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 200008022: Parent receives 30 days to file late section 338 elections
A U.S. consolidated group's foreign subsidiary acquired stock in two foreign corporations, but the group did not file its planned section 338(g) elections on time. The parent said it had relied on…
PLR 200008021: Missed trust elections receive relief for ineffective S election
A corporation elected S status from incorporation, but the beneficiaries of three shareholder trusts failed to make timely qualified subchapter S trust elections. That made the corporation's S…
PLR 200008020: Late S election receives relief from incorporation date
A corporation’s sole shareholder intended S corporation status from the incorporation date, but the company did not file its election on time. It requested relief under section 1362(b)(5). The IRS…
CCA 200008019: Advice on Virgin Islands cover over refunds and tax allocation
An IRS program analyst asked how to handle tax returns sent by the U.S. Virgin Islands during the process of transferring tax collections to the islands. The advice says the IRS may refund an…
CCA 200008018: Favorable financing does not support intangible amortization
A congressionally created mortgage finance entity became subject to federal income tax after years of exemption. It sought to amortize preexisting intangible items, especially the benefit of…
PLR 200008017: Late S election relief and managed rents ruled favorable
A corporation intended S status from a redacted date but did not file its election on time. It also asked whether rent from its commercial and residential properties counted as passive investment…
PLR 200008016: Parent receives 60 days to file three late QSub elections
A holding company acquired an S corporation that owned two subsidiaries with qualified subchapter S subsidiary elections. Oversight and a misunderstanding caused the holding company to miss the…
PLR 200008015: Disregarded entity restructuring preserves S election
Two individual shareholders of an S corporation planned to place their shares into separate limited partnerships, each partly owned through the individual's single member LLC. None of the new…
PLR 200008014: S corporation receives 60 days to file ten late QSub elections
An S corporation owned ten subsidiaries and intended to elect qualified subchapter S subsidiary treatment for each from its relevant ownership or formation date. It missed the election filing…
PLR 200008013: Managed property rents excluded from S corporation passive income test
An S corporation owned apartment and retail properties and managed them through an existing qualified subchapter S subsidiary. It planned to place each property in a new wholly owned subsidiary and…
CCA 200008012: Advice examines insurer merger continuity and acquired loss reserves
Chief Counsel field service advice examined a merger of two mutual insurers and deductions claimed for losses tied to the acquired insurer's reinsurance business. The disputed issues were whether…
PLR 200008011: Three subsidiary split-offs receive nonrecognition rulings
Shareholders disagreed about the future direction of a corporation and three wholly owned subsidiaries. The corporation proposed to give one subsidiary to each of three shareholders in exchange for…
PLR 200008010: Three subsidiary split-offs receive nonrecognition rulings
Shareholders disagreed about the future direction of a corporation and three wholly owned subsidiaries. The corporation proposed to give one subsidiary to each of three shareholders in exchange for…
PLR 200008009: Three subsidiary split-offs receive nonrecognition rulings
Shareholders disagreed about the future direction of a corporation and three wholly owned subsidiaries. The corporation proposed to give one subsidiary to each of three shareholders in exchange for…
PLR 200008008: Three subsidiary split-offs receive nonrecognition rulings
Shareholders disagreed about the future direction of a corporation and three wholly owned subsidiaries. The corporation proposed to give one subsidiary to each of three shareholders in exchange for…
CCA 200008007: Counsel summarizes proposed civil forfeiture changes
An IRS Chief Counsel memorandum sent regional criminal tax counsel a Justice Department comparison of House and Senate forfeiture bills. It highlighted proposals to shift the burden of proof to the…
CCA 200008006: Section 7525 tax adviser privilege does not extend to criminal tax matters
District counsel asked whether the tax advice privilege in section 7525 could protect practitioner-client communications in a criminal tax matter if the conversations began during an earlier civil…
CCA 200008005: Bank deposit insurance transfer fees must be capitalized
A bank paid exit and entrance fees to move acquired deposits from one federal deposit insurance fund to another, then deducted those fees as insurance expenses. Chief Counsel advised that the two…
PLR 200008004: More time granted for a joint section 338(h)(10) election
A corporate group bought all the stock of an S corporation and intended to join the sellers in electing section 338(h)(10) treatment, which treats a qualifying stock purchase as a deemed asset sale.…
CCA 200008003: Section 6015 relief unavailable for tax fully paid when the law took effect
A former spouse sought relief from joint tax liability for a year whose account had a zero balance when Congress enacted section 6015 on July 22, 1998. Chief Counsel advised that the new innocent…
