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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Research and travel grant procedures approved
A private foundation proposed six grant programs supporting research on a historical periodical press, scholarly databases and resources, dissertation work, research leave, and conference travel.…
School leadership capacity grant program approved
A private foundation proposed a grant program to strengthen the leadership and long-term sustainability of religious day schools. Selected schools would receive coaching, seminars, webinars,…
Below-market educational loan procedures approved
A private foundation proposed a program making one-year, below-market loans for postsecondary study at colleges, universities, nursing programs, commercial-training programs, and trade or vocational…
Independent-school scholarship procedures approved
A private foundation proposed scholarships for students in prekindergarten through grade 12 who attended or had been accepted by independent schools in four counties. Applicants would be evaluated…
Faculty professional-development grant procedures approved
A private foundation proposed grants to improve the teaching skills and talents of faculty members at independent schools in four counties. Applicants would submit project descriptions, goals,…
Affiliated group gets 60 days to elect consolidated filing
A domestic parent corporation and its 18 subsidiaries failed to make a valid election to file a consolidated federal income tax return by the applicable deadline. The parent requested regulatory…
Parent gets 45 days for late Section 338(g) election
A consolidated group's foreign subsidiary acquired all the stock of another foreign corporation in a transaction intended to receive section 338(g) asset-acquisition treatment, but the parent failed…
S corporation gets 60 days to attach omitted Form 3115
An S corporation commissioned a cost-segregation study and intended to change its depreciation accounting method under the automatic procedures of Revenue Procedure 2015-13. A signed copy of Form…
Pension surplus paid to agency triggers employer-reversion tax
A contractor sponsored two frozen defined benefit pension plans under contracts requiring a government agency to reimburse contributions and receive all surplus assets after plan termination. The…
Aspiring-teacher scholarship procedures approved
A private foundation proposed renewable scholarships and professional support for university students preparing to become teachers in economically disadvantaged public schools or high-need subject…
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…
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…
Medical-injury settlement excluded from gross income
A taxpayer sued a fertility clinic after an embryo created with an anonymous donor egg resulted in a child born with a genetic condition causing physical, cognitive, and behavioral disabilities. The…
Foreign insurer gets time for domestic and small-company elections
A foreign property-and-casualty insurer relied on a professional adviser to make elections under sections 953(d) and 831(b), treating it as a domestic corporation and a qualifying small insurance…
Partnership gets 120 days for late Section 754 elections
A foreign-law general partnership failed to make timely section 754 elections for two taxable years after an investor acquired an interest in an upper-tier partnership that owned part of it. The…
Partnership gets 120 days for late Section 754 elections
A foreign-law general partnership failed to make timely section 754 elections for two taxable years after a purchaser acquired an interest in it. The partnership represented that it acted reasonably…
Employer-related scholarships for employees' children approved
A private foundation proposed one-year scholarships for children of current employees of a company and its domestic subsidiaries. An independent committee with no current or former employees of the…
Cash for malfunctioning transit cards is taxable wages
IRS Chief Counsel advised that restricted transit debit cards qualified as transit passes under section 132(f). Limited cash reimbursements could qualify when a transit provider's enrollment or…
LLC gets 120 days for Section 754 election after member's death
A limited liability company taxed as a partnership failed to make a section 754 election for the year in which a member died and the member's interest passed to four other owners. Its professional…
Bankrupt loss group gets 45 days to elect out of Section 382(l)(5)
A consolidated loss group underwent an ownership change while under a court's jurisdiction in a title 11 case. The parent intended to elect out of the special section 382(l)(5) bankruptcy rule but…
S corporation preserved after five missed ESBT elections
After a grantor died, a grantor trust transferred S corporation shares to five successor trusts whose trustees failed to make timely electing small business trust elections. That failure technically…
S corporation preserved after five missed ESBT elections
After a grantor died, a grantor trust transferred S corporation shares to five successor trusts whose trustees failed to make timely electing small business trust elections. That failure technically…
Business separation qualifies as Type D reorganization and spin-off
A foreign-parented corporate group proposed separating two businesses by having a domestic distributing corporation form a controlled corporation, contribute four subsidiaries to it, and distribute…
S corporation split-off qualifies as Type D reorganization
An S corporation operating three businesses proposed separating one business to resolve shareholder disagreements. It would place specified assets and an LLC interest into a controlled QSub, shift…
Three businesses satisfy active-business test despite shared employee
A corporation owned equally by three shareholders proposed dividing one operating business into three equal companies. It would contribute one-third of the business to each of two newly formed…
Foreign LLC gets 120 days for retroactive disregarded status
A foreign limited liability company intended to elect disregarded-entity classification effective from its formation date but did not timely file Form 8832. Its ownership later changed from two U.S.…
Partnership gets 120 days for election after partner's death
A limited partnership failed to make a section 754 election after a deceased partner's interest passed to an estate. The partnership had relied on its tax adviser and did not know it was eligible to…
S status restored after operating agreement created second stock class
An LLC had elected S corporation status, but its operating agreement retained partnership provisions and authorized profits interests with different liquidation rights. Issuing those interests…
Reverse-acquisition group gets 45 days for consolidated election
A foreign corporation contributed a subsidiary chain to another subsidiary in a transaction represented to qualify as a reverse acquisition, creating a new affiliated group with the recipient as…
Carbon-offset credits count as qualifying REIT income
A timberland REIT's partnership expected to earn state cap-and-trade credits by committing forestland to long-term carbon-sequestration restrictions, monitoring, inventories, and independent…
