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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Export commission corporation received extra time to elect IC-DISC status
A domestic corporation was formed to receive commissions connected with another company's software exports and intended to operate as an interest charge domestic international sales corporation, or…
Taxpayer received extra time to opt out of automatic GST exemption allocations
A taxpayer made gifts over several years to three irrevocable trusts with generation-skipping transfer potential. He did not intend to allocate GST exemption to those gifts, but his accountant…
LLC received inadvertent S corporation election relief after fixing its operating agreement
A limited liability company elected S corporation status, but its operating agreement contained partnership provisions that created more than one class of stock. The members later amended the…
Homeowners could combine section 121 exclusion with section 1031 deferral after a fire
A married couple lived in a home as their principal residence, later moved out, and rented or offered the property for rent. A fire destroyed the dwelling, and the couple received insurance proceeds…
LLC received 120 days to make a late partnership classification election
A limited liability company intended to be treated as a partnership for federal tax purposes from a specified date. It did not file Form 8832, the entity classification election, on time. The IRS…
Corporation received relief for a late S corporation election
A corporation intended to be an S corporation from its formation date and filed returns consistently with that treatment. Its Form 2553 election, however, was not filed on time. The IRS concluded…
Surviving spouse could roll over an IRA allocated through a community-property trust
A married couple's revocable trust was the beneficiary of the deceased spouse's IRA, which was community property. After the death, the surviving spouse became sole trustee and could allocate trust…
Domestic and international business separations qualified as tax-free D reorganizations
A worldwide corporate group proposed a multi-step restructuring to separate two active businesses. The plan included a domestic contribution of assets to a newly classified corporation followed by a…
Consolidated group received extra time for a general asset account election
A consolidated group acquired a subsidiary's real property through contribution and liquidation steps during the tax year. The group's return included a general asset account election for the…
Employer-related scholarship procedures received advance approval
A private foundation proposed scholarships for dependent children of an employer's full-time employees. An independent committee would select recipients using academic performance, activities,…
Technical education scholarship procedures received advance approval
A private foundation proposed scholarships for low-income high school graduates pursuing two-year technical degrees or certifications at local community colleges. Applicants had to meet citizenship…
Dissolved charity lost exemption after ignoring requests for records
State records showed that a section 501(c)(3) organization had been involuntarily dissolved. The IRS asked for descriptions of its activities, financial statements, minutes, publications, final…
Social club lost exemption because restaurant rent exceeded the nonmember-income limit
A self-declared section 501(c)(7) social club provided members a place to socialize, play games, watch television, and hold holiday parties. It also continuously rented ground-floor space to an…
Educators' club denied exemption because public banquet receipts were substantial
An association of women educators sought renewed section 501(c)(7) status after its prior group exemption was automatically revoked for three years of missed filings. Its main described activity was…
IRS revoked charity that did not produce records for its audit
A section 501(c)(3) organization was selected for an audit of its operations and Form 990-N filing. The IRS sent repeated information requests and delinquency notices to the organization and its…
Charity lost exemption after failing to respond to repeated examination requests
A recently recognized section 501(c)(3) organization did not respond to repeated IRS efforts to examine its Form 990-N filing period. The IRS mailed several information requests and delinquency…
Group ruling holder lost exemption after withholding audit records
A section 501(c)(3) organization holding a group exemption was selected for an audit of its activities and Form 990-N period. The IRS sent certified requests to the organization and related…
Solar farm in a U.S. possession qualifies for domestic-owner depreciation exception
A taxpayer planned to build a solar farm in a U.S. possession through a local disregarded entity. Before the farm entered service, the taxpayer would become a domestic partnership owned entirely by…
Charity's inherited IRA transfer remains an IRA and is not taxable
A charitable organization was the named beneficiary of a deceased person's IRA. The custodian required the charity to open a new inherited IRA so the original account's assets could move there by a…
Late S corporation election allowed with a 120-day filing condition
