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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CCA 200007004: Raw-coal transport costs excluded from coal excise tax price
Two coal producers delivered raw coal to buyers' cleaning plants under contracts that calculated payment by reference to clean-coal quantities. Chief Counsel concluded that the producers sold raw…
CCA 200007003: Gift-tax cases raise a separate stock valuation issue
The released Field Service Advice describes related gift-tax cases involving transfers of stock. In earlier cases, the parties disputed claimed gift-tax exclusions and transferee liability, but the…
Criminal Tax Bulletin 200007002: October 1999 case summaries
This October 1999 bulletin from the IRS Chief Counsel's Criminal Tax Division summarizes recent court decisions on searches, constitutional rights, criminal procedure, privilege, forfeiture, money…
CCA 200007001: When the IRS may suggest a waiver of collection due process rights
Chief Counsel advised that a revenue officer may suggest waiving certain collection due process rights when the facts show that doing so may benefit the taxpayer. The officer should explain that…
PLR 200006058: Hospital pension plan qualifies as a church plan
A hospital asked whether its defined benefit pension plan had qualified as a church plan since May 30, 1998. The IRS concluded that it had. A religious order indirectly controlled the hospital…
PLR 200006057: Late S corporation election treated as timely if filed within 60 days
A corporation intended to elect S corporation status for its first tax year, but its election form was not mailed to the IRS on time. The shareholder and corporation filed their returns as though…
PLR 200006056: Transfer of retiree health assets between VEBA trusts
A company proposed moving the assets allocated to its collectively bargained retiree health program from one VEBA trust to a new VEBA trust. The IRS ruled that the new trust was exempt from the VEBA…
PLR 200006055: City pension contributions are treated as employer payments
A city required police and fire employees to make contributions to a new pension plan and allowed them to pay for prior service credit through payroll deductions. The employees could not choose cash…
PLR 200006054: Early repayment preserves the ESOP loan exemption
A company used an employee stock ownership plan loan to buy employer stock and made substantial recurring contributions toward repayment. After ownership changes, it paid the remaining balance early…
PLR 200006053: ESOP dividends are deductible and special deferrals avoid withholding
A company amended its retirement plan so the portion invested in company stock would operate as an employee stock ownership plan. It proposed several ways to pay stock dividends to participants and…
PLR 200006052: Family disclaimers allow the estate tax marital deduction
A decedent's will left property to his spouse but required some assets to pass to their child if the spouse remarried. The spouse, child, and a charity proposed disclaimers that would instead cause…
PLR 200006051: Revised nuclear decommissioning funding schedule approved
A utility asked the IRS to revise the annual contribution schedule for its qualified nuclear decommissioning fund. The IRS found that the utility had a qualifying ownership interest in the plant and…
PLR 200006050: Revised nuclear decommissioning funding schedule approved
A utility requested a revised schedule of annual payments to its nuclear decommissioning fund after its plant's operating license was revoked. The IRS found that the utility had a qualifying…
TAM 200006049: Revoked charity status makes bond interest taxable from issuance
An issuer sold bonds to finance facilities for an organization that had received recognition under section 501(c)(3). The organization's exempt status was later revoked retroactively to the tax year…
PLR 200006047: Two stock distributions qualify for tax free treatment
A corporate group planned to separate a subsidiary before that subsidiary acquired an unrelated business. First, one group company would contribute cash to the subsidiary and distribute its stock to…
PLR 200006046: Late S corporation election receives conditional relief
A corporation intended to elect S corporation treatment when it was formed, but its shareholders did not file Form 2553 on time. The IRS found reasonable cause for the late filing under section…
PLR 200006045: Late S election is treated as timely if filed within 60 days
A corporation intended to elect S corporation status for its first tax year, but its president, accountant, and attorney were confused about who would file Form 2553. No form was filed for that…
PLR 200006044: Late S election may take effect for the requested year
Three shareholders intended their corporation to elect S corporation status, but its Form 2553 was not filed on time for the requested tax year. The IRS found reasonable cause for the late filing…
PLR 200006043: Missed first year S election receives conditional relief
A corporation's two shareholders intended S corporation treatment from its first tax year. Its attorneys and accountants each believed the other would file Form 2553, so the election was missed,…
PLR 200006042: Inadvertent trust distribution failure does not end S status
A trust holding S corporation stock elected qualified subchapter S trust status but failed to distribute all of one year's trust accounting income to its beneficiary. The IRS found that this caused…
