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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IRS approves a revised nuclear-decommissioning-fund contribution schedule
A regulated electric utility that owns an interest in a nuclear power plant maintains a "nuclear decommissioning fund," a tax-favored reserve for the eventual cost of dismantling the plant. Under Code…
An environmental-mitigation trust is a qualified settlement fund, and its investment income becomes § 115 tax-exempt once the company stops running it
A company that operates a facility caused an environmental incident and, under a court-approved consent decree with a state attorney general and environmental agency, set up a trust to fund mitigation…
Late mark-to-market election relief denied because the traders acted with hindsight after large losses
A married couple asked the IRS for extra time under the § 301.9100 late-election rules to make a § 475(f)(1) "mark-to-market" election, which lets a qualifying securities trader deduct trading losses …
IRS approves a utility's revised schedule of deductible contributions to its nuclear decommissioning fund
Section 468A lets the owner of a nuclear power plant take current tax deductions for money it sets aside in a qualified fund to pay the plant's eventual decommissioning costs, but the yearly deductibl…
Manufacturing contract uses percentage-of-completion accounting and counts supplier prepayments
A manufacturer contracted to design, build, install, and commission multiple products whose expected production periods each exceeded twelve months. It prepaid a related subsidiary to procure raw mate…
Developer may use the alternative cost method for required utilities but not optional amenities
An accrual-method real estate developer asked to use the alternative cost method in Rev. Proc. 92-29 for common improvements in a development expected to sell lots over more than ten years. That metho…
Nuclear plant owner receives a special-transfer deduction and revised funding schedule
An owner of a shut-down nuclear power plant asked for a schedule allowing a special transfer to its qualified nuclear decommissioning fund and for a revised annual funding amount. The owner had largel…
IRS approves nuclear decommissioning fund deduction and ruling schedules
A corporation owned a direct interest in a nuclear power plant that had ceased operations and was largely decommissioned, apart from a remaining facility. A regulatory commission accepted updated deco…
IRS denies a trader's late mark-to-market election
An individual substantially increased securities trading during part of a year but did not make a timely § 475(f)(1) mark-to-market election. Most of the year's realized trading losses and disallowed …
Approval of a revised funding schedule for a nuclear plant's decommissioning fund
Owners of nuclear power plants can set aside money for the eventual cost of dismantling the plant and take a tax deduction for those contributions, but only up to an annual "ruling amount" that the IR…
State deferred compensation plan qualifies under section 457(b)
A state agency established a nonqualified deferred compensation plan and trust that eligible state and local governmental employers could adopt for their employees. The plan allowed pre-tax and Roth d…
Nuclear decommissioning arrangement preserves qualified fund status
A utility arranged for an independent contractor and affiliate to decommission a shut-down nuclear unit, restore the site, maintain spent fuel, and later dismantle the spent-fuel storage installation.…
Revised nuclear decommissioning fund contribution schedule approved
A holding company owned a nuclear power plant and its qualified decommissioning fund through a disregarded subsidiary. It requested a revised schedule limiting annual deductible contributions to the f…
IRS grants extra time for subsidiaries to file LIFO elections
After acquiring a corporate group, a taxpayer discovered that the former parent’s tax adviser had failed to advise that LIFO computations must be performed entity by entity and that each inventory-hol…
IRS approves revised nuclear decommissioning fund schedule
The owner of a permanently closed nuclear power plant requested a revised schedule of ruling amounts for deductible contributions to its qualified nuclear decommissioning fund. Based on the taxpayer’s…
IRS approves elective stock-compensation method for cost sharing
A public company participating in a cost-sharing arrangement asked to replace the default tax-deduction method for measuring stock-based compensation intangible development costs with the elective fin…
IRS approves revised nuclear decommissioning schedule
An electric utility with an ownership interest in a nuclear plant requested a mandatory revised schedule of ruling amounts for its qualified nuclear decommissioning fund. Two public utility commission…
Partnership basis and at-risk limits also restrict self-employment losses
Chief Counsel considered whether general partners could use partnership losses to reduce net earnings from self-employment when those losses were disallowed for income tax purposes. The memorandum con…
Nuclear decommissioning fund transfer keeps qualified status
A corporate owner proposed transferring a nuclear power plant, its assets, and its decommissioning liabilities to an affiliated corporation, including both qualified and nonqualified decommissioning f…
Plant transfer preserves qualified nuclear decommissioning fund
A corporate owner proposed transferring a nuclear power plant, related assets, and decommissioning obligations to an affiliated corporation. The transferred assets included a qualified nuclear decommi…