CCA 200008002: Customer paper status and mark-to-market consent require more facts
A manufacturer's financing subsidiary held loans to dealers and retail buyers and later marked the loans to market under section 475. Chief Counsel advised that the dealer financing might qualify as…
CCA 200008001: Search warrant request returned for insufficient probable cause
District counsel sought approval to refer search warrants for a criminal investigation into possible tax evasion and false returns. Chief Counsel found that the affidavit did not adequately connect…
PLR 200007042: Asset transfer between controlled private foundations receives favorable rulings
A private foundation proposed to transfer all its assets to two other private foundations controlled by the same directors, then notify the IRS of its intent to terminate. The IRS ruled that the…
PLR 200007041: Asset transfer between controlled private foundations receives favorable rulings
A private foundation proposed to transfer all its assets to two other private foundations controlled by the same directors, then notify the IRS of its intent to terminate. The IRS ruled that the…
PLR 200007040: Condominium purchase does not cause charitable trust self-dealing
A trustee and income beneficiary of a charitable remainder unitrust proposed to buy three condominium units from a partnership connected to an estate in which the trust had an interest. The IRS…
PLR 200007039: Reasonable pay to foundation board members is not self-dealing
A private foundation run by members of its founder's family proposed to pay each individual board member for grant review, oversight, and other foundation work. The IRS ruled that the annual pay,…
PLR 200007038: Settlement payment restoring ESOP losses avoids contribution limits
An employer agreed to fund a court-approved settlement after participants alleged that incorrect stock valuations had reduced their employee stock ownership plan accounts. The settlement…
PLR 200007037: Three foundations succeed to tax attributes after asset division
A private foundation proposed to divide all its assets equally among three existing private foundations so family trustees could pursue separate charitable work, then notify the IRS of its…
PLR 200007036: Joint health system retirement plan qualifies as a church plan
A nonprofit health care management company sponsored a profit sharing plan for its employees and those of two affiliated health care organizations. The organizations were associated with two…
PLR 200007035: Employer pickup of pension contributions avoids current income and withholding
A nonprofit employer participating in a state pension system adopted a resolution to pay mandatory employee contributions itself. Employees could not take those amounts in cash instead. The IRS…
PLR 200007034: Transfer of a foundation's assets to two successor foundations
A private foundation proposed transferring all its assets to two other private foundations controlled by the same directors. It planned to notify the IRS of its intent to terminate only after the…
PLR 200007033: Leaving employee stock options unchanged after a reverse split
A parent company paid a large special dividend and simultaneously made a reverse stock split designed to offset the dividend's effect on its share price. Employees held options under an employee…
TAM 200007032: Which bond expenditures count toward the construction spending test
A municipal bond issuer had elected the two year construction spending exception and the penalty in lieu of arbitrage rebate. It asked whether temporary deficits in its operating funds could count…
CCA 200007031: Revoking a parent's release of a dependency exemption
Chief Counsel addressed how a custodial parent could revoke a Form 8332 release of a child's dependency exemption under the rules then in effect. The memorandum said the release was not irrevocable,…
CCA 200007030: Foster care costs cannot support two deductions
Chief Counsel addressed how unreimbursed foster care costs were treated under the dependency and charitable contribution rules then in effect. A foster parent could not divide the same costs between…
Criminal Tax Bulletin 200007029: December 1999 case summaries
This December 1999 bulletin from the IRS Chief Counsel's Criminal Tax Division summarizes recent court decisions. It covers when a civil tax investigation should be referred for criminal…
PLR 200007028: Late S corporation election accepted for reasonable cause
A corporation's sole shareholder intended S corporation status from its first tax year and relied on legal counsel to make the election. The missing Form 2553 was discovered when the accountant…
PLR 200007027: S election treated as timely if the corporation files Form 2553
A corporation with three shareholders said it had intended to be an S corporation since incorporation and had operated on that basis. After its first tax year, it learned that its S election had not…
PLR 200007026: Late S election effective for the corporation's first year
A corporation with five shareholders said it had intended S corporation status since incorporation and had operated accordingly. It discovered after its first tax year that its election had not been…
PLR 200007025: Partners' coverage under a self-funded health plan
A partnership proposed replacing insured coverage for its partners with a self-funded health plan covering both partners and employees. Participants would pay premiums into a dedicated account, with…
