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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City project payments received favorable REIT treatment
A REIT owned part of a partnership developing a mixed-use shopping center on a long-vacant site. The city agreed to use a portion of new project-generated tax revenue for annual payments that included…
Multiemployer plan received an amortization extension
A multiemployer pension plan requested an automatic extension of the periods for amortizing specified unfunded liabilities. The plan's actuary certified that without relief the plan would incur an acc…
Physician loan-repayment awards were tax-free and unreportable
A state program made student-loan repayment awards to physicians who agreed to practice in designated physician-shortage areas. Awards were limited by the recipients' qualifying undergraduate and medi…
Foreign entity received late disregarded-entity election relief
A foreign entity with one owner intended to be treated as a disregarded entity from its formation date but did not timely file Form 8832. It represented that the omission was inadvertent, that it acte…
REIT received a second extension for subsidiary elections
A REIT and two subsidiaries intended to elect taxable REIT subsidiary status and had already obtained an IRS extension to file Forms 8875. The law firm, accounting firm, and in-house advisor each mist…
Taxpayers received 45 days to file a duplicate Form 3115
A married couple changed the accounting methods of a wholly owned disregarded entity and filed the original Form 3115 with their timely return. Their accounting firm failed to mail the required duplic…
Spouse received late GST exemption allocation relief
A decedent created an irrevocable trust for children and their descendants, and the spouses elected to split the original gift. The gift-tax returns failed to allocate either spouse's generation-skipp…
Foreign entity obtained late disregarded-entity election relief
A foreign eligible entity with one owner intended to be treated as a disregarded entity from its formation date but inadvertently failed to file Form 8832 on time. The entity represented that it acted…
Late disregarded-entity election received relief
A foreign single-owner entity intended to be disregarded for federal tax purposes from the date it was formed, but it inadvertently failed to timely file Form 8832. The entity represented that it acte…
Foreign entity received late partnership election relief
A foreign entity with two owners intended to be classified as a partnership from its formation date but did not timely file Form 8832. The IRS concluded that the entity satisfied the requirements for …
Insurance rehabilitation exchanges were not designated events
A consolidated group's regulated insurance subsidiary was operating through separate accounts after one account entered rehabilitation. A proposed exit plan involved issuing secured notes, exchanging …
Foreign entity obtained late disregarded-status relief
A foreign eligible entity intended to be classified as disregarded for federal tax purposes from a specified date but failed to timely file Form 8832. The IRS concluded that the entity met the require…
Missed QSST election did not end S corporation status
An S corporation's stock was held by a grantor trust whose deemed owner died. The trust remained an eligible shareholder for two years after the death, but then became ineligible because the beneficia…
Home hazard-mitigation grants required information reporting
A state-created entity provided grants to qualified homeowners for structural work intended to help their homes withstand a future hazard. Eligibility depended on the home's location, age, and physica…
Preserves S corporation and QSub elections after stock transfer
An S corporation's stock was transferred to a partnership, which was not an eligible S corporation shareholder. The transfer terminated both the corporation's S election and its elections for eight su…
Grants conditional relief for ineffective S corporation and QSub elections
A limited liability company attempted to elect S corporation status while one owner was an ineligible shareholder. Its operating agreement also contained partnership-style provisions that created a po…
Grants 120 days to make late partnership basis election
A partnership wanted a section 754 election after a general partner died, but its tax return was filed without the election because it relied on its tax adviser. The partnership represented that it ac…
Grants estate 120 days to elect alternate valuation
An estate timely filed Form 706 within one year after its due date, but the CPA preparing the return failed to check the box electing alternate valuation under section 2032. The CPA stated that the om…
Approves grants connecting expatriate youth with their country
A private foundation proposed an educational grant program for alumni seeking to strengthen ties between a country and young people from that country who lived abroad. Applicants would propose project…
Approves graduate STEM scholarship for young women
A private foundation proposed a merit scholarship for a female high school junior or senior from either of two states who intended to pursue graduate study in science, technology, engineering, or math…
