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 9935067: IRS declines to rule on proposed corporate reorganization
A company and three subsidiaries requested rulings about a proposed corporate reorganization and the subsidiaries' later elections to become S corporations. The IRS letter says it declined to rule…
PLR 9935066: IRS declines to rule on proposed corporate reorganization
A company and three subsidiaries requested rulings about a proposed corporate reorganization and the subsidiaries' later elections to become S corporations. The IRS letter says it declined to rule…
PLR 9935065: Hotel exchanges survive conversion of LLCs to partnerships
Two limited liability companies, each taxed as a partnership, planned separate exchanges of their hotels for resort properties. Before receiving replacement properties, each company would liquidate…
PLR 9935064: IRS declines advance ruling on proposed section 355 transaction
A taxpayer sought an advance ruling on a proposed transaction under section 355. The IRS decided that an advance ruling should not be issued in the interest of sound tax administration and closed…
TAM 9935062: Later pension contributions counted for the preceding tax year
An employer deducted $41.848 million of pension contributions made from July through December 1984 on its return for the tax year ended June 30, 1984. The IRS had disallowed that part of the…
TAM 9935061: Quarry conveyor costs depend on why the conveyor was needed
A quarry built a conveyor to move overburden after its existing disposal area filled up. It asked whether the cost could be deducted immediately under the mining rule in Treasury Regulation §…
TAM 9935060: Prepaid funeral contract income accrues when payments are due or received
A cemetery and funeral home sold burial property, merchandise, and services through prepaid installment contracts. It reported some contract income when a contract was signed and the rest in the…
CCA 9935059: One spouse's levy appeal suspends collection only for that spouse
Chief Counsel considered a joint liability case in which both spouses received a notice of intent to levy but only one requested a Collection Due Process hearing. The memorandum says the request…
CCA 9935058: Green card holders may choose resident tax treatment if they forgo treaty benefits
Portuguese citizens living in Portugal had kept green cards after leaving the United States and received U.S. Social Security benefits. Chief Counsel advised that, if their lawful permanent resident…
CCA 9935057: Contractor must substantiate meal costs to clients for a full deduction
A general contractor reimbursed employees for travel and deducted all of those reimbursements, including meal costs. Its invoices described travel expenses only in general terms and did not identify…
CCA 9935056: Voluntary automatic payments on a tax debt may continue during Chapter 7
A district counsel asked whether the IRS could keep accepting automatic payments on a tax debt incurred before a taxpayer filed Chapter 7 bankruptcy. Chief Counsel advised that payments drawn from…
CCA 9935055: IRA withdrawal preceded the spouses' written divorce agreement
One spouse withdrew money from an IRA and handed the check to the other spouse before they signed a marital settlement agreement. Field Service Advice considered whether the IRS should issue a…
199935054: IRS bulletin reviews bankruptcy offers in compromise and litigation cases
This Office of Chief Counsel bulletin is an informational roundup, not an individual taxpayer ruling. Its lead item reports a bankruptcy court decision requiring the IRS to consider an offer in…
CCA 9935053: Inherited partnership basis and sale proceeds include liability shares
A taxpayer inherited a one-sixth partnership interest and later sold it to another partner who assumed the taxpayer's share of partnership liabilities. Field Service Advice says the starting basis…
CCA 9935052: Later foreign tax stays with the post-acquisition taxpayer
A buyer acquired a group of companies through a transaction involving section 338 elections. Two years later, the acquired U.S. company paid foreign tax on a sale that the foreign country treated as…
PLR 9935051: Art foundation is classified as a business entity rather than a trust
A U.S. citizen planned to contribute inherited paintings and drawings to a foreign foundation formed by her siblings. The foundation intended to display the collection through a museum, educate the…
PLR 9935050: Savings bank conversion satisfies specified merger continuity tests
A savings bank proposed a series of mergers to replace its mutual and middle-tier holding structure with a stock holding company. The IRS ruled that exchanging mutual members' interests for…
PLR 9935049: Late accounting period application treated as timely filed
A taxpayer filed Form 1128 late while seeking permission to change its tax year. The delay resulted from an error or misunderstanding by its accountant. The IRS found that the taxpayer acted…
PLR 9935048: Expatriate rebuts tax avoidance presumption, but motive remains undecided
A former U.S. citizen who also held citizenship in another country asked the IRS to rule that renouncing U.S. citizenship was not principally motivated by avoiding U.S. taxes. His net worth exceeded…
PLR 9935047: Beneficiary's withdrawal power makes trust an eligible S corporation shareholder
A shareholder planned to transfer S corporation shares to an irrevocable trust for a child. The child could withdraw each new contribution for 30 days and, if that right lapsed, could still receive…
