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 9935006: Religious objection does not excuse dependent identification numbers
Parents claimed dependency exemptions for eight children without listing their tax identification numbers, citing religious objections to Social Security numbers. The IRS disallowed the exemptions…
CCA 9935005: Counsel discusses reversing an erroneous tax abatement
Taxpayers filed an amended return seeking a tax reduction and asked that a refund amount be credited to another tax year's liability. An IRS office requested a review of remedies for an erroneous…
PLR 9935004: Correction to a prior internal reorganization ruling
The IRS corrected one step in a ruling it had issued in 1997 about a proposed internal reorganization. The corrected text says that a company contributed another company's stock to a new corporation…
TAM 9935003: Commuted trust interest included in estate after deathbed transfer
A decedent held income and a possible return of property from a trust she had created. After she was diagnosed with terminal cancer, the trustee ended those interests, paid her their table based…
TAM 9935002: Creditor exempt assets count when measuring insolvency
A lender foreclosed on taxpayers' residence, and state law barred collection of the unpaid mortgage balance. The taxpayers argued that assets protected from creditor claims under state law should be…
TAM 9935001: Special insurance distributions were capital payments, not deductible dividends
A state plan combined several life insurance departments into a new stock insurer and provided special payments to people who held policies when the change took effect. The insurer sought to deduct…
PLR 9934025: Surviving spouse may roll over IRAs through her revocable trust
A deceased IRA owner's surviving spouse was the trustee, settlor, and sole current beneficiary of her revocable trust, which was named to receive several of his IRAs. She planned to revoke the trust…
PLR 9934024: Surviving spouse may roll an IRA through the estate into her own account
A deceased IRA owner's estate was named beneficiary of his IRA. His surviving spouse, as executrix, allocated the proceeds to the estate's residue, of which she was the sole beneficiary, and put…
PLR 9934023: IRS declines to rule on divorce related payments without former husband's participation
A taxpayer sought rulings on whether payments from her former husband's corporation and a stock transfer under their marital settlement were tax free transfers incident to divorce. She also asked…
PLR 9934022: Late S corporation election accepted for incorporation date
A corporation's shareholder wanted S corporation treatment from the date the company was incorporated, but the election was not filed on time. The IRS found reasonable cause for the delay and…
PLR 9934021: S election preserved after shareholder became a nonresident alien
A corporation's S election terminated when one shareholder became a nonresident alien. After discovering the issue, that shareholder gave her shares to her husband, who represented that he did not…
General Litigation Bulletin 465: tax liens, bankruptcy stays, and tax litigation cases
This Office of Chief Counsel bulletin summarizes recent court decisions and litigation practice developments for IRS counsel. It reports that a bankruptcy stay prevented a federal tax lien from…
CCA 9934019: Collection investigation and liens during a due process appeal
District Counsel asked whether a revenue officer could continue investigating possible fraudulent transfers while a taxpayer pursued a collection due process hearing after a proposed levy notice.…
CCA 9934018: Foster care payments and the earned income credit
Chief Counsel addressed whether foster care payments count as earned income for the earned income credit without a specific taxpayer fact pattern. It advised that payments excluded from gross income…
CCA 9934017: Joint return changes the earned income credit tie breaker
Chief Counsel examined the earned income credit tie breaker when a parent and qualifying child lived with one or both of the child's grandparents. If the married grandparents filed jointly, their…
PLR 9934016: Four software projects approved for deferred expense method
A taxpayer that currently deducted software development costs asked to use a deferred expense method for four named projects. The IRS approved a change for costs paid or incurred from the first day…
PLR 9934015: Swiss insurer qualifies for treaty relief from insurance excise tax
A Swiss insurer requested relief from the federal excise tax on premiums for United States insurance or reinsurance risks under the United States–Switzerland tax treaty. The IRS concluded that its…
PLR 9934014: Phased building rehabilitation qualifies for credit rules, subject to certification
A taxpayer planned a phased rehabilitation of a building with a central light and air well, including construction of floors within that well. The IRS ruled that the 60 month period for phased…
PLR 9934013: Condominium associations' receipt of sale proceeds is not taxable
After a hurricane damaged condominium buildings, owners voted to dissolve their associations and sell residential and recreational land. The associations, a corporation holding title to the…
PLR 9934012: Thirty day extension for section 338 elections on foreign targets
A purchaser missed the filing deadline for section 338(g) elections involving two foreign corporations it acquired directly or through another target. The IRS found that the purchaser relied on tax…