PLR 200007024: Inadvertent S corporation termination after an ineligible shareholder joined
An S corporation admitted an ineligible shareholder, which terminated its S election. Its president did not know the admission would have that effect, and the accountant later discovered the issue…
PLR 200007023: Miscommunication supported relief for a late S election
A corporation intended to elect S status for its first tax year, but its attorney and accountant misunderstood which of them would file Form 2553. The corporation filed an S corporation return, and…
PLR 200007022: Active real estate rents and partnership receipts for the S corporation passive income test
An S corporation with accumulated earnings and profits earned rent from commercial properties it developed, leased, and managed, and held an interest in a publicly traded partnership. Its property…
PLR 200007021: Tax treatment of a union trust's supplemental benefits
A tax-exempt union benefit trust added a plan offering wage replacement, health, group life insurance, and dependent care benefits through participant accounts. The IRS ruled that employer…
PLR 200007020: Late S election after missing the Form 2553 requirement
A corporation's sole shareholder intended S corporation status for its first tax year, as reflected in board minutes. The corporation did not know it needed to file Form 2553 and missed the filing…
PLR 200007019: Buyer and seller get 30 days to file a late section 338(h)(10) election
A corporation bought all the stock of an S corporation from its sole shareholder, then merged into the acquired company. The buyer and seller intended a joint section 338(h)(10) election, but their…
PLR 200007018: Military retirement pay is not wholly tax free
A retired service member argued that all military retirement pay should be excluded from income because the retirement was for permanent disability rather than years of service. The IRS explained…
CCA 200007017: Prior-year audit does not bar examination of the next return
A couple argued that the IRS should stop examining subpart F income on a later-year return because it had examined the same issue for the preceding year without a proposed adjustment. Chief Counsel…
PLR 200007016: Inadvertent second stock class receives S election relief
A corporation elected S status effective at the start of its fiscal year, but its articles still allowed a second class of stock on that date. It filed the amendment eliminating the second class…
PLR 200007015: Government economic development corporation gets conditional income exclusion
A state fund and a county economic development corporation formed a new corporation to promote economic development. Government officials appointed its leadership, private persons could benefit only…
PLR 200007014: Corporation receives relief for a late S election
Two shareholders intended their newly formed corporation to elect S status, but the election was not filed on time. The IRS found reasonable cause for the missed deadline under section 1362(b)(5).…
CCA 200007013: Bankruptcy discharge bars collection despite vacated Tax Court decision
The IRS assessed deficiencies after a Tax Court decision while the taxpayers' appeal was pending. The taxpayers later received a bankruptcy discharge, and the government admitted in the bankruptcy…
PLR 200007012: Shareholder's corporation receives late S election relief
A corporation's shareholder intended S corporation status from a specified date, but the election was not filed on time. The IRS found reasonable cause for the delay and granted relief under section…
PLR 200007011: Same-day entity election preserves corporate tax classification
A state corporation planned to convert under state law to a limited partnership. The partnership planned to elect federal tax classification as a corporation effective on the conversion date. The…
PLR 200007010: Parent gets more time to file allowed-loss statement
A consolidated group's parent claimed a worthless-stock loss after liquidating a subsidiary, but did not attach the statement required by the consolidated-return loss rule. The IRS found that…
PLR 200007009: Late S election takes effect from incorporation
A corporation intended to be taxed as an S corporation from its incorporation date, but did not file the election on time. The IRS found reasonable cause for the missed deadline under section…
PLR 200007008: Late S election receives relief from incorporation date
A corporation intended S corporation treatment beginning on its incorporation date, but its election was not filed on time. The IRS found reasonable cause for the missed deadline and granted relief…
CCA 200007007: Insurance fresh-start rule overrides section 481 adjustment
A parent company that sold a subsidiary asked whether an accounting-method adjustment under section 481 arose in connection with the 1986 insurance-company fresh-start provision. Chief Counsel…
PLR 200007006: Optional rollover does not turn fixed trust into a business entity
A sponsor proposed fixed-portfolio investment trusts whose holders could take cash or securities when a trust ended. Holders could also direct an agent to contribute distributed securities, after…
PLR 200007005: Distribution of controlled company stock receives section 355 rulings
A corporate group planned to move partnership interests into a controlled company and then distribute that company's stock to the parent. The group said separating the businesses would lower the…
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.