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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Court-approved farm sale preserves trusts' tax treatment
Two irrevocable trusts created before September 25, 1985, owned generally contiguous farm acreage and planned a coordinated sale to a limited partnership owned by a descendant and trust beneficiary.…
Court-approved farm sale preserves trusts' tax treatment
Two irrevocable trusts created before September 25, 1985, owned generally contiguous farm acreage and planned a coordinated sale to a limited partnership owned by a descendant and trust beneficiary.…
Court-approved farm sale preserves trusts' tax treatment
Two irrevocable trusts created before September 25, 1985, owned generally contiguous farm acreage and planned a coordinated sale to a limited partnership owned by a descendant and trust beneficiary.…
Court-approved farm sale preserves trusts' tax treatment
Two irrevocable trusts created before September 25, 1985, owned generally contiguous farm acreage and planned a coordinated sale to a limited partnership owned by a descendant and trust beneficiary.…
Court-approved farm sale preserves trusts' tax treatment
Two irrevocable trusts created before September 25, 1985, owned generally contiguous farm acreage and planned a coordinated sale to a limited partnership owned by a descendant and trust beneficiary.…
Court-approved farm sale preserves trusts' tax treatment
Two irrevocable trusts created before September 25, 1985, owned generally contiguous farm acreage and planned a coordinated sale to a limited partnership owned by a descendant and trust beneficiary.…
Court-approved farm sale preserves trusts' tax treatment
Two irrevocable trusts created before September 25, 1985, owned generally contiguous farm acreage and planned a coordinated sale to a limited partnership owned by a descendant and trust beneficiary.…
Court-approved farm sale preserves trusts' tax treatment
Two irrevocable trusts created before September 25, 1985, owned generally contiguous farm acreage and planned a coordinated sale to a limited partnership owned by a descendant and trust beneficiary.…
Court-approved farm sale preserves trusts' tax treatment
Two irrevocable trusts created before September 25, 1985, owned generally contiguous farm acreage and planned a coordinated sale to a limited partnership owned by a descendant and trust beneficiary.…
Court-approved farm sale preserves trusts' tax treatment
Two irrevocable trusts created before September 25, 1985, owned generally contiguous farm acreage and planned a coordinated sale to a limited partnership owned by a descendant and trust beneficiary.…
Court-approved farm sale preserves trusts' tax treatment
Two irrevocable trusts created before September 25, 1985, owned generally contiguous farm acreage and planned a coordinated sale to a limited partnership owned by a descendant and trust beneficiary.…
Court-approved farm sale preserves trusts' tax treatment
Two irrevocable trusts created before September 25, 1985, owned generally contiguous farm acreage and planned a coordinated sale to a limited partnership owned by a descendant and trust beneficiary.…
Estate receives extra time to allocate GST exemption to four trusts
A decedent made cash transfers to four trusts with generation-skipping transfer tax potential. The tax professional preparing the gift tax return incorrectly reduced the GST exemption allocated to…
Dividing grandfathered trusts preserves transfer-tax treatment
A grantor created four irrevocable trusts before September 25, 1985, and no assets were added after that date. The trustees proposed dividing them pro rata into nine trusts, one for each…
Spouse receives more time to allocate GST exemption to split gifts
A grantor created an irrevocable trust for three children and their descendants, and the spouses elected to split the gifts reported on their Forms 709. They intended the trust to have a zero…
Merger preserves grandfathered GST status of two trusts
Separate trusts created under a wife's and husband's wills had both become irrevocable before September 26, 1985, and no later additions had been made. Their dispositive terms, beneficiaries, and…
Trust receives extra time to allocate GST exemption after ETIP
A decedent created a grantor retained income trust that was subject to an estate tax inclusion period (ETIP). The tax adviser correctly did not allocate generation-skipping transfer exemption when…
GST exemption applies automatically and marital trust may be divided
An estate made a reverse QTIP election for a marital trust but expressly allocated only part of the decedent’s GST exemption to a different bypass trust. The IRS ruled that the remaining GST…
Donors receive more time to allocate GST exemption to trust
Two donors created and funded a trust for their descendants, but their accountant failed to allocate GST exemption on their gift tax returns. The mistake was found later, before any…
Estate may sever marital trust and complete QTIP and GST elections
A decedent’s trust authorized partial QTIP treatment and separate GST planning, but the estate’s return mistakenly treated the entire marital trust as not subject to a QTIP election and omitted…
