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 9946008: Circular preferred stock transaction lacks economic substance
A US parent bought and immediately redeemed preferred stock of its foreign subsidiary through offsetting transfers between their bank accounts. The parent claimed a deemed paid foreign tax credit…
PLR 9946007: Employee plan stock purchase treated as sale to plan
Three employee shareholders proposed selling shares of a private company's stock to an employee stock ownership plan adopted by its subsidiary. The plan would borrow from an unrelated bank to…
PLR 9946006: Family shareholders split two businesses without current gain
A family owned a corporation and its subsidiary, each operating a different active business. Two shareholders wanted to manage the subsidiary's business, while a third preferred the parent's…
TAM 9946005: Aircraft partnership fees subject to air transportation tax
Four partners owned an aircraft through a partnership and paid monthly fixed costs plus hourly usage charges when they flew. The IRS advised that both payments were for taxable air transportation…
CCA 9946004: Malpractice tail coverage reserve is unearned premium reserve
A property and casualty insurer set aside a reserve for free extended reporting coverage that its medical malpractice policies would provide if insured physicians later died, became disabled, or…
TAM 9946003: Vineyard costs capitalized until first marketable grape harvest
A married couple disputed how long they had to capitalize the costs of growing wine grape vines under § 263A. The IRS advised that the nationwide average time before wine grape vines produce a…
PLR 9946002: Stock redemption and recapitalization yield different tax results
A company planned to redeem part of three shareholders' common stock with company owned life insurance policies and possibly cash, then recapitalize and issue common stock to key employees. The IRS…
TAM 9946001: Concrete mixer truck tax allocated to chassis cost
A manufacturer sold complete concrete mixer vehicles for one price, combining taxable truck chassis with exempt mixer bodies. The IRS advised allocating the vehicle's sale price between taxable…
PLR 9945066: Union retiree health fund qualifies under collective bargaining rule
A company proposed moving the union portion of its retiree health obligations from a combined trust into a new trust with separate accounts for each benefit plan. The IRS ruled that the union…
PLR 9945065: Conditional funding waiver granted to pension plan
A collection agency sought a waiver of its defined benefit pension plan's minimum funding requirement for the 1998 plan year after a sale and loss of management support caused substantial financial…
PLR 9945064: Disability benefits for law firm equity partners excluded from income
A law firm asked whether current and future equity partners would owe income tax on benefits from its long term disability plan. Equity partners paid their own insurance premiums with after-tax…
PLR 9945063: Power purchase agreement termination treated as involuntary conversion
An independent power producer agreed to end its long term power purchase agreement after the purchasing utility threatened to condemn its electricity facility. The IRS ruled that the agreement and…
PLR 9945062: Library services remain related to charitable purpose with limits
A tax exempt library planned to expand remote access, research assistance, searchable resources, management advice, and educational services, some for fees. The IRS ruled that these services…
PLR 9945061: Foundation asset transfer avoids termination tax on the transfer
One private foundation planned to transfer all its assets to a larger foundation controlled by the same people, then dissolve. The IRS ruled that the transfer qualified under § 507(b)(2) and would…
PLR 9945060: Receiving foundation may pay reasonable asset transfer expenses
A private foundation proposed to transfer all its assets to a larger foundation controlled by the same people and later dissolve. The IRS ruled that the transfer would not itself terminate either…
PLR 9945059: Scholarship grant procedures receive advance approval
An organization planned to fund scholarships for graduating high school seniors, with a public charity administering applications, selecting recipients, and supervising the awards. The IRS approved…
PLR 9945058: Scholarship grant procedures receive advance approval
An organization planned to fund scholarships for high school seniors, with a public charity administering applications, selecting recipients, and supervising the awards. The program covered…
PLR 9945057: Employee children's scholarship procedures receive advance approval
An organization sought approval for scholarships for the children of a company's employees. A public charity would select recipients and oversee the awards, while financial need would affect award…
PLR 9945056: Scholarships for employees' dependent children approved
An organization proposed scholarships for dependent children of a company's employees. Each employee had to have worked for the company for at least three years by the application deadline. A public…
PLR 9945055: Timber assets and cutting income qualify for REIT tests
A publicly traded timber partnership planned to transfer its assets to a new corporation that would elect REIT status. The IRS ruled that the corporation's land and standing timber would count as…