Revokes mutual water cooperative's tax exemption
A mutual water cooperative distributed water through a ditch system and had been exempt under section 501(c)(12). The IRS examination found that, in each of two years, less than 85 percent of the coop…
Denies chamber exemption because license bureaus were primary business
A local chamber of commerce reapplied for section 501(c)(6) exemption after a prior examination had revoked its status. The organization promoted local businesses and community development, but it als…
Denies charity status to medical software support organization
An organization sought reinstatement of section 501(c)(3) status for its work supporting free, open-source electronic medical-record software. The software helped physicians operate medical practices,…
Denies charity status to fee-based crowdfunding platform
An organization proposed to provide an online crowdfunding platform to high-profile individuals and organizations raising money for charitable causes. It would deduct a management fee and payment-proc…
Grants 120 days to file omitted section 754 election
A foreign corporation treated as a partnership for U.S. tax purposes intended to make a section 754 basis-adjustment election with its return, but failed to file a properly executed election. The enti…
Grants 120 days for late disregarded-entity election
An eligible entity intended to be treated as a disregarded entity but did not timely file Form 8832. It and its members consistently filed returns treating it as disregarded while it had one owner and…
Permits retroactive QEF election after adviser missed PFIC status
A U.S. shareholder indirectly owned shares of a foreign corporation that its accounting firm failed to identify as a passive foreign investment company. A law firm later identified the PFIC filing req…
Trust modifications preserve GST status without gifts or gain
An irrevocable trust with a zero generation-skipping transfer tax inclusion ratio was modified to protect two beneficiaries with medical or capacity concerns. The changes replaced a grandchild's manda…
Grants 120 days for late farmland special-use valuation election
An estate included farmland, but the accountant preparing its timely Form 706 did not advise the co-executors to elect special-use valuation under section 2032A. An attorney later discovered that the …
Grants late foreign disregarded-entity election
A foreign eligible entity intended to be treated as disregarded for U.S. federal tax purposes but did not timely file Form 8832. It represented that the omission was made despite reasonable, good-fait…
Trust construction excluding adoptees causes no transfer taxes or gain
A trust created before September 25, 1985, used the undefined terms “issue” and “children” to describe beneficiaries. After one child adopted two adults, the settlor attested that the trust had always…
Blood-descendant trust construction preserves tax treatment
A trust created before September 25, 1985, used the undefined terms “issue,” “descendants,” and “children” to identify beneficiaries. After one child adopted two adults, the living settlor attested th…
Approves scholarship contest and spiritual research grants
A private foundation proposed two individual grant programs. One was an essay or video contest for high school seniors and college undergraduates, with scholarships paid through accredited educational…
Approves scholarships for students connected to a community
A private foundation proposed scholarships for high school and college-age students who had a connection to a specified community. Applicants would submit an essay and transcripts, and trustees would …
Approves cross-disciplinary research and leadership grants
A private foundation proposed grants for recent PhD recipients in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics. Recipients would conduct postdoctoral research outside their planned field and comp…
Approves photography grants for social-change projects
A private foundation proposed grants for working photographers and visual storytellers whose projects could promote positive social change. An open call and a nominating committee would identify candi…
Denies exemption for vague youth aid and training programs
An organization applied for section 501(c)(3) status to support young people through savings assistance, activities, scholarships, mentoring, and job training. The IRS found that its articles did not …
Excludes a generator-funded utility intertie from income
A regulated electric utility asked how to treat an interconnection funded by an unrelated electricity generator. The generator needed the intertie to move power through the utility's system for sale t…
Grants relief for an inadvertent S corporation termination
An S corporation's election terminated when a partnership acquired its stock because a partnership is not an eligible S corporation shareholder. The owners had formed the partnership to simplify admin…
Grants relief for an inadvertent S corporation termination
An S corporation's election terminated when a partnership acquired its stock because a partnership is not an eligible S corporation shareholder. The owners had formed the partnership to simplify admin…
Grants relief for an inadvertent S corporation termination
