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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.

10,109 determinations and counting · Newest release July 31, 2026
200 determinations International

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PLR

Corporation receives more time for IC-DISC election

A domestic corporation was formed with the intent to qualify as an interest charge domestic international sales corporation. Its parent relied on an accounting firm to handle the election, but the fir…

201640003·September 30, 2016
Approved
PLR

Consolidated group may use tax book value for interest apportionment

A consolidated group historically used tax book value to apportion interest expense. It acquired another consolidated group that had used fair market value, causing the acquired corporations to join t…

201638012·September 16, 2016
Approved
PLR

Foreign annuity reserves may measure a CFC's insurance income

A domestic financial-services group owned controlled foreign corporations that issued payout annuities for foreign pension plans. The foreign insurance regulator required audited annual statements and…

201637005·September 9, 2016
Approved
PLR

Corporation gets extra time to elect IC-DISC status

A corporation was formed to operate as an interest charge domestic international sales corporation and relied on an accounting firm to prepare its Form 4876-A election. The firm mailed the completed f…

201635003·August 26, 2016
Approved
PLR

Corporation receives more time to file its IC-DISC election

A domestic corporation formed to operate as an interest charge domestic international sales corporation failed to file Form 4876-A for its first taxable year. Its owners had relied on a law firm and a…

201634020·August 19, 2016
Approved
PLR

IRS grants 60 days to make a late IC-DISC election

A domestic corporation was formed to operate as an interest charge domestic international sales corporation, or IC-DISC. Its law firm sent it Form 4876-A for signature but inadvertently failed to foll…

201631010·July 29, 2016
Approved
PLR

Corporation receives more time to elect IC-DISC status

A domestic corporation intended to be treated as an interest charge domestic international sales corporation from its formation. Its accounting firm failed to prepare or file Form 4876-A because of an…

201629006·July 15, 2016
Approved
PLR

Corporation receives more time to elect IC-DISC status

A domestic corporation was formed to operate as an interest charge domestic international sales corporation. Its law firm said it would organize the entity and prepare Form 4876-A, but it miscalculate…

201628017·July 8, 2016
Approved
PLR

Foreign corporation receives more time for branch-profits election

A foreign corporation's timely Form 1120-F calculated branch profits tax consistently with an election to reduce its U.S. liabilities. Its accounting firm omitted the required statement formally makin…

201628016·July 8, 2016
Approved
PLR

Corporation received 60 days to make IC-DISC election

A domestic corporation was formed solely to operate as an interest charge domestic international sales corporation. Its accounting and law firms each believed the other had filed Form 4876-A, so the c…

201622022·May 27, 2016
Approved
PLR

IRS permits an early reelection of the foreign earned income exclusion

A taxpayer had elected the foreign earned income exclusion while working in one foreign country, then revoked the election when it was no longer beneficial. Before the normal five-year waiting period …

201620006·May 13, 2016
Approved
PLR

Investment funds receive relief for elections on late-filed returns

Four regulated investment company funds timely extended their returns, but the employees who coordinated filing at the adviser and custodian both left before the extended due date. The unfiled returns…

201619004·May 6, 2016
Approved
PLR

Corporation receives 60 days to file late IC-DISC election

A domestic corporation intended to elect interest charge domestic international sales corporation status from its formation. It represented that it mailed a completed Form 4876-A after following an ac…

201618007·April 29, 2016
Approved
CCA

Employee may claim foreign tax credit when employer pays the tax

An employer directly paid an employee's foreign income tax liability without withholding that amount from the employee's wages. The IRS advised that the payment is additional compensation taxable to t…

201617009·April 22, 2016
Advice
CCA

Risk-weighted assets usually cannot apportion a foreign bank's support expenses

Chief Counsel considered whether foreign banks may use the relative value of risk-weighted assets to divide supportive expenses between effectively connected U.S. income and other income. The memorand…

201614031·April 1, 2016
Advice
PLR

Foreign insurer receives more time for domestic corporation election

A regulated foreign insurance company timely filed a section 953(d) election statement with its return, then mailed additional information requested by the IRS. The IRS later reported that it had not …

201612007·March 18, 2016
Approved
PLR

Corporation receives 60-day extension for IC-DISC election

Shareholders formed a corporation intending interest-charge DISC treatment from inception and entered a commission agreement on the formation date. The corporation's Form SS-4 also indicated that it i…

201604007·January 22, 2016
Approved
PLR

Corporation receives 60 days to file its IC-DISC election

A domestic corporation was formed to operate as an interest charge domestic international sales corporation, and its owner timely signed Form 4876-A. The form was never filed because the accounting fi…

201601003·December 31, 2015
Approved
PLR

Corporation may make late IC-DISC election

A domestic corporation was formed to operate as an interest charge domestic international sales corporation and filed returns on that basis. It later learned that neither its law firm nor accounting f…

201552005·December 24, 2015
Approved
PLR

Corporation may replace invalid IC-DISC election

A domestic corporation was formed to operate as an interest charge domestic international sales corporation. It timely filed Form 4876-A and later filed IC-DISC returns, but the IRS found that the ele…

201552003·December 24, 2015
Approved

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.