy plan after the 1998 law restricted collection-period waivers. It advised that section…
CCA 200016016: A terminated offer in compromise cannot simply be reinstated
Chief Counsel considered whether the IRS could reinstate two offers in compromise after terminating them because the taxpayer had not filed required returns. It advised that termination for default…
PLR 200016015: Investment company merger qualifies as a Type C reorganization
Two regulated investment companies proposed to combine by transferring substantially all of the target's assets and liabilities to the acquiring company for voting stock, then distributing that…
PLR 200016014: Partnership receives more time to make a section 754 election
A partnership filed its return without an election under section 754 after a partner died. That election can adjust the basis of partnership property following certain transfers of partnership…
PLR 200016013: Feeder funds may look through partnership master funds for RIC tests
Regulated investment company feeder funds planned to invest substantially all their assets in corresponding master funds treated as partnerships. The IRS ruled that, assuming a feeder fund qualifies…
PLR 200016012: Duty injury pension partly excluded from income
A police officer injured on duty received accidental disability retirement benefits under a state statute. The IRS ruled that the part of the annual benefit equal to two-thirds of the officer's…
PLR 200016011: Active rental income is not passive investment income for S corporation rule
An S corporation with accumulated earnings and profits owned and operated commercial and residential rental properties. It asked whether its rental receipts counted as passive investment income…
PLR 200016010: Expatriate rebuts tax avoidance presumption, with purpose unresolved
A former U.S. citizen whose net worth exceeded the threshold in the then-applicable expatriation rules sought a ruling that avoiding U.S. tax was not a principal purpose of renouncing citizenship.…
CCA 200016009: District Director should decide early revocation of section 936 election
A corporate group sought to revoke a subsidiary's section 936 possessions corporation election so that the subsidiary could join a consolidated return in connection with a planned section 338(h)(10)…
PLR 200016008: Variable contract accounts may look through investment funds
Two investment funds were held through insurance company accounts funding variable contracts, with limited holdings by their investment adviser. One fund proposed to invest more than 55 percent of…
PLR 200016007: Corporation receives conditional relief for a late S election
A newly incorporated company intended to elect S corporation status but did not file Form 2553 on time. The IRS found reasonable cause for the delay under section 1362(b)(5). It ruled that the…
CCA 200016006: Tentative carryback refund may be recovered by summary assessment
A corporation received a tentative refund after carrying back a loss, but an examination later found that the loss was not allowable in the year for which that refund was paid. Chief Counsel advised…
PLR 200016005: Taxpayer may revoke alternate incremental research credit election
A taxpayer had elected to calculate its research credit under the alternate incremental method in section 41(c)(4). That election carries into later tax years unless the IRS consents to revocation.…
TAM 200016004: Spin-off transfer carries research credit history to recipient
In a transaction described as a divisive spin-off, a corporation received assets that it conceded were a major portion of a separate business unit with prior qualified research expenses. It argued…
TAM 200016003: Kerosene repackager is ineligible for fuel tax refund
A chemical company bought taxed kerosene, packaged it in one-gallon containers, and sold it to retailers for resale to consumers. The consumers used it for purposes such as paint removal, wood…
CCA 200016002: Mutual fund fees accrue when paid; commission treatment needs more facts
Chief Counsel examined when an accrual-method mutual fund distributor should report monthly 12b-1 fees and deduct commissions paid to broker-dealers for selling fund shares. The distributor's right…
CCA 200016001: Refund claim for information return penalty due within two years of payment
Chief Counsel addressed the deadline for claiming a refund of a paid section 6721 penalty for failing to file an information return. It advised that the penalty is collected like a tax, so payment…
PLR 200015039: Foreign entities receive late classification election relief
Two foreign entities intended to elect treatment as entities disregarded from their owners but did not timely file Form 8832. They had not known that foreign eligible entities needed the form to…
PLR 200015038: Foreign reorganization may preserve an existing gain recognition agreement
Domestic corporations had transferred stock of one foreign corporation to another foreign corporation and filed ten-year gain recognition agreements for that transfer. A later proposed…
CCA 200015037: Bankruptcy claims for taxes covered by an unfinished compromise
Chief Counsel considered what claim the IRS should file when a taxpayer enters bankruptcy before completing an accepted offer in compromise. It advised filing a protective claim for the full unpaid…
PLR 200015036: Former resident rebuts tax avoidance presumption, but purpose remains open
A former long-term U.S. resident relinquished permanent resident status and returned to her country of birth, where she became subject to income tax. Her net worth exceeded the threshold for a…
PLR 200015035: Late S election effective from incorporation if conditions are met
A corporation's shareholders intended S corporation treatment from its incorporation date, but the election was filed late. The IRS found reasonable cause for the delay and granted relief under…
PLR 200015034: Late S election may take effect on incorporation date
A corporation intended to elect S status from the date it was incorporated but missed the election deadline. The IRS found reasonable cause for the late filing under section 1362(b)(5). It ruled…
PLR 200015033: Late S election may be effective from first tax year
A corporation's shareholder intended S corporation status from the company's incorporation date, but the election was not filed on time. The IRS found reasonable cause for the missed deadline under…
PLR 200015032: Parent receives conditional extension for a section 338 election
A corporate parent missed the deadline to elect section 338 treatment for a foreign subsidiary's cash purchase of a foreign target's stock. The IRS found that the parent had relied on a tax…
PLR 200015031: Buyer and seller groups receive more time for joint section 338 election
The parent corporations of a buyer and seller planned a joint section 338(h)(10) election for the buyer's cash purchase of all the target's stock but missed the filing deadline. The IRS found that…
PLR 200015030: Entity receives more time to elect corporate tax classification
A domestic entity with at least two members intended to be taxed as a corporation but did not timely elect that classification. Under the default rule, such an eligible entity is treated as a…
PLR 200015029: Late S election treated as timely for company's first year
A one-shareholder corporation intended to be an S corporation from incorporation and operated as one, but later discovered its election had not been filed on time. The IRS ruled under section…
PLR 200015028: Foreign spin-off taxes distributor but not receiving shareholders
A foreign corporation proposed to separate two businesses by distributing stock of a newly controlled corporation to its shareholders, alongside plans for the businesses to be acquired by different…
PLR 200015027: Corporation receives relief for late S election
A corporation's shareholder intended S corporation treatment from incorporation, but the company missed the election deadline. The IRS determined that the company had reasonable cause for the late…
PLR 200015026: Late S election takes effect when company began business
A corporation was incorporated on one date but did not begin doing business until a later date, when it intended S corporation treatment to begin. Its S election was not filed on time. The IRS found…
PLR 200015025: Late S election effective from corporation's formation
The sole shareholder of a corporation wanted S corporation treatment from the day the company was incorporated, but no election was filed on time. The IRS found reasonable cause for the missed…
CCA 200015024: Section 482 may address income and deductions separated by lease stripping
A taxpayer acquired interests in leased computer equipment after related transactions had sold the right to future rent payments. The arrangement placed potential rental deductions with the taxpayer…
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.