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 200003020: Former long-term resident's departure lacked a principal tax-avoidance purpose
A former U.S. long-term resident surrendered her green card after returning to the country where she was born and where she would be taxed on worldwide income. Her net worth exceeded the threshold…
PLR 200003019: Corporation receives relief for a late S election
A corporation with four shareholders intended to be an S corporation from its incorporation and operated on that understanding. After a tax year ended, it discovered that it had not filed its S…
PLR 200003018: Late Form 1128 treated as timely filed for a tax-year change request
A taxpayer sought permission to change its federal income tax year but missed the deadline to file Form 1128 because of an error or misunderstanding. It asked the IRS to treat the late application…
PLR 200003017: Internal transfer and successive stock distributions receive tax-free rulings
A corporate group planned to put one business into a new subsidiary, then distribute that subsidiary's stock up through three companies to a foreign parent. The group said the separation would let…
PLR 200003016: Two investment funds may revoke a distribution-period election
Two regulated investment companies had elected to use their December tax year, instead of the usual October 31 period, in calculating certain required distributions under § 4982. They said the…
PLR 200003015: Motor vehicle agreements qualify under the terminal rental adjustment rule
A corporation's operating subsidiary leased property to customers and planned to assign lease rights and payment streams to a wholly owned limited liability company. The agreements included a…
PLR 200003014: Stock may qualify for ESOP sale treatment after S election ends
A longtime shareholder planned to sell some stock of a privately held company to an employee stock ownership plan (ESOP). Before the sale, the company would end its S corporation election and become…
PLR 200003013: Gifts to a college for fraternity housing may be deductible
A college planned to raise money to replace aging fraternity houses with student housing it would own and lease to participating fraternities. Donors could express a preference for a particular…
PLR 200003012: Acquired consolidated group's intercompany election ended with the group
An acquiring consolidated group bought the parent of a separate consolidated group, causing the target group to terminate. Before the acquisition, the target parent had made an election under Treas.…
PLR 200003011: S status preserved after an IRA briefly held company stock
An employee and shareholder used an individual retirement account (IRA) to buy stock in a company that had elected S corporation status. An IRA was not an eligible S corporation shareholder, so the…
CCA 200003010: Stock option compensation belongs in related-party cost sharing
A U.S. company shared research costs and charged for services under agreements with two controlled foreign affiliates. It did not include compensatory stock options granted to relevant employees in…
CCA 200003009: Advice on related-party advances, imputed interest, and withholding
A financially distressed U.S. company had recorded advances from foreign related parties as debt but later argued that they were capital contributions. Chief Counsel advised that a taxpayer faces a…
CCA 200003008: Reporting debt forgiven under a physician recruitment agreement
A hospital paid a student's medical education costs under an agreement requiring repayment and later work as a physician. The hospital would forgive part or all of the debt as the physician…
Information letter 200003007: IRS declines another extension for subsidiary sale
A parent corporation had previously received rulings concerning liquidation of a subsidiary and later received more time to sell the subsidiary's stock instead of dissolving it. That supplemental…
PLR 200003006: Six transferred city workers keep a Medicare tax exception
A city took over employment of workers from a water district it controlled, without a break in their service. Six of the transferred workers had been hired by the district before April 1, 1986, and…
TAM 200003005: Inventory gifts lacked proof needed for charitable deductions
A company donated calendars and books from its inventory to a charity and claimed increased charitable deductions for two tax years under § 170(e)(3). The IRS advised that the company had not shown…
CCA 200003004: Apply Blue Cross special deduction before measuring NOL absorption
A Blue Cross organization had net operating losses carried into later tax years and was also eligible for the special deduction in § 833(b). Counsel reconsidered earlier field advice about the order…
CCA 200003003: Prior FUTA assessment and abatement do not bar Tax Court review
The IRS had assessed and then abated federal unemployment tax arising from a worker-classification dispute before § 7436 took effect. After that section became effective, it issued a notice of…
CCA 200003002: Later stock sale produced foreign personal holding company income
A controlled foreign corporation sold a manufacturing business to an unrelated U.S. company in exchange for restricted stock in that buyer. It later sold the shares after the resale restrictions…
CCA 200003001: Foreign affiliate advances may require imputed interest and withholding
A loss-making U.S. company received inventory-related advances from foreign related companies and reported them as loans and trade payables without paying interest. It later argued that the advances…