PLR 9934011: Trust disclaimer can avoid gift tax if timing and acceptance conditions are met
A widow planned to disclaim trust interests that became vested when her husband died. She represented that she had not accepted trust benefits and first learned of the interests after his death. The…
PLR 9934010: Revised nuclear decommissioning fund schedule approved
A utility with an ownership interest in a nuclear plant requested a revised schedule of amounts it could pay to a decommissioning fund under section 468A. The IRS found that its proposed schedule…
CCA 9934009: Parent faces heightened proof burden to treat intercompany receivables as dividends
A United States parent recorded receivables from its foreign subsidiary for royalties, services, and product sales but reported the same amounts on its United States return as constructive…
PLR 9934008: Late notarization of replacement-property statement substantially complied with election rule
A trust sold company shares to the company's employee stock ownership plan and timely elected to defer the gain under section 1042. It later bought securities it intended to treat as qualified…
PLR 9934007: Late notarization of replacement-property statement substantially complied with election rule
A trust represented by co-trustees sold company shares to the company's employee stock ownership plan and timely elected to defer the gain under section 1042. It later bought securities it intended…
PLR 9934006: Late notarization of replacement-property statement substantially complied with election rule
A trust sold company shares to the company's employee stock ownership plan and timely elected to defer the gain under section 1042. It later bought securities it intended to treat as qualified…
PLR 9934005: Late filing of charter amendments did not defeat S corporation relief
A corporation elected S corporation treatment before filing state charter amendments needed to eliminate a second class of stock. That made it ineligible when the election was supposed to take…
PLR 9934004: S corporation relief covered stock held by an ineligible plan until a second stock class arose
A corporation's S election terminated when it issued shares to a plan that was not an eligible S corporation shareholder. The corporation later issued a second class of stock, making it ineligible…
CCA 9934003: Small interest component did not make trade receivables passive assets for currency-loss allocation
Controlled foreign corporations in countries with hyperinflationary currencies incurred currency losses on trade receivables under the dollar approximate separate transactions method. Their parent…
TAM 9934002: Vacation pay accrued as earned, but letters of credit did not accelerate benefit deductions
An employer asked when it could accrue vacation pay and deduct employee benefits secured by letters of credit. The IRS advised that vacation pay became a fixed liability as eligible employees…
TAM 9934001: Cash in preferred-stock recapitalization was exchange gain, not a dividend
A shareholder exchanged convertible preferred shares for common shares and cash as part of a planned recapitalization and public offering. The IRS considered the whole series of transactions,…
PLR 9933053: Religious college's welfare and retirement plans qualified as church plans
A religiously affiliated college asked whether its employee welfare plan and tax-deferred annuity program qualified as church plans. The IRS relied on the college's tax-exempt status and ties to its…
PLR 9933052: Pension funding waiver modified to require contributions and real estate security
The IRS modified an earlier conditional waiver of a pension plan's minimum funding standard for the plan year ending August 31, 1996. It removed a credit balance condition and required the company…
PLR 9933051: Foundation's church property counted as a charitable distribution and program-related investment
A private foundation bought land and planned to build a church, school, parsonage, and food and clothing bank, then lease the property to a tax-exempt church for nominal rent. The IRS ruled that the…
PLR 9933050: Foundation received advance ruling for a 60-month public charity transition
A private foundation proposed to end its foundation status by operating as a supporting organization during a continuous 60-month period. The IRS concluded that it could reasonably be expected to…
PLR 9933049: Government pension plan could pick up current and service buy-back contributions
A state governmental pension plan offered enhanced benefits to employees who elected to make contributions, including payments for earlier service. It asked whether employers could treat standard…
PLR 9933048: Employer may pick up mandatory pension contributions
A political subdivision adopted an ordinance to pay mandatory employee contributions to its defined benefit pension plan. Employees could not choose to receive those amounts directly. The IRS ruled…
PLR 9933047: Late S corporation election treated as timely
A corporation intended to operate as an S corporation from its incorporation, but discovered after its first tax year that its election had not been filed on time. The IRS granted relief under…
PLR 9933046: Late S corporation election treated as timely
A corporation intended to operate as an S corporation from its incorporation, but discovered after a tax year that its election had not been filed on time. The IRS granted relief under section…
PLR 9933045: Late S corporation election granted from incorporation