A corporation intended to be treated as an S corporation beginning on a redacted effective date, but it did not timely file the required election. The IRS found reasonable cause for the late filing…
S corporation termination from missed ESBT election treated as inadvertent
A trust acquired shares of an S corporation but its trustees did not timely elect for the trust to be treated as an electing small business trust. That failure made the trust an ineligible…
Partnership received 120 days to make a late section 754 election
A limited liability company taxed as a partnership timely filed its return but inadvertently omitted a valid section 754 election. It represented that it acted reasonably and in good faith and that…
Parties received 45 days to file a late section 336(e) election statement
A partnership purchased all the stock of an S corporation, which later converted into a disregarded limited liability company. The parties signed a timely binding agreement to make a section 336(e)…
Missed ESBT and eight QSub elections received corrective relief
A trust held shares when a corporation intended to begin S corporation treatment, but the trustee did not timely elect electing small business trust status. That omission made the corporation's S…
Estate received 120 days to make a late portability election
An estate was not otherwise required to file an estate tax return because the decedent's gross estate and adjusted taxable gifts were below the filing threshold. The estate nevertheless needed to…
Corporation received 60 days to make a late IC-DISC election
A domestic corporation was formed to operate as an interest charge domestic international sales corporation. Its shareholder hired a law firm to handle the formation, but the firm failed to file…
Estate received 120 days to file a late portability election
An estate represented that it was below the section 6018 filing threshold and therefore was not otherwise required to file an estate tax return. It still needed Form 706 to elect portability of the…
Foreign parent's receipt of controlled subsidiary stock qualified as a tax-free distribution
A foreign parent owned a U.S. holding company whose group conducted two separate businesses. To separate the second business, the U.S. company proposed distributing all stock of the subsidiary…
Estate received 120 days to make a late QTIP election for marital trust
A decedent's trust divided into a marital trust for the surviving spouse and a family trust for the children. The spouse was entitled to all marital-trust income, could receive principal for…
County deferred compensation plan qualifies under section 457(b)
A county adopted a nonqualified deferred compensation plan and related trust for its employees and beneficiaries. The plan limited deferrals, allowed the statutory catch-up contributions, restricted…
Partnership received 120 days for a late section 754 election after a partner's death
A married couple held separate interests in a limited partnership formed in a community-property state and later transferred those interests to a revocable trust. When one spouse died, that spouse's…
Erroneous QTIP election voided and late reverse QTIP relief granted
A decedent's trust divided into Trust A and Trust B, both of which provided income and possible principal for the surviving spouse. Trust B also required recurring payments from corpus to the…
Estate received 120 days to make a late portability election
An estate represented that the decedent's gross estate and adjusted taxable gifts were below the threshold requiring an estate tax return. The estate still needed a timely Form 706 to elect…
Multi-member LLC received 120 days to file a late corporate classification election
A limited liability company with 22 members intended to be classified as an association taxable as a corporation from its formation date. It missed the deadline for filing Form 8832, but neither the…
Reporting errors did not elect an asset sale out of the installment method
An S corporation sold all its assets for a closing payment and 12 later quarterly installments, but the buyer defaulted after closing. The corporation's return preparer did not correctly report the…
Two foreign LLCs received 120 days for late partnership elections
Two foreign limited liability companies intended to be classified as partnerships from their respective formation dates but did not timely file Forms 8832. Because all members of a foreign eligible…
Late S corporation election allowed with a 120-day filing condition
A corporation intended to be treated as an S corporation from a redacted effective date but did not timely file the election. The IRS found reasonable cause for the late filing under section…
Public share repurchases tested pro rata under section 355(e)
A publicly traded company had been separated from a corporate group through distributions intended to qualify under section 355. After major shareholders sold their positions, the company authorized…
Foundation's music education grant procedures approved
A private foundation proposed grants for children ages 4 through 17 to study music, take theory classes or lessons, and obtain appropriate instruments. Applicants would submit financial and…
Foundation's four-year scholarships for local students approved
A private foundation proposed renewable scholarships for financially needy high school seniors from three counties who planned to attend public universities in their state. Eligible applicants also…