Estate receives late election out of automatic GST allocation
A donor created a trust for a child and hired an accounting firm to prepare the related gift tax return. The firm failed to attach the statement electing out of the automatic allocation of…
Donor receives 120 days to undo an unintended automatic GST exemption allocation
A donor created a five-year grantor retained annuity trust whose assets later passed to another trust with generation-skipping transfer tax potential. When the estate tax inclusion period closed,…
Division of a grandfathered trust preserves GST status and tax attributes
A grandfathered trust proposed to divide into three trusts, one for each child and that child's descendants, and to modify the trustee provisions. The IRS ruled that the division and modifications…
Estate receives 120 days to elect out of automatic GST allocation
A taxpayer created a trust for a son and the son's children and reported the transfer on a timely gift-tax return. The taxpayer's return preparer did not attach the statement needed to elect out of…
Court reformation cures revocable GRAT remainder trust
A grantor funded two GRATs whose remainder beneficiary was intended to be an irrevocable trust for his children. A drafting error instead gave the grantor power to revoke that remainder trust,…
Retroactive trust reformation is respected for GRAT remainders
A grantor funded two GRATs whose remainder beneficiary was intended to be an irrevocable trust for his children. A drafting error instead gave the grantor power to revoke that remainder trust,…
Scrivener-error reformation preserves intended GRAT gifts
A grantor funded two GRATs whose remainder beneficiary was intended to be an irrevocable trust for his children. A drafting error instead gave the grantor power to revoke that remainder trust,…
Reformed remainder trust avoids retained-power tax effects
A grantor funded two GRATs whose remainder beneficiary was intended to be an irrevocable trust for his children. A drafting error instead gave the grantor power to revoke that remainder trust,…
Court-corrected GRAT remainder trust receives tax effect
A grantor funded two GRATs whose remainder beneficiary was intended to be an irrevocable trust for his children. A drafting error instead gave the grantor power to revoke that remainder trust,…
GST exemption allocation substantially complied despite wrong form line
A taxpayer made gifts to two trusts with generation-skipping transfer tax potential and hired a tax professional to prepare the related gift tax return. The preparer intended to allocate an amount…
Trust construction preserves GST exemption without taxable gifts
A trust created under a will that became irrevocable before September 25, 1985, specifically devised real property to a grandson's issue but did not explain how to distribute proceeds after the…
Taxpayer receives 120 days to stop automatic GST exemption allocations
A taxpayer created a grantor retained annuity trust and three related trusts for the taxpayer's children and descendants. The taxpayer intended not to allocate generation-skipping transfer tax…
Donor receives extension for late GST-exemption allocations
A donor made three cash transfers to an irrevocable trust for descendants, but the accounting firm preparing the gift-tax returns failed to allocate generation-skipping transfer tax exemption to the…
Donor receives 120 days for late GST-exemption allocations
A donor made three cash transfers to an irrevocable trust for descendants, but the accounting firm preparing the gift-tax returns failed to allocate generation-skipping transfer tax exemption to the…
Pro rata trust divisions preserve GST status and tax attributes
Two irrevocable trusts created before September 25, 1985, held assets for four children and their descendants. The trustee proposed dividing each trust pro rata into four successor trusts so…
Administrative trustee changes preserve trust tax treatment
A settlor and the trustees of four irrevocable trusts created before September 25, 1985, proposed adding a distribution trustee and revising how trustees could be replaced. A beneficiary could…
Estates receive time to allocate GST exemptions to trust
A married couple transferred community-property cash to an irrevocable trust for their son, daughter-in-law, and grandchildren. Their accountant did not advise them to file gift tax returns or…
Estates receive time to allocate GST exemptions to trust
A married couple transferred community-property cash to an irrevocable trust for their son, daughter-in-law, and grandchildren. Their accountant did not advise them to file gift tax returns or…
Administrative trustee changes preserve trust tax treatment
A settlor and the trustees of four irrevocable trusts created before September 25, 1985, proposed adding a distribution trustee and revising how trustees could be replaced. A beneficiary could…
Administrative trustee changes preserve trust tax treatment
A settlor and the trustees of four irrevocable trusts created before September 25, 1985, proposed adding a distribution trustee and revising how trustees could be replaced. A beneficiary could…
Donor may elect out of automatic GST allocation late