Transfer of two nuclear plants preserves qualified decommissioning funds
A corporate owner proposed transferring two nuclear power plants, including one that had permanently ceased operations, to an affiliated corporation. The transaction included each plant's qualified an…
Qualified funds survive affiliate transfer of two nuclear plants
A corporate owner proposed transferring two nuclear plants and their associated assets and liabilities to an affiliated corporation. One plant had permanently stopped operating, and each plant had bot…
Affiliate plant transfer retains qualified nuclear fund treatment
A corporation proposed transferring a nuclear power plant, related assets, and decommissioning obligations to an affiliated corporation. The transferred property included a qualified nuclear decommiss…
Nuclear plant and qualified fund transfer receives nonrecognition treatment
A corporation proposed transferring a nuclear power plant, its decommissioning funds, and related liabilities to an affiliated corporation. The IRS ruled that the qualified nuclear decommissioning fun…
Late trader mark-to-market election denied because hindsight created an advantage
Married taxpayers asked for extra time to elect the section 475(f) mark-to-market method for the husband's securities trading activity. They filed the election months after its due date, after a partn…
Construction contractors may use a hybrid accounting method
Chief Counsel considered how construction contractors should account for businesses that primarily provide services but also produce, purchase, or sell merchandise. The regulations require inventories…
Real estate professional gets late relief to treat all rental properties as one activity
A taxpayer in a real property business qualified to make the election under IRC § 469(c)(7)(A) that treats all of his rental real estate interests as a single activity, which can make it easier to mee…
Corporation gets extra time to file the original Forms 3115 it forgot to attach
A domestic C corporation in a consolidated group made three automatic accounting-method changes for a tax year (covering prepaid liabilities, vacation pay, and marketing-allowance rebates) and filed t…
Grants a married couple a late election to group all rental real estate as one activity
A married couple, one of whom was in a real property business, missed the election under § 469(c)(7) that lets a qualifying taxpayer treat all rental real estate as a single activity for the passive a…
Grants a married couple a late election to group all rental real estate as one activity
A married couple, one of whom worked in a real property business, wanted to treat all of their rental real estate as a single activity for the passive activity loss rules under § 469(c)(7). Making tha…
TCJA section 451 changes do not alter cash-method income rules
Chief Counsel advised that the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act changes to section 451 do not alter the constructive-receipt and prepaid-income rules for cash-method taxpayers. New sections 451(b) and 451(c) gov…
Revised nuclear decommissioning fund schedule approved
A utility owning a joint interest in a nuclear power plant requested a mandatory revised schedule of ruling amounts for its qualified nuclear decommissioning fund. The proposed schedule used an indepe…
Revised nuclear decommissioning fund schedule approved
A utility owning a joint interest in a nuclear power plant requested a mandatory revised schedule of ruling amounts for its qualified nuclear decommissioning fund. The proposed schedule used an indepe…
Revised nuclear decommissioning fund schedule approved
An investor-owned electric utility requested a mandatory revised schedule of deductible payments to its nuclear decommissioning fund. The plant's operating license had been terminated, most decommissi…
Later-available information may inform arm's-length price
IRS Chief Counsel advised that the section 482 regulations do not categorically bar reliable, relevant information from an arm's-length pricing analysis merely because the information existed contempo…
County deferred compensation plan qualifies under section 457(b)
A county adopted a nonqualified deferred compensation plan and related trust for its employees and beneficiaries. The plan limited deferrals, allowed the statutory catch-up contributions, restricted d…
Nuclear decommissioning fund transfer qualified for tax-free treatment
A seller agreed to transfer a nuclear generating unit and its qualified and nonqualified decommissioning fund assets to a buyer that would assume the decommissioning liabilities. The IRS ruled that th…
Nuclear decommissioning fund transfer preserved qualified status
A seller planned to transfer ownership of a nuclear power plant and its qualified nuclear decommissioning fund to a purchaser as part of a transaction treated as an asset sale for federal tax purposes…
Nuclear decommissioning fund transfer preserved qualified status
A seller planned to transfer ownership of a nuclear power plant and its qualified nuclear decommissioning fund to a purchaser as part of a transaction treated as an asset sale for federal tax purposes…
Nuclear decommissioning fund transfer preserved qualified status
A seller planned to transfer ownership of a nuclear power plant and its qualified nuclear decommissioning fund to a purchaser in a transaction treated as an asset sale for federal tax purposes. Both s…
State deferred compensation plan qualified under section 457(b)
