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 9945014: Partner lawsuit costs do not qualify for ten-year loss carryback
A corporate general partner settled claims brought by limited partners over a property transaction and sought the special ten-year net operating loss carryback for its settlement payments and legal…
CCA 9945013: Contingent payments on shareholder notes treated as dividends
Two corporations funded a real estate development subsidiary with instruments labeled as promissory notes. The subsidiary paid contingent returns tied to distributions from the development venture,…
PLR 9945012: Timely trust disclaimer avoids gift and GST tax
A beneficiary disclaimed part of an interest in a family trust created through a power of appointment. The original trust became irrevocable before the generation-skipping transfer (GST) tax cutoff,…
CCA 9945011: Antidumping exposure matters in transfer pricing comparisons
On its Year 3 return, a U.S. subsidiary made a section 482 transfer pricing adjustment that reduced its income from imported merchandise, and the IRS field office asked Chief Counsel to review it.…
PLR 9945010: Fractional trust disclaimer avoids gift and GST tax
A beneficiary disclaimed a fractional share of a trust interest received through a family member's exercise of a power of appointment. The beneficiary represented that they had no knowledge of the…
CCA 9945009: Counsel agrees to concede captive insurance premium dispute
A corporation and its operating subsidiaries deducted premiums paid to an insurance company owned by the same parent. Chief Counsel did not object to Examination's recommendation to concede the…
TAM 9945008: Sale of future lottery payments yields ordinary income
A lottery winner sold the right to receive several future prize installments for lump sums. The IRS advised that the sale proceeds were ordinary income, not capital gain under § 1221. The winner…
CCA 9945007: Criminal tax juries may need to agree on the specific false act
Chief Counsel analyzed how the Supreme Court's Richardson decision on jury unanimity might affect criminal tax prosecutions. Richardson required jurors in a continuing criminal enterprise case to…
CCA 9945006: Reverse triangular merger fails the retained-assets test
An acquirer used a reverse triangular merger to buy a company whose founder received a pre-merger distribution and later bought back one of its divisions. Chief Counsel concluded that the surviving…
CCA 9945005: Ambiguous closing agreement should not be signed as drafted
A U.S. distributor and the IRS proposed a closing agreement limiting early taxable losses and allowing later use of excess losses against defined profits. Chief Counsel advised against signing it as…
CCA 9945004: REIT offering fees must be capitalized
A corporation paid legal and accounting fees for a real estate investment trust's public offering as part of a plan to sell facilities to the trust and lease them back. Chief Counsel advised that…
PLR 9945003: Expatriating citizen rebuts tax-avoidance presumption
A former U.S. citizen with net worth above the statutory threshold requested a ruling after renouncing citizenship. The person qualified to seek it because they also held citizenship in the country…
CCA 9945002: IRS agents should avoid unreferred Justice Department meetings
Chief Counsel considered whether an IRS special agent should attend a meeting between a federal prosecutor and an informant who reported both tax and other crimes. Under the memo's hypothetical…
CCA 9945001: Counsel urges caution after informant disclosure dispute
The Justice Department's Tax Division declined a search warrant request partly because it believed an IRS agent's handling of an informant and a federal prosecutor involved disclosure violations.…
PLR 9944046: Hospital system integration preserves exemption and avoids UBIT
Several charitable hospital systems proposed to join under common governing bodies while keeping their hospitals and related charities as affiliates. The IRS ruled that the integration would…
PLR 9944045: Trademark dividends keep capital asset character
A corporate group proposed to distribute a U.S. trademark as a dividend from a subsidiary to its parent and then to an upper-tier corporation. The IRS ruled that the trademark was a capital asset…
PLR 9944044: Charity's asset transfer avoids foundation termination tax
A private foundation planned to transfer all its assets to a newly formed foundation with the same charitable purposes, directors, and officers, then dissolve. The IRS ruled that the transfer…
PLR 9944043: Dividing an older trust preserves its GST tax exemption
A settlor created an irrevocable trust before September 25, 1985, for a spouse and their children. After the spouse died, a court ordered the trust divided into equal trusts for the two children and…
PLR 9944042: Late S corporation election receives relief
A corporation's shareholders intended it to be an S corporation from the start of its first tax year, but its election was filed late. The IRS found reasonable cause for the delay and granted relief…
PLR 9944041: Smaller stock offering leaves prior restructuring rulings intact
A corporation had received a ruling on a restructuring that included a stock offering after the distribution of a controlled corporation. It later offered fewer shares than originally planned, but…