PLR 9945054: Spent fuel storage costs can qualify as abandonment losses
An electric utility was decommissioning a retired nuclear plant and needed a storage installation for its spent fuel. The IRS ruled that costs to build, operate, and decommission the installation…
PLR 9945053: Fund's late regulated investment company election is treated as timely
A mutual fund intended to elect regulated investment company (RIC) treatment on its first federal income tax return. Its adviser missed the deadline to file an extension request, and the fund filed…
PLR 9945052: Fund's late foreign tax and dividend elections are treated as timely
A mutual fund intended to let shareholders treat foreign taxes it paid as their own and to count certain dividends paid after year-end as paid in the prior tax year. Its adviser failed to file a…
PLR 9945051: Funds may revoke their excise tax distribution elections
Three regulated investment company funds had elected to use their November 30 tax year, instead of the usual October 31 measurement date, to calculate capital gains for the § 4982 excise tax…
PLR 9945050: Fund may revoke its excise tax distribution election
A regulated investment company had elected to use its December 31 tax year to measure capital gains for the § 4982 excise tax distribution requirement. It found that the election forced it to…
PLR 9945049: Revised nuclear decommissioning fund contribution schedule approved
An electric utility that owns part of a nuclear plant requested a revised schedule of deductible contributions to its nuclear decommissioning fund. The IRS concluded that the proposed schedule met §…
PLR 9945048: Fund's late RIC and dividend elections are treated as timely
A mutual fund intended to elect regulated investment company (RIC) treatment for its first tax year and to treat certain dividends paid after year-end as paid during that year. Its adviser missed…
PLR 9945047: Five funds' late dividend elections are treated as timely
Five funds intended to elect under § 855(a) to count certain dividends paid after their tax year ended as paid during that year. Their adviser missed the deadline for filing return extension…
PLR 9945046: Ranch property split qualifies as a like-kind exchange
A ranch owner and a trust controlled by his father each held an undivided half-interest in the same property. They proposed swapping their interests so each would own one separate tract outright,…
PLR 9945045: Power contract buyout qualifies as an involuntary conversion
An independent power producer agreed to end a long-term electricity purchase contract after a utility threatened to condemn its generating facility. The IRS ruled that ending the contract was an…
PLR 9945044: Surrendering a green card was not primarily for tax avoidance
A former U.S. long-term resident gave up her green card after returning to her birth country to care for her parents. Her net worth exceeded the threshold that could trigger a presumption of tax…
CCA 9945043: Internet stock sales carry the same broker reporting duties
A service center asked whether a broker who sells stock over the Internet must report those sales differently from traditional stock sales. The IRS advised that § 6045 and its regulations impose the…
CCA 9945042: Bankruptcy tax penalty claims receive different treatment by timing
A Chapter 7 trustee sold property subject to a federal tax lien, and the IRS was asked how to treat tax penalties arising before and after the bankruptcy petition. Chief Counsel advised that the IRS…
CCA 9945041: Counsel reviews proposed criminal forfeiture procedure
Chief Counsel reviewed proposed Federal Rule of Criminal Procedure 32.2, which the Judicial Conference had approved and sent to the Supreme Court. The memo explains how the rule would govern…
CCA 9945040: Counsel advises delaying a false-return prosecution referral
Chief Counsel reviewed a request to resubmit a false-income-tax-return case for prosecution under § 7206(1). The Justice Department had declined an earlier referral while a state felony theft case…
PLR 9945039: Company receives relief for a missing S corporation election
A company's secretary said its shareholders intended an S corporation election and that a former bookkeeper mailed Form 2553 on time, but the IRS had no record of the form. The company and its…
PLR 9945038: Disregarded LLCs can buy replacement property for their owner
A real estate owner expected a municipal authority to acquire rental property by purchase or condemnation. The owner planned to replace it with two rental parcels purchased by separate single-member…
CCA 9945037: Earlier asset gains count in consolidated stock loss limit
An affiliated corporate group sold a subsidiary's stock at a loss after that subsidiary had realized gains from asset sales before November 19, 1990. The parties disagreed about whether those…
PLR 9945036: Purchaser gets more time to file a section 338 election
A corporation bought stock in a target and missed the deadline to file a § 338(g) election, which can treat a qualifying stock purchase as an asset acquisition. The IRS found that the purchaser had…
PLR 9945035: Corporation receives relief for a late S election
A newly incorporated company intended to be an S corporation from its incorporation date but did not file its election on time. The IRS found reasonable cause for the late filing under § 1362(b)(5).…
PLR 9945034: Company gets late S election relief with amended-return condition
