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 9933024: Fund may revoke its distribution calculation election
A regulated investment company had elected to use its tax year to calculate capital gains for the required distribution under section 4982. It asked to revoke that election because it created…
PLR 9933023: Unfiled S election gets deadline relief
A corporation intended to elect S corporation status from its first tax year, but its attorney prepared Form 2553 without filing it. Believing the election was in place, the corporation filed S…
PLR 9933022: Taxpayers' late accounting year applications treated as timely
Taxpayers sought to change their federal income tax accounting periods, but their accountant filed Form 1128 late. The letter says the applications arrived within 90 days after the deadline. The IRS…
PLR 9933021: Research training stipends are not wages
A tax-exempt medical research facility paid stipends to fellows in programs focused on training rather than providing services to the facility. Based on the described program, the IRS ruled that the…
PLR 9933020: Trustee change preserves trust's stated tax treatment
A beneficiary planned to exercise a special power over a family trust holding corporation voting stock and real estate, then resign as trustee and appoint an adult child as successor. The IRS ruled…
PLR 9933019: Corporation's redemption fully ends a shareholder's interest
A corporation planned to redeem all shares held by a retiring shareholder, leaving her son as sole owner. She would resign from company roles and receive cash and a fixed installment note, while…
PLR 9933018: Excise tax treatment differs for three racing fuels
A fuel blender asked whether section 4081 excise tax applied to three racing fuel products sold or removed from its facility. The IRS found that the leaded first fuel and methanol based third fuel…
CCA 9933017: Advice on aging tax accounts and collection deadlines
The IRS collection office sought legal guidance while reviewing old accounts kept outside its main computer system. Chief Counsel said a certified assessment record generally establishes an…
PLR 9933016: Commercial property rents are not passive investment income
An S corporation owned and leased commercial real estate after its former parent company's business ended. Its employees and affiliates negotiated leases, collected rent, managed tenant obligations,…
PLR 9933015: IRS revokes earlier audio conferencing tax ruling
The IRS had issued a 1994 ruling to a taxpayer about whether section 4251 communications tax applied to certain audio conferencing services. This letter revokes that earlier ruling, LTR 9507013,…
PLR 9933014: IRS revokes 1995 audio conferencing tax ruling
The IRS had issued a 1995 ruling about whether section 4251 communications tax applied to amounts paid for certain audio conferencing services. This letter revokes that ruling, LTR 9543025,…
CCA 9933013: IRS seeks more facts on captive insurance premiums
An examiner questioned whether operating subsidiaries could deduct premiums paid to a related captive insurer under section 162. Chief Counsel explained that a payment must shift and distribute real…
CCA 9933012: Short year loss carryback refund claim was timely
A corporation joined an acquiring group's consolidated tax return and filed a separate return for the preceding short period. It later claimed a refund based on carrying a specified liability net…
CCA 9933011: Collateral agreement payments and annual income under an offer in compromise
District counsel asked whether taxpayers may subtract payments under a future income collateral agreement when calculating annual income for an offer in compromise. Chief Counsel said the Service's…
CCA 9933010: IRS concurs with Railroad Retirement Board employer classifications
The Railroad Retirement Board sent the IRS its opinion about the employer status of three redacted entities under the Railroad Retirement Act and Railroad Unemployment Insurance Act. Based solely on…
CCA 9933009: IRS concurs with two railroad employer status conclusions
The Railroad Retirement Board sent the IRS an opinion on employer status under the Railroad Retirement Act and Railroad Unemployment Insurance Act. Based solely on the information submitted, the IRS…
CCA 9933008: Blue Cross special deduction affects loss carryover absorption
A Blue Cross organization had net operating loss carryovers and a potential special deduction under section 833. Field Service Advice addressed how the deduction and losses affect each other. For…
CCA 9933007: IRS withdraws advice on withholding for nonresident alien employees
Chief Counsel withdrew its February 5, 1999 advice on income tax withholding for nonresident alien employees who work partly inside and partly outside the United States. The attached, withdrawn memo…
CCA 9933006: Joint return audit information could be disclosed to either spouse
A husband sought damages after the IRS sent his wife an information request from their joint return audit that referred to another person. Chief Counsel advised that he had no actionable…
CCA 9933005: Below market stock redemption did not create income for issuer
A corporation redeemed another corporation's shares for less than their aggregate trading value, then disposed of some redeemed shares at market prices. Field Service Advice considered whether the…
CCA 9933004: Partnership assessments after appeal need not be abated on remand