PLR 200006041: Inadvertent S election defects receive relief
A corporation filed an S election while a trust held its stock, but the trust beneficiary had not made a qualified subchapter S trust election and the consent on Form 2553 was signed in the wrong…
CCA 200006040: Prior judgments limit innocent spouse relief claims
A taxpayer sought relief from joint tax liabilities after a district court reduced the assessments to judgment and foreclosed tax liens on her residence. Chief Counsel advised that claim preclusion…
PLR 200006039: Corporation receives relief for a late S election
A newly incorporated company intended S corporation treatment from its incorporation date but did not file its election on time. The IRS found reasonable cause for the missed deadline under section…
PLR 200006038: Expatriation submission rebuts tax avoidance presumption
A long term U.S. resident who was a citizen of another country planned to give up lawful permanent resident status. His expected net worth exceeded the threshold that would ordinarily create a…
PLR 200006037: Homeowner gets more time to elect prior year disaster loss
A homeowner's property was damaged by flooding in a federally declared disaster area. The homeowner intended to elect under section 165(i) to deduct the loss in the preceding tax year, but a…
PLR 200006036: Extension granted for branch liabilities election
The employee gathering information for a taxpayer's U.S. return died suddenly, and the taxpayer could not find a qualified replacement in time to file the return and make an election to reduce its…
PLR 200006035: First year S election can be filed late
A corporation's sole shareholder intended S corporation treatment for its first tax year. The shareholder did not know the election deadline, while the tax preparer and attorney each thought the…
PLR 200006034: Company stock and business property count as one closely held business
A decedent owned all the stock of a wholesale automotive parts company and, through a grantor trust, the land and building used in its operations. He actively managed the business, and the stock and…
PLR 200006033: Technical support worker was an employee for tax purposes
A technical support specialist worked on a firm's premises under a contract that described him as an independent contractor. The firm trained him, directed how he performed the work, and supplied…
PLR 200006032: Reasonable error relief for life insurance guideline premiums
Two insurers sought relief after life insurance contracts exceeded the applicable guideline premium limits. For one group, staff failed to make required corrections or calculated excess premiums…
PLR 200006031: Housing credit allocation corrected for omitted buildings
A partnership's carryover application for low-income housing credits listed fewer residential buildings than its project actually had. The housing credit agency allocated the intended total credit,…
PLR 200006030: Reasonable error relief for life insurance guideline premiums
Two insurers sought relief after life insurance contracts exceeded the applicable guideline premium limits. For one group, staff failed to make required corrections or calculated excess premiums…
PLR 200006029: Proposed claims trust qualifies as a settlement fund
A company in bankruptcy proposed a trust to settle tort claims arising from its products. The IRS ruled that, if the court approved the reorganization plan and the trust was created, the trust would…
PLR 200006028: Extra time to elect QSub status for two subsidiaries
An S corporation intended to treat two wholly owned subsidiaries as qualified subchapter S subsidiaries, but the required Forms 966 were not filed. The IRS found that the requirements for…
PLR 200006027: Trustee replacement power leaves trust assets outside grantors' estates
A couple created an irrevocable trust for descendants. A trust clause ambiguously described whom they could appoint after removing a trustee, and a court construed it to bar appointments of the…
PLR 200006026: Expanded investment powers preserve trust's GST exemption
A trust that was irrevocable before September 25, 1985 already gave its trustees broad investment discretion. The trustees proposed adding express authority to use margin purchases, short sales,…
PLR 200006025: Ineligible shareholder's stock purchase did not end S status
An S corporation's stock was sold to a new shareholder who was a nonresident alien, making that person ineligible to own S corporation stock. The corporation's accountant later discovered the…
CCA 200006024: Patent rights transfer treated as a license
A parent corporation assigned a subsidiary rights to use and sell a patented product in a specified region. A related agreement left the parent with manufacturing rights, and the subsidiary did not…
CCA 200006023: Software research credit claim not demonstrated
A taxpayer claimed a research credit for developing software for its own mainframe in 1985, including work done by a contractor. Chief Counsel concluded that the taxpayer had not demonstrated…
PLR 200006022: Redeeming housing bonds after service date preserves financing treatment
A partnership planned to rehabilitate a housing project with tax-exempt bond financing and then redeem the bonds after the project was placed in service. It represented that bond proceeds equal to…