A donor created two irrevocable trusts benefiting family members and later made additional transfers to them. The donor wanted to elect out of the automatic allocation of generation-skipping…
Trustee changes preserve estate and GST tax treatment
A settlor created four irrevocable family trusts before September 25, 1985, and proposed adding a trustee responsible for distribution decisions while keeping investment authority with a separate…
Late GST exemption allocations received 120-day extension
A taxpayer transferred property to two irrevocable trusts with generation-skipping-transfer potential and hired a tax professional to prepare Form 709, but the professional failed to allocate or…
Administrative trust modifications preserved estate and GST treatment
Four irrevocable pre-September 25, 1985 trusts proposed adding distribution trustees, separating investment and distribution authority, and limiting replacement trustees by family relationship. The…
Mistaken GST allocation received retroactive correction
A grantor's accountant reported a gift to the wrong trust and failed to allocate GST exemption to the actual irrevocable trust. After the error was discovered, the grantor made a late allocation but…
Spouses received more time to elect out of automatic GST exemption allocation
A husband created and funded two grantor retained annuity trusts, and each trust’s assets later passed to a family trust for descendants when its annuity term ended. The husband and wife each…
Taxpayer received more time to allocate GST exemption to a trust transfer
A taxpayer transferred property to an irrevocable trust with generation-skipping transfer tax potential. Her tax professional timely filed the gift tax return but failed to allocate her available…
Limited appointment of grandfathered trust assets did not trigger generation-skipping tax
A beneficiary proposed using a testamentary special power of appointment over a trust that became irrevocable before September 25, 1985. The appointment would divide the assets into successor trusts…
Estate substantially complied with GST exemption allocation requirements
A decedent left three fixed-dollar bequests to skip persons and divided the residuary estate between a GST trust and a non-GST trust. The estate timely filed Form 706, but its accountant made a…
Estate receives extension to allocate GST exemption to early trust transfers
A decedent created an irrevocable trust for his daughter and grandson and transferred property to it each year for seventeen years. His tax professional did not advise him to file gift tax returns…
Administrative trust changes preserve grandfathered GST tax exemption
Two trusts became irrevocable before September 25, 1985, and no later additions were made to them, so they were exempt from generation-skipping transfer tax. The trusts proposed adding a family…
Gifts to great-grandchildren's separate trust shares qualify for the GST exclusion
A taxpayer made stock gifts to separate trust shares for several great-grandchildren and treated the gifts as direct skips without allocating generation-skipping transfer tax exemption. The taxpayer…
Court-approved trust settlement avoids GST and gift tax
A testamentary trust created before September 25, 1985 had been involved in years of litigation among its beneficiaries. All qualified beneficiaries reached an arm's-length settlement, and a state…
Estate receives 120 days to opt out of automatic GST allocation
A decedent created an irrevocable trust for three children and their descendants, intending it to last only for a limited period. The accountant who prepared the gift tax return did not realize the…
Non-pro-rata trust partitions preserved GST exemption without gifts or gain
Three trusts created under a decedent's will before September 25, 1985 proposed non-pro-rata partitions after appointing successor trustees. Each original trust would retain its limited liability…
Non-pro-rata trust partitions preserved GST exemption without gifts or gain
Three trusts created under a decedent's will before September 25, 1985 proposed non-pro-rata partitions after appointing successor trustees. Each original trust would retain its limited liability…
Spouses received 120 days to opt out of automatic GST exemption allocation
A husband created and funded three irrevocable trusts for his children, and the spouses elected to split the gifts on timely Forms 709. Their attorney did not advise them that they also needed to…
Non-pro-rata trust partitions preserved GST exemption without gifts or gain
Three trusts created under a decedent's will before September 25, 1985 proposed non-pro-rata partitions after appointing successor trustees. Each original trust would retain its limited liability…
Court-approved trust severance preserved GST exemption without gifts, estate inclusion, or gain
A pre-1985 irrevocable trust became the subject of fiduciary and beneficiary litigation over investments, management, and family-owned farmland corporations. A court-approved settlement proposed…
Limited appointment preserved a pre-1985 trust's GST exemption
A granddaughter held a limited power to appoint assets from a pre-September 25, 1985 irrevocable trust to another trust for her son. Neither her power nor the son's new powers could benefit the…
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.