A corporation's sole shareholder wanted S corporation treatment beginning on the incorporation date, but the election was filed late. The IRS found reasonable cause under section 1362(b)(5) and…
PLR 9933044: Late S corporation election allowed for first tax year
A corporation's shareholders intended to elect S corporation status for its first tax year. The person they relied on did not file Form 2553 on time, although the corporation and shareholders filed…
PLR 9933043: Subsidiary gets more time to make tax-exempt entity election
A for-profit subsidiary of a tax-exempt parent missed the deadline to elect out of treatment as a tax-exempt controlled entity under section 168(h)(6)(F)(ii). The IRS found that the subsidiary acted…
PLR 9933042: Four funds receive relief for late dividend elections
Four regulated investment company funds intended to elect under section 855 to treat certain dividends paid after the close of their tax year as paid during that year. Their adviser and accounting…
CCA 9933041: IRS concurs on railroad employer and service status
The IRS reviewed a Railroad Retirement Board opinion about an unnamed railroad operation. Based solely on the information submitted, it agreed that the entity became an employer under the Railroad…
PLR 9933040: Bank holding company's capital distribution receives tax rulings
A bank holding company proposed to return part of its stock offering proceeds to shareholders, including its employee stock ownership plan (ESOP). The IRS ruled that the payment would be a dividend…
CCA 9933039: Revenue officers may receive delinquent returns
District counsel asked whether revenue officers could receive overdue income tax returns handed to them, and whether they could require taxpayers to file that way. The IRS concluded that officers…
CCA 9933038: Fraud victims generally cannot waive IRA rollover deadline
Several people withdrew money from retirement accounts and entrusted it to an accountant who embezzled it. They apparently expected their new investments to qualify as tax-free rollovers. On the…
CCA 9933037: Withholding for nonresident employees working inside and outside the United States
Chief Counsel examined wages paid to nonresident alien employees who work partly in the United States and partly abroad. It concluded that the section 3402(e) rule, which can treat all pay in a…
PLR 9933036: Purchaser gets more time for section 338 elections
A corporation acquired a foreign target and wanted section 338 elections to treat the stock purchases as asset purchases for tax purposes. Its tax professionals failed to file the elections by the…
PLR 9933035: Company receives relief for invalid S corporation election
A corporation elected S corporation status while an individual retirement account held some of its stock, even though that account was not an eligible shareholder. Several trusts also supplied…
PLR 9933034: Trust changes preserve estate and generation-skipping tax treatment
A beneficiary planned to exercise a special appointment power over a family trust, resign as its trustee, and appoint three adult children as successor trustees. The IRS ruled that the resignation…
PLR 9933033: Trust annuity is treated as owned by a natural person
Parents planned to give cash to an irrevocable trust for their son and his descendants, and the trust would buy a deferred annuity. Section 72(u) generally taxes a contract's annual income when a…
PLR 9933032: Corporation receives relief for a late S election
A newly formed corporation's shareholders wanted S corporation treatment from the date it first had shareholders, assets, or business activity, but the election was late. The IRS found reasonable…
PLR 9933031: Buyer and seller get more time for joint section 338 election
A purchaser bought a subsidiary from a consolidated corporate group. The parties intended to make a joint section 338(h)(10) election, which would treat the stock sale as a deemed asset sale, but…
PLR 9933030: Late tax year change application treated as timely
A taxpayer filed Form 1128 late when it sought to change its federal income tax year. The letter says the delay resulted from an oversight and that the form arrived within 90 days after the…
PLR 9933029: Historic chapter house gifts may be deductible with an easement
A charitable foundation planned to use donations from fraternity alumni and others to preserve a historic chapter house owned by a separate, noncharitable housing corporation. The foundation would…
PLR 9933028: Late tax year change request receives filing relief
A taxpayer and its accountant missed the deadline to file Form 1128 for a change in the taxpayer's accounting year. The form was filed within 90 days after it was due. The IRS found reasonable, good…
PLR 9933027: Dividing three family trusts preserves tax treatment
A trustee proposed to split each of three older family trusts into two trusts, one primarily for each branch of the family. The new trusts would receive equal value and preserve the beneficiaries'…
PLR 9933026: IRS finds tax avoidance purpose in expatriation
A former U.S. citizen asked the IRS to rule that avoiding U.S. tax was not a principal purpose of giving up citizenship. The person had become a citizen of a parent's country and said the loss of…
PLR 9933025: Active rental income excluded from S corporation passive income
A corporation considering an S election earned rent from property it operated directly and through a chain of partnerships. Its officers and a related service company managed leases, tenants,…
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.