TAM 9944040: Seven year service contracts prevent deferral of annual payments
An insurance agency received annual payments to administer claims under contracts requiring services for up to seven years. It included each payment in income over the following 12 months and sought…
General Litigation Bulletin 9944039: Court decisions on IRS disclosure and collection
This IRS Chief Counsel bulletin reports court decisions on disclosure, bankruptcy, tax collection, liens, penalties, refunds, and summonses. Its lead article describes a district court order…
PLR 9944038: Family disclaimers direct trust property to a foundation
A deceased person's trust left part of its residue to a private foundation and part to descendants. The children proposed to disclaim fractional shares, while grandchildren and great grandchildren…
PLR 9944037: Late S corporation election treated as timely
A corporation represented that it intended to be an S corporation from incorporation and had operated as one since a later stated date. After the end of the taxable year beginning on that date, it…
PLR 9944036: One shareholder corporation receives late S election relief
A corporation with one shareholder represented that it intended to be an S corporation from incorporation and had operated as one since a later stated date. After the end of the taxable year…
PLR 9944035: Two shareholder corporation receives late S election relief
A corporation with two shareholders intended to be an S corporation from its incorporation date and had operated as one. After the end of its first tax year, it discovered that the S election had…
PLR 9944034: Late S election approved for a corporation with one shareholder
A corporation with one shareholder intended to elect S corporation status when it incorporated and operated as an S corporation. After its first tax year, it learned the election had not been filed…
PLR 9944033: Missed trust elections receive inadvertent termination relief
A shareholder transferred S corporation stock to trusts for grandchildren, but the beneficiaries did not file the required qualified subchapter S trust elections. The trusts therefore became…
CCA 9944032: Severance pay refund claims should generally be denied
An IRS employment tax specialist asked how to handle refund claims from employers that paid FICA and FUTA taxes when severance payments were made, then asserted that the benefits should have been…
PLR 9944031: Revised spin-off facts leave prior rulings in force
A corporation had previously received a ruling for a proposed transfer of assets to a controlled corporation followed by a distribution of that corporation's stock to shareholders. Before completing…
PLR 9944030: Ceremonial preferred shares do not defeat S election relief
A corporation issued preferred shares to a former business owner as a ceremonial gesture and later elected S corporation status. Its advisers discovered that the preferred shares created a second…
PLR 9944029: Manufactured home park receipts are active rental income
An S corporation with accumulated earnings and profits owned and operated a manufactured home park. It asked whether fees paid by residents counted as passive investment income under §…
PLR 9944028: Corporation can file missing S election after two tax years
A corporation intended to elect S status from incorporation, but its lawyers did not file Form 2553. The corporation filed S corporation returns for two tax years, and its shareholders reported…
PLR 9944027: Trust clarification including adopted children preserves GST exemption
A donor created several trusts that became irrevocable before September 25, 1985. The trustees proposed to seek a court order clarifying that adopted children and their descendants were included…
CCA 9944026: Late foreign corporate returns can bar deductions
A U.K. corporation filed its U.S. corporate returns late and sought deductions for the affected years. Chief Counsel advised that the filing deadlines in the regulations under § 882(c)(2) were valid…
PLR 9944025: Late notarization did not defeat ESOP sale gain deferral
A shareholder sold company stock to its employee stock ownership plan and bought replacement securities, intending to defer the gain under § 1042. The shareholder's advisers overlooked the rule…
PLR 9944024: Late S corporation and subsidiary elections granted relief
A parent corporation and its shareholders relied on former accountants who did not advise them to elect S corporation and qualified subchapter S subsidiary status after a restructuring. The IRS…
PLR 9944023: Late S corporation election treated as timely
A corporation's shareholder intended S corporation treatment from the date of incorporation, but the election was filed late. The IRS found reasonable cause for the delay under § 1362(b)(5).…
CCA 9944022: Subsidized day care payments require Form 1099 reporting
A government day care program paid family providers who cared for children in their homes. Some providers argued that the payments merely reimbursed expenses, citing an older technical advice…
PLR 9944021: Bank holding company's dividend waivers produced no income
A mutual holding company held a majority stake in a bank and sometimes waived cash dividends so the bank could pay minority shareholders while retaining capital. The company sought a renewed ruling…
