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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Nuclear plant sale preserved decommissioning fund treatment
A partnership owned a shut-down nuclear generating unit, its qualified nuclear decommissioning fund, and the associated decommissioning liability. It planned to place the unit and related assets into …
Decommissioning fund transferred without tax or basis change
A partnership planned to sell a shut-down nuclear generating unit through a disregarded entity, together with its qualified nuclear decommissioning fund and related liabilities. The buyer would assume…
Nuclear unit buyer could assume the unfunded decommissioning liability
A partnership proposed selling a shut-down nuclear generating unit, its qualified nuclear decommissioning fund, and the related decommissioning liability to a buyer through a disregarded entity. The I…
Government deferred compensation plan qualifies under Section 457(b)
A political subdivision adopted a deferred compensation plan for employees and independent contractors. The plan provided for pre-tax and Roth deferrals, contribution limits and catch-ups, required di…
Governmental deferred-compensation plan met Section 457 requirements
A city board requested rulings on a deferred-compensation plan for employees and independent contractors of the city and participating agencies. The plan included designated Roth contributions, deemed…
State deferred compensation plan qualified under Section 457(b)
A state board adopted a deferred compensation plan for state and local government employees. The plan included automatic enrollment with an opt-out period, standard and catch-up deferral limits, requi…
Separately owned business entities cannot aggregate activities to share one entity's at-risk amount
An individual held minority interests in three S corporations and a partnership, each operating a similar business through a separate legal entity. The individual personally guaranteed the partnership…
Married real estate taxpayers receive 120 days to make a late rental-activity grouping election
A married couple filed a joint return for a year in which one spouse was engaged in a real property business. They qualified to elect under section 469(c)(7) to treat all rental real estate interests …
Court-supervised trust qualifies as a settlement fund and transfers are deductible
Related business entities settling employee personal-injury claims planned to fund a court-supervised trust that would support payments over a multiyear class-action settlement. The trust would be cre…
Common control exists but arm's-length prices require no adjustment
A taxpayer provided redacted services in transactions involving entities that were not commonly owned. The IRS advised that section 482 can still apply because its control test is disjunctive and reac…
Nuclear decommissioning funds may convert pooled investments to partnership treatment
Six qualified nuclear decommissioning funds pooled their assets for investment and had elected to exclude the pooling arrangement from subchapter K partnership rules. They sought to revoke that electi…
County deferred-compensation plan qualified under section 457(b)
A county adopted a nonqualified deferred-compensation plan and related trust for its employees. The plan included automatic enrollment with an opt-out period, annual and catch-up contribution limits, …
Revised nuclear decommissioning funding schedule is approved
A utility requested a revised schedule of deductible contributions to its qualified nuclear decommissioning fund after regulators adjusted the amounts collected for decommissioning. The proposed sched…
Declared dividends are taxable before later cash payment
An individual owned all of one corporation and a majority of another. Both corporations declared dividends, recorded the amounts on their books, and remained solvent with enough assets to pay them at …
Revised nuclear decommissioning funding schedule approved
A limited liability company taxed as a corporation acquired a qualifying ownership interest in a nuclear power plant and requested a revised schedule of deductible payments to its nuclear decommission…
Formula-based decommissioning schedule approved after license extension
An investor-owned electric utility requested mandatory review of its nuclear decommissioning fund schedule after the Nuclear Regulatory Commission extended its plant's operating license. The utility p…
Revised decommissioning schedule approved for partial plant owner
A limited liability company taxed as a corporation acquired a partial qualifying interest in a nuclear power plant and requested a mandatory revised schedule of deductible decommissioning fund payment…
Township deferred compensation plan qualifies under section 457(b)
A township adopted a nonqualified deferred compensation plan and related trust for its employees and beneficiaries. The plan allowed regular and Roth deferrals, statutory catch-up contributions, distr…
Nuclear plant transfer preserves qualified decommissioning fund treatment
A partnership that owned a nuclear generating unit proposed transferring the unit, its decommissioning liability, and its qualified and nonqualified decommissioning funds to a wholly owned disregarded…
Nuclear plant sale preserves qualified decommissioning fund treatment
A utility proposed selling a nuclear generating unit and transferring its qualified and nonqualified decommissioning trust assets to corresponding funds maintained by the buyer. The IRS ruled that the…
