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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Gated homeowners association denied section 501(c)(4) exemption
A gated homeowners association sought recognition as a tax-exempt social welfare organization under section 501(c)(4). Its activities included maintaining private roads, common areas, recreational…
Sponsoring charity loses exemption over donor-directed funds and private benefit
The IRS revoked a sponsoring organization's section 501(c)(3) exemption after examining its ministry projects, benevolence programs, operating projects, donor-advised funds, and minister retirement…
Charity loses exemption after failing to provide records for audit
The IRS revoked a charity's section 501(c)(3) exemption after it repeatedly failed to provide records requested for an audit of its Form 990-N filing. The organization did not establish that it…
Foster-care agency loses exemption for private inurement
The IRS revoked a foster-family agency's section 501(c)(3) exemption after finding that it no longer operated exclusively for exempt purposes and allowed earnings to benefit insiders. The chief…
IRS revokes a small charity's 501(c)(3) status after it would not open its records
This is a final IRS letter revoking a small organization's tax-exempt status under Internal Revenue Code section 501(c)(3). The group had been recognized as exempt only recently (it applied on the…
Charity loses exemption after failing to provide audit records
The IRS revoked an organization's section 501(c)(3) exemption because it did not respond to repeated requests for information needed to audit its activities and operations. The organization had…
Charity loses exemption after failing to document insider transactions
The IRS revoked a charity's section 501(c)(3) exemption after it failed to provide records addressing possible private inurement and private benefit. The organization said its purpose was to house…
Organization loses exemption after failing to provide records
The IRS revoked an organization's section 501(c)(3) exemption because it did not provide records needed to examine its continued qualification. The IRS requested descriptions of its activities,…
Hospital moves from supporting-organization status to section 509(a)(2)
The IRS changed a hospital's public-charity classification from a section 509(a)(3) supporting organization to a section 509(a)(2) organization, while leaving its section 501(c)(3) exemption intact.…
Social club loses exemption after investment income exceeds the limit
The IRS revoked a social and recreation club's section 501(c)(7) exemption because too much of its gross receipts came from outside its membership. The club promoted cultural, social, civic,…
Returned tax deposit does not suspend interest on a later deficiency
Chief Counsel advised that a remittance held as a section 6603 deposit does not suspend underpayment interest for the time it was held if the IRS returns it at the taxpayer's written request and…
Non-taxpayer lien payment must use the statutory discharge remedy
Chief Counsel advised that a non-taxpayer former spouse who paid a federal tax lien could not use equitable subrogation to seek a refund. Equitable subrogation generally applies when a junior…
Revenue agents should stop communicating under invalid powers of attorney
Chief Counsel addressed a disclosure question involving Forms 2848, which authorize representatives to act for taxpayers. The advice states that if the forms were invalid, the revenue agents should…
Employer and payroll agent each issue Forms W-2 for wages they paid
Chief Counsel addressed who must issue Forms W-2 when an employer appoints a Treasury Regulation section 31.3504-1 payroll agent partway through a calendar year. Each entity must issue Forms W-2 for…
Corporation receives 60 days to file a late IC-DISC election
A domestic corporation intended to elect interest charge domestic international sales corporation status from its formation. Its accounting firm prepared Form 4876-A, gave filing instructions, and…
Taxpayer receives 45 days to file a late accounting-period change
A development entity missed the deadline to use the automatic procedure for changing its annual accounting period under Revenue Procedure 2006-46. Its accountant learned of the business need for the…
Liquidating trust receives 45 days for disputed-ownership-fund election
A bankruptcy liquidating trust held all of its assets in reserve while higher-priority disputed claims were being resolved. Its accountants filed the first-year return as a complex trust because…
Acquired company receives 60 days for success-fee safe-harbor election
A holding company paid two success-based advisory fees in connection with its acquisition. Its return preparer used figures from another adviser's financial-statement analysis, overlooked the…
S corporation receives relief for three missed ESBT elections
After an eligible shareholder died, her S corporation shares passed under her will to three trusts. Those trusts were permitted S corporation shareholders for two years, but their trustees failed to…
Foreign entity receives 120 days for late disregarded-entity election