PLR 200006021: Redeeming housing bonds after service date preserves financing treatment
A limited liability company planned to rehabilitate a housing project with tax-exempt bonds. It expected to redeem the bonds after the project was placed in service to meet a debt-free requirement…
PLR 200006020: Redeeming housing bonds after service date preserves financing treatment
A limited liability company planned to construct a housing project with tax-exempt bonds. It expected to redeem the bonds after the project was placed in service to meet a debt-free requirement for…
PLR 200006019: Late S election allowed after timely filing extension
A corporation intended to elect S corporation status but did not file Form 2553 on time. The IRS found reasonable cause for the late election under section 1362(b)(5). It ruled that an election…
PLR 200006018: Late S election allowed after timely filing extension
A corporation intended to elect S corporation status but did not file Form 2553 on time. The IRS found reasonable cause for the late election under section 1362(b)(5). It ruled that an election…
CCA 200006017: Spousal stock gift requires factual review for QPSC tax rate
An engineering corporation's employee-owner gave 6% of its stock to his wife. The corporation argued that the gift left employee-owners holding only 94% of its shares, below the 95% ownership…
PLR 200006016: Programming business does not qualify as a DC Zone business
A corporation operating a programming service in the DC Zone asked whether its activities met two requirements for a DC Zone business. Most operations took place in the zone, and the IRS said the…
CCA 200006015: Merger successor should sign consent to extend assessment period
A corporation filed separate income tax returns for years before it merged into another corporation. The IRS field office asked who should sign a Form 872 extending the assessment period for those…
TAM 200006014: Consolidated group cannot deduct loss on subsidiary stock sale
A parent corporation transferred an intercompany note to a subsidiary in exchange for preferred stock, while the subsidiary assumed certain postretirement benefit obligations. The parent then sold…
CCA 200006013: Bankruptcy court review of joint liability relief
Chief Counsel addressed whether a debtor could raise relief from joint tax liability for the first time in bankruptcy court. The memorandum concluded that the court could consider relief under…
TAM 200006012: Lump-sum distribution tax counts for minimum tax credit limit
Taxpayers used a prior-year alternative minimum tax credit against their current income tax liability, which included tax on a retirement plan lump-sum distribution. The IRS concluded that the…
CCA 200006011: Merger funding creates no gain and debt penalty is deductible
A newly formed subsidiary merged into a target corporation, and funds supplied in the transaction were used to repay the target's debt. Chief Counsel agreed that the transaction should be treated as…
PLR 200006010: State deferred compensation trust may share an investment pool
A state maintained a section 457 deferred compensation plan and a separate retirement plan with a cash or deferred arrangement. It proposed pooling their trusts' assets in a group trust for…
PLR 200006008: Portfolio contributions do not trigger investment company exception
Three taxpayers proposed contributing stock portfolios to a new limited liability company expected to be taxed as a partnership. The IRS concluded that their transfers would not diversify their…
TAM 200006007: Statutory reserve change did not add taxable income
A property and casualty insurer changed how it accounted for anticipated salvage and subrogation on one insurance line in its statutory financial statements in 1992. It had already changed its tax…
CCA 200006006: Expired refund periods bar FSC commission redetermination
A foreign sales corporation and its related supplier filed amended returns to change the commissions on export transactions. Chief Counsel concluded that both parties' refund claim periods had…
CCA 200006005: Proposed mechanic tool payments treated as wages
A proposed auto repair business planned to pay employees an hourly amount for using their own tools and exclude that amount from wages. The requester withdrew the private ruling request after the…
CCA 200006004: Bankruptcy loss carryover reductions for interest and PIK debt
A company in bankruptcy converted debt to stock and had issued additional debt instruments instead of paying interest in cash. Chief Counsel addressed how section 382(l)(5) reduced the company's net…
CCA 200006003: Foreign parent debt creates withholding on interest and discount
A U.S. corporation owed interest to a foreign corporate parent, which canceled that interest as a contribution to the corporation's capital. Chief Counsel treated the cancellation as a constructive…
CCA 200006002: Deferred swap income lowers subpart F inclusion
A controlled foreign corporation had reported all of its gross income as foreign base company income because its qualifying income exceeded the 70% threshold. Chief Counsel considered a proposed…
PLR 200006001: Expanded investment powers preserve trust's GST exemption
A trust that was irrevocable before September 25, 1985 already gave its trustees broad investment discretion. The trustees proposed adding express authority to use margin purchases, short sales,…
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.