Foundation's grants for emerging women and LGBTQ filmmakers approved
A private foundation proposed one-year production grants for emerging filmmakers in a metropolitan area who identify as female or LGBTQ and are making films or videos about art or artists.…
Scholarships rewarding local historical-site knowledge approved
A private foundation proposed one-time scholarships for graduates of local high schools who showed interest in and knowledge of a historic site. Applicants needed a good academic record, a passion…
Medical professional corporation denied exemption because its articles failed the organizational test
A professional service corporation formed to practice medicine applied for section 501(c)(3) exemption. A public charity controlled the corporation through its selected shareholder and a shareholder…
Partnership received 120 days for a late section 754 election after technical termination
A buyer acquired more than half of a limited liability company's partnership interests while the former section 708 technical-termination rule was still in effect. The acquisition caused a technical…
Further term extension preserves bankruptcy liquidating trust status
A liquidating trust was created under a confirmed Chapter 11 plan to sell assets and distribute the proceeds to beneficiaries. Its agreement prohibited an ongoing business, limited retained cash to…
Estate received late QTIP and reverse QTIP election relief
A decedent's revocable trust divided the marital share into generation-skipping transfer tax exempt and nonexempt trusts for the surviving spouse. The spouse was entitled to all income and could…
Foreign entity received 120 days for a late disregarded-entity election
A foreign single-owner entity intended to be disregarded for U.S. federal tax purposes from its formation date. It was owned by a domestic disregarded entity, which in turn was owned by an S…
Estate received 120 days to file a late portability election
An estate represented that it was below the section 6018 filing threshold and was not otherwise required to file an estate tax return. It nevertheless needed Form 706 to elect portability of the…
Consolidated group received 60 days for a late section 382 closing-of-the-books election
A consolidated group experienced an ownership change that limited the use of its pre-change losses under section 382. The group missed the deadline to elect to close its books on the…
Parties received 45 days to file a late section 336(e) election statement
A partnership purchased all stock of an S corporation, which later merged into a disregarded limited liability company owned by the purchaser. The parties timely signed a binding agreement to make a…
Taxpayer received 60 days for a late success-based fee safe-harbor election
A partnership paid a contingent financial-adviser fee in connection with an acquisition that ended its partnership status. Its final return followed the Revenue Procedure 2011-29 safe harbor by…
Estate received 120 days to make a late portability election
An estate represented that the decedent's gross estate and adjusted taxable gifts were below the threshold requiring an estate tax return. It still needed to file Form 706 to elect portability of…
Estate received 120 days for late GST exemption allocations to three trusts
A decedent created an irrevocable trust that immediately divided into three equal trusts for the decedent's children, with the instrument stating that each trust was intended to be exempt from…
Education grants for people rebuilding after addiction, homelessness, or incarceration approved
A private foundation proposed educational grants for people recovering from substance abuse or addiction, experiencing homelessness, returning to society after incarceration, or otherwise facing…
Reinstatement denied for missing dissolution terms and unexplained donor-advised accounts
A nonprofit corporation sought reinstatement of section 501(c)(3) status after its prior exemption was automatically revoked for failing to file Form 990 for three consecutive tax periods. Its…
Wellness collaborative denied exemption for promoting member businesses
A nonprofit formed by owners of five for-profit wellness businesses offered health fairs, classes, workshops, and wellness services at apartment complexes, stores, and its own meeting space. The…
Cannabis retailer denied section 501(c)(4) social welfare exemption
An organization originally formed as a nonprofit mutual benefit corporation to provide access to medical marijuana later restated its articles as a general stock corporation. It operated a public…
Member death-benefit organization denied exemption for serving private interests
An organization provided death benefits to the beneficiaries of active and retired members who died from any cause. Participating groups supplied the names of their participants, fees were based on…
Death-benefit club denied section 501(c)(7) social-club exemption
A club’s only activity was providing death benefits to members to help with funeral costs. All income came from member dues, and all disbursements paid death benefits. The club had no social or…
Referral network denied section 501(c)(6) business-league exemption
A mutual benefit corporation admitted only one member from each trade or specialty and held weekly meetings where members exchanged business leads, referrals, testimonials, and information about…
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.