PLR 9935046: Beneficiary's withdrawal power makes trust an eligible S corporation shareholder
A shareholder planned to transfer S corporation shares to an irrevocable trust for a child. The child could withdraw each new contribution for 30 days and, if that right lapsed, could still receive…
PLR 9935045: Ineligible shareholders receive inadvertent S election termination relief
An S corporation issued shares to three corporations and a trust that were not eligible S corporation shareholders. The IRS determined that the issuance terminated its S election, despite the…
PLR 9935044: Missed trust income distributions receive inadvertent S election relief
Two trusts holding stock in an S corporation had made qualified subchapter S trust elections, but their trustees failed to distribute all trust income to the respective beneficiaries for two years.…
PLR 9935043: S status preserved despite broad trust appointment powers
Two electing small business trusts acquired shares of an S corporation. Their beneficiaries' powers to appoint trust property raised a question about whether the corporation had too many or…
PLR 9935042: Open market stock repurchases do not defeat merger continuity
A public company planned a merger in which target shareholders would receive a mix of cash and the company's stock, with at least 55 percent of the consideration in stock. The company also planned…
PLR 9935041: Trust reformation can preserve an estate charitable deduction
An estate sought to reform a perpetual trust that paid income to individuals, charities, and an organization that did not qualify for the estate tax charitable deduction. The proposed reformation…
PLR 9935040: Active commercial rentals are not passive investment income for S election rule
A company with an S election owned and managed commercial rental properties. It provided maintenance, landscaping, janitorial work, and other tenant services, some through a management company. The…
PLR 9935039: Former long-term resident rebuts tax avoidance presumption
A former U.S. lawful permanent resident sought a ruling that giving up that status was not principally motivated by avoiding U.S. taxes. Her net worth exceeded the level that ordinarily triggered a…
PLR 9935038: Proposed expatriation may rebut presumption, but motive remains open
A dual citizen living abroad planned to give up U.S. citizenship and asked the IRS to rule that tax avoidance was not a principal purpose. Her expected net worth exceeded the amount that would…
PLR 9935037: Health care corporation conversions avoid specified gain and recapture
A nonprofit health care group planned four mergers to convert two taxable stock corporations into nonprofit membership corporations. The IRS ruled that the two conversion sequences would not produce…
PLR 9935036: Former resident's departure lacked a principal tax avoidance purpose
A former long-term U.S. resident surrendered his green card after retiring and returning to his birth country, where his family lived and he planned to direct a scientific institute. His net worth…
PLR 9935035: Void stock transfer did not end S corporation election
Two shareholders tried to transfer their S corporation shares to a C corporation without following a stock purchase agreement's notice and purchase rights. A state court ruled that the transfer was…
PLR 9935034: Health care corporation conversions avoid specified gain and recapture
A nonprofit health care group planned four mergers to convert two taxable stock corporations into nonprofit membership corporations. The IRS ruled that the two conversion sequences would not produce…
CCA 9935033: Counsel concurs that an entity became a railroad employer
Chief Counsel reviewed a Railroad Retirement Board opinion about an entity's status under the Railroad Retirement Act and the Railroad Unemployment Insurance Act. Based solely on the information…
PLR 9935032: Service-connected disability pension excluded from income
A taxpayer asked whether permanent disability benefits paid under a state statute were taxable. The statute covered physical or mental incapacity caused by injury or sickness from performing job…
PLR 9935031: Proposed stock distribution qualifies for specified spin-off treatment
A public company planned to separate a controlled subsidiary's business by distributing its stock to the parent's shareholders in a spin-off, split-off, or combination. The IRS ruled that the…
PLR 9935030: Late S corporation election may take effect on requested date
A corporation's two shareholders wanted S corporation treatment beginning on a specified date, but its Form 2553 was not filed on time. The IRS found reasonable cause for the late election and…
PLR 9935029: Investment fund gets more time to correct dividend election
An investment fund elected under section 855(a) to treat dividends paid after a tax year as paid during that year. A clerical error understated the elected amount, and the fund sought relief after…
PLR 9935028: Line-of-duty benefit exclusion limited by payment formula
A city asked whether disability and survivor benefits for police and fire employees injured or killed in the line of duty were excluded from recipients' income. The IRS ruled that section 104(a)(1)…
PLR 9935027: Bank receives more time to complete bad debt method change
A bank whose parent elected S corporation status had to change from the section 585 bad debt reserve method to the section 166 specific charge-off method. Its accounting firm completed only part of…