Partners asked the IRS to undo assessments and refund payments after an appellate court sent their partnership cases back to Tax Court. Field Service Advice concluded that assessments and…
TAM 9933003: Branching rights gave thrift no abandonment loss deduction
A thrift acquired insolvent savings associations in a supervised merger and later sold its branches in one state. It claimed that federal regulators had given it valuable branching rights as…
TAM 9933002: Family partnership transfer subject to special gift valuation rules
A donor funded a limited partnership through a trust while a company owned by her daughter and son-in-law received the general partner interest. She argued that the formation of a new entity, and…
TAM 9933001: Inherited stock basis not fixed by estate tax valuation
An heir reported a higher basis in inherited, closely held stock than the value agreed upon for the decedent's estate tax return. The IRS concluded that the heir was not barred from arguing for a…
PLR 9932056: Late election to capitalize land carrying costs allowed
The owners of unimproved investment land missed the deadline to elect under section 266 to capitalize interest and real estate taxes. An attorney later told them about the election, but initially…
PLR 9932055: Government employer's picked-up pension contributions excluded from current income
A political subdivision adopted a resolution to pay its employees' mandatory contributions directly to a state retirement plan. Employees could not choose cash instead. The IRS ruled that the…
PLR 9932054: Inadvertent S corporation election defects relieved
A corporation's S election was invalid because some shareholders had not consented. Later, shares went to an ineligible trust, and the corporation mistakenly made unequal cash distributions. The…
PLR 9932053: Funds may revoke capital gain distribution year election
Six regulated investment company funds had elected to use their December tax year, instead of the period ending October 31, to calculate capital gain net income for section 4982 required…
PLR 9932052: Parking garage for Maglev shuttle supports charitable purpose
A tax exempt organization planned a parking garage and free shuttle to demonstrate a low speed magnetic levitation transit system. The garage would supply riders for the demonstration and add…
PLR 9932051: Private foundation may transfer all assets to another foundation
One private foundation proposed to transfer all its assets to another foundation controlled by the same people. The IRS ruled that the transfer would preserve both foundations' exemptions and would…
TAM 9932050: Existing VEBA reserves and separate trusts affect unrelated business tax
An employer's tax-exempt employee benefit association held reserves for retiree and active employee benefits, then transferred its assets to four trusts. The IRS advised that earnings on the…
TAM 9932049: IRS replaces a footnote on timing of service contract income
A taxpayer's representative asked the IRS to amend a footnote in an earlier technical advice memorandum. The IRS replaced that footnote to say the taxpayer ordinarily did not receive payments before…
CCA 9932048: IRS declines technical advice request but explains freight reporting exception
An IRS district office requested technical advice on a taxpayer's future information reporting obligations. Chief Counsel declined to issue formal technical advice because no examination, refund…
CCA 9932047: Collection Due Process notice rules for estates, partnerships, and representatives
Chief Counsel answered hypothetical questions about Collection Due Process notices before a lien or levy. For a deceased taxpayer or estate, notices generally go to the known fiduciary; for a…
CCA 9932046: Canada treaty refunds for U.S. Social Security benefits follow balance due rules
Chief Counsel addressed refunds of U.S. tax on Social Security benefits paid to Canadian residents for 1996 and 1997 under the Fourth Protocol to the U.S.–Canada tax treaty. It advised that the…
PLR 9932045: Government deferred compensation plan qualifies under section 457(b)
A local political subdivision asked whether its restated employee deferred compensation plan qualified under section 457(b). The IRS ruled that the plan was eligible, so deferred compensation and…
PLR 9932044: Late Form 1128 treated as timely filed for tax year change request
Taxpayers filed Form 1128 late to request a change in their tax year because of an error or misunderstanding. The form arrived within 90 days of its due date. The IRS found that they acted…
PLR 9932043: Estate receives more time for reverse QTIP election
An estate elected the marital deduction treatment for a trust and allocated the decedent's generation-skipping transfer tax exemption to it, but omitted the corresponding reverse QTIP election. The…
PLR 9932042: Surviving spouse may disclaim decedent's share of joint brokerage account
A surviving spouse inherited the decedent's half of a joint brokerage account by survivorship and proposed to disclaim that interest. After death, he had authorized a transfer of the account into…
PLR 9932041: Family split-off of controlled corporation qualifies for tax-free treatment
Two families owned a corporation that wholly owned a second, operating company. To separate their businesses, one family proposed to exchange its shares in the parent for shares in the subsidiary,…
PLR 9932040: Former citizen rebuts tax-avoidance presumption but gets no purpose ruling