Utility's deferred-tax rate-base methods satisfy normalization rules
A regulated electric utility asked whether several methods of reflecting accumulated deferred income taxes in federal and state rate proceedings complied with the tax normalization rules. The…
Carbon credits from two programs qualify as REIT income
A timberland REIT indirectly participated in two carbon-offset programs: a state cap-and-trade system for U.S. forest projects and a voluntary program for foreign timberland protected from…
Carbon credits earned through partnerships qualify as REIT income
A timberland REIT indirectly owned interests in six partnerships developing forest carbon-offset projects under a state cap-and-trade program. The projects required long-term land-use restrictions,…
S status restored after preferred stock created second class
An S corporation amended its articles and issued preferred stock to an eligible trust shareholder. Because the preferred shares had different dividend and liquidation rights, their issuance created…
Method change supports additional solar energy credits
Two energy subsidiaries had claimed section 48 credits on self-constructed solar property. Their parent later changed its accounting method to capitalize additional mixed-service costs, producing a…
Executive order cannot waive tax on excess premium credits
A taxpayer received a retroactive lump-sum Social Security disability payment covering prior years while also receiving advance premium tax credits for marketplace health insurance. Because section…
One pension amendment approved and one declined for ruling
A multiemployer defined benefit plan with a five-year amortization extension proposed two amendments that would increase liabilities. The IRS declined to rule on a retroactive benefit-accrual…
Plan approved to use substitute mortality tables
A defined benefit pension plan asked to use substitute mortality tables when calculating its minimum funding obligations. The IRS approved the tables for male and female annuitants and…
Automobile club denied social-club exemption
An automobile ownership club sought exemption as a social club under section 501(c)(7). Its main activity was an annual car show open to the public, and it received most of its revenue from public…
Late trust elections treated as an inadvertent S corporation termination
An S corporation transferred shares to three trusts that were eligible to elect treatment as electing small business trusts, but the trustees did not file timely elections. The missed filings made…
Taxpayer allowed to revoke bonus depreciation opt-out
A corporate parent had elected for a subsidiary not to claim additional first-year depreciation on qualified property. The parent made that choice because its tax director believed a net operating…
Development tax credits treated as qualifying REIT income
A real estate investment trust indirectly invested in a partnership developing rental real estate in a designated economic-development area. State law awarded transferable tax credits based on the…
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…
Late success-based fee election statement allowed
A corporation used Revenue Procedure 2011-29's safe harbor to deduct 70 percent and capitalize 30 percent of success-based fees from a covered transaction. Its tax professional intended to attach…
Pension minimum funding waiver approved with conditions
An employer sought a waiver of the remaining unpaid minimum required contribution for its pension plan's 2018 plan year. The IRS found that project-related problems had caused a temporary…
Annuity-paid advisory fees not treated as owner distributions
A life insurer planned to offer nonqualified deferred annuity contracts designed for owners receiving ongoing advice about allocating contract value among available investment options. Owners could…
Corporate separation receives tax-free reorganization rulings
A publicly traded corporate group proposed a multistep restructuring to separate two businesses, followed by an initial public offering and either a spin-off or split-off of the controlled company.…
Foreign foundation denied charitable exemption
A foreign foundation created under a decedent's will sought recognition as a section 501(c)(3) private foundation. Its stated purposes included education, science, and research, but the will also…
Mathematics grant procedures approved
A private foundation proposed three programs supporting undergraduate mathematics education, enrichment, and related teaching or research activities. One program would provide multiyear summer…
Scientific conference travel grants approved
A private foundation proposed grants for graduate students and postdoctoral researchers to travel to scientific conferences and similar educational events concerning the study of intelligence.…
Need-based community scholarships approved
A private foundation proposed scholarships for financially needy students graduating from specified high schools in several communities. High schools would screen applications and forward up to…
Employer-related scholarships approved
A private foundation proposed scholarships for children and grandchildren of employees of a corporation and its affiliates. Eligible applicants would be recent high school graduates or current…
Late corporate classification election allowed
An eligible business entity intended to be treated as a corporation for federal tax purposes from the date it was formed, but it inadvertently failed to file Form 8832 on time. The entity…
Partnership allowed late section 754 election
A foreign limited partnership made liquidating distributions to three partners but did not attach a section 754 election to its timely filed return because its tax preparers failed to explain the…
Estate receives extra time for portability election
An estate that was not otherwise required to file Form 706 missed the deadline to elect portability of the decedent's unused estate and gift tax exclusion to the surviving spouse. Because the return…
Trust allowed to revise dividend investment-income election
A trust elected to treat a specified amount of qualified dividend income as investment income when calculating its investment interest deduction. It based the election on a Schedule K-1, but the…
Late ESBT elections receive inadvertent-termination relief
An S corporation's stock was held by two grantor trusts. When each trust later stopped being a grantor trust, its trustee failed to make a timely electing small business trust election, causing the…
Vacation fund payments are wages but preserve exemption if properly handled
A tax-exempt employee benefit plan paid vacation benefits when delinquent employers failed to contribute and proposed additional distributions from surplus reserves. The IRS declined to reverse an…
Omitted success-based fee election statement accepted late
A corporate taxpayer incurred success-based fees in an acquisition and reported them using Revenue Procedure 2011-29's 70-percent deduction and 30-percent capitalization safe harbor. Its accounting…
Acquisition fee safe-harbor election allowed late
A consolidated corporate group paid a success-based financial advisory fee when acquiring another company. Its tax adviser prepared a transaction-cost analysis concluding that the fee qualified for…
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.