A state restated its governmental deferred compensation plan and requested rulings on its qualification under section 457(b). The plan covered eligible public employees and addressed deferrals, catch-…
Government mitigation trust qualified for settlement-fund tax treatment
A court-approved trust received part of a settlement paid by defendants accused of violating federal and state law in connection with a product. The trust would fund projects mitigating the resulting …
Nuclear decommissioning fund transfer received tax-neutral treatment
A utility holding company agreed to sell a nuclear generating unit and transfer its qualified and nonqualified decommissioning fund assets to a buyer that planned an accelerated decommissioning method…
Court-approved mitigation trust qualifies as a settlement fund
Government agencies sued manufacturers over alleged legal violations involving a product, and consent decrees required money for mitigation projects benefiting a specified group. A court approved a st…
Taxpayer receives 45 days to file a late accounting-period change
A development entity missed the deadline to use the automatic procedure for changing its annual accounting period under Revenue Procedure 2006-46. Its accountant learned of the business need for the c…
Liquidating trust receives 45 days for disputed-ownership-fund election
A bankruptcy liquidating trust held all of its assets in reserve while higher-priority disputed claims were being resolved. Its accountants filed the first-year return as a complex trust because benef…
Transmittal email forwarding a CCA memo on SECA loss limitations for a general partner
This is a short transmittal email forwarding a separate Chief Counsel Advice memorandum. The email explains that the attached CCA memo, based on the offices' earlier discussions and a general fact pat…
A utility gets an approved schedule of deduction amounts and a revised ruling amount for its nuclear decommissioning fund
Under section 468A, an electric utility that owns a nuclear power plant can take current tax deductions for money it sets aside in a qualified fund to pay for eventually decommissioning (safely disman…
A utility gets an approved schedule of deduction amounts and a revised ruling amount for its nuclear decommissioning fund
Under section 468A, an electric utility that owns a nuclear power plant can take current tax deductions for money it sets aside in a qualified fund to pay for eventually decommissioning (safely disman…
IRS will disqualify a nuclear decommissioning fund at the owner's request, triggering a taxable deemed distribution
A utility that owns part of a nuclear power plant set aside money to pay for eventually decommissioning the plant, splitting it between a "qualified" fund (which gets favorable tax treatment under sec…
Governmental deferred compensation plan qualified under section 457(b)
A state-sponsored nonqualified deferred compensation plan and trust was made available to employees of participating local governments. The plan included regular and catch-up deferrals, designated Rot…
Transfer disqualified nuclear decommissioning fund without self-dealing
An owner preparing to sell a shut-down nuclear unit planned to transfer all assets from its qualified nuclear decommissioning fund to a nonqualified fund within the same trust. The IRS agreed to disqu…
Accrual taxpayers on an impermissible method may use Rev. Proc. 2018-60 to fix their § 451 timing
This Chief Counsel Advice answers a procedural question about when businesses must report income after the 2017 Tax Cuts and Jobs Act. The TCJA amended section 451 so that an accrual-method taxpayer w…
Nuclear plant owner receives a revised decommissioning-fund contribution schedule
A holding company acquired an ownership interest in a nuclear generating unit, the related decommissioning trust assets, and the corresponding decommissioning liability. It asked the IRS to approve a …
IRS approves a revised nuclear decommissioning fund schedule based on a per-kilowatt formula
The owner of a nuclear power plant sets aside money each year in a special reserve fund to pay for eventually decommissioning (safely retiring) the plant. Section 468A lets the owner deduct those cont…
IRS approves a revised nuclear decommissioning fund schedule based on a per-kilowatt formula
The owner of a nuclear power plant sets aside money each year in a special reserve fund to pay for eventually decommissioning (safely retiring) the plant. Section 468A lets the owner deduct those cont…
Approves a revised schedule of ruling amounts for a nuclear decommissioning fund under § 468A
A state public utility that owns and operates a nuclear power plant (now shut down and slated for decommissioning) asked the IRS to approve a revised schedule of "ruling amounts" for its qualified nuc…
Gross pension-plan values in financial-statement notes count as supplemental info for the LIFO foreign-operations 30% test
A U.S. wholesale distributor uses the LIFO inventory method, which normally forces a company to report LIFO results to shareholders and lenders too (the "LIFO conformity" rule). Under Revenue Ruling 7…
Approves a revised section 468A nuclear decommissioning funding schedule
A public utility requested a revised schedule of ruling amounts for deductible contributions to a nuclear decommissioning fund under section 468A. The utility owned part of the nuclear plant directly …
Approves revised nuclear decommissioning fund contribution schedule
A partnership that owned a permanently shut down nuclear power plant requested a revised schedule of deductible contribution amounts for its qualified nuclear decommissioning fund. It based its projec…
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.