PLR 200002052: State plan contributions picked up by employer are excluded until distribution
A state retirement system required a group of employees to contribute to a qualified plan, and a statute directed their employer to pick up the contributions instead. The employees could not take…
PLR 200002051: Payroll deductions for service credits may be employer pickups
A public employer and its retirement plan proposed to let members buy back forfeited service credit or buy other permitted service credit through payroll deductions. An adopted resolution, plan…
PLR 200002050: Retirement plan for church-affiliated employers qualifies as a church plan
A nonprofit health care system asked whether its retirement plan was a church plan under § 414(e). The participating employers were tax-exempt organizations listed in a church directory, and the…
PLR 200002049: Late regulated investment company election treated as timely
An investment fund missed the deadline to file its first federal income tax return with its election to be treated as a regulated investment company. The accounting firm’s tax manager assigned to…
PLR 200002048: Housing credit agency may correct building count in carryover allocation
A low-income housing project and a state housing credit agency sought to correct the number of residential buildings in a carryover credit allocation. The project's application had understated that…
TAM 200002047: Employer's life insurance carve-out falls under group-term rules
An employer offered eligible employees individual life insurance policies in place of coverage above $50,000 under its basic group-term plan. The employer paid the premiums and held a right to…
CCA 200002046: IRS participation in computer crime group must respect disclosure limits
An IRS Criminal Investigation office asked about joining InfraGard, a group that shared information about computer intrusions. Chief Counsel advised that participation required attention to § 6103…
CCA 200002045: Preparers may give IRS information without a summons
Some tax return preparers were reluctant to give the IRS information unless it issued a summons, citing the disclosure restrictions in § 7216. Chief Counsel advised that § 7216 allows disclosures…
CCA 200002044: Appeals procedures for excise tax refund claims
A service center asked Chief Counsel for the general rules on Appeals review of excise tax refund claims it processed. The memo says no Internal Revenue Code section expressly requires Appeals…
CCA 200002043: Juvenile detention pending trial may be a temporary absence from home
A taxpayer's child had lived at home before being held in a juvenile facility pending trial. Chief Counsel advised that this detention can be a temporary absence from the household if neither the…
PLR 200002042: Mortgage conduit receives more time to elect REMIC status
A mortgage investment conduit intended to elect REMIC status on its first Form 1066. Its trustee was responsible for the return but failed to tell the subcontractor to prepare it, and no automatic…
PLR 200002041: Former resident rebuts expatriation tax avoidance presumption
A former U.S. long-term resident gave up her green card and sought a ruling under the expatriation tax rules. Her net worth and past tax liability exceeded the thresholds that ordinarily create a…
PLR 200002040: Minister teaching at church school qualifies for housing allowance
An ordained minister worked as a teacher and guidance counselor at a school sponsored and governed by six church congregations. The IRS found that the school was an integral agency of the church,…
PLR 200002039: S election restored after stock issued to ineligible holders
An S corporation issued shares to five shareholders who were ineligible to hold its stock, terminating its S election. The company said it did not know four were ineligible, had intended to issue…
PLR 200002038: Former resident rebuts expatriation tax avoidance presumption
A former U.S. long-term resident gave up his green card and requested a ruling under the expatriation tax rules. His net worth and past tax liability exceeded the thresholds that ordinarily create a…
PLR 200002037: Late S corporation election treated as timely if filed within 60 days
A corporation said it had intended to be an S corporation since incorporation and had operated that way, but discovered that its election was not timely filed. The IRS ruled that the election would…
CCA 200002036: Gift tax lien remains after donee mortgages gifted property
Chief Counsel considered a gift tax lien after a donor's child received real estate and later mortgaged it. The unpaid gift tax supported a special lien under section 6324(b), even though the IRS…
PLR 200002035: Former resident's submission rebuts expatriation presumption
A former U.S. long-term resident gave up his green card and sought a ruling under the expatriation tax rules. His net worth exceeded the statutory threshold that ordinarily creates a presumption of…
PLR 200002034: Puerto Rico manufacturing activities share industry codes
The parent of a corporation claiming the Puerto Rico possessions tax credit planned to form a new possessions corporation. The new corporation would acquire facilities for making one product within…
PLR 200002033: Farm lease receipts excluded from S corporation passive income
An S corporation leased farmland for a share of crop proceeds and related government payments. It consulted on planting and harvesting, inspected crops, shared marketing responsibility, and paid…
