The IRS Won't Rule on Yahoo's Tax-Free Alibaba Spin-Off

The IRS won’t be swinging one way or another on Yahoo’s tax-free Alibaba spinoff plan.

According to documentation filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission on Tuesday, the IRS notified Yahoo on September 2 that it will not grant its request for a letter ruling that its spinoff of its shares of Alibaba would be tax-free.

However, the tech company was careful to point out that the IRS has not explicitly concluded that its proposed transaction is taxable. Yahoo has since withdrawn its request for a ruling.

Yahoo! plan

Yahoo revealed in January year plans to spin off its Alibaba stake tax-free into a new entity.

Under the plan, Yahoo would spin off its...