A former U.S. citizen who also held citizenship in her country of birth asked the IRS to rule that avoiding U.S. tax was not a principal purpose of her expatriation. Her net worth exceeded the…
PLR 9932039: Former long-term resident rebuts expatriation tax presumption only
A former U.S. long-term resident surrendered her green card and asked the IRS to rule that avoiding U.S. tax was not a principal purpose. Her net worth exceeded the threshold that could create a…
PLR 9932038: Late S corporation election accepted for incorporation date
A newly incorporated company intended to elect S corporation status from its incorporation date but missed the filing deadline. The IRS found reasonable cause for the delay and granted relief under…
PLR 9932037: Reasonable cause permits late S corporation election
A corporation and its shareholders intended S corporation status from the start of its first tax year, but they missed the election deadline. The IRS found reasonable cause for the delay and granted…
PLR 9932035: Renouncing citizen removes expatriation tax presumption, not factual question
A person born abroad later became a U.S. citizen and then formally renounced that citizenship. She asked the IRS to rule that avoiding U.S. tax was not a principal purpose of the renunciation. Her…
PLR 9932034: More time granted for dual resident corporation loss filings
A consolidated group sought more time to file an agreement and annual certification tied to losses of its dual resident foreign corporation. The group said its former tax director had inadvertently…
PLR 9932033: Partnership gets 45 days to file late tax year election
A limited liability company taxed as a partnership missed the deadline to elect a tax year other than its required tax year on Form 8716. It had hired tax professionals to make the section 444…
PLR 9932032: Transfer of retiree life insurance reserve to VEBA avoids income and excise tax
An employer group proposed to move a retired lives reserve held by its insurer into a tax-exempt employee benefit trust. The transfer would place the assets in a separate account used only for…
PLR 9932031: Employer creditor access determines executive benefit trust tax treatment
Employers created a trust to help pay medical benefits for executives and former executives. Each employer's share of the trust remained subject to that employer's general creditors if it became…
PLR 9932030: Single-shareholder company receives late S election relief
A company with one shareholder had operated as an S corporation since incorporation but discovered after its first tax year that its election was not timely filed. It asked the IRS to treat the…
PLR 9932029: Late S election accepted for company with several shareholders
A company with several shareholders had operated as an S corporation from incorporation but discovered after its first tax year that its election was not timely filed. It requested retroactive…
PLR 9932028: Planned renunciation rebuts tax presumption without purpose finding
A dual citizen planned to renounce his U.S. citizenship and asked the IRS to rule that tax avoidance was not a principal purpose. He expected his net worth to exceed the statutory threshold that…
PLR 9932027: Planned expatriation rebuts presumption subject to threshold condition
A U.S. citizen who lived abroad planned to renounce her citizenship and asked the IRS to rule that tax avoidance was not a principal purpose. She qualified to seek a ruling because she had spent no…
PLR 9932026: Missed trust elections cause inadvertent S termination with relief
An S corporation shareholder died, and shares passed from his estate to three trusts for his spouse. She did not know she needed to file qualified subchapter S trust elections, and the company's S…
PLR 9932025: Buyer and sellers receive time to file section 338(h)(10) election
A buyer acquired all the stock of an S corporation and, with the sellers, intended to elect deemed asset sale treatment under section 338(h)(10). They missed the election deadline after relying on…
PLR 9932024: Sales of glued wood products count as qualifying partnership income
A partnership that grew and processed timber planned to expand sales of glued wood products, including panels and lumber. It would make some products from its own and purchased timber and buy others…
PLR 9932023: Late Form 1128 accepted for proposed change from 52-53 week year
A taxpayer sought to change from a 52-53 week tax year to another tax year but filed Form 1128 after its deadline. The form was submitted within 90 days of the due date, and the taxpayer attributed…
CCA 9932022: Dissolved export corporation's tax extensions and refund claims
The IRS considered whether a dissolved foreign sales corporation's tax deadlines had been extended and who could seek refunds after its winding-up period ended. It concluded that extensions signed…
CCA 9932021: Research costs in a possessions corporation's profit split
A possessions corporation used the section 936 profit-split method to calculate income eligible for a tax credit. The IRS advised that it had incorrectly excluded its affiliate's research and…
PLR 9932020: Late S corporation election accepted if filed within 60 days
A corporation intended to be taxed as an S corporation from its first tax year, but its accountant failed to file Form 2553. The corporation filed an S corporation return, and its shareholders filed…
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.