A foreign entity wholly owned through another foreign entity by a U.S. citizen intended to be treated as disregarded for federal tax purposes but did not timely file Form 8832. The entity…
Foreign entity receives retroactive disregarded status after late Form 8832
A foreign entity owned through another foreign entity by a U.S. citizen missed the deadline to file Form 8832 for disregarded-entity treatment. It represented that it was an eligible entity and had…
Late Form 8832 relief gives foreign entity disregarded treatment
A foreign eligible entity failed to timely file Form 8832 electing to be disregarded as separate from its owner. The entity was wholly owned by a foreign parent that was itself wholly owned by a…
Foreign entity receives 120 days for retroactive partnership election
A foreign entity missed the deadline to file Form 8832 electing partnership classification from its formation date. One owner was a foreign entity wholly owned by a U.S. citizen, and the requested…
Foreign subsidiary receives late disregarded-entity election relief
A foreign entity wholly owned by a foreign parent ultimately owned by a U.S. citizen failed to timely file Form 8832. It sought disregarded-entity treatment retroactive to its formation and…
Foreign entity gets 120-day extension for disregarded classification
A foreign entity intended to elect disregarded-entity status from its formation but missed the Form 8832 deadline. It was wholly owned by a foreign entity whose sole owner was a U.S. citizen, and it…
Late entity-classification election receives retroactive relief
A foreign entity owned by a foreign parent, ultimately by a U.S. citizen, failed to file Form 8832 on time. It asked to be treated as disregarded from its formation date and represented that it was…
Foreign entity may file late election for disregarded status
A foreign entity did not timely file Form 8832 to elect disregarded-entity status from the date it was formed. The entity was held through a foreign owner ultimately owned by a U.S. citizen and…
Foreign entity receives retroactive check-the-box relief
A foreign entity missed the Form 8832 deadline for electing to be disregarded from its formation date. It was wholly owned through a foreign parent by a U.S. citizen and represented that the…
Missed Form 8832 deadline receives 120-day extension
A foreign entity failed to timely elect disregarded-entity classification on Form 8832. It was owned by a foreign entity whose owner was a U.S. citizen and represented that it qualified to choose…
IRS permits retroactive disregarded election after missed filing
A foreign entity failed to submit Form 8832 by the deadline for disregarded-entity treatment effective on its formation date. It was wholly owned through a foreign entity by a U.S. citizen and…
Foreign entity gets late check-the-box election relief
A foreign entity failed to file Form 8832 on time to be treated as disregarded from the date it was organized. A foreign parent wholly owned the entity, and a U.S. citizen wholly owned that parent.…
Entity receives extension for retroactive disregarded classification
A foreign entity did not timely file the Form 8832 needed for disregarded treatment from its formation date. It was wholly owned by a foreign company that was wholly owned by a U.S. citizen, and it…
Late Form 8832 may take effect from foreign entity's formation
A foreign entity missed the deadline for a Form 8832 election to be disregarded as separate from its owner. The entity was held by a foreign parent ultimately owned by a U.S. citizen and represented…
Foreign subsidiary may make late disregarded-entity election
A foreign subsidiary missed the Form 8832 filing date for disregarded-entity treatment from formation. Its foreign parent was wholly owned by a U.S. citizen, and the subsidiary represented that it…
IRS grants foreign entity late disregarded-status election
A foreign entity did not timely elect disregarded-entity status on Form 8832. It was wholly owned through a foreign parent by a U.S. citizen and asked for the election to apply from formation. After…
Foreign entity may retroactively elect disregarded treatment
A foreign entity failed to timely file Form 8832 for disregarded-entity status beginning on its formation date. It was wholly owned by a foreign entity ultimately owned by a U.S. citizen and…
S corporation keeps status after its shareholder became a partnership
An S corporation's shares were held by a disregarded entity owned by an eligible shareholder. When that disregarded entity later became a partnership for federal tax purposes, it became an…
Inadvertent partnership shareholder does not end S status
An eligible owner held S corporation shares through a disregarded entity. When the disregarded entity converted to partnership status, it became an ineligible shareholder and automatically…
Corrected ineligible shareholder preserves corporation's S election
S corporation shares were held through a disregarded entity owned by an eligible shareholder. The disregarded entity later became a partnership, making it an ineligible shareholder and terminating…
Two pension plans may use substitute mortality tables for four populations
A controlled group requested substitute mortality tables for two defined benefit plans. The IRS approved combined tables for male and female annuitants and nonannuitants in those plans, excluding…
