(Telecompaper) Yahoo said it plans to move forward with the sale of its stake in Alibaba Group even though the IRS has declined to rule on whether the transaction would be tax free, Reuters reported. Yahoo said earlier this month that the IRS had denied its request for a private letter ruling on whether the spinoff of its stake in Alibaba would be considered tax free. The sale is still subject to certain other conditions including the receipt of a legal opinion on the tax-free treatment of the deal under US federal tax laws, Yahoo said in a regulatory filing. Based on Alibaba's close on 28 September of USD 59.24 per share, Yahoo's 384 million shares in the e-commerce company are worth USD 22.75 billion. The value of the stake is slightly less than Yahoo's market capitalization of about USD 25.98 billion based on 941 million shares outstanding on 31 July and the close on 28 September. Many analysts say Yahoo's core business is worth close to nothing without its Asian assets.