PLR 200002032: Late S election accepted if filed within 60 days
A corporation's shareholders wanted S corporation status from its first tax year but failed to file Form 2553 because they did not appreciate the filing deadline. The IRS found reasonable cause for…
PLR 200002031: Farm rent treated as active income under S corporation rules
A C corporation with accumulated earnings and profits planned to elect S corporation status and asked how to classify rent from a farm it leased. It paid property taxes and insurance and operated a…
PLR 200002030: Death benefits from a union welfare plan excluded from income
A union welfare benefit plan asked whether four death benefits it paid to covered workers' beneficiaries and retirees could be excluded from income as life insurance proceeds. Employers funded the…
PLR 200002029: Trust reformation preserves unitrust status but reduces the charitable deduction
A couple sought to reform their charitable remainder unitrust to change its payment method and allow a private foundation to receive the remainder as they originally intended. The IRS ruled that the…
PLR 200002028: Late S corporation election accepted after attorney failed to file
A corporation's sole shareholder told its attorney to file an S corporation election, but the attorney did not file Form 2553. The omission came to light when the corporation's accountant asked for…
PLR 200002027: Late S election accepted after shareholder and attorney misunderstood each other
A corporation's shareholder intended to elect S corporation status and asked an attorney to handle it, but a misunderstanding left Form 2553 unfiled. The corporation and shareholder nevertheless…
PLR 200002026: Permanent residency ends treaty exemption for government salary
An employee of a foreign government's instrumentality worked in the United States and asked whether a tax treaty still exempted his government salary after he obtained a permanent resident visa. The…
PLR 200002025: Diversified securities contributed to partnership without recognized gain
A couple proposed contributing appreciated securities to a family limited partnership in exchange for a limited partnership interest. Their contributed portfolio met the diversification tests, even…
PLR 200002024: Company receipts excluded from passive investment income for S corporation rule
An S corporation asked whether income from several redacted sources, including income passed through from partnerships, counted as passive investment income. This matters because excessive passive…
PLR 200002023: S election accepted after service center found no record of filing
A corporation's sole shareholder said he timely filed an S corporation election prepared by the company's accountant. The IRS service center had no record of receiving the form. Based on the…
PLR 200002022: Late S election accepted when service center had no filing record
A corporation's secretary said the company intended to elect S corporation status for its first taxable year and had sent Form 2553 to the IRS. The service center had no record of receiving it.…
PLR 200002021: S election continues despite trusts' missed income distributions
Three trusts held shares of an S corporation but failed to distribute the corporation's dividends to their beneficiaries within the required time. This caused the trusts to lose their qualified…
PLR 200002020: Farmland easement qualifies as conservation contribution after deed change
A landowner proposed donating a perpetual easement over farmland, woods, and a stream to a government conservation agency. The IRS found that the easement would protect open space under a documented…
CCA 200002019: Lease income allocation challenged as a lease stripping transaction
District counsel asked about a partnership arrangement that allocated income from previously depreciated leases to a foreign tax exempt partner. The contributing partner had already claimed…
PLR 200002018: Late S election relief after filing miscommunication
After incorporating a sole proprietorship, its owner intended the new company to elect S corporation status. A miscommunication among the owner, attorney, and accountant left Form 2553 unfiled. The…
PLR 200002017: Municipal deferred compensation plan qualifies under section 457
A municipality asked whether its revised deferred compensation plan met section 457's requirements. The plan held deferred amounts in an annuity contract for participants and their beneficiaries and…
PLR 200002016: Prepared but unfiled S election accepted after late filing
The corporation's sole shareholder and a director approved an S corporation election, and its accountants prepared Form 2553, but the form was never filed. The company asked to have the election…
CCA 200002015: Gain on pledged securities is portfolio income under passive loss rules
An underwriter pledged securities to a bank to support a letter of credit for underwriting activity. After underwriting losses, the bank sold the securities, generating a gain that the underwriter…
CCA 200002014: Redevelopment bond proceeds held in reserve remain unspent
A redevelopment authority placed part of a tax exempt bond issue's proceeds in an operating reserve fund controlled by a lender. Chief Counsel advised that the money remained unspent for bond…
TAM 200002013: On demand bus service denied diesel fuel tax credit
A community transportation provider claimed a credit for excise tax paid on diesel fuel used in buses open to the public. Its daily routes and pickup times were set by passenger requests, and 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.