An S corporation's election terminated when a partnership acquired its stock because a partnership is not an eligible S corporation shareholder. The owners had formed the partnership to simplify admin…
Grants relief for an inadvertent S corporation termination
An S corporation's election terminated when a partnership acquired its stock because a partnership is not an eligible S corporation shareholder. The owners had formed the partnership to simplify admin…
Grants relief for an inadvertent S corporation termination
An S corporation's election terminated when a partnership acquired its stock because a partnership is not an eligible S corporation shareholder. The owners had formed the partnership to simplify admin…
Grants relief for an inadvertent S corporation termination
An S corporation's election terminated when a partnership acquired its stock because a partnership is not an eligible S corporation shareholder. The owners had formed the partnership to simplify admin…
Grants relief for an inadvertent S corporation termination
An S corporation's election terminated when a partnership acquired its stock because a partnership is not an eligible S corporation shareholder. The owners had formed the partnership to simplify admin…
Grants relief for an inadvertent S corporation termination
An S corporation's election terminated when a partnership acquired its stock because a partnership is not an eligible S corporation shareholder. The owners had formed the partnership to simplify admin…
Grants relief for an inadvertent S corporation termination
An S corporation's election terminated when a partnership acquired its stock because a partnership is not an eligible S corporation shareholder. The owners had formed the partnership to simplify admin…
Grants extra time to elect consolidated-return filing
A parent corporation and its affiliated subsidiaries failed to make a timely election to file a consolidated federal income tax return. The parent showed that it had reasonably relied on a qualified t…
Grants extra time for a multiple-building housing-credit election
A taxpayer intended three low-income housing buildings to form one multiple-building project but inadvertently failed to make that election on the buildings' Forms 8609. Section 42 ordinarily treats a…
Grants extra time to file a branch-profits-tax waiver
A foreign corporation had conducted a U.S. real-property leasing business through a partnership, then received and immediately sold the property and represented that it completely terminated its U.S. …
Grants relief after an equity agreement created a second stock class
An S corporation granted equity to a person under an agreement that provided different rights to distribution and liquidation proceeds from those held by the existing shareholders. The corporation rep…
Grants relief after two equity agreements created a second stock class
An S corporation granted equity to two people under separate agreements that gave them different distribution and liquidation rights from the existing shareholders. The corporation represented that th…
Grants relief after an equity agreement created a second stock class
An S corporation granted equity to a person under an agreement that provided different rights to distribution and liquidation proceeds from those held by the existing shareholders. The corporation rep…
Treats apartment services as qualifying REIT rental activity
A real estate investment trust owned three luxury apartment properties and asked whether services provided there would create impermissible tenant service income. The services included leasing, common…
Permits a related corporation to use tax book value for interest allocation
A domestic corporation asked to change from fair market value to tax book value when valuing assets to allocate and apportion interest expense. It was related to, but not included in, another corporat…
Permits a consolidated group to use tax book value for interest allocation
A domestic parent asked for its consolidated group to change from fair market value to tax book value when valuing assets to allocate and apportion interest expense. A related domestic corporation out…
Grants extra time for an IC-DISC election
A domestic corporation was formed to operate as an interest charge domestic international sales corporation for its parent. Its accounting firm prepared Form 4876-A on time, but the only staff account…
Allows a RIC to revoke PFIC mark-to-market elections
A regulated investment company had made mark-to-market elections for stock in three passive foreign investment companies because those companies did not provide the annual information statements neede…
Grants extra time for a partnership's section 754 election
A partnership underwent a technical termination after an owner acquired an additional interest. The partnership intended to elect under section 754 to adjust the basis of partnership property for the …
Treats managed farm leases as active and approves ESBT status
An S corporation farm owner asked whether income from four crop-share leases was passive investment income and whether a shareholder trust qualified as an electing small business trust. Under the leas…
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.