Nuclear plant buyer may receive qualified decommissioning fund assets tax-free
A corporate buyer proposed acquiring a nuclear generating unit and receiving the seller's qualified and nonqualified decommissioning trust assets in corresponding buyer funds. The IRS ruled that the s…
Nuclear plant owner receives a decommissioning fund ruling amount
A partnership indirectly owned an interest in a nuclear power plant and requested an initial schedule of amounts it could deductibly contribute to a qualified nuclear decommissioning fund. It based th…
Nuclear plant owner receives a decommissioning fund ruling amount
A single-member LLC taxed as a corporation owned an interest in a nuclear power plant and requested an initial schedule of amounts it could deductibly contribute to a qualified nuclear decommissioning…
Couple receives 120 days to make a late rental real estate grouping election
A married couple filed jointly, and one spouse represented that he qualified as a real estate professional for the relevant year. Their original return inadvertently omitted the statement electing to …
Nuclear plant owner receives decommissioning fund deduction and ruling schedules
A nuclear plant owner requested a schedule of deduction amounts for a subsequent special transfer to its qualified nuclear decommissioning fund and a mandatory revised schedule of ruling amounts. The …
Nuclear plant owner receives decommissioning fund deduction and ruling schedules
A nuclear plant owner requested a schedule of deduction amounts for a subsequent special transfer to its qualified nuclear decommissioning fund and a mandatory revised schedule of ruling amounts. The …
Nuclear plant owner receives decommissioning fund deduction and ruling schedules
A nuclear plant owner requested a schedule of deduction amounts for a subsequent special transfer to its qualified nuclear decommissioning fund and a mandatory revised schedule of ruling amounts. The …
Nuclear plant owner receives revised decommissioning fund contribution schedule
A nuclear plant owner requested a mandatory revised schedule of ruling amounts for deductible contributions to its qualified nuclear decommissioning fund. The proposed schedule used cost, timing, infl…
Nuclear plant owner receives special-transfer deduction and revised funding schedules
A corporation with a direct interest in a closed nuclear power plant requested a deduction schedule for a special transfer to its qualified decommissioning fund and a mandatory revised schedule of ann…
Nuclear plant owner receives special-transfer deduction and revised funding schedules
A corporation with a direct interest in a closed nuclear power plant requested a deduction schedule for a special transfer to its qualified decommissioning fund and a mandatory revised schedule of ann…
Mass-tort trust qualifies as a settlement fund and transfers are deductible
Affiliated companies entered bankruptcy proceedings to resolve thousands of present and future personal-injury claims arising from exposure to a redacted product component. Their reorganization plan c…
Ponzi-scheme remission recovery is excluded from settlement-fund income
A federal receiver administered a qualified settlement fund for investors harmed by a Ponzi scheme. A federal agency had seized money from an electronic-currency transmitter used by the scheme and lat…
Revised nuclear decommissioning fund contribution schedule was approved
An electric utility requested a revised schedule of deductible contributions to a nuclear decommissioning reserve fund for its ownership share of a nuclear plant. Its proposed schedule used decommissi…
IRS approves discrete tax issues in bankruptcy spinoff and planned REIT structure
A corporate subsidiary in Chapter 11 proposed transferring real estate and another operating business to a controlled corporation, distributing that corporation's stock and other consideration to cred…
Debt issuance costs not deductible after conversion to warrants
A company issued convertible debentures and capitalized the related issuance costs. The holder later converted the debt into warrants exercisable for common stock at a nominal price, and the company s…
Late rental real estate grouping election approved
A married couple represented that they qualified as real property business taxpayers but filed their joint return without the statement electing to group all rental real estate interests as one activi…
House-pad work qualifies for completed contract accounting
A construction company performed subdivision work that included grading and compacting the soil pads on which house foundations would be built. The IRS concluded that this work was construction activi…
Revised nuclear decommissioning fund schedule approved
An investor-owned utility requested a mandatory revised schedule of deductible payments to its nuclear decommissioning fund after the plant's operating license was extended. The proposed amounts cover…
Utility received nuclear decommissioning fund schedules
An investor-owned utility requested a deduction schedule for a special transfer to its qualified nuclear decommissioning fund and a revised schedule of annual ruling amounts. The utility owned a redac…
Utility received nuclear decommissioning fund schedules
An investor-owned utility requested a deduction schedule for a special transfer to its qualified nuclear decommissioning fund and a revised schedule of annual ruling amounts. The utility owned a redac…