PLR 9935026: Internal stock transfers receive nonrecognition rulings
After a corporate separation covered by an earlier ruling, two group companies proposed transferring subsidiary stock to other subsidiaries, followed by distributions of debt obligations. The IRS…
PLR 9935025: Late S election treated as timely if filed within 60 days
A corporation with one shareholder intended to operate as an S corporation from its incorporation and believed it had done so, but later discovered that its election had not been filed on time. The…
CCA 9935024: Counsel questions mark-to-market treatment of nursing-home receivables
A company that owned and managed nursing homes marked unpaid management fees from related partnerships down to zero and claimed that working capital advances to those partnerships also qualified for…
PLR 9935023: Late S election treated as timely if filed within 60 days
A corporation with one shareholder intended to operate as an S corporation from its incorporation and believed it had done so, but later discovered that its election had not been filed on time. The…
PLR 9935022: Late S election allowed for second tax year
A corporation's accountant failed to file a valid S corporation election for its first tax year. The shareholders later filed Form 2553 for the second year, but the service center found that filing…
PLR 9935021: Late S election treated as timely if filed within 60 days
A corporation with one shareholder intended to operate as an S corporation from its incorporation and believed it had done so, but later discovered that its election had not been filed on time. The…
PLR 9935020: Missing trust election caused an inadvertent S termination
A shareholder transferred S corporation stock to a trust, but the beneficiary's advisers failed to file an election to treat the trust as a qualified subchapter S trust. The IRS found that the trust…
CCA 9935019: Related-party note transfers qualify under section 351
A foreign-currency note was sold within a corporate group and then contributed through two U.S. companies before the issuer repaid it. Exchange rate changes left the note holder with currency losses…
PLR 9935018: Strip center rent and specified partnership receipts are not passive investment income
An S corporation with accumulated earnings and profits operated two retail strip centers and invested in publicly traded partnerships involved in oil, petroleum, and chemicals. The IRS ruled that…
CCA 9935017: Forward loan purchase agreements count as section 475 securities
A corporation agreed to buy specified amounts of loans from sellers by future dates, with fees due if the sellers delivered too few loans. Chief Counsel advised that these agreements were securities…
PLR 9935016: Securities funds may aggregate specified built-in gains and losses
An investment manager planned to move investors' securities into four funds intended to be treated as partnerships, then revalue each fund's portfolio regularly. It asked to combine built-in gains…
PLR 9935015: Office building rent and specified partnership receipts are not passive investment income
An S corporation with accumulated earnings and profits operated a commercial office building and invested in publicly traded partnerships involved in oil, petroleum, and chemicals. The IRS ruled…
PLR 9935014: Commercial property rent and specified partnership receipts are not passive investment income
An S corporation with accumulated earnings and profits operated shopping malls, strip centers, and office buildings and invested in publicly traded partnerships involved in oil, petroleum, and…
PLR 9935013: Strip center rent and specified partnership receipts are not passive investment income
An S corporation with accumulated earnings and profits operated five retail strip centers and invested in publicly traded partnerships involved in oil, petroleum, and chemicals. The IRS ruled that…
PLR 9935012: Late S election relief after corporate return was filed
A corporation's sole shareholder intended S corporation status from incorporation and relied on an accountant to file the election, but no Form 2553 was filed. After the omission was discovered, the…
CCA 9935011: Closing agreement treated dealer relationships as nondepreciable
A corporate group acquired an agricultural equipment dealer network, and an earlier closing agreement addressed recovery of the dealer relationship intangible's tax basis. After a later transfer of…
PLR 9935010: Attorney's oversight excused for late S election
A corporation intended to elect S status for its first tax year, but its attorneys failed to file Form 2553 on time. The corporation filed Form 1120S and its shareholders filed their individual…
CCA 9935009: Specified liability loss carrybacks follow member-level limits
An affiliated group had consolidated net operating losses that included one subsidiary's specified liability deductions. Chief Counsel advised that only a pro rata share of such deductions from a…
CCA 9935008: Currency hedge losses reduce commission FSC combined income
A U.S. exporter used forward currency sales to hedge expected foreign-currency receipts from export sales through a commission foreign sales corporation (FSC). It incurred losses on the forward…
CCA 9935007: Dissolved corporations can sign assessment extensions while winding up
An IRS office asked whether dissolved corporations could sign agreements extending the time to assess federal income tax. Chief Counsel advised that corporations in the two states at issue continued…
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.