CCA 9944020: Withdrawn annuity ruling request receives tentative section 72 analysis
A taxpayer proposed transferring deferred annuity contracts to a partnership in exchange for interests that could later be given away. The taxpayer withdrew its request for rulings. In a notice to…
CCA 9944019: Housing credit agency may require better tenant records
A housing credit agency found that a project owner's forms did not reliably establish student eligibility or tenant employment. Chief Counsel advised that § 42 compliance regulations set minimum…
PLR 9944017: Funds allowed to revoke excise tax timing elections
Twelve regulated investment companies had elected to use their calendar tax years when calculating capital gains for the § 4982 required distribution. They asked to revoke those elections because…
PLR 9944016: Both partnerships continued after division of LLC
An LLC taxed as a partnership proposed dividing its gas interests between itself and a new LLC with the same two owners. The IRS ruled that both resulting partnerships would continue the original…
CCA 9944015: Common parent must file consolidated-year refund claim
A former subsidiary filed a refund claim for a consolidated return year after a loss on its later separate return. Chief Counsel advised that the corporation serving as common parent for the…
CCA 9944014: Bank acquirer owes full bad debt reserve adjustment tax
A banking group acquired thrift subsidiaries that used § 593 bad debt reserves and merged them into large commercial banks using the specific charge-off method. Chief Counsel advised that the method…
CCA 9944013: Legal fees over partnership interests must be capitalized
A corporation deducted legal fees from defending a former partner's lawsuit over interests in two partnerships. One set of claims challenged the value assigned to a partnership interest that the…
PLR 9944012: Late S corporation election granted requested effective date
A corporation's shareholder intended S corporation treatment from a specified date, but the election was not filed on time. The IRS found reasonable cause for the delay under § 1362(b)(5). Assuming…
Other 9944011: Litigation bulletin on bankruptcy tax priority and other cases
This IRS litigation bulletin reports recent court decisions rather than ruling on one taxpayer's request. Its lead article discusses an Eleventh Circuit decision holding that Bankruptcy Code §…
PLR 9944010: Late S election effective when corporation began business
A corporation's shareholders intended S corporation treatment from the date it first had shareholders, assets, or business activity, but did not file the election on time. The IRS found reasonable…
PLR 9944009: Late notarization of replacement purchases excused
A shareholder sold company stock to its employee stock ownership plan and bought replacement securities in nine transactions, seeking gain deferral under § 1042. The shareholder's law firm had not…
PLR 9944008: Late LIFO form and inventory statement granted extension
After a series of corporate transfers, a group discovered that required documents for acquired LIFO inventories had not been filed. It requested more time to file Form 970 for the LIFO method and a…
CCA 9944007: Swap valuation adjustments need more factual support
A financial institution valued swaps under a mark-to-market method and reduced its calculated values for credit risk and administrative expenses. The IRS had disallowed the resulting income…
TAM 9944006: TV station depreciation and program license liabilities
A consolidated group formed subsidiaries to buy television stations and their program licensing contracts. The IRS advised that the new subsidiaries were treated as existing for the full…
TAM 9944005: Daughter's authorized gifts excluded from mother's estate
A daughter acting under her mother's durable power of attorney transferred the mother's residence to a qualified personal residence trust and cash to another trust. On reconsideration of technical…
TAM 9944004: Tax and interest deductions did not qualify for ten-year loss carryback
A taxpayer treated losses from additional state taxes, interest on those taxes, and federal tax deficiency interest as specified liability losses eligible for a ten-year carryback under the former §…
TAM 9944003: Family partnership gifts qualified as present interests
A parent gave limited partnership interests in a family partnership to the parent's children and sought the gift tax annual exclusion. The general partners controlled distributions, but the children…
CCA 9944001: Stock treatment led to reverse acquisition after ruling withdrawal
Two corporate groups withdrew a private letter ruling request after Chief Counsel advised that it disagreed with their proposed treatment of a merger. Counsel concluded that unvested employee…
PLR 9943058: Foundation foreign investment program served charitable purposes
A private foundation proposed low-cost loans and equity investments to support jobs and economic development in an impoverished foreign country. One part of the program would lend through the…
PLR 9943057: Foundation may move trust assets into its general account
A private foundation held assets in a separate safekeeping account under an older settlement involving a contributor's stock and potential tax liabilities. After the contributor died, related tax…
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.