Revised nuclear decommissioning fund schedule approved
A wholly owned utility affiliate requested a mandatory revised schedule of ruling amounts for its qualified nuclear decommissioning fund. The taxpayer owned the nuclear plant, while a regulated affili…
Revised nuclear decommissioning fund schedule approved
A wholly owned utility affiliate requested a mandatory revised schedule of ruling amounts for its qualified nuclear decommissioning fund. The taxpayer owned the nuclear plant, while a regulated affili…
State deferred compensation plan qualified under section 457(b)
A state authority requested rulings for a deferred compensation plan and related trust adopted by state and local government employers. The plan included advance deferral elections, annual and catch-u…
Utility receives revised nuclear decommissioning schedule
An investor-owned utility requested a revised schedule governing deductible payments to its nuclear decommissioning reserve fund. The utility owned a redacted percentage of a nuclear plant and based i…
Couple receives more time to group rental real estate activities
A married couple represented that they qualified as taxpayers in a real property business but filed their joint return without electing to treat all rental real estate interests as one activity. Their…
Couple receives more time to group rental real estate activities
A married couple represented that they qualified as taxpayers in a real property business but filed their joint return without electing to treat all rental real estate interests as one activity. Their…
Couple receives more time to group rental real estate activities
A married couple represented that they qualified as taxpayers in a real property business but filed their joint return without electing to treat all rental real estate interests as one activity. Their…
School district plan qualifies under section 457(b)
A school district adopted a nonqualified deferred-compensation plan for its employees and asked whether the plan qualified under section 457(b). The plan limited deferrals, allowed statutory catch-up …
IRS cannot force regrouping of separate medical activities
A physician treated interests in two medical practices and a partnership that indirectly owned part of an outpatient surgery center as separate activities for passive-loss purposes. The separate treat…
Purchase-accounting write-down does not reduce taxable advance payment
A corporation received an advance payment for a two-year service contract and used Revenue Procedure 2004-34 to defer part of the income. After an unrelated buyer acquired its stock, purchase accounti…
Nuclear plant transfers preserve qualified decommissioning funds
Two utility subsidiaries planned to transfer nuclear plants, related liabilities, and qualified decommissioning funds to another entity that was not in their consolidated group. The IRS ruled that the…
Nuclear plant receives revised decommissioning contribution schedule
The owner of an unregulated nuclear power plant requested a revised schedule of deductible contributions to its qualified decommissioning fund. The proposed amount was based on an industry decommissio…
Tangible-property method change protects pre-change material costs from audit adjustment
Chief Counsel considered a taxpayer that timely filed Form 3115 to adopt the final tangible property regulations for non-incidental materials and supplies, using the limited section 481(a) adjustment …
Nuclear fuel storage costs qualify as abandonment and decommissioning costs
A regulated utility incurred costs to construct and later decommission an on-site facility for dry storage of spent nuclear fuel after its nuclear plant stopped operating. The IRS concluded that the f…
Retailer may estimate the goods share of unredeemed gift cards
A retailer sold gift cards redeemable for goods, integral services, unrelated services, warranties, and other items. The IRS concluded that gift cards do not fall outside the former section 1.451-5 de…
Taxpayer may deduct service warrants when they are exercised
A corporate taxpayer issued stock warrants to two companies in connection with services provided under long-term purchasing agreements. The warrants had no readily ascertainable fair market value when…
Medicare shared savings accrue when CMS gives notice, not at performance year-end
A healthcare business participated through accountable care organizations in the Medicare Shared Savings Program. Chief Counsel concluded that the taxpayer’s right to shared-savings income was not fix…
Partner guarantee shifts basis and at-risk treatment
An LLC taxed as a partnership acquired, renovated, and held hotel properties, while a separate manager handled daily hotel operations. One member personally guaranteed partnership notes, and another m…
Cost-sharing arrangement may change stock compensation methods
A domestic corporation with a cost-sharing arrangement had used the default tax-deduction method to measure stock-based compensation included in intangible development costs. After its stock became pu…
Foreign parent's non-LIFO reporting satisfies conformity requirement
A domestic subsidiary used LIFO for most inventory while its foreign parent considered adopting IFRS, which would report the subsidiary's results on a non-LIFO basis. The foreign parent and its financ…
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.