Foreclosure-referral organization denied 501(c)(3) exemption
An organization that assisted homeowners facing foreclosure applied for recognition under section 501(c)(3). The IRS denied exemption because the organization mainly collected intake information and…
Music scholarship and educational grant procedures approved
A private foundation requested advance approval for a grant program supporting young classical musicians. The program would make merit-based awards for music education, lessons, sheet music, or…
Employer-related scholarship procedures approved
A private foundation requested advance approval for renewable scholarships benefiting eligible children of a company’s nonunion, full-time employees and employees of its affiliates. Awards could…
Charity lost exemption after failing to substantiate its operations
A charity recognized under section 501(c)(3) reported receiving cash donations and making emergency-assistance payments, but it did not provide receipts, canceled checks, bank statements, or enough…
Inactive charity lost its section 501(c)(3) exemption
A public charity formed to support rural development, youth empowerment, and people in poverty stopped operating, had no income or assets during the examination year, and was administratively…
Family-run religious organization lost exemption for private benefit
A religious organization operated from a home garage, and its congregation consisted primarily of the founder-pastor’s immediate and extended family. The IRS found that members made tithes to the…
Examination form preserved a taxpayer’s unresolved refund claim
A field examination produced a signed Form 4549 showing that taxpayers were due a refund after a loss reduced their taxable income. The Taxpayer Advocate Service later submitted Form 982 on a…
GST exemption automatically applied to direct-skip trusts
A husband created separate trusts for grandchildren and transferred partnership interests to them, with the spouses electing to split the gifts. Their gift tax returns incorrectly described the…
Corporate group received more time to elect consolidated filing
A newly formed parent corporation acquired the stock of another corporation, terminating the acquired corporation’s former consolidated group and creating a new affiliated group. The new group…
Business split qualified as two tax-free D reorganizations
An S corporation planned to divide a business and its operating property among shareholders by forming two new controlled corporations. It would contribute roughly one-third of the business assets…
Partnership received more time to elect out of bonus depreciation
A partnership intended not to claim additional first-year depreciation on property placed in service during its short final tax year. Its return preparer learned shortly before the filing deadline…
Estate received 120 days to make a portability election
A decedent’s estate was not otherwise required to file an estate tax return, but it needed Form 706 to elect portability of the deceased spouse’s unused exclusion amount for the surviving spouse.…
Missed ESBT elections did not end S corporation status
Two revocable trusts held stock in an S corporation, and each trust continued after its owner died. The trusts remained eligible S corporation shareholders for two years after the deaths, but their…
Corporation received 120 days to file its S election
A corporation intended to be treated as an S corporation from a specified effective date but did not timely file the required election. The IRS found reasonable cause for the late filing under…
Utility’s retroactive bonus-depreciation rate adjustment met normalization rules
A regulated electric utility claimed bonus depreciation and used the resulting accumulated deferred federal income tax balance to reduce its rate base. Congress extended bonus depreciation…
Husband’s GST exemption automatically applied to direct-skip trusts
A husband created separate trusts for grandchildren and transferred partnership interests to them, with the spouses electing to split the gifts. Their gift tax returns incorrectly described the…
Consolidated group received more time to expire unusable loss carryovers
A consolidated corporate group acquired another consolidated group in a qualifying cost-basis transaction. The acquired companies had net operating loss carryovers that the parent determined would…
Later liquidation steps did not disrupt earlier spin-offs
A public company carried out a multi-step domestic and international restructuring that included several section 355 spin-offs and section 368 reorganizations. More than a year later, a subsidiary…
Spouses received more time to opt out of automatic GST allocation
A donor and spouse made split gifts to several trusts with generation-skipping transfer tax potential. They intended not to allocate GST exemption automatically to five of the trusts, but their CPA…
Student-loan payoff grant procedures received advance approval
A private foundation proposed one-time grants to help selected college seniors pay outstanding student loans. Eligibility was limited to current recipients of another scholarship, and an independent…
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.