A company intended to elect S corporation status for its first tax year, but the law firm responsible for filing Form 2553 missed the deadline. Corporate records and its employer identification…
PLR 9945033: Timely trust division and reverse QTIP election preserve GST allocation
An estate filed its first estate tax return without the schedule needed for a reverse QTIP election and generation-skipping transfer (GST) exemption allocation. Before its extended filing deadline,…
PLR 9945032: Fund may revoke its excise tax calculation election
A regulated investment company with a November tax year end had elected to use that year to calculate capital gains and foreign currency amounts for its § 4982 excise tax distribution. The fund said…
PLR 9945031: Mutual fund share class conversion carries over tax basis
A group of mutual funds proposed allowing shareholders to convert Class A, B, or C shares into Class D shares of the same fund as part of an asset allocation program. The IRS ruled that neither the…
PLR 9945030: Two merger steps may be treated as a direct asset acquisition
A buyer used a subsidiary to merge into a target company, then planned to merge the surviving target into the buyer after contract assignments could be obtained. The IRS ruled that, if the two…
PLR 9945029: Buyer and seller groups receive more time for a joint section 338 election
A buyer and seller intended to make a joint § 338(h)(10) election for a stock acquisition, but a valid Form 8023 was not filed on time. Afterward, the buyer's parent merged into a new parent, which…
CCA 9945028: Limited tax assessment consent may not cover currency gains
An IRS case manager asked Counsel to review a draft consent extending the time to assess taxes under closing agreements for members of a business group. Whether the group had currency gains or…
PLR 9945027: One-owner company receives late S election relief
A company with one shareholder intended to be an S corporation from incorporation and operated on that basis. After its first tax year ended, it discovered that its S election had not been filed on…
PLR 9945026: Two-owner company receives late S election relief
A company with two shareholders intended to elect S corporation status from incorporation and operated as though the election had taken effect. After its first tax year, it discovered that Form 2553…
PLR 9945025: First-year S election treated as timely if company files Form 2553
A company with two shareholders said it had intended S corporation status since incorporation and had operated accordingly. It discovered after its first tax year that its S election had not been…
PLR 9945024: Late S election can cover the company's first tax year
A company intended to be an S corporation from incorporation and had operated on that basis. After its first tax year ended, it learned that its S election had not been filed on time. The IRS ruled…
PLR 9945023: Settlement fund avoids some reporting, but investment income remains open
A qualified settlement fund planned to distribute cash to investors who had settled claims about partnership units that failed to reach target prices. The IRS ruled that the payments were neither…
PLR 9945022: Administrative trust changes preserve grandfathered GST exemption
Three trusts for a decedent's grandchildren were irrevocable before September 25, 1985, and had received no later additions. The family proposed replacing a resigning corporate trustee with an…
PLR 9945021: Late QSub election relief and continuation of S status after merger
An S corporation missed the filing for its wholly owned subsidiary to be treated as a qualified subchapter S subsidiary, or QSub. The parent later merged into that subsidiary, which survived under a…
PLR 9945020: Funds receive relief for late RIC elections after mailing error
Two investment funds sought regulated investment company (RIC) treatment for their first tax years. Their accountant prepared timely requests to extend the return filing deadline, but the Postal…
PLR 9945019: New holding company gets late S and QSub election relief
Two shareholders formed a holding company at a lender's request and transferred to it the stock of their existing S corporation. The holding company intended to elect S status, but its attorneys did…
PLR 9945018: Attorney's missed Form 2553 filing receives late election relief
A company and its sole shareholder intended S corporation status from the company's incorporation date. The shareholder hired an attorney to file Form 2553, but the attorney missed the filing…
CCA 9945017: Shareholder's rent-free use of corporate asset may be a distribution
A majority shareholder of an S corporation stopped paying rent for personal use of a corporate asset kept at his home. Chief Counsel agreed that the IRS could assert a constructive distribution…
PLR 9945016: Gas property buyer holds the economic interest for section 29 credit
A disregarded entity bought interests in coal-seam gas properties while the seller retained a production payment, a contingent interest in possible additional reserves, and a repurchase option. The…
PLR 9945015: Union wage supplement fund contributions deductible when paid
A company contributed to a collectively bargained fund that helped employers pay union wage supplements on selected projects. The IRS ruled that the company could deduct its required contributions…
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.